Opus 2023-129: One Coin, Two Sides

Scientists and Theologians have a similar task but different specialties.

Scientists investigate the “how” of God.

Theologians investigate the “why”.

Both are important.  Have you ever received a gift and when you unwrap it you scratch your head and ask, “What is it?”  When someone tells you, the next question is, “What do I do with it and why do I need it?”  Then it goes on to change the way you do things.

Suppose someone gives you a new laptop and it has the latest version of the Microsoft operating system.  It has a touch screen, blazing speed and no disc drive.  You have been using your old desk top for a decade and wonder what you have gotten into.  Every time I get a new one my first challenge is to figure out how to turn it on.  If left to myself I could get it working, in time.  I could limp along and do the basics that I always do.

But I have a geek in the family.  Usually he is my scientist.  He knows how it works and what he does not know he can figure out.  He gets it all set up and is always a phone call away when I stumble onto a new bell or whistle.

He can also be the cyber theologian.  It always fascinates me how he can do exactly the same things that I did and for him it works.  We have come to the conclusion that when he walks in the room the computer gets religion and is afraid of him.  Then there are the times when his in depth theology of circuits comes up with the ultimate solution:  Reboot.  He will confess he does not know what is wrong but if I turn it off and start it up again it will probably work.  And it does.

The truth is we need both the What people and the Why people.  Just because we can do something does not mean we should.  People who focus on “what” often don’t stop to think of the why.  Ph.D. level physics does not prepare one to make moral decisions.  Think of all the brilliant people who have worked for socialist tyrants and slept well at night.

Most of us come down on one side or the other.  We need to listen and learn with the understanding that the other side is not necessarily evil just because they don’t see things from our perspective.  Historically there was a time when Theology and Science were in the same department of the university.  We need to get back go that.

homo unius libri