Creation and Scientific Creativity: A Study in the Thought of S. L. Jaki / Paul Haffner

This work focuses on the close link joining science and religion, despite the differences between them. Through his study of modern science, theology, and history, Stanley Jaki showed that faith and reason are not mutually exclusive. The problems arise because of those ideologies which seek to eliminate God from the ultimate equation. Jaki highlighted the Christian origins of the modern natural sciences. He showed that the concept of the cosmos as both contingent and rational, together with the acceptance that God could work through secondary causes, provided the unique environment for the natural sciences to flourish, from the Middle Ages onwards. He explored the crucial role played by belief in creation out of nothing and in time, reinforced by faith in the Incarnation, in enabling this birth of science.

Paul Haffner is a priest and professor of theology at Regina Apostolorum University in Rome. He is the author of over 30 books and 150 articles on philosophical and theological themes.