This reading list ends the faith vs. science war

Recently I had the pleasure of attending the Society of Catholic Scientists (SCS) national conference, a jaw-dropping experience of scientific genius and profound faith. It felt surreal to walk among so many brilliant scientists doing groundbreaking work in their fields who were just as enthusiastic in talking about their Catholic faith.

It got me wondering: Why is there a persistent myth that science and faith are opposed? The thousands of members of SCS have no problem reconciling the two every day. 

The funny thing is that, for most of history, virtually all scientists were religious — and it never would have occurred to them that those two things could be in conflict. It was just accepted as a given that science and faith went together, two distinct ways of revealing the truth of God’s creation. 

That changed with the publication of two books in the late 1800s that popularized the “Draper and White Conflict Thesis,” the idea that religion and science are at odds. John William Draper published History of the Conflict between Religion and Science in 1874 and Andrew Dickson White published A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom in 1896. Both authors spread the conflict narrative — partly to distance science from religious institutions in an effort to professionalize the field, and partly to argue against religious interference in education.

Since then, the myth has persisted, even as countless scientists have pursued rigorous research while adhering to sincere religious faith. 

Fortunately, scientists of faith are becoming increasingly outspoken about the compatibility between faith and science. The founding of the SCS nine years ago has done much to spread the word and encourage scientists to share their own experiences reconciling the two.

If you’re a Christian who is interested in science and you’re wondering how the two fit together, or you simply want to learn more about science from the perspective of Catholic scientists, you’ve come to the right place. 

While two books invented the science-vs-religion myth, these 20 books debunk it.

These books address the interplay between science and faith, and most were written by SCS members. They would make a satisfying and fascinating reading list for anyone interested in these topics — and together, they make clear that the war between science and faith always has been a myth.

Both an accomplished theoretical physicist and a faithful Catholic, Stephen Barr in this book addresses a wide range of questions about the relationship between science and religion, providing a beautiful picture of how they can coexist in harmony.

In Darwin and Doctrine, molecular and cell biologist Dan Kuebler investigates the evolution-creation question from within the framework of the Catholic tradition. The book offers a fascinating exploration of the compatibility and mutual flourishing of science and religion. 

Authors Brother Guy Consolmagno and Father Paul Mueller are scientists at the Vatican Observatory, the official astronomical research institute of the Catholic Church. In this hilarious and fascinating book, they explore questions at the crossroads of faith and reason, helping readers reflect more deeply on science, faith, and the nature of the universe.

Dr. Christopher Baglow, director of the Science and Religion Initiative at the University of Notre Dame, wrote this lively and often humorous book from within Catholic tradition and his personal love of both science and faith. Baglow explores how the doctrine of creation addresses the why of the universe, making it perfectly open to science, which helps us to answer how the universe came to be and continues to exist. 

In Learning the Language of Creation, Franciscan Sister Damien Marie Savino, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences, frames integral ecology as a pilgrimage guided by a process of listening and learning the language of creation. 

In this accessible book, Dr. Stephen Barr argues that the great discoveries of modern physics are more compatible with the central teachings of Christianity and Judaism about God, the cosmos, and the human soul than with the atheistic viewpoint of scientific materialism. Using the insights of modern physics, he reveals that modern scientific discoveries and religious faith are deeply consonant.

This book provides a vivid portrait of the 20 most famous Christian biologists in history, many of them at the cutting edge of their fields, shedding light on the close relationship between biology and Christianity. 

The War That Never Was argues that what is mistaken as a war between science and religion is actually a pair of wars between other belligerents — one between evolutionists and anti-evolutionists and another between atheists and Christians. Learn the history of this supposed conflict and why it’s a myth in this approachable and engaging book.

In this book’s four homilies and a concluding essay, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, provided a clear and inspiring exploration of the Genesis creation narratives.

Science at the Doorstep to God presents in depth the latest evidence from scientific research to support the idea of religious faith. Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., synthesizes recent studies that support an intelligent creator of physical reality as well as a transphysical soul capable of surviving bodily death.

In this book, Fr. Stanley Jaki, OSB — an award-winning physicist, astronomer, philosopher and Catholic priest — argues that theology played a crucial role in fruitful scientific development throughout history. 

Author Stacy Trasancos is a scientist who was led to Catholicism through her work, and she shares in this remarkable book how science and the Catholic faith work together to reveal the truth of Christ through the beauty of his creation.

This work is a comprehensive introduction to the work of the Catholic scientists and theologians who worked out the details of how evolutionary biology makes sense from a Catholic perspective.

Author Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J., integrates contemporary findings from physics (like Big Bang cosmology, string theory, and quantum physics) and philosophy to argue in this book that all the current scientific research clearly points to a transcendent creator.

Intended as a textbook for high schools and colleges to supplement courses in theology and science, Dr. Baglow’s Faith, Science, & Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge unveils the history of science as something that grew out of, rather than in opposition to, the Catholic faith. It describes the relationship between faith and science, including a wide range of scientific literature and bringing new scientific discoveries into dialogue with the great thinkers of the Catholic intellectual tradition.

This short and accessible book probes the story of the Catholic Church and science with reflections and commentary from those within the Archdiocese of Louisville, with foreword by the former Vatican Observatory Director Br. Guy Consolmagno, S.J. It is designed for priests, educators, and parents (including those who homeschool) who might encounter questions about the Church and science.

Physicist and historian of science James Hannam shows in this book that not only were the Middle Ages not a time of intellectual stagnation, superstition, and ignorance, but also that it was medieval scientific discoveries, methods, and principles that made possible western civilization's “Scientific Revolution.”

In this book, Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., presents the scientific evidence for various elements of the life of Jesus and Mary, the Real Presence in the Eucharist, and numerous miracles.

The authors of this highly readable book retrace the fascinating history of various scientific breakthroughs and offer a rigorous overview of the new proof of the existence of God. 

This book is devoted to proving the existence of an eternal being, using a mathematical proof based on probability theory and the laws of logic to argue for the existence of God.

Start reading any one of these books, and you may find that the supposed conflict disappears entirely, melting away like dew in the strong light of truth and reason.

And before you dive into a book, give a look to these articles, which will give you an overview.