We really have an exciting debate about the nature and meaning of truth running across several posts, begining with my post “The Joke’s On You”. The debate seems to have leapt to Dena’s post, “Further Ado on Joseph’s Joke”. I refer you to the several comments appended to that post. Here’s my response to Tom R’s comment:

 

Tom R,

I agree with you and with true scientists (and with Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas) that the facts lead us towards the truth. The problem is that you appear to be arguing that science is all that is needed. Since the God in whom you believe is spiritual, i.e. metaphysical, you cannot begin to understand Him except through an acceptance of metaphysics.

 

Perhaps it might be helpful to remember that “science” means to “know”, which is why the Church considers theology the queen of the sciences. What is now called “science” was known to our ancestors as “natural philosophy”, i.e the branch of knowledge that leads towards the truth by the observation of nature. The whole truth requires an understanding of not merely the natural but the supernatural also, hence the necessity for theology (the science of revelation) and philosophy (most especially metaphysics).