Abstract

Roman Catholic Science: I. Relics, Saints, and Miracles

In its relations with science the Roman Catholic Church operates on three levels, the upper level, the priestly level, and the level of popular superstition. The priest acts as a mediator between the upper and lower levels, striving manfully to reconcile the extremes and keep them both under the roof of the one true church. His task is exceeding difficult. He is not a free agent and he does not operate under American controls. He must stand with one foot in the twentieth century and the other in the sixteenth. The theory behind the church's control of science is that all truth is divided into two grades, divine and human. Divine truth comes from God via the Roman Catholic Church; human truth comes from finite reason, experience, and observation.