IN
EXILE
By
Rev. Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Discerning
the truth
Many of us today tend to be intimidated by any kind of knowledge that
makes scientific claims. Who dares argue with science? Who dares argue
with the experts? Very few, and those who do are easily dismissed as
backward or ignorant.
And so inside of our lives, objectified expertise generally trumps moral
insight or, worse still, is simplistically identified with it. Truth
is truth, science has the truth, and science trumps our moral concerns
(which can be made to appear parochial and fear-based in the face of
scientific claims). Thus the idea is prevalent that we should listen
to the scientific experts when it comes to discerning the truth.
But is it really that simple? And who really are the experts? What makes
someone an expert? A post-graduate degree? Being a mother who’s
raising her family well? Being a respected researcher? Living a good
life? Being steady and faithful? There are various kinds of experts.
Moreover there is also the issue of personal integrity and how this
relates to “expertise.” What’s to be said for the
truth of someone who produces scientific insight but who leads an unhealthy
life? Does a man or a woman’s personal life affect his or her
research and professional expertise?
Many great thinkers — philosophers, theologians and even scientists
— would say that it does. Truth can never be divorced from moral
insight since truth and morality are really one at their base. Hence
personal integrity or lack of it in any researcher or scholar in some
way does colour his or her expertise, however imperceptible this might
be on the surface. How?
Aristotle, for example, had a concept he called phronesis, which taught
that it is impossible to separate the teaching of truth from the practice
of virtue. For Aristotle, genuine knowledge, the type that ultimately
makes you a better human being, could not issue forth from someone whose
intellectual theory and personal moral life were radically out of sync.
Albert Einstein, in effect, said that it is impossible to do research
that does not include a lot of me-search. Who we are and what perspective
we have on reality will always help determine how we see the world and
articulate any theory about it. And who we are and our perspective on
reality is always partly shaped and deeply coloured by our own moral
lives. Our moral lives deeply influence our research because they help
shape our eyesight.
The medieval mystic, Hugo of St. Victor, had an axiom for this: Love
is the eye! For him, our eyesight is largely shaped by either the love
or bitterness that is inside of us at any moment. When I look at the
world with love, I see it one way; when I look at the world with bitterness,
I see it another way. That’s also true for every researcher. Granted
mathematics is beyond emotion, but the realities to which we apply it
aren’t.
Finally, and not least, Jesus teaches that we see the world accurately
only to the extent that we are pure of heart. When he said this he wasn’t
just talking about having purity of heart in order to see straight religiously,
he was affirming that purity of heart is a pre-condition in order to
see straight in every way, religiously, morally, practically and scientifically.
What we see through a microscope is partly coloured by how we are feeling
about life in general and how we are feeling about life in general is
deeply coloured by how we are living morally.
And so what’s the lesson?
The lesson here is not the one you sometimes hear in circles of fundamentalist
religion, namely, that we should stop listening to scientists, academics
and technological experts and should try to dispute their insights by
using Scripture. Our task is not to become defensive about the findings
of the various professional academies, to stop studying.
Rather, these are the lessons:
First, honour the findings of genuine science and research even if you
aren’t always enthralled about their source. All truth has one
author — God. Thus God is the source of the Bible and God is also
the source of science and its findings. Accept truth in all its guises,
but be less intimidated by the teachings of those experts who claim
scientific objectivity without acknowledging their own limits, their
own hidden judgments and their own biases, particularly when their truth
touches questions of health, meaning, morality and happiness. A good
researcher admits elements of me-search and is humble about the truth.
Next, recognize that expertise is a wide charism that issues forth from
many circles. There are experts in science, but there are also experts
in goodness, in love, in friendship, in kindness, in fidelity, in hope,
in peace-making, in courage, in prayer, in honesty, in chastity, in
aesthetics, in practical sanity and in humour.
When you are looking for stars by which to guide your life, scan the
heavens widely. Don’t lock in on one narrow corner. There are
many stars, each with its own particular expertise in giving off light.
Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is president
of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX. He can be contacted
through his website: www.ronrolheiser.com.
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