SCIENCE ‘CANNOT ACT ALONE’ POPE TELLS

THREE KINGS: “MODELS OF TRUE WISDOM USING BOTH
FAITH AND REASON” SAYS POPE DURING EPIPHANY MASS

VATICAN CITY, Rome (ANSA) - Pope Benedict XVI offered the Magi as an example of “unity between intelligence and faith” as he spoke to a crowd in St. Peter’s Square on January 6, the feast of the Epiphany. In a homily likely to rekindle debate on the relationship between science and religion, the pope said science cannot act alone but must be open to the faith that guided the Three Kings. Reality can only be read by combining “intelligence and faith, science and Revelation, the two lights that guided the path of the Magi,” he said. Speaking to a packed congregation in St Peter's basilica, the pope held up the three wise men who followed the star to Jesus's birthplace as “models” of “authentic seekers of truth”. In his homily the Pope observed that while the prophets foretold the arrival of the Messiah a great king, to whom all the other kings of the earth would bow, in fact the humble birth of Christ drew no attention from the rich and powerful of Jerusalem. Instead, he said, the Christ child was visited by “kings of the East - unknown characters, perhaps views with suspicion.” When those three kings offered gifts to Jesus, the Pope continued, they were submitting themselves to Him. “The Kings can no longer continue on their way, they can not return to Herod, they can not be allied with that powerful and ruthless ruler. Have been brought over forever to the path of the Child.”

The Pope said that the Magi were men of learning, for whom the entire universe was “virtually a great book full of signs and messages from God to man.” They studied the skies, and profited from their own learning, but - the Pope stressed - they were still “open to further appeals and divine revelations.” When they reached Jerusalem, they inquired in Herod’s court for advice from Jewish scholars, to help them understand the prophets. Although they must have thought of themselves as men of science; they were “not ashamed to ask for directions from the religious leaders of the Jews.” Thus reason and faith were combined by the Three Wise Men in their search. The Pope said that “the star and the Scriptures were the two lights that guided the journey of the three kings.” Their thorough integration of these two paths to knowledge is a model for our time, when so many people see reason and faith in conflict, the Pope concluded. Before ending his audience the Pope offered a special greeting to the Eastern churches, which will celebrate the Nativity on January 7. “May the mystery of light - he hoped – be a source of joy and peace to every family and community,” he said.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

When religion or any faith is devoid of philosophy and logic, then it is material sentiment. And philosophy and logic without understanding of God is simply waste of time ... So both should be combined, religion plus philosophy. One should understand the principles of religion with philosophy and logic. We are claiming college students, university students, because we are presenting religion on the basis of philosophy and logic. We are not blindly following. We have not dogmatism. We have got reason, philosophy, and everything, science. If you want to understand this Krsna consciousness on the basis of philosophy, logic and science, we are prepared to present to you. But the ultimate goal is to surrender unto the Supreme.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Lecture in Montreal, July 20, 1968
The Complete Works - Lectures & Classes 680720LE.MON