A Course on the Relationship of the Theology of Creation and the Natural Sciences

Introduction: 

In his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, reminded the universal Church that

Dialogue between science and faith also belongs to the work of evangelization at the service of peace. Whereas positivism and scientism “refuse to admit the validity of forms of knowledge other than those of the positive sciences,” the Church proposes another path, which calls for a synthesis between the responsible use of methods proper to the empirical sciences and other areas of knowledge such as philosophy, theology, as well as faith itself, which elevates us to the mystery transcending nature and human intelligence.

In light of the regrettably widespread “conflict hypothesis” on the relationship of natural science with Christian faith in the United States and throughout the Anglophonic world, it is essential for seminarians to receive a substantive formation regarding the compatibility of faith and the natural sciences. Given the unfortunate de-emphasis of protology in seminary curricula in recent decades, a course that offers an exposition and defense of the doctrine of creation is also very important for the ministry of catechesis and evangelization.

Father Joseph R. Laracy is a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark and member of Seton Hall University Priest Community. He serves as assistant professor of Systematic Theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. Father Laracy is also an affiliated faculty member with the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, the Program in Catholic Studies, the University Honors Program, and the University Core Curriculum. Father Laracy’s principal theological interests are in the intersection of faith and reason and theology and science. A significant part of Father Laracy’s research and teaching is focused on placing the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, especially Theology, in dialogue with the sciences: formal science (e.g., logic and mathematics), natural science (e.g., astrophysics and evolutionary biology), applied science/engineering (e.g., cybernetics), and medicine (e.g., psychiatry). He offers a theology course on creation and science that is cross-listed with the program in Catholic Studies and the Core Curriculum. His principal technical interests are in computer engineering and systemics. Computer Engineering is a field that encompasses the study of hardware, software, and systems issues that arise in the design, development, and application of digital systems. Within the field of systemics, Laracy is interested in systems theory (e.g., cybernetics), dynamical systems (e.g., modeling with differential equations), and systems engineering (e.g., safety and security engineering). Father Laracy earned the S.T.B., S.T.L., and S.T.D. (Fundamental Theology) degrees from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 2012, 2014, and 2019 respectively. His S.T.B. paper, under the direction of Monsignor Patrick Burke, was an analysis of the act of faith in the theology of Father Johann Brunsmann, S.V.D., and Father Pierre Rousselot, S.J. During his licentiate and doctoral studies, Father Laracy had the privilege of studying under Father Paul Haffner, and wrote his licentiate thesis on the compatibility of the theology of creation with the natural sciences in the thought of Pope Benedict XVI. Laracy’s doctoral dissertation is entitled, Theology and Science in the Thought of Ian Barbour: An Evaluation for the Catholic Doctrine of Creation. Prior to theological studies in Rome, Father Laracy completed a two-year program in Thomistic Philosophy and classical languages at Immaculate Conception Seminary in NJ.

Aim and Content 

Catholic theological reflection on God’s work of and in creation necessarily engages other disciplines that study the cosmos, e.g. physical cosmology, evolutionary biology, atmospheric science, etc. “Creation and Science” is a unique course that seeks to deepen a student’s understanding of the relationship between the Catholic theology of creation and contemporary empirical science. Its development was funded by the “Science in Seminaries” program funded by the John Templeton Foundation and coordinated by scholars at John Carroll University. It began as a graduate-level elective in Systematic Theology for seminarians, religious, and lay students at Immaculate Conception Seminary in the spring of 2016. It is also available separately for undergraduate students: seminarians, religious, and lay, majoring in Catholic Theology or Catholic Studies, or any undergraduate who wishes to take the class to fulfill their junior year core curriculum requirement. In response to student demand, an online version of the undergraduate version of the class has been developed and should be available in the coming academic year.

Presentation topics include the birth of science, the historical-philosophical environment of this birth, the interventions of recent Popes on the issue, the specificity of the cosmos as shown by current science, the unity of the cosmos and its beauty, the importance of philosophical realism, the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo et cum tempore, the theory of the Big Bang, the theory of evolution, the role of contemporary mathematics in the natural sciences, the fundamentals of climate science and ecology, the science and theology of food, and the dialogue between theological anthropology and modern psychology. Primary sources are emphasized throughout the course. 

Inspired by the extensive historical research of the late Father Stanley L. Jaki, OSB (1924–2009), Seton Hall University Distinguished Professor of Physics, this course shows how early Christian thought built upon the accomplishments of Jewish, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Islamic, Chinese, Indian, and Mesopotamian insights into the natural world and how modern empirical science emerged.  It also shows how the development of empirical science in Europe is the direct result of the fruitful dialog of Aristotelian metaphysical and epistemological insights and the Christian doctrine of creation ex nihilo et cum tempore. It references the Old and New Testaments, the proceedings of Ecumenical Councils, and the writings of pre-Christian civilizations in Mesoamerica, India, Egypt, China, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, and the Arab world.

There are five main objectives for this course:  

1. To introduce students to the history of the development of the natural sciences.
2. To explicate the Catholic doctrine of creation.
3. To communicate the Papal Magisterium of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries on theology and science.
4. To clarify the structure of the scientific method and its relationship with method in theology.
5. To introduces the fundamentals of big bang cosmology, Biblical cosmology, the theory of evolution, climate science, food chemistry, and psychological theories of personality. 

Before each class, students are assigned a reading from a scientist, philosopher, or theologian relevant to the class topic such as Charles Darwin, Viktor Frankl, George Coyne, Michał Heller, Stanley Jaki, Paul Haffner, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. The lecture experience is enhanced by guest faculty from a variety of disciplines. In a recent offering of this course, students had the opportunity to learn from mathematical physicist Carlo Lancellotti, chemist Father Gerald Buonopane, physicist José Lopez, and Biblicist Father James Platania. Grading is based on class participation (attendance and interactions), periodic quizzes (based on the assigned readings), a final exam (take home), and a final paper with an accompanying presentation. The paper and presentation allow students to explore their own interests and share, with the class, the fruits of their research.

Structure

The first class begins with the question, What is Creation? The metaphysical notion of creation is a very important concept for the students to comprehend. Some students might confuse philosophical or theological theories of origins with physical cosmology. For example, two well-known physicists, James Hartle and Stephen Hawking, developed a well-known cosmic origin hypothesis that describes a “spontaneous quantum creation of the universe.”  In The Grand Design, Hawking writes that “the universe can and will create itself from nothing…Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.”  (emphasis added) 

What is the relationship between the “creation” described by Hawking (whether or not the physical theory has scientific merit), and the teaching of the Fourth Lateran Council which solemnly declared that God created the material and spiritual order de nihil condidit et ab initio temporis?  The class encourages students to examine the veracity, compatibility, and differences inherent in scientific and theological statements, thus enabling them to give a critical account of all propositions. The life and work of Father Stanley Jaki and Pierre Duhem are also presented in this lecture. Father Paul Haffner’s analysis of their contributions is an invaluable guide.  As far back as the post-Apostolic period, Catholic Christians professed faith in the doctrine that  

1. God is the creatore mundi
2. God created ex nihilo
3. God created directly, sine causis secundariis, and
4. God created the universe cum tempore. 

This belief was unambiguously articulated as early as the ante-Nicene Fathers.  In Catholic theology, creation is a basic rational axiom:  God is perfect act and ipsum esse subsistens,  who freely creates beings ex nihilo.

Father James Platania, a Catholic exegete formed at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, offers an excellent lecture on understanding the theme of creation in the Book of Genesis from “the Beginning to the Flood.” Father Platania leads the students through an analysis of Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Genesis 6:5-9:17; and Exodus 14:1 – 15:21. He also draws on insights from Cardinal Ratzinger’s homilies.  Joseph Ratzinger has stated that in our contemporary era, the doctrine of creation has an “unprecedented topicality.”  He laments the obscuring and in some cases the suppression of faith in creation in modern thought.

In a subsequent session, we explore the views on creation of the great pre-Christian civilizations, e.g. Egyptians, Indians, Chinese, Mesopotamians, Greeks, Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans. We show how their understanding of creation, rooted in mythos rather than logos, prevented them from developing modern empirical science. The students learn that unlike the pagan religions of antiquity, Christianity never sought to explain the physical phenomena of the material world as a dramatic struggle between warring gods and goddesses. The created world can only be understood through the properly ordered God-given gift of reason. He who created the cosmos is Logos. The work of Pope Gregory XIII and the great achievement of the Gregorian Calendar is also presented. In addition, the students learn about the history and contemporary work of the Vatican Observatory and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

The next class explores the presuppositions of the theology of creation. One of these key epistemological foundations is moderate realism. Pope Paul VI, in a motu proprio commonly referred to as the “Credo of the People of God,” reminded the Church of the full capacity of God’s gift of intellect against some post-Kantian epistemological issues:   

It is of the greatest importance to recognize that over and above what is visible, the reality of which we discern through the sciences, God has given us an intellect which can attain to that which is, not merely the subjective content of the “structures” and the developments of human consciousness. 

We also investigate some modern causes of flawed perceptions of creation:  concordism, modernism, and fundamentalism. Concordists make the mistake of attempting to establish a strict concordance between the first chapter of the Book of Genesis with the most current physical cosmology. They ignore the fact that scientific theories are always subject to revision. Modernist Christians embrace the quest of the German pastor and exegete, Friedrich Schleiermacher, whose aim was to unite Enlightenment values with Protestant principles. His approach was a rigorous application of hermeneutical analysis and literary criticism to the Bible; indeed, Modernists tend to deny the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture as well as the fundamental dogmas expressed in the Nicene Creed. 

While the origins of Biblical fundamentalism can be traced to Reformation principles, e.g. the doctrine of sola Scriptura, the actual movement did not arise until the nineteenth century. At that time, a group of British and American Protestant pastors and theologians felt compelled to propose a radically different form of Christianity in opposition to Modernism. Fundamentalists typically posit a conflict interaction between faith and science. Hence, in order that the students who attend this course can attain a Catholic perspective on Biblical exegesis, they read the Pontifical Biblical Commission’s document, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church.  Students also learn about a Catholic understanding of miracles. This discussion engages the issue of Divine causality and its relation to (Divinely instituted) natural laws.

The following classes summarize the principal points from Papal Magisterium on theology and science. We present a selection of teachings from Leo XIII, Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. John Paul II’s encyclical, Fides et Ratio, is required reading. We reflect on the Biblical cosmology of Benedict XVI as well as the logos of faith and science in his thought. This leads the class to Benedict’s important lecture to the science faculty at the University of Regensburg, “Faith, Reason, and the University:  Memories and Reflections.” A lecture is dedicated to the role of mathematics in contemporary science as well as the rationality and intelligibility of the universe. Eugene Wigner notes,   

The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. We should be grateful for it and hope that it will remain valid in future research and that it will extend, for better or for worse, to our pleasure, even though perhaps also to our bafflement, to wide branches of learning. 

Albert Einstein observes that “the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible.”  We examine the work of Father Michał Heller and Father George Coyne, SJ, on the relationship of the philosophy of mathematics with natural science, and this relationship’s implications for the comprehensibility of the universe. 

Next, the class explores the co-development of natural science with the theology of creation in medieval Europe. The patristic contribution to Catholic reflection on creation is highlighted in the work of Saints Basil the Great and Augustine of Hippo. Their contribution provides the basis for further development by the Scholastics, particularly Saint Thomas Aquinas. 

At this time, we also present the lives and accomplishments of a number of significant priest-scientists, e.g. Pope Sylvester II (ca. 946–1003), the Pope who reintroduced Arabic numerals and the abacus to Europe; Bishop Robert Grosseteste (ca. 1168–1253), the Bishop of Lincoln and founder of the “Oxford School” known for developing the tradition of experimental science; Archbishop Thomas Bradwardine (1290–1349), the Archbishop of Canterbury who was one of the first people to write down an equation for a physical process; Bishop Nicholas of Oresme (1323–1382), the Bishop of Lisieux who as a mathematician discovered how to combine exponents and developed graphs of mathematical functions and as a physicist explained the motion of the Sun by the rotation of the Earth and developed a more rigorous understanding of acceleration and inertia; Cardinal Nicolas of Cusa (1401–1464), Bishop of Brixon as well as mathematician and astronomer who postulated non-circular planetary orbits, developed a mathematical theory of relative motion, and even used concave lenses to correct near-sightedness; Canon Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), the cleric who formulated a heliocentric model of the Solar System, and many others. The primary focus is the contribution of Monsignor Georges Lemaître (1894–1966), the priest who formulated the Big Bang hypothesis of the universe as well as made significant contributions to celestial mechanics and the study of galactic structure. 

A topic of great interest for the students is biological evolution. We study a variety of scientific theories of evolution, carefully distinguishing them from popular interpretations/reductions. Students read a chapter from The Origin of Species to acquaint themselves with some of Charles Darwin’s original theories. We also explore the Christian reception of these theories, e.g. students learn about the Christian geneticist and physician, Francis Collins’, BioLogos approach.  In addition, a classical Thomistic interpretation of evolution is presented.  We cover elements of Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ’s natural theology and discuss why the Holy See issued a monitum on some of his works. Students watch a recently filmed lecture by the biological anthropologist, Agustín Fuentes, on “big questions” in contemporary primatology.  

This course also explains the development and structure of the scientific method, distinguishing it from theological methods. Students learn about the emergence of the scientific method during the medieval period and the important role of Scholastic philosophy. They see how the method culminates in the work of Galileo Galilei and continues to be applied with great success in the modern period. We also identify “threats” to the practice of good science as well as theology; these include epistemological empiricism  and metaphysical idealism. We also critically engage the problematic aspects of the intelligent design movement. 

A guest lecture by the mathematical physicist, Carlo Lancellotti, addresses the relationship of science and ideology. Lancellotti suggests that “the simple way in which Christian scientists can help science is by witnessing in their work that the human attraction to the beauty of the cosmos is not a delusion, but rather a prophecy of the incarnation of the Word through Whom the cosmos was created.”  The experimental physicist, José Lopez, regularly offers a class on the fundamentals of Big Bang cosmology. Most of the students have heard the term “Big Bang” but have never been taught any of the central concepts that underlie it. After this lecture, students have a much better sense of the specificity of the cosmos as shown by current science, as well as its unity and beauty. They also have a deeper appreciation for the genius of Monsignor Georges Lemaître.

Many students have an admirable concern for the care of God’s creation. Thus, we examine the encyclical of Pope Francis, Laudato Si as well as Father Haffner’s book, Toward a Theology of the Environment.  We distinguish between the science of ecology and the ideology that also assumes that name. The lecture addresses the fundamental science of Earth’s carbon cycle,  the greenhouse effect, and issue of climate change.  Clean energy, nuclear power, and environmental health issues are also discussed.

Another area of dialogue is between Catholic theological anthropology (e.g. creation of man, his nature, etc.) and theories of personality in modern psychology. We begin our investigation with Genesis 2:6-8. Next, the class explores the Gospel and Pauline Corpus use of the terms psyche and pneuma as well as other relevant Biblical terms, e.g. soma, sarx, kardia, and nous. We also discuss the hylopmorphic doctrine of the soul as the substantial form of the body taught by the Council of Vienne. These fundamental Catholic anthropological concepts are then brought into interaction with the principal psychological theories of personality:  psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioral, existential, and systemic. Emphasis is given to Viktor Frankl’s approach to existential analysis—logotherapy—given its foundation acknowledging man as body, mind, and spirit. 

The Shroud of Turin is an artifact that engages a number of important issues in the relationship of Catholic faith with contemporary science. Students watch and discuss the film, The Fabric of Time,  which presents many significant facts about the Shroud from a plethora or international scholars. They also read articles by scientists from diverse specializations who have analyzed aspects of the Shroud. 

Father Gerald Buonopane’s guest lecture introduces the students to the theology and science of food. Father Buonopane is a member of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and specializes in food science. His presentation surveys the discussion of food and faith in the Old and New Testaments. He also incorporates contemporary theological reflection on the nature of food, its ethical cultivation, its fair distribution (i.e. the problem of hunger), and the food par excellence—the Eucharist. In addition, the students are introduced to some of the foundations of food chemistry, dietary plans, eating disorders, and genetically modified foods. 

Conclusion

The concluding class offers some final thoughts on the relationship between the Catholic theology of creation and the Church’s contribution to modern science. It also discusses persistent challenges in successfully communicating the doctrine of creation to postmodern man. Students realize that coming to a satisfactory understanding of creation is not an easy task. For example, despite the extraordinary brilliance of the ancient Egyptians, Indians, Chinese, Mesopotamians, Greeks, and Pre-Colombian Americans, in the areas of writing, mathematics, architecture, and engineering, contemporary studies in the history of science have shown that these sophisticated cultures never successfully developed an effective method for the scientific study of nature.

It was not until the revelation of God to the Jewish people and ultimately the incarnation of the eternal Logos, Jesus the Christ, that mankind could fully appreciate the great order of the universe. An answer to the question of why there is something rather than nothing is provided by the revelation that God is both ratio et caritas. He created the universe, endowing it with structure and meaning, and ordained that the pinnacle of His creation—man and woman—might enjoy eternal beatitude with Him for no other reason than His great love. The keen awareness of this fact led the Fathers of the Church, the medieval Scholastics, as well as Christians of the modern era to study nature systematically, freed from the shackles of myth and the philosophical errors that restrict human reason.

Finally, students come to appreciate that while the natural sciences are an essential discipline for understanding aspects of reality, reality itself transcends the natural sciences. According to Benedict, “moral-religious” reasoning, in contrast to “physical-natural scientific” reasoning, is not a mere expression of superstition and subjective preferences. He writes, “It is in fact the more fundamental of the two reasons, and it alone can preserve the human dimensions of both the natural sciences and technology and also prevent them from destroying humankind.”  

We hope that upon the completion of the course, with the help of God’s grace, the students will be able to offer an effective articulation of the Christian doctrine of creation. In doing so, they will help men and women to see in the design of the universe a manifestation of the love of the Creator and have faith in the Divine revelation of the Logos. It is an enjoyable task to offer a cogent presentation on Catholic doctrine and theological reflection, an account faithful to the Tradition and in sincere dialogue with the real challenges of modern science. This is an important challenge in a world that has moved from the metaphysical to the epistemological—a gap that is not always consciously bridged, but which is at the heart of fundamental theology.

Acknowledgements

The author is very grateful for the insightful feedback on this article from Father Charles Samson, Father Matthew Baldwin, and the anonymous peer reviewers. 

Endnotes

1. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio, 1998, 74.
2. Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 2013, 242.
3. The two primary sources of this perceived conflict are: Andrew D. White, A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1993); John William Draper, History of the Conflict between Religion and Science (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014).
4. See Stanley L. Jaki, Science and Creation (Lanham: University Press of America, 1990); Stanley L. Jaki, The Savior of Science (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000).
5. Stephen J. Hawking, “Origins of the Universe” (J. Robert Oppenheimer Lecture in Physics, University of California, Berkeley, March 13, 2007), accessed December 7, 2017, http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2007/03/16_hawking_text.shtml.
6. This expression comes from a warning label on fireworks that read something like: “Light blue touch-paper—Stand well back.”
7. Leonard Mlodinow and Stephen Hawking, The Grand Design (New York: Bantam, 2012), 180.
8. Lateran IV, Constitutions, 1215, chap. 1 “Confession of Faith” in Peter Hünermann, ed., Heinrich Denzinger—Enchiridion Symbolorum: A Compendium of Creeds, Definitions, and Declarations of the Catholic Church, 43rd ed. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012), DS 428.
9. See Paul Haffner, Creation and Scientific Creativity: A Study in the Thought of S. L. Jaki, 2nd ed. (Leominster, UK: Gracewing Publishing, 2009).
10. Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas on Creation, trans. Steven Baldner and William E. Carroll (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1997), 22.
11. For a thorough treatment of the Patristic contribution, see Gerhard May, Creatio Ex Nihilo: The Doctrine of “Creation Out of Nothing” in Early Christian Thought, trans. A.S. Worrall (Edinburgh: T&T Clark International, 2004).
12. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiæ, I, Q 4, A 2.
13. Joseph Ratzinger, In the Beginning: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall, trans. Boniface Ramsey (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995).
14. Ibid., 81.
15. Paul VI, Solemni Hac Liturgia, 1968, 5.
16. Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church (Boston: Pauline Books & Media, 1996).
17. Benedict XVI, The Regensburg Lecture, ed. James V. Schall (South Bend: St. Augustines Press, 2007).
18. Eugene P. Wigner, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences (Richard Courant Lecture in Mathematical Sciences Delivered at New York University), May 11, 1959,” Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics 13, no. 1: 14.
19. Albert Einstein, “Physics and Reality,” trans. Sonja Bargmann (New York: Bonanza, 1954), 292.
20. See George V. Coyne and Michael Heller, A Comprehensible Universe: The Interplay of Science and Theology (New York: Springer, 2008).
21. See Joseph R. Laracy, “Priestly Contributions to Modern Science: The Case of Monsignor Georges Lemaître,” Faith (May/June 2010): 16–19.
22. See Francis S. Collins, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (New York: Free Press, 2007).
23. See Mariusz Tabaczek, “Thomistic Response to the Theory of Evolution: Aquinas on Natural Selection and the Perfection of the Universe,” Theology and Science 13, no. 3 (July 3, 2015): 325–344.
24. Agustín Fuentes, “Big Questions in Anthropology” (Lecture presented at the Science in Seminaries Conference, Tucson, January 31, 2016), accessed April 10, 2017, http://sites.jcu.edu/semscience/home/speakers/.
25. See Richard De Brasi and Joseph R. Laracy, “An Empirical Critique of Empiricism,” Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture 16, no. 4: 124–163.
26. Carlo Lancellotti, “Science, Contemplation, and Ideology” (presented at the The World and Christian Imagination Conference, Baylor University, 2006), 5.
27. Paul Haffner, Towards a Theology of the Environment (Leominster: Gracewing Publishing, 2008).
28. See Daniel Rothman, “Earth’s Carbon Cycle: A Mathematical Perspective,” Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society 52, no. 1: 47–64.
29. See Richard Lindzen, “Is There a Basis for Global Warming Alarm?” (presented at the Global Climate Policy after 2012 Conference, Yale Center for Globalization, October 21–22, 2005).
30. See Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning, trans. Ilse Lasch (Boston: Beacon Press, 2006); Viktor Frankl, On the Theory and Therapy of Mental Disorders: An Introduction to Logotherapy and Existential Analysis (New York: Routledge, 2004).
31. David Priest, Fabric of Time, DVD, Documentary, 2007.
32. See Tristan Casabianca, “The Shroud of Turin: A Historiographical Approach,” The Heythrop Journal 54, no. 3: 414–423; Marzia Boi, “Pollen on the Shroud of Turin: The Probable Trace Left by Anointing and Embalming,” Archaeometry 59, no. 2: 316–330; Elvio Carlino et al., “Atomic Resolution Studies Detect New Biologic Evidences on the Turin Shroud,” PLOS One 12, no. 6: 1–13.
33. See Norman Wirzba, Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011).
34. See Robert L. Shewfelt, Alicia Orta-Ramirez, and Andrew D. Clarke, Introducing Food Science, 2nd ed. (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2015).
35. Ratzinger, In the Beginning, 46–47.