THE MYSTERIOUS UNIVERSE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 25, Issue 633, 17 August 1951, Page 5

THE MYSTERIOUS UNIVERSE

Sir,-It is regrettable ‘that, "Ex: Nibil? saw fit, to conclude Hisipen-ndme with "1" and not with "o." Also, it seems inaccurate on his part to Say you concluded ‘your editorial with a comparison between "the patient investigations of science’ and "the inspired guesses of religious thinkers." As I see it, you made no comparison; you said the former replaced the latter. This is true. For example,. Galileo’s interpretation of the celestial movements was called heresy, but the truth has prevailed. If "one-eyed" means "of limited vision)’ it, like the word "bias," is, I think, more applicable to: "Ex Nihil" than to you; and to Thomas Aquinas rather than to Galileo and to Mr. Hoyle. Your editorial displays breadth of vision. It is not biased in a materialistic direction. The investigations of science are not necessarily materialistic. I think mediaeval theology was more materialistic than modern science. Actually, you state one aspect of the materialistic argument, and then give the answering argument, namely, that man through consciousness receives the muted pulse of creativeness-in other words, that the soul of man contains a spark of divinity. "E.N." holds that investigation into the nature and destiny of man should be left to trained theologians. Their record is not inspiring. St. Augustine declared that unbaptised infants descended into everlasting fire. .St... Thomas, Aquinas said that the. felicity of the blessed was enhanced by beholding the torments of the damned. The Canon of St. Paul’s says that life after death is a gift, which one need not have if one does not want it. Such are the results of what "E.N." calls "the patient investigations of religious thinkers."

EX NIHILO NIHIL FIT

(Timaru).