Augustine Pamplany CST
Johannnes Kepler, the 17th century astronomer, embodies the best example of the reconciliation and integration between science and faith. For Kepler, the universe was sacred with a divine origin. He wrote in 1599: ‘the world is the corporeal image of God and the soul is the non-corporeal image of God.” He referred to the universe as the “bright temple of God.”
He was led by this conviction and it defined the goal of astronomy for him. Astronomy is meant for knowing the mind of God, the thought and plan of God. This goes along with the saying of Einstein that he wanted to know the mind of God as to whether God had a choice in creating the universe. Thus doing astronomy is not playing God or manipulating creation as suggested by thinkers like Francis Bacon. Praise of divine Majesty is the final goal of scientific research.
Kepler saw the reflection of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity in the universe. He taught that the spherical universe of ours is an image of the Triune God. Since the universe is something sacred, the study of the universe also is something very sublime, just like the study of the Sacred Scripture. It is the study of God himself, manifested in and through the nature. In Astronomia Nova Kepler advocated that it was “the divine voice that calls humans to learn astronomy.”
It follows from the above discussion that in Kepler’s view astronomers were priests of the Almighty. He wrote to his fellow-scientists: “Indeed I am of the opinion that since astronomers are priests of God with respect to the Book of Nature, we should concern ourselves not with the praise of our cleverness but with the Glory of God.” He wanted his famous work Epitome to be considered as a hymn composed as “Priest of God at the Book of Nature.”
He believed that while the ordinary priests give glory to God, by administering the sacraments and other pastoral duties, astronomers give glory to God by serving the Deed of God, that is nature. Ordinary priests interpret the word of God, whereas the astronomers interpret the Deed or Actos of God. Both categories are thus revealing the mysteries hidden in the book of nature and the Book of Scripture. It should be noted that these statements for him were no pious statements. It was no justification for him not becoming a priest in the Lutheran Church, though he had aspired to do so. His convictions were confirmed by his deep commitment to them in his mature and advanced age.
