Alumnus Employs Natural Science to Teach Philosophy & Theology to Seminarians

“Anything legitimately discovered by science can only help in terms of the overall evangelization effort of our Church,” says Dr. John Finley (’99) in a recent story in the St. Louis Review. “Since God is the author of it all, of course, it’s going to complement what we learn in theology.”

A professor of philosophy at the Archdiocese of St. Louis’ Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, Dr. Finley has helped to secure a $10,000 Templeton Foundation grant to incorporate natural science into his seminarians’ studies. Using the proceeds from the grant, Dr. Finley will offer a class next year entitled “Man and Woman, He Created Them: What Science Tells Us About Gender.” The course will examine the Church’s teaching on a host of timely and contentious issues — including gender theory, marriage, contraception, and the all-male, celibate priesthood — in light of the biology of the human person. “It’s amazing how many issues funnel their way back to ‘what is a man and what is a woman?’” says Dr. Finley. “In some way, they all have to do with our understanding or lack of understanding of what is a man and what is a woman.”

In the St. Louis Review story, author Dave Luecking notes that Dr. Finley “routinely taught across disciplines — for example, in science, the Bible or philosophy” during his “previous teaching stint” as a tutor at the College. “I enjoyed that interdisciplinary emphasis, so this makes a lot of sense,” says. Dr. Finley. “It brings science into dialogue with philosophy and theology.”

Dr. John Finley was back at the College just last month to deliver a lecture, The Extraordinary Unity of the Human Being.