The importance of understanding the authentic relationship between faith and science could not be more urgent than in our current society.
The Magis Center is pleased to announce that Fr. Spitzer’s book, Science, Reason and Faith: Discovering the Bible, won First Place in the Catholic Media Association’s Faith and Science category. Second place was given to When Science Goes Wrong: The Desire and the Search for Truth by fellow Jesuit Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ, and Christopher Graney.
The CMA Book Award program “recognizes and rewards outstanding works that resonate with Catholic values, promote faith, and inspire reflection and understanding. Book judges include editors, authors, academics, and professionals familiar with Catholic publishing.”
Fr. Spitzer explains that the purpose of his book is “to answer the great questions of science, reason, and faith arising out of the Bible in its dialogue with modern science, history, and scriptural interpretation.”
Using a Question and Answer format, the book explores questions arising from the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The major questions arising from the Old Testament include the existence of God and of the soul, the historical veracity of the Scriptures, including miracles, the veracity of the Creation account in Genesis, and its integration with the Big Bang, cosmology, and evolution. Those from the New Testament include the historicity of Jesus and all the events recorded in the New Testament, including Jesus’ miracles, Crucifixion, and Resurrection; scientific investigations of contemporary miracles; and the historicity of the founding of the Catholic Church with Peter as its head.
This book truly is an invaluable resource especially for those active in the New Evangelization as priests, catechists, and teachers. The content will broaden any reader’s understanding of these significant questions and enable rich conversations with diverse people in the current culture whether you are a parent, grandparent, thoughtful friend, or co-worker.
According to the official website, the CMA had its origins in the need to educate and support immigrants coming to the United States in the 19th century.
As the United States was forming, nativism, or opposition to immigration, was strong. This lack of social standing placed pressure on immigrants and created a need to unite and educate, to bring news from home, and to fight for civil and religious rights in a new country. The immigrants accomplished this by forming societies and associations; creating Catholic journals and newspapers.
The first diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Miscellany, was created in 1822, by South Carolina Bishop John England, an Irish emigre who was an experienced editor.
Finally, in 1911, the Catholic Press Association was launched. The Catholic Media Association was renamed in 2020, but after 200 years, the goal remains the same: “explaining and defending the Catholic Church.”
Two honorable mentions in the Faith and Science Category are:
Theistic Evolution: A Contemporary Aristotelian-Thomistic Perspective by Mariusz Tabaczek (Cambridge University Press) and Meditations on Creation in an Era of Extinction by Kate Rigby (Orbis Books)