Since the aim of our coming together at this conference is to discuss ways of interpreting the results of,

or integrating the results of contemporary science into a mature and theologically informed faith,

my purpose this morning is to provide an overview of the metaphysical and epistemological issues involved in such an integration project.

Since there's a vast set of issues, indeed,

my strategy will be to go over them in a narrative form.

Among the followers of Thomas Aquinas in philosophy and theology,

the narrative is well underway, and it's a long one.

I cannot tell the novel length version of the story this morning, but I can tell a short story.

For Thomists who are here present, the story I'm going to tell this morning is one

we're accustomed to telling each other to the point of being tiresome. But to those here present

who are unfamiliar with how tomists commonly read and diagnose our contemporary situation,

this short story may come as something new and hopefully

illuminating and point out several ways forward in the task of integrating the results of science

into a theologically informed faith. So I'm going to proceed in three parts. In the first part,

I will lay out Aristotle's philosophy of nature and the metaphysical picture it gives us what I call the world of form and finality.

And I'll look at some of its ethical and theological implications.

In the second part, I'll look at the mechanistic reductionistic materialism that displays Aristotle's philosophy of nature,

and the metaphysical picture such materialism gives us, what I call the world of power and control.

And some of its ethical and theological implications.

And then finally I'll propose a way out to integrate the results of science

into a theologically informed faith, what I call the hermeneutics of wisdom and love.

So first, the world of form and finality.

...