Science, Judaism Focus of Recent Scientia Lecture

Science, Judaism Focus of Recent Scientia Lecture

BY PHILIP MONTGOMERY
Rice News Staff
Jan. 28, 1999

New scientific discoveries, especially in the field of medicine, are challenging the way traditional Judaism faces modernity and science, Baruch Brody, professor of philosophy, said at a recent Scientia lecture.

Brody, who is also the director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine, delivered his lecture, titled “Science and Judaism,” on Jan. 20 in Fondren Library.

Brody’s lecture came out of his work to develop “a modern orthodox theology as well as defending a rabbinic ethics of pluralistic casuistry.” He pointed out that while some important philosophical Judaic texts apparently support scientific results there are legal texts that do just the opposite.

He pointed to some of the Talmudic laws that contradict science. For example, “the controversy over the legal status of children born in the eighth month of pregnancy who were thought by the Talmud not to survive–as opposed to those born in months seven and nine in light of modern epidemiological-nenatological knowledge.”

In this case, Brody explained, the Talmud is contradicted by what science and medicine tells us–the later the baby is born the greater the chances of survival. So, a baby born in the eighth month has a greater chance of survival than a baby born in the seventh month.

Joining Brody before the audience were the panelists Henze Matthias, assistant professor of religious studies; Moshe Vardi, the Noah Harding Professor of Computer Science; and Roy A. Walter, senior rabbi of Congregation Emanu El.

Scientia is an institute of Rice University faculty founded in 1981 by the mathematician and historian of science Salomon Bochner. Scientia provides an opportunity for scholarly discussion across disciplinary boundaries.

Scientia sponsors an annual series of colloquia devoted to the exploration of a broad topic from a variety of points of view with this academic year focused on science and religion.

Ronald L. Number, professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin, will deliver the next lecture series, titled “Science, Scripture and Salvation in Evangelical America,” at 4 p.m. Feb. 16 in the Kyle Morrow Room of Fondren Library.

Francisco J. Ayala, the Donald Bren Professor of Biological Science at the University of California, will deliver the Bochner Lecture, titled “So Human an Animal: Evolution, Culture, Ethics,” at 8 p.m. Feb. 23 in the Anne and Charles Duncan Hall Auditorium.