U.S. physicist Stephen M. Barr speaks at the University on the relationship of physics and the resurrection of the body

"While historically the vast majority of Catholic theologians have understood the resurrection of the body to imply some subject of material continuity, a minority holds that what will make it the same body will depend on the soul that animates it. Among this minority is Joseph Ratzinger". This was emphasized by the American physicist Stephen M. Barr, who delivered the VII Mariano Artigas Commemorative Lecture at the University of Navarra.

Professor Barr is a member of the American Physical Society and founder and president of the Society of Catholic Scientists. In his talk he raised, from a multidisciplinary perspective, questions such as where the eternal life Christians believe in will be lived, whether it will be within the confines of this physical universe or beyond it, whether it will constitute something similar to the current state of affairs - physically speaking - or totally different, and whether it is science of any financial aid when thinking about these questions or irrelevant.

He also alluded, citing his work Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life (1977), to the dangers of a false physicalism in trying to understand the resurrection or the unity existing between body and soul. To illustrate his arguments, he used the following example: "Let's say I embrace my wife. What happens is not simply that a structure composed of atoms physically enters into contact with another such structure. It is actually one person embracing another. If this fact is studied with the tools of physics or Chemistry I will be ignoring the most essential part of what is happening: an act of communion between two people".

Contributions to discussion on science and faith

The group Science, Reason and Faith of the academic center has commemorated for another year its first director and also the first Dean of the School Ecclesiastical Philosophy, the priest, physicist and philosopher Mariano Artigas. These biennial lectures began in 2011 and are given by people who have made significant contributions to the discussion on the relationship between science and faith or the major issues that this dialogue raises. 

The event was presided over by president, María Iraburu, and presented by Javier Sánchez Cañizares, researcher of Institute for Culture and Society (ICS). It began with a few words from the Dean of the Ecclesiastical School Philosophy , Santiago Collado, who stressed that "the work of Mariano Artigas can only be understood if we take into account his sincere eagerness to serve. Service that he lived with great naturalness, constancy and dedication until the end of his life".

For her part, president addressed the audience stating: "To be able to exercise multidisciplinarity you need to be very good at your own discipline. It is then that the task of multidisciplinary can be tackled. The university is truly a university if we are able to leave our own area of knowledge and enter into those interdisciplinary areas that are so important". In addition, he asked the many students in attendance: "Please be like Don Mariano was: a true university student".