Sciences and religions in the late modern period

Introduction

Al-Mashrîq is a monthly scientific review in Arabic published by the Jesuits[1] ; it was founded in 1898 in Beirut by the Arabist Orientalist Louis Cheikho[2]. Under the subtitle of Revue Catholique Orientale, it discussed a broad range of historical, literary, scientific, religious and artistic topics. In the volumes 8,9,10, 11 and 12 it dedicated to the important question of human origins, Father Alexandre Torrend[3] reexamined some Darwinist data which he used against against those Darwinists identified as “materialists[4]” and “intellectualists[5]”, whose doctrines were both presented as “daughters of the 19th century”. Whilst both trends agree on a rejection of supernatural inspiration and influence on natural world phenomena, the intellectualists do not exclude the existence of God but state their indifference to the notion. The materialists, for their part, negate this existence and dispute the role of theology, insisting that the human spirit is a force emerged from primal matter which evolved according to different stages: sprung from the plant kingdom, it evolved into animal form before reaching the human stage. Two reviews in Arabic seem to be in the Jesuit's sights: Al Muqtataf which will be the discussed of this module's second part and Al-Hilâl, founded in 1892.

  1. Jesuits

    religious order which has the particularity to make a special vow of obedience to the pope. They are a noted presence in the fields of education, scientific and spiritual research and mission

  2. Louis Cheikho (1859-1927):

    Lebanese Jesuit priest of Chaldean tradition. Renowned theologian, writer and Orientalist, he was the driving force behind the scientific studies of Arabic paleoChristian texts. He founded the review Al-Mashrîq which numbered 72 volumes on its first centenary in 1998. Al-Mashrîq is currently under the editorship of Father Salim Daccache.

  3. Alexandre Torrend (1859-1941):

    Training first at the Apostolic School in Avignon, he became a Jesuit in 1877completing in Ghazir a noviciate started in France. He studied philosophy and theology in Beirut. Ordained in 1888, he was appointed superior at Beirut, Saida, Tanail and Alepo. He died in Ghazir aged 80 after a debilitating old age.

  4. Materialism:

    Doctrine which holds that all reality boils down to matter, which is the fundamental substance in nature, and that all phenomena, including mental phenomena and consciousness, are the result of material interactions. The materialists find themselves in direct opposition with the spiritualists who uphold the reality of the spirit.

  5. Intellectualism:

    Trend of thought asserting the dominance of intellectual thought in human activity in contrast with emotivism and voluntarism.

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