The dialogue between faith and science is especially important today , and that discussion can and should encompass the greatest of questions . In science , few are bigger than the origins of the Universe and related issues of time and eternity . This is one reason why the thesis of recent CDU M . A . graduate , Sr . Nicholas Marie Polkowska , O . P . is especially notable .
Sr . Nicholas Marie chose her thesis topic for her for Master in Theology with concentration in Philosophy , “ Aquinas , Bonaventure , and Cantor on the Possibility of an Infinite Past Time .” Her work looks at the thought of three great minds , St . Thomas Aquinas , St . Bonaventure , and Georg Cantor . For many readers , Cantor may not be a familiar name , but by the end of the thesis , any reader will appreciate his labors in mathematics and his thought on truly grand and cosmic questions . As Sister Nicholas Marie - who also holds a doctorate in mathematics - writes in her thesis :
Since the introduction of the Big Bang Theory , the question of the origin of our universe has reemerged in modern cosmological research and in contemporary philosophy with a renewed vigor . The enduring fascination of human thought with the notion of an actual infinity hides in the background of this question . Is it possible for an actual infinity of things to exist and if yes , in what way ? Can an actual infinity be increased or multiplied ? Can it be defined and comprehended ? Is God the only infinite being ? These questions led to numerous paradoxes and heated debates both in the Middle Ages and the Modernity .
This is something we should all think about , and we are indebted to Sister Nicholas Marie for such an original piece of scholarship .
Matthew Bunson , PhD Editor , Digital Continent