A FAITHFUL AND PRACTICING SCIENTIST. THE PHENOMENON OF THE “THEOLOGICAL NOBEL” A.D. 2008

“The scientist who believes and practices his faith” – does not it sound somehow strange, especially in context of “positivistic mentality” and postMarxist inspirations? Michał Heller is renowned Polish cosmologist, physicist and at the same time Roman-Catholic priest, who impressively contributed to theoretical and practical answer to the opening question. For his achievements in this field he was recognized with so-called “theological Nobel” – the Templeton Prize in 2008. The presentation, which explains meaning of the mentioned prize and includes abridged Heller’s biographic entry, appeals to his earlier writings on question of positivism’s impact on modern mentality. The bottom line is, that those versions of positivism, which put into question possibility of religion and metaphysics, arrogated being metaphysical programs by themselves and are falsified along with development of scientific method. Even so, “positivistic mentality” is still alive in some societies, partially as aftermath of Marxism and other anti-religious propagandas