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Seeds for the Future
have made of you one community: but it is His wish to prove you by that which He has bestowed upon you. Vie with each other in good works, for to God you shall all return and He will resolve for you your differences." Would it be possible to understand the religious truth as follows: All the religions are true as far as they can lead their believers on the path to the Truth, which is one of God's most beautiful names? The dogmas and rituals of my religion apparently differ from the dogmas and rituals of the religion of my neighbor. But the aim of religions is to prepare us to accept the Truth that stands beyond our minds' grasp. The acquisition of religious knowledge is also an open process, and we should travel on the path towards the Truth with great humility. Humility, in the practice of science, as well as in the practice of religion, appears as the most significant ethical value for addressing the challenges of the 21st century. This humility is parallel to the awareness that we are the first generations to acquire a sense of the global world. This is marvelously illustrated by the image of the global earth taken by the astronauts of Apollo 8, when, on Christmas eve 1968, in the first inhabited flight traveling to the Moon, they first contemplated the earth as a round blue fruit lost in the vastness of space. The pictures of the earth they brought back from their journey gave the first strong impression of a new environmental concern and sense of responsibility for the humankind. While reading the first verses of Genesis, the astronauts became suddenly aware that, from such a distance, the differences between nations vanished. This awareness of reality is probably at the origin of a new dialogue between science and culture. More and more scientists are looking for a philosophical framework to interpret the paradoxical results of contemporary science. If science cannot colonize the whole reality, there is room for other approaches. On their way, these scientists find philosophers, religious thinkers, artists, who are interested in science, because thinking in the 21 st century must take the world, as it actually is, into account. Together, they can address really big issues such as the nature of reality and the pursuit of knowledge, in this spirit of humility that is so necessary. While
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