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Georges Lemaitre: The Priest and the Scientist

Georges Lemaitre (1894-1966)


The Big Bang theory that brought about a new revolution in science was proposed by a Catholic priest, Georges Lamaitre. When this priest-scientist suggested that the universe began from a “primeval atom,” Pope Pius XII was eager to link that primeval entity with God. But Rev Lemaitre told the Pope gently enough that science and religion are two different things and it’d be better to keep them separate.

 Both science and religion are valid ways to truth, according to Lemaitre. Science uses the mind and religion uses the heart. Speaking more precisely, science investigates how the universe works, and religion explores why anything exists at all. Lemaitre was very uncomfortable when one tried to invade the other.

God is not a filler of the gaps in science, Lemaitre asserted. We should not invoke God to explain what science cannot. Science has its limits precisely because it is absolutely rational. Although intuition and imagination may lead a scientist to certain hypotheses, ultimately reason and material evidence are required for any assumption to become a scientific theory.

Such evidence is not required in religion. For Lemaitre, religion was a path to meaning and moral truth, completely distinct from scientific inquiry, and therefore never in conflict with it. Religion addresses the why of existence: questions of purpose, value, and moral orientation. Science, on the other hand, investigates the how of the universe. Religious faith is a personal commitment that shapes the believer’s ethics as well as the sense of wonder that leads one beyond one’s ego towards transcendence.

Lemaitre valued intellectual honesty, humility before truth, and openness to mystery. They are essential for any genuine religious person as well as a scientist. That’s where science and religion may meet. That harmonious blend of science and religion within him was what enabled Lemaitre to pray regularly, say Mass in his church, and also teach science at the Catholic University of Leuven. To him, scientific wonder and religious awe were not contradictory emotions: they were just two ways of knowing the universe.

When Albert Einstein initially dismissed Lemaitre’s scientific theory with the remark, “Your calculations are correct, but your physics is abominable,” Lemaitre cycled through the countryside with a few friends and retained his cool smile. Later, Einstein corrected himself. “This is the most beautiful and satisfactory explanation of creation I have ever heard,” Einstein had to admit.

Lemaitre was a quiet, modest, and self-effacing character. He avoided publicity and disliked ideological battles.  He let ideas speak for themselves. He knew truth didn’t require too many words or any eloquence. Truth doesn’t require bombastic public orations. Truth shines more brightly in calm words than in thunderous speeches. And truth is not the private property of anything: neither science’s nor religion’s.   

Illustration by Copilot Designer


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  1. JaiDecember 12, 2025 at 10:19 AM

    I wonder how a person of Lemaitre's stature and honesty handled the conflicts that arose in his mind. A person who has the reasoning ability to propose a theory as scientifically advanced as the big bang and at the same time have faith in religion too must have surely faced a lot of conflict in his own mind. It is a measure of his intellectual honesty and clarity in thought that he was able to deal with this dichotomy.

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