God and the New Physics
Posted by 
sreinitz on October 5, 2009 · 8 Comments
Hey guys - Tim Fry asked that I share this upcoming Sunday Morning Conversation series with the HG crew. Just in case you’re interested…
Sunday Morning Conversation Series starting Sunday at 9:30am:
God and the New Physics: Trying to learn about the Creator by studying the Creation.
Historically, theology has been informed by perceptions of the cosmos. In Medieval times, it was considered that the sun revolved around the earth, and humans were at the center of the universe. Copernicus and Galileo saw an end to that. Isaac Newton discovered laws of mass and motion. With them, one could predict the movement of planets (and apples!) with great precision. Such precise laws tended to support the notion of a “clockmaker God,” who created the world and then withdrew to watch it play out. Humans might only be characters in a foreordained pageant, with limited free will.
Starting at the beginning of the last century, physicists discovered fascinating facts about the very small and the very fast. Quantum mechanics of subatomic particles work probabilistically. That is, one can make accurate predictions about statistical results, but each individual tiny particle could be in one of a number of quantum states. Is that the kind of way the Creator approaches the seeming contradiction between human free will and Calvin’s predestination? The class also describes the quantum entanglement of particles. Einstein said they evidenced “spooky action at a distance.” Is there scientific evidence that “there’s something out there” we don’t understand? Come learn about some of the interesting and surprising facts of modern physics, and join in a freewheeling discussion of what they might mean for us. The material is geared to non-specialists who like to grapple with ideas.
Join us for four conversations beginning Sunday, October 11th at 9:30am for a guided discussion on many of these issues.
This Sunday’s Conversation – Evolving Views of Physics: Implications for Theology? Includes wave/particle duality and quantum entanglement. Discussion includes free will and spooky actions at a distance.
Conversation 2. Stuff: What is it? Includes the Standard Model, quarks, and strings. Mysteries of the Particle Zoo. The complexity of the universe seems to be based on a limited number of physical principles. Are there somewhat analogous principles that drive the complexity of our lives? If we understand them better, can we gain more clarity?
Conversation 3. The Anthropic Principle. Certain mathematical constants that describe the natural world have values that are extremely precise, and relate to each other in a way that supports the generation of human life (the cosmos becoming self-observant, if you will). Because the probability of all these constants lining up so precisely is vanishly small, can we make the claim that human beings (anthropoi) are in the cosmological center stage? If we’re important, what should we be doing? Did God initiate a cosmic series of events because he wanted to create an outstanding good?
Conversation 4. Life. The cell and the living complexity that has evolved over time. Most life is single cell and mostly autonomous. However, some cells have diversified, specialized, and become part of larger complex organisms. Was this the goal all along? Whose? What larger wholes are we part of?
I am a young man living in the Alexandria area and am interested in hearing your lecture. Could you please let me know specifically where the lecture is being held and if newcomers who are not affiliated with your church are allowed. I am a physicist and am interested in the topics stated.
Thank you for your time.
Nicholas Scott
It’s being held at 3846 King St, Alexandria, VA. We would love for you to come!
Matt,
Who is leading this discussion and are they basing it just on the 1984 book or is it updated with new info from Physics. I am interested in this topic but live on the west coast.
Hi, Bob
I’m the one leading the conversation. I liked Paul Davies’ God and the New Physics when it came out, but I am more basing background of my talks on Davies’ more recent work, Cosmic Jackpot. I also have been listening to lectures by a Kenyon physics professor on quantium mechanics. The theology is mostly what I’ve picked up along the way, but I really like Why there almost Certainly is a God (an answer to Dawkins), I believe by Ward, who I think is just superb. I also like his previous work, God: a Guide for the Perplexed. Next but certainly not least, the Anthropic Principle discussion follows John Polkinghome (sp?), an Anglican priest and physics scholar. He has a series of papers on the Faraday page website on this general topic that are outstanding in this field.
Oh. And it’s at 9:30 the next 3 weeks. We hope you can make it.
David
Sorry i cannot make the discussion as I am in Oregon. I believe that the implications of the new physics on theology is just starting. With dark energy and dark matter, multidimensional realities, strings that are vibrations that underpin what we call matter, and the coming and going of matter in vacuums in space, etc. all point to a vast misunderstanding of what we have been calling reality. Just as Einstein changed how we see reality and led to a vast changing of our perception of time and space, the new physics will usher in a change in how we understand the influences of the mysteries of the universe and how things are just not always what they seem. Intuition, spirit, miracles, group dynamics, the collective unconscious, and even God’s self are being re-understood in light of this new physical consciousness of reality. Exciting times to be alive…but very challenging to traditional understandings of theology as well. have fun in the class
Hi, Bob
I tend to agree very much with the important points thta you raise. (My heads up on 9:30 was more for the gentleman from Alexandria, although Matt has been known to work wonders with IT conferencing!)
Last class I introduced quantum entanglement as an example of what physics doesn’t understand, and agree that dark matter/energy are very appropriate additons to that list. Next week I’m planning to discuss where we are on matter, and suggest that it’s not so firm a foundation for materialsists to attack spirituality, as it were. I don’t plan to get into zero-point energy and the quantum vacuum very much, but it may well come up. Fascinating topic well shrouded in limited understanding.
One of my concerns is that science is advancing, but a number of scientists tend to be fairly dismissive of religious belief. I think a number of recent discoveries tend to support religious belief, and want believers to be aware, and use it to advance their own spiritual development.
Hello Mr. Siegrist:
I attended your church’s Bible study last nigh with Pastor Jan. A good experience. I will try to make the conversation series this weekend and was sorry to miss it last weekend. I see that you are someone who likes to purchase learning material from the Teaching Company.
I also have Dr. Schumacher’s DVD set on Quantum Physics but I have yet to look at it. Indeed a fascinating subject and one with many implications concerning the nature of reality.
Personally as a scientist, I try to keep a very open mind about things. I have come to see that for many people, truth is subjective as Soren Kierkegaard tells us. This is not to say that religious revelation as an ultimate truth is to be dismissed. For me this means that there is often a difference between scientific facts and personal beliefs. For example, quantum mechanics tells us that the world is probabilistic in nature. That is just how the theory is formulated. What a person ‘believes’ about how the world really is ontologically is another matter. I have met more scientists who simply try to keep those two things separate.
I thank you for your comments and insights. I think confronting these issues, which are by nature very difficult, speaks well to your church community.