"A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man. I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves... Enough for me the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvelous structure of reality, together with the single-hearted endeavor to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature." *
Albert Einstein
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The above quote by Einstein is as good an example of how many scientist might understand and accept the concept of God; in that the term God is used to identify "something impenetrable " but which nevertheless is a manifestation of deep reasoning and awe inspiring beauty of the observable universe. Like most scientists, Einstein did not believe in a personal God, who doles out punishments and rewards based on human conduct. God represent the inscrutable, the unknown order that eternally manifests the order observed in nature.
While Einstein describes this as his religion, God is not the God of theistic religion that seeks a personal relationship with human beings. God when used scientifically is not understood as a being separated from or above that which is, but rather stands as a verbal symbol/expression of all that is and presents a sharp contrast to the idea of God in theology.
Scientifically, God is not concerned with the moral behavior of humans; in that, scientifically speaking, God's purpose does not engage in making judgements about human or universal activity. This is not to say there are no laws by which the universe functions. It is that they are not concerned with moral behavior. God understood scientifically is all about the laws governing the existence of the universe, laws which we humans have merely scratched the surface of to uncover their meanings and role in our lives.
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In reading Kip Thorne's excellent book, "Black Holes and Time Warps," I was struck by how many times I ran across the word intuition as he talked about various physicists and the theories that resulted from their intuitions. I wish I would have conducted a word count on "intuition" because inevitably the progress we see in astrophysics and in quantum mechanics, according to Thorne, is the result of a series of intuitive moments in which these intuitive experiences by various scientists build upon each other scientists that are often triggered by mundane experiences that sparked an intuitive insight that prompted them to the math to validate the value of such intuitive moments.
The difference between use of God in science and God in religion is the difference that lies between intuition and inspiration. Whereas inspiration in religious circles comes from without as a revelation given by a divine source, intuition comes from within as the result of an insight sparked by a mundane (natural) encounter that triggers a new understanding of nature itself. For example, Newton's legendary falling apple and Einstein's childhood encounter with a compass prompted both to new insights into the laws of gravity.
One cannot nor should not underestimate the tremendous effects the efforts of physicists and other scientist in the last century has and continues to have on our lives. With each new discovery we not only understand the universe in which we live, the planet we live on, and more importantly the universe we embody within ourselves. Medicine is merely one area that has been greatly enhance by a deeper understanding of our universe and the quantum mechanics at works in our very bodies.
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God in religion is always resides in the forefront of human perspective as revelation, whereas God in science resides in the unknowable background of existence. God in religion provides an unquestionable theological answer to why we exist. As such, the common believer knows only that which is deemed necessary to ensure some afterlife and is largely discouraged from questioning the causes of one's existence.
The concept of God in science, on the other hand, is set aside in order to understand the workings of the universe in both a macrocosmic and microcosmic sense. Science has yet to answer why we or anything exist. For the most part, scientist are content in not having answers to the question they encounter, which serves as the impetus to pursue what can be revealed through intuition and theoretical discovery. Science are for the most part content with uncertainty, whereas theistic religion tends to see uncertainty as a lack of faith. Faith in theism is in the certitude of God's existence. Faith in science is in the ability of humans to learn and discover the mysteries of the universe we live in and the universe that resides in our being.
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Perhaps this is the difference between the pursuits of theistic religion and science that comes down to punctuation marks. God in religion is expressed by an ! that represents certitude; whereas, God in science is expressed by a ?that represents uncertainty.
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I understand and appreciate the atheistic repulsion towards the idea of a personal God who looks like and acts like us and judges us according to our sense of moral behavior. I also, like most atheists, marvel and express awe and wonder at the heights and depths of the universe we are part of speaks, as Einstein put it, to a religious sense of an, as yet, incomprehensible God-like order that is discoverable through human intuition supported by mathematical hypothesis and theoretical application.
As such, I embrace my own agnosticism and am more comfortable with God as expressed as a ?.
In addition, while I find the term, God, to be problematic, my own intuition based on personal experiences prevents me from discounting an intuition of something residing in my life and indeed the life that surrounds me that speaks of there being more to life we all experience; something indefinable in itself, something paradoxical, and yet, at some level of our existence, gives meaning to our being.
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Until next time, stay faithful.
Norm
* Quote taken from "Einstein's God" by Krista Tippett, (c) 2010, Penguin Books LTD, 80 Strand, London, England. pg.16
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