The Ripple at the Edge of the Universe…
Well who would have thought that snooker would ever be so big on television? Or darts? But now?……Cosmology, and any science with the prefix ‘new’ (New Physics, New Biology). They are all big on TV this year, and even bigger in the book market. Whether it’s Richard Dawkins giving the Christmas Lectures, or the psychiatrist Anthony Clare presenting Soul in three parts on BBC-2, or the new film of Stephen Hawking’s Brief History of Time, or his new biography as Editor’s Choice in The Softback Preview Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science, Viking, 1992) or even Review articles in Vanity Fair - GUTs (Grand Unified Theories) and TOEs (Theories of Everything) are here to stay. Programmes about “the new science and the mind of God” are as likely to follow Coronation Street as Match of the Day.
And many of the scientists make such sweeping claims. When they found evidence of the ripples that are the last vestiges of the Big Bang, 15,000 million years out at the edge of the universe, some announced: “We have solved the riddle of the universe.” Phooey! We may have taken further steps in confirming the current theories, but we are no nearer to answering the basic questionsof the universe, “Why did it all begin? Why are we all here? Is there meaning and purpose to be found in my life?”
But it’s all fascinating stuff, and for many of us, all the new theories serve only to re-inforce our faith and increase our sense of wonder and awe of all the Father has created through the Son.
“It is all over with priests and gods when man becomes scientific.”
How wrong could that great 19th century atheist Friedrich Nietzsche be! He proves the old adage: “he who marries the spirit of the age is sure to be a widow in the next.” Recent scientific developments have pushed the realms of science and religion closer together than they have possibly ever been. This is what makes good TV and popular books. So an American atheist like Frank Tipler claims that the theories of global relativity have driven him back to God. The major series entitled Soul, screened on BBC-2 in April, explored the spiritual implications of new scientific thinking on cosmology, evolution and brain science. There was lots of talk of ‘God’ and of the ‘Soul’ of the universe.
But we must be cautious of these scientific ‘conversions’. Newton was right when he warned, “Physics, beware metaphysics!” When many of this new breed of polymaths and metaphysicists use the word ‘god’, they do not have the personal God of the Bible in mind, or anything approaching biblical faith. “It’s only been in the last few years, understanding the implications of quantum physics and the new cosmology that I have found a way back to faith. It is a complete reinterpretation of faith, and yet one that is meaningful to the modern mind…” The Oxford mathematician, Danah Zohar, goes on to make wholly unjustified comments about Christianity “It is no longer possible to believe in both the discoveries of modern science and in the traditional dictates of the church…” (The Quantum Self, Flamingo, 1991)
“In the beginning, God…”
In fact, many of the new theories underline much of the church’s biblical teaching down through the ages. At this level, Zohar’s work raises intrigueing possibilities. She takes Fritjof Capra's classic works on the New Physics and its reinforcement of Eastern mysticism and New Age (The Tao of Physics and The Turning Point, Fontana) one stage further. Her examination of quantum theory and human consciousness provides an explanation for the subtle intermeshing of human relationships and the interplay of conscious beings with time and eternity.
Roger Penrose (The Emperor’s New Mind, Vintage, 1989) takes another similar angle to show that artificial intelligence can never match human consciousness as long as it is working on the present knowledge of mathematics and computers. A human IS more than the sum of the parts. Given a big enough computer and enough information, the human mind cannot be reproduced. Penrose is a mathematician and bases some of his arguments on a theorem of Kurt Gödel. Simply stated, this is, that for any set of rules of logic, there can be something outside of these rules which is true although these rules can never prove it to be true. So at the moment, the full workings of a human mind lie beyond computational science, outside of the physcics we presently know.
Furthermore, in this ever more bizarre universe, there is an almost unbelievable connection between the observer and the observed, sometimes expressed as the Strong Anthropic Principle. Consciousness acts as the midwife to reality. Interestingly, many scientists are arguing that quantum physics has put humankind back at the centre of the universe. As physics professor Paul Davies puts it: “It seems as though the existence of mind and consciousness in the universe is something that is in some sense meant to be… we’re not just a trivial add on to the universe, we are truly written into the script…”
So what?
You could just keep your head down and wait till the next batch of cosmological theories come along, and hope that they are more to your liking.
You can join the young earth creationists, espouse creation science and simply fit new experimental and observational details into your own version of origins and modern science. This is a lone furrow to plough, and many of us do not believe that Scripture requires it of us.
Or you can deny the theories - they are after all only theories. Remember that scientists are often wrong, but they are never unsure! Hawking and the theoreticians are certainly running ahead of observation. As Harvard’s Sidney Coleman puts it, “Are we really getting somewhere or are we running in circles? Difficult to tell, but we’re having fun. It exercises the mind.”
Worst of all, you can just push God into all the gaps again and say, “there you are - they can’t explain consciousness! That proves there’s a God!”
“The heavens declare the glory of God…”
Had the psalmist been aware of modern cosmology, he would have had even more reason to worship God. And worship is an appropriate response to all the new developments, whether they turn out to be true or just another step along the way to more convincing theories. We have nothing to fear, for it is “by faith we understand the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” (Heb 11.3) The book writers and the programme makers give us a marvelous opportunity to point to the wonder of God, whom the Bible and our hearts reveal as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator of all things.
