Category: religion

What was there before ‘God’

 

The question of “What was before God” is interesting – although; the answer must be “Nothing”.

 

Whether god is, as to some, the atoms and molecules that make up existence, or god is the personal creator described in the Judeo-Christian doctrines. There is an old Latin saying that says “Ex nihilo nihil fit” which means roughly – if there was ever a time that there was nothing – there would still be nothing today (i.e. out of nothing, nothing comes).

 

The idea of God is that God is that which there is no greater. So if there is something before what we call god, then what we call god is not god, and its predecessor is in fact God (an adaptive form of the argument from ontology by Anselm of Canterbury).

 

Additionally there can’t be an infinite regress of causes (that is – there has to be a first cause) – and that first cause is what we call God (from Aquinas’ Quinque viae).

 

In my science courses at the University, I am always amazed, and delighted to see how discussions of science and humanity inevitably come back to discussions on God!

Augustine on the Literal interpretation of Genesis

 

I found it very interesting that St. Augustine in writing on the Literal interpretation of Genesis warns Christians to be very cautious in making the bible say something that it doesn’t really say, and then looking foolish in the light of common reason that disagrees.

 

I used to believe in a 7 day literal interpretation of Genesis (I was also a young-earth enthusiast) – however, the more I study of evolution and the big bang, the more I at least see, in my own mind, that taking that position may not be the best exegetical approach to Genesis (in fact, there are interpretive reasons as well – but I won’t get into them).

 

Just to go hand and hand with this conversation, here is the quote that I was referencing from Augustine.

 

“Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he holds to as being certain from reason and experience. Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up their vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn (Augustine, 1982).”

 

References

Augustine, S. (1982). The Literal Meaning of Genesis Vol 1. New Jersey: Paulist Press.

 

 

 

Will science ever discover the origins of life?

 

While there are very few limits of science in answering metaphysical questions, even science itself cannot answer some questions of science as was discovered in the early 1900s by Werner Heisenberg as a result of work done by Max Planck (Hawking, 1998).

 

Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle led Heisenberg, and others, to create a new theory based on the uncertainty of the ability to make predictions about packets of light called quanta, resulting in a new theory called Quantum Mechanics (Hawking, 1998).

 

The result of this fundamental law of uncertainty means that, not only will science fail to make accurate simultaneous measurements of the speed and position of quanta, but science will never be able to make accurate measurements of the future. So while the future may itself be deterministic, science will never be able to determine it (Tipler, 2007).

 

Like the future, the question of the origins of the life will definitely be challenging if not impossible for science to answer. How can one test in a reproducible fashion, the state in which the early universe was in leading up to the evolution of life, without being able to accurately reproduce that state?

 

One of the hallmarks of scientific learning is to be able to test in a reproducible fashion a theory that has been devised. I don’t ever see humanity recreating the Big Bang without a consequent of the unintentional annihilation of humanity (we’ll see what the LHC produces over the next few years!).

 

I also don’t think science is equipped to answer existential questions, like “Why am I here”, “What is my purpose”, “Where am I going”.

 

So, while science may continue to build on the hypothesis of the origin of life, I find it unlikely that we will ever be able to reproduce the initial creation of life, nor answer the questions of the meaning and purpose of life. Those answers are beyond the limits of science.

 

Of course, if Heisenberg taught me anything, it’s that the future is uncertain from a human standpoint – so who knows for sure!

 

References

Hawking, S. (1998). A Brief History of Time. New York: Bantam Books.

Tipler, F. J. (2007). The Physics of Christianity. New York: Doubleday.

 

Science & Religion


In our post-modern milieu, there are a growing number of scientists that are starting to understand that faith and religion does not have to be mutually exclusive; that true science and true religion doesn’t have to contradict each other – rather it supports each other.

If you have an interest in reading some writers that believe the sciences show some form of intelligent design (Which is the basis of most all major world religions); I could recommend:

Francis Collins – Biophysics
Robert Jastrow – Astrophysics
Frank Tipler – Mathematical Physicist
Paul Davies – Astrobiology
Alister McGrath – Molecular Biophysics

References

Bennett, J., Donahue, M., Schneider, N., & Voit, M. (2007). The Cosmic Perspective 4th Ed. San Fransisco: Pearson Education, Inc.

Have you misquoted St. Augustine today?

I am surprised to find out how many people have quoted St. Augustine as saying: “What was God doing before He created the World”, “He was creating Hell for people who ask questions like that”.  I was doing some research tonight, and I was surprised to find so many people quoting Augustine as saying this (both in theology books and secular writings alike). 

Being a good student (and learning my lesson the hard way of quoting things without checking the source), I pulled out my Confessions to find this quote and read it for myself, before I quoted it. However, as I pulled out my confessions I found that Augustine did not actually say what everyone is quoting him as saying (I’ve also checked the Penguin Classics translation against my Oxford World’s Classics to verify that I wasn’t reading a translation error).

In fact, Augustine said that he would never choose to answer such a question with such a response.  Here is the exact quote from my translation (Penguin was a bit different but said essentially the same):

 

This is my reply to anyone who asks: ‘What was God doing before he made heaven and earth?’  My reply is not that which someone is said to have given as a joke to evade the force of the question.  He said: ‘He was preparing hells for people who inquire into profundities.’  It is one thing to laugh, another to see the point at issue, and this reply I reject.  I would have preferred him to answer ‘I am ignorant of what I do not know’ rather than reply so as to ridicule someone who has asked a deep question and to win approval for an answer which is a mistake.  – The Confessions, Book 11, Section 14, Oxford World’s Classics – translated by Henry Chadwick.

 

I think this quote can still be used for a humorous ice breaker for either side of the discussion, to get people’s attention – making sure of course, to word the introduction to the quote in such a way as to not attribute to Augustine himself.

I was just surprised that so many intellectuals have misquoted him, that I just thought I would pass this along!

 

How has Astronomy impacted me?

 

Out of the many discoveries that have impacted both astronomy and my life, I will speak of two. The first of the two discoveries, being very recent in the annals of time, is the discovery of the expanding nature of the universe. The second discovery is simple and yet significant in the fact that the planet’s in our solar system circle around the sun in a consistent and measurable fashion.

The expanding nature of the universe was discovered back in 1913 by Vesto Melvin Slipher (Jastrow, 1992), although it is sometimes erroneously attributed to Edwin Hubble (Vesto Slipher, 2008). Since that initial discovery, scientists, philosophers and theologians have continued to wrestle with trying to understand the implications of this discovery.

One primary implication of the expanding universe has been referred to as the “Big Bang” theory. The Big Bang theory has fed into countless current understandings of the past, current and future state of the universe, thus providing great positive impacts to the world of astronomy and science itself.

Additionally, from a philosophical and theological perspective, this theory has continued to spur on interdisciplinary discussions within the sciences on answering the Primordial Existential Question “Why is there something, rather than nothing” (Sean, 2007).

The fact resting in the theory of the Big Bang that the observable universe had a beginning, has brought additional weight to philosophical and theological discussions that have been being discussed since the early history of Philosophy both by secular and religious philosophers: the idea that with a beginning, there must be some form of “Prime (or first) Mover” to set all things into motion.

The Scientific method is a means by which natural phenomena is observed, theories are put forth to explain the observations and tests are then performed to confirm or bring required modifications to the theories. While the discussions around the expanding universe still continue on, and there are many things yet to learn, what the Big Bang has brought to the table is the fact that there are some questions that can only be answered succinctly through the means of scientific observations and research, and there are other questions that will never be answerable through science, even with unlimited time and money (Jastrow, 1992).

In my earliest years, I thought science had the answer to everything, and in my middle years, I thought religion had the answer to everything, but now, I am coming to understand that a full picture of the questions of existence can only be grasped through the combined efforts of science and religion (Sir William Bragg, F.R.S. (1862-1942), 1962).

Next, coming closer to home to discuss the second discovery; I believe that the simple understandings gained from the planetary rotations have provided significant benefit to both astronomy and my personal life.

From an Astronomy perspective the observations completed by Copernicus, Tycho, Kepler and Galileo, lead to a series of laws (Kepler’s and Newtons) that can now be used to describe and predict observations of Astronomical proportions (including theories about galaxies and stars that are far out of our reach by billions of light years). These descriptions and observations continue to expound on our understanding of the multiverse in which we live.

From a personal perspective, I must say that eating food is quite a significant part of my daily routine (I must eat to live). The consistent movement of the earth around the sun helped us to develop a consistent measurement of time. With this consistent measurement of time farmers can known when to plant and when to harvest their crops so as to produce the necessary foods for me to consume! Thus, I eat, because the earth travels in a consistent manner around the sun, and we know that, because we have observed and tested it through the means of Astronomy.

 

References

Jastrow, R. (1992). God and the Astronomers. United States: Readers Library, Inc.

Sean. (2007, August 10). Why is there something, rather than nothing? Retrieved October 19, 2008, from Cosmic Variance: http://cosmicvariance.com/2007/08/30/why-is-there-something-rather-than-nothing/

Sir William Bragg, F.R.S. (1862-1942). (1962). Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London
, 17 (2), 169-182.

Vesto Slipher. (2008, October 10). Retrieved October 19, 2008, from WikiPedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesto_Slipher

 

Why do people believe in Astrology?

In the first century A.D. the Philosopher and Theologian St. Augustine said “… you have made us for yourself [God], and our heart is restless until it rests in you (Augustine, 1998).

Back in the 1500 to 1600 hundreds the child prodigy, mathematician, physicist and philosopher Blaise Pascal (Blaise Pascal, 2008) said “Man tries unsuccessfully to fill this void with everything that surrounds him, seeking in absent things the help he cannot find in those that are present, but all are incapable of it. This infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite, immutable object, that is to say, God himself (Pascal, 2008).”

The great apologist and linguist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter to Mr. Vanauken in the 1950’s in which he said; “If you are really a product of a materialistic universe, how is it you don’t feel at home there? Do fish complain of the sea for being wet? Or if they did, would that fact itself not strongly suggest that they had not always been, or w[oul]d. [sic] not always be, purely aquatic creatures (Lewis, 2007)?”

As recently as 2007, the neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Newberg has identified areas of the brain that he believes may be hard-wired for responding to religious activities (Gajilan, 2007).

I believe the continued interest in Astrology, despite its lack of scientific basis is a manifestation for a desire to know and understand and seek something to fill a void that we all have as humans. We want to know where we come from, why we’re here, and where we are going. I believe that the interest in astrology provides at least the positive benefit of keeping people open minded, understanding that not everything can be simplified to a mathematical equation (e.g. how does one describe love with numbers), I think the negative impact of Astrology is how much money people actually spend on it; and how much some people actually schedule their lives around it – in that respect, I believe that people would be much better releasing themselves from a belief that has no evidential basis.

 

 

 

References

Augustine, S. (1998). Confessions. New York: Oxford University Press.

Blaise Pascal. (2008, October 14). Retrieved October 14, 2008, from WikiPedia.Org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_pascal

Gajilan, A. C. (2007, April 5). Are humans hard-wired for faith? Retrieved October 14, 2008, from Cnn.Com: http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/04/04/neurotheology/

Lewis, C. (2007). The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Pascal, B. (2008). Pensees and Other Writings (Oxford World’s Classics). New York: Oxford University Press Inc.

 

“The world is my country, and science is my religion.” —Christiaan Huygens, 17th century astronomer.

 

I found the quote by Christiaan Huygens very interesting. I’ve recently finished reading a few books written by qualified and well known scientists in the field of astronomy, physics and biology discussing how these fields of science can and do work together with religion to build a single cohesive worldview.

The quote especially reminds me of the most recent book that I am nearing the end of. The book is written by Frank Tipler, who is a Mathematical Physicist at Tulane University, and is titled The Physics of Christianity. Tipler also views science as a form of religion and states “… since His [God’s] laws [of science] are His direct creation, studying His natural laws is as pious an act as studying the Bible (Tipler, 2007).”

Indeed if there is a God, and He created all things, than the study of His creation (science) is as much of an act of trying to understand Him as opening up a bible and reading His word.

There is so much hidden in the recesses of space and time and the multiverse waiting to be found. This information has and will continue to help describe our origins and will help us understand our meaning and purpose.

 

References

Tipler, F. J. (2007). The Physics of Christianity. New York: Doubleday.

 

 

The little Christ



I’m dressing up like Christ today


I’m walking out the door


I don’t quite fit inside his skin


I’m lacking so much more



Outside you see this humble soul


That cares and gives and loves


Inside, alas, so much is bad


It’s stained, it takes and shoves



Each day I put this costume on


To do the things He’d do


I walk the walk, I talk the talk


Yet, things still show right through



But every day I put him on,


I feel a bit more sure,


As passes time, the thing I find


His being covers more



I wonder if I shrink to fit


The skin he let me wear


Or if it grows to cover those


Places that I’m so bare



But what I’ve found, as time winds down


My image shines so bright


For by his power, in my last hour


He seals me with his might.



Less of me, and more of Christ!



© 2007 Jediah Logiodice