True and Reasonable *

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William Curtis
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1 True and Reasonable * Peter Gorham Professor Of Physics, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa Department of Physics and Astronomy *quoted from Paul of Tarsus defense to Agrippa, King of Judaea, c. AD60 1

2 structure Tension between Science & Christianity Reason & Faith, body & soul, material & spiritual Reason speaks: The Big Bang theory, dates, times, ages, evolution Quantum Electrodynamics Grand Unification & Goedel s incompleteness theorem Science of the Bible Faith speaks: Sin & death, the moral reality of our world Evil is real: we are at war, and not with each other Paul of Tarsus, a 1 st century man of reason Abraham and Isaac

3 prerequisites (for both scientists & people of faith): A love for the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth For scientists: A little humility A willingness to entertain the possibility that science does not have a lock on all knowledge & truth For people of faith: A little humility A willingness to entertain the possibility that the Bible does not have a lock on all knowledge & truth

4 Physical & Moral/Ethical law Physical laws Appear to act universally, constants of nature can be verified at cosmic distances remarkable! Seem to exist apart from human observation But: rooted in mathematics, which appears to be mapped into the human brain?! Moral & ethical laws Tied to universal human experience local to Earth (as far as we know) but common to all men Simply stated: sin has grave consequences The moral & ethical character of your actions will affect your quality of life as much and probably more than the physical character of your body, the cosmos around you, or the mathematics that govern it

has cooled to ~3 o K since then we can still feel the heat A series of experiments most recently the NASA WMAP

5 The Big Bang theory The cosmos originated ~14 billion years ago at a single infinitesimal point in an extremely hot explosion It grew exponentially for a short time, then continued to grow in a much slower expansion Space has cooled to ~3 o K since then we can still feel the heat A series of experiments most recently the NASA WMAP satellite can actually measure the reverberations of the explosion itself Images courtesy of NASA/WMAP science team

Einstein s greatest blunder, the cosmological constant Most recently: the expansion is accelerating again most probably due to something we call dark energy == Lambda == Λ Einstein predicted Λ,

6 Einstein s greatest blunder, the cosmological constant Most recently: the expansion is accelerating again most probably due to something we call dark energy == Lambda == Λ Einstein predicted Λ, called it his greatest blunder NOT! Maybe his greatest success T µν contains Λ We call it dark energy (also vacuum energy) because it is invisible, and behaves like nothing we have ever encountered and it dominates the universe, making up ~70% of its total mass-energy Most striking of all: its observed magnitude is times smaller than its mathematically expected value! This creates an extreme fine-tuning problem though not a problem for a creator!

Dates, times, ages There is abundant evidence for an old earth

~50,000 years Calibrated via tree-ring age correlations Radio-isotope

against 14 C/ 12 C & other methods Christians should embrace this not fight

7 Dates, times, ages There is abundant evidence for an old earth Dendochronology: tree rings to ~12,000 years 14 C/ 12 C ratios get back ~50,000 years Calibrated via tree-ring age correlations Radio-isotope dating (~40 independent methods) take us back millions of years Calibrated against 14 C/ 12 C & other methods Christians should embrace this not fight it We need to love the truth about creation even if it challenges our traditional interpretation

8 Quantum electrodynamics (QED) Werner Heisenberg Wolfgang Pauli Erwin Schroedinger P.A.M. Dirac s quantum field theory, predicted gyromagnetic ratio of the electron to be exactly 2, but not exactly right something still missing QED: The crown jewel of physical theory Richard Feynman & renormalized QED corrected Dirac s theory, with a precision of parts per trillion now measured and confirmed!

9 The universe is a strange place Richard Feynmann, and others: A subatomic particle s properties are surrounded by a cloud of virtual particles present at all times near them even in empty space Space-time itself is not empty particles of all kinds exist for vanishing moments, Heisenberg s uncertaintly principle: ΔE Δt > h/2π (h=planck s constant) Renormalization of a simple electron-photon vertex: includes virtual photons, and a virtual e-e+ pair in a loop Fundamental particle interactions routinely involve particles traveling backwards in time! QED and its extension for nuclei tell us that we exist in a universe with at least 4 dimensions, possibly as many as 10! Time itself is a created thing, part of our universe God the creator is not constrained by it in any way!

Goedel s Incompleteness theorem, & GUTs The Holy Grail of theoretical physics: Grand Unification Theory, the theory that does it all But in 1931 mathematician Kurt Goedel proved a theorem that still

10 Goedel s Incompleteness theorem, & GUTs The Holy Grail of theoretical physics: Grand Unification Theory, the theory that does it all But in 1931 mathematician Kurt Goedel proved a theorem that still has not completely sunk in to the world of science A paraphrase: No closed (or finite) axiomatic system* can be both consistent and complete in describing mathematical truth *( axiomatic system = system of formal principles) Physicists as renowned as Stephen Hawking are beginning to realize that this probably means that the existence of a GUT is precluded Some people will be very disappointed if there is not an ultimate theory, that can be formulated as a finite number of principles. I used to belong to that camp, but I have changed my mind. I'm now glad that our search for understanding will never come to an end, and that we will always have the challenge of new discovery. S. Hawking, 2003

Some comments on Darwinism Natural selection (survival of the fittest) is an empirical hypothesis: strongly supported by a limited set of deductive observations on variations within a species (eg,

11 Some comments on Darwinism Natural selection (survival of the fittest) is an empirical hypothesis: strongly supported by a limited set of deductive observations on variations within a species (eg, breeding varieties; sooty moth wings; antibiotics) Difficulty with genera/species such as orchids why 20,000 species? With only mixed results at best in the fossil record (eg. Cambrian explosion) Evolutionary biology is not precise enough in predictive power to rule out need for major changes to basic Darwinism It certainly cannot yet rule out other agencies, such as God, or naturalistic forces as powerful as natural selection, except by assumption or axiom not a valid argument! But evolution of some kind may be the natural agency for production of the human body, even if our spirit is of divine origin Given the unexpected intricacy of the laws of physics, it would be very surprising if Darwinism were the last word on the far more complex science called Biology! (and don t forget Goedel )

Bible science gone awry 1616: Galileo put on trial for

center of the universe Christianity was adamant: the Bible

evolution, has many uncomfortable similarities Is the

12 Bible science gone awry 1616: Galileo put on trial for defending Kepler/ Copernican theory that earth is not the center of the universe Christianity was adamant: the Bible is clear on this and many texts found in support Was the telescope a gift from God or the devil? The modern debate about the age of the earth, and even evolution, has many uncomfortable similarities Is the spiritual, moral, or historical truth of the bible really at risk from any of these theories? No!

13 The 6 days of Genesis Many Hebrew scholars insist these must be literal 24 hr days But day and night, evening and morning are created 3 days before the sun and the moon! An allegorical interpretation is far easier to defend & harmonize with what we know now about cosmogeny Time itself is a created entity one dimension among four that comprise spacetime requires Einstein s theories to fully understand If God had told Moses, what language could he have used? Did Paul somehow get this? 2 Tim. 1:8 before the beginning of time An omniscient, omnipotent God must be completely outside of, independent of, & in control of, time itself He sees past, present, and future always and at any moment He is free to create the universe in no time at all, or to go on creating it over a very long time they are the same event to him

14 Interlude For scientists: We are faced with: The fantastic precision of physical laws, rooted in mathematics The apparently incredible level of fine-tuning required for us to be here to discover these things The lack of any clear moral direction from science Faith in God is not crazy, but a reasonable response to this For people of faith: We are faced with: The tension of the precise truths of physical law againsts the naïve interpretation of texts the Bible not intended as scientific documents Faith in both the revelation of scripture and the truth revealed in creation are necessary for true wisdom

15 Science and moral law Science provides no real moral compass or measuring rod Survival of the fittest is a failure as a moral code Naturalistic view: God is created in man s image by projection? The origin of Conscience: requires an assumption, by faith, whether naturalistic or spiritual Either you disavow any creator, and assume that natural selection must somehow eventually find a theory of Conscience, or You accept that Conscience, like mathematics, is a mapping of some part of God s nature into our own mind and soul, (cf. Paul in Rom. 1:20) The latter solution is outside the fundamental discourse of science science should listen rather than speak Moral law differs from physical law: the agency of free will Objects cannot choose to violate physical law Persons may choose to violate moral law (we call this sin), with major consequences: spiritual and physical death

16 Good and evil Science: evil is what is bad for our species survival How do we explain understand the pervasiveness of human war and cruelty? (what other species is like us?) Good and evil have no meaning on the individual level?? Science (take 2): good and evil are outside the range of our discourse (a more honest answer) Faith: God is good, God is truth, God is love these are spiritual qualities imprinted on us by a Creator Faith holds that man is created in God s image Evil, hatred, cruelty are the perversion of Godliness

17 Miracles Miracles assume & require that God exists Defining miracle=impossible assumes no God Assumptions of any kind are an act of intrinsic faith Miracles are superimposed on physical law: By apparent circumvention by someone above the law By selective Acceleration or deceleration: water wine; the sun stood still; healings They may represent actions within a superset of the laws of the universe some miracles may still turn out to be law-abiding Is Λ a miracle of fine-tuning? How about DNA/RNA? There are probably at least 6 dimensions that we don t see! Miracles serve to show that natural laws as we know them are not complete, nor are they the only possible laws of the universe Do not bind the author of those laws

Paul s defense to Festus, King Agrippa, & Berenice Took place c.

Coins minted in Ceasarea under the rule of Festus Most improbable of all: sees Jesus in a vision, takes a 180 o

Flavius Vespasianus Paul s argument: Jesus claims of divinity and that he is the embodiment of God s truth are

18 Paul s defense to Festus, King Agrippa, & Berenice Took place c. 60, in Ceasarea, Syria, Acts 26 Paul: most devout of Jews, a nightmare for Christians: scholar+priest+vigilante Coins minted in Ceasarea under the rule of Festus Most improbable of all: sees Jesus in a vision, takes a 180 o turn, making enemies of the Jews, who are now trying to get him executed Julius Marcus Agrippa Emperor Titus Flavius Vespasianus Paul s argument: Jesus claims of divinity and that he is the embodiment of God s truth are validated by his proven power over death Festus: Paul, Your great learning is driving you insane! Paul: I am not insane, most excellent Festus. What I am saying is true and reasonable

19 Paul and Jesus Jesus ethics were profound, among the first rank of philosophers and prophets in all ages: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (the Golden Rule Matt. 7:12) His claims to truth were and are a provocation to all of us: If anyone chooses to do God s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. John 7:17 If you hold to my teaching, you are truly my disciples then you will know the truth and the truth will make you free John 8:31 I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me John 14:6 Paul s argument centers on Jesus resurrection: Jesus sayings and life were powerful including power over death Can we afford to ignore what he said and who he was? Conversely, Paul tells the church in Corinth: If Christ has not been raised from the dead, your faith is futile if only for this life we have hope in Christ, then we are to be pitied more than all men! (1 Cor. 15)

Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about. [Gen.

20 Abraham & Isaac M. Chagall The binding of Isaac Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about. [Gen. 22:2] Rembrandt van Rijn ( ), "Sacrifice of Isaac" (1635), Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son. [Gen. 22:12]

21 What kind of God is this? Isaac s near-sacrifice how do we make sense of it? James 2:23, Abraham s faith resulting in obedience was counted as righteousness, Abe was called the friend of God Hebrews 10: Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead Christ s death: a sacrifice required by some aspect of moral and spiritual law that we see at best only dimly It is only clearly appraised by faith coupled to the kind of reasoning that Abraham possessed The example of Abe the understanding of a Father s love and the pain of accepting that sacrifice cemented his friendship with God Friendship with God (for us) begins with an understanding of his sacrifice the death of his son on the cross

22 summary Science and faith work together when each respects and complements each other s sphere of discourse Science at its best reveals the truth of the cosmos within the sphere of discourse of physical law laws we believe are set in place and activated through creation Faith provides the context for a different set of laws, moral and spiritual, no less binding in their consequences, but with our freedom, both temporal and eternal, at stake Reason, properly coupled with faith (and vice-versa) are more powerful than either standing alone They can unite our entire range of understanding, spiritual & physical Solomon: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge

A Fine Tuned Universe The Improbability That God is Improbable

A Fine Tuned Universe The Improbability That God is Improbable The debate over creation in biology has increasingly led scientist to become more open to physics and the Christian belief in a creator. It