Can a scientist be religious? Only at the price of inconsistency, she argues, because scientific determinism is not compatible with belief in a deity who can willfully intervene in the world. Sympathetic though I am to her conclusion, I would point out that scientific determinism is equally incompatible with free will and moral responsibility. Jim Holt, "Will the Large Hadron Collider Explain Everything?" a review of Knocking on Heavens Door, by Lisa Randall, Harvard physicist, New York Times Book Review, October 9, 2011.
Thanks for reading.
Musings on science, the Bible, and fantastic literature (and sometimes basketball and other stuff).
God speaks to us through the Bible and the findings of science, and we should listen to both types of revelation.
The title is from Psalm 84:11.
The Wikipedia is usually a pretty good reference. I mostly use the World English Bible (WEB), because it is public domain. I am grateful.
It's people that say things (or believe things) like this that get into the top at Universities on Chairs and then determine that all professors who disagree will "have to go" by some means or another.
ReplyDeleteSadly, this is what has happened with a lot of professors who believe in intelligent design or creationism.
Maybe. I've seen some studies about this sort of thing, and there hasn't been as much as "Expelled," for one, would have us believe.
ReplyDeleteNote that Holt, who, like Randall, is also a non-Christian member of the intellectual establishment, was careful to point out the weakness of atheistic scientific determinism.