Cosmology as an Example

Although the modern view of the universe dates back to Galileo and Copernicus, the theoretical underpinnings of that view began with a mystic, alchemist, and arguably the first physicist to utilize the scientific method: Isaac Newton. Newton was a committed Christian who considered his mystical and theological writings to be his true life’s work. But his description of the action of gravitation both here on Earth and among the various heavenly bodies permitted the first modern understanding of the elliptical orbit of planets, and why they assume such orbits. His three laws of motion permitted the calculation of the position and velocity of any material body at any future time, given the initial position, velocity, and forces acting on the body. Although Newton would have never dreamed it, the conclusion was soon reached that the universe is a great machine. This concept ran counter to the prevailing conception (which was also Newton’s conception) of God and of free will. In the Hebrew tradition, God was considered to be active in history. LaPlace, in his five-volume work Celestial Mechanics, never mentioned God. When asked by then-emperor Napoleon why that was so, he famously replied, “I had no need of that hypothesis.” A mere three years later, William Paley, in his Natural Theology, posited his argument from design to support theism: If one were walking along and found a stone, it would not be absurd to suppose that it had been there forever. But if one were to find a watch, it would be absurd not to suppose the existence of a watchmaker. Likewise, finding the great machine which the universe was then considered to be, one’s only logical recourse is to suppose a universe-maker.

More recently, Paley’s argument from design was attacked by biologist Charles Darwin and paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, following in the footsteps of David Hume. They posited pure chance over an infinite period of time in order to explain the present existence and form of the universe. Philosopher Immanuel Kant went further by proposing that the universe is infinite in extent and eternal in time – both future and past – and hence the origin is in principle unknowable. Among those holding to the infinite-universe belief, there was a common opinion that the universe was also uniform in the sense that it is everywhere pretty much the same as the portion we can observe: same number and average size of stars per octillion cubic kilometers.

In the twentieth century, physics and astronomy struck the death-blow to the infinite-universe (in extent or time) theories. To begin with, if the universe were uniform and infinite, the sky on a moonless night would not be black. The reason is as follows. In a universe having three spatial dimensions (length, width, and depth), the light from a glowing object decreases as the square of the distance from the object, so the light from stars as observed on earth becomes weaker as the star becomes more distant. However, the cone of vision of an observer includes an area that is also proportional to the square of the distance to the observed object; if we can see twice as far away, we can observe four times as many stars in a uniform infinite universe. A finite, though small, amount of light emitted by each of an infinite number of stars will add up to an infinite amount of light. Thus if the universe were uniform in star density and infinite in extent, the day and night skies would be unbearably bright, though not infinitely so, because of absorption by the atmosphere and interstellar gases.

Second, the Second Law of Thermodynamics states that any material system tends toward a state of increasing entropy (disorder): mechanical systems run down, whether they be watches or universes. Thus the universe cannot be infinite in age or future extent. Further, modern measurements of the ages of stars reveal them to be no more than 16 billion years old. Certainly this is old, but it is far from infinite. Calculations indicate that a star can “live” for 80 to 100 billion years. Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity predicted, and Hubble confirmed an expanding universe, which implies an initial explosion. Einstein acknowledged the consequent “necessity for a beginning” of the universe and “the presence of a superior reasoning power.” [Lincoln Barnette: The Universe and Dr. Einstein, p. 106]

At this point (early 20th century), the idea of a universe infinite in extent and time was an established part of standard cosmology, but it is clear that a crisis had been reached. As Kuhn observed, the proponents of the old paradigm attempted to resist the evidence pointing to the need for paradigm shift. One was the idea of an oscillating universe as per Hindu belief. In this view, the universe has a beginning and an end, after which a new universe is formed. But by far the majority opinion among astronomers and physicists is that the best description of the origin of the universe is provided by the Big Bang theory , in which the universe is considered to have begun with an initial explosion from an area of no dimensions, no volume, and no area, and in which space and time were created. Initially, the Big Bang theory met with serious objections, although not generally on mathematical or physical grounds, but for metaphysical reasons. British astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington stated, “Philosophically, the notion of a beginning of the present order of nature is repugnant . . . . I should like to find a genuine loophole.” [Arthur S. Eddington: “The End of the World: from the Standpoint of Mathematical Physics,” Nature 127 (1931, p. 450], and “We must allow evolution an infinite time to get started.” [Arthur S. Eddington: “On the Instability of Einstein’s Spherical World,” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 90(1930), p. 672] Experiments of the last few decades have provided very substantial verification of the predictions of the Big Bang theory.

The general acceptance of the Big Bang theory signaled the end of eternal uniformity. The question “what preceded the Big Bang” has no meaning, since time was also created by the Big Bang, so there was no “before,” at least in our time dimension. This can imply the existence of a creator beyond space and time, though some say, "not necessarily." The mathematics of quantum physics indicates that subatomic particles continually flash into and out of existence through quantum fluctuations. In the same way, some physicists think there is a finite probability that the Big Bang was caused by such a quantum fluctuation. The logical problem with this belief is that quantum fluctuations take place in space, and before the Big Bang, there was no space. Likewise, a quantum fluctuation implies a change in energy with time, and before the Big Bang, time as we know it did not exist.

Regardless of the view one takes of the origin of the Big Bang, it is clear that the paradigm shift is now essentially complete; the theory of an infinite, uniform universe is untenable, and the Big Bang describes the origin of space-time. A powerful confirmation of the theory came with the results of the COBE (Cosmic Background Explorer) satellite in 1992. A fascinating account of this event can be found in Hugh Ross, Ph.D.: The Creator and the Cosmos, pp. 19, 20.

One of the most difficult parts of the Big Bang theory is the concept of finite time. However, this idea appears in great religious texts. Genesis 1:1 in the Bible, accepted as Holy Scripture by Jews, Christians, and Muslims, states: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In the Christian New Testament passage of 2 Timothy 1:9, the writer says, “This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time ...” and Titus 1:2 discusses “ a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.” And both Christian and Muslim scriptures also speak of the end of time – not just the end of the world or universe, but the end of time. Christian sociologist and author Tony Campolo points out that the future does not yet exist, and the past is no more, so the only thing that is real is the present, which is where humans must contact God – in His eternal now. The same idea is present in certain forms of Buddhism, in which the student is advised to practice “mindfulness,” or full awareness of the present moment. Even our modern myths capture this concept: “Be mindful of the present, young paduan.” {Obiwan Kenobi admonishing Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode I.]

So how about the oscillating universe theory? Calculations show that the mass (more accurately, mass-energy) of the entire universe must be between critical limits for an ending “Big Crunch” to be followed by a new Big Bang. Also, the Second Law of Thermodynamics tells us that each new Big Bang would contain less organizable mass-energy than the previous one, thus even if there were once enough mass-energy in the universe for it to oscillate, there is not enough now, so the next Big Crunch would be The End. At present, the Big Bang theory has no real competition as a theory of the formation of the universe.

How, then, do we view the other characteristic of the universe (at least from the religious viewpoint): purpose? Was the universe created for humans? Some scientists believe that it must have been. They point to the Anthropic Principle: 25 “characteristics of the universe that must take on very narrowly defined values for life of any kind to exist” [Ross, p. 111] They deduce that for so many “coincidences" to exist, the simplest explanation is that there was an intelligent designer. Many of these scientists are believers in Intelligent Design Cosmology – the idea that a creator must exist, although perhaps no scientific statements can be made as to the nature of the creator. In other words, Intelligent Design Cosmology supports theism, but not any particular religion’s view of Theo! A comprehensive review of astronomers’ views of creation is given in Hugh Ross: The Creator and the Cosmos, pp. 114-117.

Opponents of Intelligent Design Cosmology attack the view as non-scientific: their position is that “Blind chance still rules; the fact that we’re here to witness the universe simply proves that by chance all the factors did fall into place.” Also, in Chaos Theory, there is a mathematical feature called “strange attractors” which lend the appearance of order to the outcomes of chaotic systems. Another view that is held by some cosmologists is that every possible universe does in fact exist. This “many universes” theory is certainly a minority view, but if it were true, the Anthropic Principle would be meaningless: all it would prove is that we happen to live in the one universe, out of all the possible universes, in which the requisite characteristics for life are present. Indeed, we could not live in any other.

Having examined cosmology as an example of a paradigm shift within science, we must see that scientists, even during the period of “normal science,” are as far from being in universal agreement as are religious persons. Indeed, some scientists still hold the view of Descartes: matters of values, soul, and spirit are outside the domain of science, and matters of natural science are outside the domain of religion. Thus there need not be – indeed by definition there cannot be – any meaningful discussion between science and religion through which the one informs the other. Thus these scientists are not interested in the religious implications of their theories. Many other scientists are deeply religious, and they allow an infinite variation of influence of their scientific views upon their spirituality, and vice-versa.

This brings us to an essential point: much – perhaps most – of the debate supposed to have existed between science and religion has not been between science and religion at all, but rather between scientism and religion. Scientism, or science treated as religion, is a societal problem in both the church and the laboratory. Schwartz states, “ A result of training within the paradigm is that history, metaphysics, and interdisciplinarity are downplayed. A false sense of history is promulgated in which previous scientific giants are portrayed as having the same theoretical biases (paradigms) as the current ones. As he undergoes this educational process, the aspiring scientist not only learns a false tradition but also tends to lose some of his empathy and ethical and philosophical overview of life. All too frequently he also develops what in some cases is an extreme antagonism toward anything not consistent with his newly acquired conception of the universe.” [Schwartz, p. 253] Note the similarity to the development of religious fundamentalism.

Scientism usually involves a misunderstanding of scientific laws – a belief in science as ultimate truth: “Galileo believed that there was a single and unique explanation to all natural phenomena, one that can be understood through observation and reason and which makes all other explanations wrong. The Church insisted that science, though useful, was only one route to knowledge about the world. With Plato and Aristotle, Church authorities insisted that number was not inherent in the world but was projected upon it by humans: laws of science were not discovered but invented. The elaborate mathematical formulae of the Copernican hypothesis ... were not descriptions of reality but maps or models of reality. It was a serious and prideful error, the Church said, to mistake the map for the territory. There would always be a gap between the models of science and the reality they represent, one that could not be bridged by human reason.”[Wade Rowland, M. A.: “Galileo Galilei, Misguided Cheerleader of Science,” Research News and Opportunities in Science and Theology, Dec. 2002, p. 22] The danger to science of the misunderstanding is that it presents almost insuperable obstacles to the growth of scientific understanding.

Scientism also often involves the misimpression that scientific laws as presently understood are complete at some point in time. Counterexamples include:
(1) Newton and the gravity problem – 17th century
With the backing of no less a figure than Aristotle, falling objects were explained by the belief that it was the nature of all objects on earth to fall. Newton proved that gravitation is a force that exists between massive objects and attracts them to one another. This is as true of heavenly bodies (Earth, sun, moon) as of terrestrial bodies.

(2) Einstein vs Newton – 20th century
Einstein showed that Newton’s Laws of Motion are only approximations that are valid at low velocities, and that they break down as a body approaches the velocity of light, which in fact is the ultimate speed limit of any massive body in the Cosmos.

(3) Bohr vs Einstein on causality – 20th century
Neils Bohr and the other pioneers of quantum theory showed that events at the subatomic level are not – even in principle – predictable by Newton’s or even Einstein’s laws of motion, for in that realm, probability reigns and predictability is not possible. Einstein objected that “God does not play dice,” but the success of the quantum theory indicates that indeed something like the chance operation of a dice game is built into the universe.

We pointed out earlier that the scientific method depends upon strong objectivity, and that the institutionalization of points of view as paradigms seems to make strong objectivity impossible. Thus perhaps there are no naked facts, only perceptions that are subject to coloration by the experience and opinions of the observer. Psychologists will affirm that perceptions themselves are facts, from the point of view of the perceiver. They are, however, not naked facts, but rather facts dressed in the clothing of opinion and experience. Such facts are then on the same footing as emotions, which are facts to the person experiencing them. The ability of non-material facts to influence material behavior is indicated by the normal human response to a sudden sound of screeching tires: heart rate and blood pressure will increase; various hormones will be secreted, and the medical condition of the body of the observer will change markedly. Another example is the action of motivation based upon one’s values.

Religious persons point to the importance of faith in their lives. Often non-religious persons denigrate faith as “belief in something you know isn’t true.” Actually, all life is based upon faith, because none of us can live long enough to experience everything that we hold true. During their education, scientists repeat some of the basic experiments of their disciplines, but not all of them. Most of what they “know” is based upon faith in their professors, and ultimately, in the founders of the current paradigm. Scientists also hold a strong faith that the universe is comprehensible; for if it were not, their efforts would by definition be in vain.

Thus in examining the dialog between science and spirituality, we must look not only at the sincere efforts of open-minded scientists to understand the universe, but at the manifestations of the all-too-human characteristic of making a religion out of our beliefs, then rejecting all the infidels who do not share them. Scientism and religious fundamentalism both add more heat than light to the dialog between spirituality and science.

Next, we will proceed to examine the dialog.