Theology from Creation to New
Creation
Overview
Fifth Annual Goshen Conference
on
Science and Religion
Robert John Russell
The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences,
The Graduate Theological Union
Berkeley, California
Copyright R. J. Russell 2005
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Key topics in theology
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Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name
Thy reign come
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily
bread
Forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors
Lead us not into temptation,
Deliver us from evil
For thine is the Kingdom and
the Power and the Glory
Forever
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Creation of heaven and earth
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Eschatology: parousia
Divine action
Creation of heaven and earth
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Moral evil
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Eschatology: eternal life
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Key topics in theology and the challenge of
science
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Creation of heaven and earth
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Big Bang cosmology:
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Divine action
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Moral evil
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Eschatology: second coming,
resurrection and eternal life
t=0
‘only earth’
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Laws of nature / interventionist
divine action
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‘Fall without the Fall’ and
natural evil
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Big Bang cosmology:
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‘freeze or fry’
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Meeting the challenge: Creative mutual interaction:
2005 Goshen Conference Lectures 1, 2, & 3
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Creation of heaven and
earth:Lecture1
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‘Fall without the Fall’: Lecture 2
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Natural and moral evil: Path 3
Non-interventionist divine action
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Assumptions underlying science:
Path 6
t=0: Consonance, Path 1
Conflict, Path7
CTNS/Vatican Observatory series
Paths 3 and 4
Eschatology: Lecture 3
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Revise eschatology: Paths 3, 4
New research in science: Paths 6,
7, 8
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The role of
philosophy and theology
in
relativity and cosmology
Lecture 1
Fifth Annual Goshen Conference
on
Science and Religion
Robert John Russell
The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences,
The Graduate Theological Union
Berkeley, California
March 18, 2005
Copyright R. J. Russell 2005
5
Background to modern science:
Philosophy and theology
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Modern science arose in the confluence of two
major streams of Western intellectual history:
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Greek logos philosophy: The universe is rational
Biblical creatio ex nihilo: The universe is contingent
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Rationality  intelligible (laws of nature)
Contingency  need not exist, genuine knowledge
only through experiment, experimentation is not
sacrilegious
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Background to modern science:
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The scientific method is based on this philosophical
and theological foundation:
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Methodological naturalism:
• Scientific theories do not invoke God / necessity
• ‘Don’t put God into my equations’ = abhor
idolatry
• Crucial: methodological naturalism does NOT
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prove metaphysical naturalism
“Science does not equal atheism”
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Background: Newtonian mechanics
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Classical principle of relativity
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Absolute motion, rest: meaningless
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“all motion is relative”
F = mia --- 3 laws of motion
Requires: Absolute space, absolute time
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Affects the world; unaffected by the world
 divine sensorium
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Background: Newtonian cosmology
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Classical mechanics + classical gravity
produced Newtonian cosmology:
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universe infinite, static, eternal
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God’s dominion determines the physical
state of the universe at each moment
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Background: Einstein’s Special Relativity (1905)
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The best theory is the simplest theory:
simplicity as an aesthetic criteria
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Extend Newton’s Principle of Relativity to include
electromagnetism and light
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space, time  spacetime
• spacetime paradoxes
• “block universe”: challenge to “flowing time”
•  change the physics? (W. L. Craig)
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The Influence of Philosophy in General Relativity
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Einstein’s principle of relativity: now include
E&M and gravity
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 curved spacetime
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 specific curvature determined by distribution of
matter
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Matter curves spacetime
according to general relativity
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The Influence of Philosophy in General Relativity
• The result: Einstein’s general theory of relativity (1915)
Rμν- ½ Rgμν = 8πTμν
curvature of spacetime
=
distribution of matter
“space tells matter how to move,
matter tells space how to curve”
Copyright R. J. Russell 2005
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The winding road to Big Bang cosmology
• Einstein’s specific philosophical / theological
assumption in solving GR for cosmology:
– Perfect Cosmological Principle:
homogeneous, isotropic and static universe
eternal
static
finite in size
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The winding road to Big Bang cosmology
• Hence: Einstein introduced the ‘cosmological
constant’ Λ into his equations:
Λgμν + Rμν- ½ Rgμν = 8πTμν
new
• The result: the Einstein-deSitter model of a
static universe
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Observational evidence
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1912, on: redshift of light from
distant galaxies depends on
their distance d from us
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redshift implies recession from
us at velocity v
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1929: Edwin Hubble’s law:
v=Hxd
H=Hubble constant
Copyright R. J. Russell 2005
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Theoretical evidence
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Friedmann, 1922: expanding
models with an initial singularity
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Lemaître: expanding models,
connection to Hubble data
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1948: George Gamow and
colleagues predict microwave
background radiation
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Big Bang
discovered!
•3 models:
•closed, 3-sphere, expands then recontracts,
finite, “fry”
•open, 3-flat and 3-saddle, expands forever,
infinite, “freeze”
 All three models: t=0, the beginning of the universe!
Copyright R. J. Russell
2005
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Einstein’s reaction:
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1927: rejects both Friedmann and
Lemaître: expanding universe is
“abominable”
1931: changes his mind, retracts Λ as “my
greatest blunder”
 but was it?
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Einstein’s reaction:
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In my opinion, Λ shows that philosophy can play
a creative role in science…
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since it was falsified, it was falsifiable
since it was falsifiable, it was a scientific (e.g.,
Popper)
Λ has resurfaced in current cosmology (c.
1990) and plays a major role today!
Copyright R. J. Russell 2005
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Big Bang
vs.
Steady State:
Two Decades of Competition:
Philosophical and Theological
Influences
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Hoyle, Bondi & Gold (1947):
the context of discovery
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objected to the Big Bang for philosophical and
theological (atheistic) reasons:
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philosophy: if the laws of physics came into existence
with the universe at t=0, how can t=0 be described by
physics?
theology: a universe with t=0 seems to favor theism
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Hoyle, Bondi & Gold (1947):
the context of discovery
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to replace Big Bang: first devised a new theory of
gravity including the ‘continuous creation’ of matter
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then used it to obtain the Steady-State cosmology:
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an eternally old universe that has always been
expanding and will continue to expand forever
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Which cosmology is correct:
Big Bang or Steady State?
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In the context of justification, when the
scientific evidence is inconclusive:
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Are philosophical arguments applicable?
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Are religious arguments applicable?
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Philosophical arguments
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Hoyle: Big Bang is “irrational”
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McCrea: Steady-State follows Occam’s razor
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Dingle: Big Bang and Steady-State are both too
philosophical
Soviet Union: rejects all cosmology as
unscientific and contrary to dialectical
materialism
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Religious Arguments:
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Support for Big Bang:
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Whittaker: support from theism
Support for Steady-State:
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Hoyle and others: support from atheism
Ingle, Lovell, McCrea: support from theism!
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need God to continuously create matter
Religion is irrelevant to cosmology:
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Lemaître (though he was a Priest!)
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Resolution of the Controversy:
Evidence strongly supports Big Bang
 Red
shift of quasars
 Cosmological
 Discovery
origin of helium
of microwave background 1965
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What about t=0?
 “t=0
is the greatest paradox in the books of
physics!” … John Archibald Wheeler
 Theological
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interpretations of t=0:
proof of creation by God
irrelevant to faith in God
relevant but not proof of faith in God
• The details … that’s another story!
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To conclude …
… contrary to the popular myth
that science is atheistic or that
religion is irrelevant to science,
we now know from the history of
20th century cosmology that
philosophy and theology can play
a creative role in science.
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… Thank you!
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