Do Creationists Believe in “Weird” Physics like Relativity, Quantum
Mechanics, and String Theory?
Modern physics is a product of the 20th century and relies upon twin
pillars: quantum mechanics and general relativity. Both theories have
tremendous experimental support. Christians ought not to view these
theories with such great suspicion. True, some people have perverted
or hijacked these theories to support some non-biblical principles, but
some wicked people have even perverted Scripture to support
non-biblical things. We ought to recognize that modern physics is a
very robust, powerful theory that explains much. At the same time,
the theory is very incomplete in some respects. In time, we ought to
expect that some new theories will come along that will better explain
the world than these theories do. However, we know that God’s Word
does not change.
String theory has emerged in the 21st century as the next great idea
in physics. Time will tell if string theory will live up to our
expectations. What ought to be the reaction of Christians to this? We
must be vigilant to investigate the amount of non-biblical influences
that may have crept into modern thinking, particularly in the
interpretation of string theory (as with modern physics). However, we
must be careful not to throw out the baby with the bath water. That is,
can we reject the anti-Christian thinking that many have brought to
the discussion? The answer is certainly yes. As with the question of
origins, we must strive to interpret these things on our terms, guided
by the Bible. Do the new theories adequately describe the world? Can
we see the hand of the Creator in our new physics? Can we find
meaning in our studies that brings glory to God? If we can answer yes
to each of these questions, then these new theories ought not to be a
problem for the Christian.