People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge
waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast
compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and
they pass themselves by without wondering.
(St. Augustine)
``Great are the works of the Lord; all who research them find
pleasure therein (or: all who have pleasure in them want to understand
them).''
(Psalm 111:2)
``But You [God] have ordered everything with measure, number and
weight''
(Wisdom 11:20)
``It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty
and miss the way.''
(Proverbs 19:2)
``It is God's privilege to conceal things,
but the kings' pride is to research them.''
(Proverbs 25:2)
``They ... explained it so that the people could understand it.''
(Nehemiah 8:8)
``Don't be childlike in matters of understanding. Instead be
childlike in matters of evil, but be perfect in understanding.''
(1 Cor. 14:20)
``Consider everything. Keep the good. Avoid evil whenever you notice it.''
(1 Thess. 5:21-22)
``Make sure that no one traps you by philosophy and vain
speculation based on man's teaching and the powers of the world
instead of Christ. For through him you have everything in
abundance.''
(Col. 2:8)
``If someone imagines he knows something - such a man has not yet
realized how one ought to know.''
(1 Cor. 8:2)
``Only love has no limits. In contrast, our predictions
can fail, our communication can fail, and our knowledge can fail.
For our knowledge is patchwork, and our predictive power is
limited. But when perfection comes, all patchwork will disappear.''
((1 Cor. 13:8-10)
*
These verses are my own paraphrases of the respective bible verses.
Most other bible quotations in my web pages
(apart from copies of the present ones)
are from the
Holy Bible, New International Version.
*
Please help to keep this page up to date by informing me at Arnold.Neumaier@univie.ac.at about new or missing electronic documents, and about links that are no longer working. I have no time to keep all links living, but I'll replace or delete any outdated links that readers tell me about.
There are problems to whose solution I would attach an infinitely
greater importance than to those of mathematics, for example touching
ethics, or our relation to God, or concerning our destiny and our
future; but their solution lies wholly beyond us and completely
outside the province of science.
(C.F. Gauss)
Carl Friedrich Gauss
The above quote is from:
J. R. Newman (ed.), The World of Mathematics,
Simon and Schuster, New York 1956, p. 314.
Francis Collins,
Francis Collins is the former director of the National Human Genome
Research Institute, and now director of the National Institutes of
Health (NIH). He wrote a book on
The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.
See also the
Review by
Timothy Chow<\A>, a mathematician
Charles Townes, Nobel laurate (Physics 1964)
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) on science and faith
Georg Cantor on God and the transfinite
(see also
here)
''The actual infinite arises in three contexts: first when it is
realized in the most complete form, in a fully independent otherworldly
being, in Deo, where I call it the Absolute Infinite or simply
Absolute; second when it occurs in the contingent, created world;
third when the mind grasps it in abstracto as a mathematical magnitude,
number or order type.'' (Georg Cantor, founder of modern set theory)
Sir Arthur Eddington (A thesis by Renate Kandler)
List of Christian Nobel laureates (from Wikipedia)
List of Christian thinkers in science (from Wikipedia)
50 Nobel laurates and other great scientists who believe in God
Scientists of faith (with quotes from their work)
Christianity Aiding the Development of Science
Some Great Scientists and Artists who were Christians
Christian Influences in the Sciences
(by Dan Graves)
Many of
The World's Greatest Thinkers Were Christians!
Great Scientists Who Were Also Creationists
(by Timothy R. Stout, a physicist and pastor)
Religious scholars (in Russian, by Michael Grinzaid)
Stephen Hawking, The Big Bang, and God
(by Henry Schaefer, a quantum chemist)
Some of Einstein's Writings on Science and Religion
Francis Bacon,
Essays
``A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe
in God.'' (Alan Perlis, Computer scientist)
Quotes relating science and faith
(collected by Aaron Romanowsky, an astrophysicist)
From the
Templeton prize lecture of Freeman Dyson (a phycisist):
``Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many
of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not
many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the
world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to
shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the
despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things
that are, so that no one may boast before him.''
40 percent of U.S. scientists believe in a personal God and an
afterlife, according to an article by Larson and Witham in
Nature, April 3, 1997. Among the (more prominent) members of the
U.S. National Academy of Sciences,
only 7 percent believe in a personal creator
(Larson and Whitham, Nature, July 1998). (See also
God and the Scientists)
''Where many see science and religion as two separate and incompatible
universes of discourse Eddington developed a way to conceive of them as
complementary and compatible. He maintained that science addresses the
measurable world and spirituality addresses the unseen world. Both find
their source in the divine and are rooted in beauty, truth and especially
experience.''
(free HTML and pdf book with 146 pages)
surveying among others the way some of the most influential
scientists of the past regarded the relation between science and
Christianity: Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday,
Nicolas Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, Francis Bacon, Blaise Pascal,
Robert Boyle, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin),
James Clerk Maxwell, Gregor Mendel, Louis Pasteur, Benjamin Franklin,
Marconi, Thomas Edison, Wernher von Braun, and some others.
Dan Graves, Scientists of Faith: Forty-Eight Biographies of Historic
Scientists and Their Christian Faith, Kregel Publ. 1996
(a recent book)
(Well, they were Christians who believed God created the universe.
They were not necessarily creationists in the sense the term is used
today.)
The list is attributed to the book
Men of Science, Men of God by Henry Morris. (Only an
abstract of the book
is online)
The essay quotes a number of famous scientists. For example,
``Toward the end of Schrodinger's career he made this statement,
"I am very astonished that the scientific picture of the real world
around me is very deficient. It gives us a lot of factual information,
puts all of our experience in a magnificently consistent order but it
is ghastly silent about all and sundry that is really near to our
heart, that really matters to us." Schrodinger believed that science
has limits; it knows nothing of beautiful and ugly, good or bad, God
and eternity.''
``I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals Himself in the orderly
harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates
and actions of human beings.''
Einstein and God (by Thomas Torrance)
(see also my query
On Einstein's Religious Views)
``It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism,
but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion.''
''Religious creationists and scientific materialists are equally
dogmatic and insensitive. By their arrogance they bring both science
and religion into disrepute. The media exaggerate their numbers and
importance. The media rarely mention the fact that the great majority
of religious people belong to moderate denominations that treat
science with respect, or the fact that the great majority of scientists
treat religion with respect so long as religion does not claim
jurisdiction over scientific questions.''
((1 Cor. 1:26-29)
Fellowship
The Fellowship of Scientists
``The Fellowship of Scientists is a group of scientists who endeavor
to support each other as they seek a greater understanding of and a
deeper commitment to the vocation of scientist as one form of
Christian service.
To help members in their daily reading and reflection, the handbook
of the Fellowship includes an annotated bibliography and over a
hundred short readings ... drawn from books listed in the annotated
bibliography to offer an introduction to them.''
Christians in Science, a list of organizations
Society of Ordained Scientists
Words of Hope for Chinese Students and Scholars
``The Mandate contains powerful salvation testimonies from Chinese
scholars as well as incisive articles relating to biblical civil
government, economics, education, and business.''
Affiliation of Christian Biologists
Affiliation of Christian Geologists
Augustine on Genesis
If they [the infidel] find a Christian mistaken in a field which
they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish
opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in
matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal
life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full
of falsehoods and on facts which they themselves have learnt from
experience and the light of reason?
A history of the warfare of science with theology in Christendom (1500K; by Andrew Dickson White)
Theology and Science: Where Are We? (by Ted Peters)
``A revolution is underway, a revolution adding complexity and nuance
so that it is no longer accurate to see science and theology merely as
pitched enemies.''
Pope John Paul II on Galileo Galilei
Fides et Ratio
(Pope John Paul II on the relationship between faith and reason)
and
Statements on science and faith,
from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Reconciling Old Lovers: John Paul on Science and Faith (by Michael Sherwin)
Luther and Science (by Donald Kobe, a physicist)
Psychology of Religion Page (by Michael Nielsen)
God and Computers (by Anne Foerst)
Knowledge
``Doesn't the Bible say that knowledge will be "destroyed"?
Isn't it "incomplete"? Doesn't it "puff up"?
And then there's the "tree of"!
But aren't we also told to "look/ask/seek for it and walk in it"?''
Begründet glauben
``Ich habe dir schon erklärt, daß noch viele andere mit mir diese
Überzeugung teilen, aber andererseits habe ich dir schon angedeutet,
dass viele, die zum ungetrübten und gottesfürchtigen Glauben gehören,
und wahre Christen sind, anders darüber denken.'' (Justin, 160 n.Chr.)
Textsammlung Naturwissenschaft des Institut für Glaube und Naturwissenschaft
The stars are constantly shining, but we do not see them until the dark hours.
God, Physics and The Human Prospect
``This course will explore the deeper dialogue between Science and
Theology rather than concentrating on what are perceived as areas
of controversy between Science and Theology.''
3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated (a beautiful book by Donald Knuth, a computer scientist, inventor of TeX)
Religion and Science (Wabash guide to internet resources for teaching and learning in theology and religion)
Naturalism, Theism and the Scientific Enterprise, a conference at the University of Texas at Austin, Feb. 20-23, 1997 (with online papers)
Google on Christianity and Science
On Christianity
My attempt to select the most basic references on Christianity and
its opponents, from the huge amount of information on the internet.
Interdisciplinary documentation on religion and science
CTNS, center for theology and the natural sciences
The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion
Bibliography on the Integration of Faith and Scholarship
Annotated Bibliography of the Fellowship of Scientists
Annotated Science/Faith Bibliography
World Wide Article Bank: Science Theology (some online articles)
Gifford Lectures ``promote and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term - in other words, the knowledge of God''
John Templeton Foundation and The Templeton Prize For Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities
Six lectures about interactions between faith and computer science by Donald E. Knuth
It has always seemed to me extreme presumptuousness on the part of
those who want to make human ability the measure of what nature can
and knows how to do, since, when one comes down to it, there is not
one effect in nature, no matter how small, that even the most
speculative minds can fully understand.
(Galileo Galilei)
(from Steve Spanoudis' excellent
Quotations
pages with over 17.500 quotes)
The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics
(by R.W. Hamming, one of the founders of information theory)
''We have the illusion that science has answers to most of our
questions, but this is not so. From the earliest of times man
must have pondered over what Truth, Beauty, and Justice are.
But so far as I can see science has contributed nothing to the
answers, nor does it seem to me that science will do much in the
near future. [...] Indeed, to generalize, almost all of our
experiences in this world do not fall under the domain of science
or mathematics.''
Is Science a Help or Threat to Faith? (by J.P. Moreland)
The Foolishness of God, The Place of Reason in the Theology of Martin Luther (by Siegbert W. Becker)
Religion in an Age of Science by John Polkinghorne (a mathematical physicist)
God's Action in the World
by John Polkinghorne (a mathematical physicist)
Science and Faith
a commentary by the physicist J. A. H. Futterman on Einstein's
famous statement, ``science without religion is lame, religion without
science is blind''.
Science and the Story that We Need (by Neil Postman)
``The science-god ... is a mighty god and, like more ancient ones,
gives people a measure of control over their lives. Some say the
science-god gives more control and more power than any other
god before it. But in the end, science does not provide the answers
most of us require.''
Is the Watchmaker Really Blind? (by John Lennox, a mathematician)
There is something 'beyond' the physical universe
(by Glenn Miller)
``...many of these people are right on target--they have
established a relationship with God, He is quietly at
work in their lives, they generally have the right perspectives, they
struggle with moral issues daily, and they really care deeply for
others--but often they do not know how to communicate--to people
like us--the 'what, why, and how' of their worldview /experience, as
wonderful as it is.
...often they are not able to explain what the real issues and
options are in everyday terms. Instead they use terms like 'redemption'
and 'Savior' and 'heaven' and 'Ask Jesus into your heart' and 'open the
door of your life to God'...and expect us to know what they mean (and
then to believe it).''
The authority of the Bible in a sophisticated world
(by F. Earle Fox)
``Suppose someone came to us with a copy of the Koran, and someone
else with a copy of the Bhagavad-Gita, and another with the Bible,
each claiming that his book was the true word from God. How would we
know who was telling the truth? Or if indeed any of them were? It is
no help to assert that the Bible says it is the Word of God. The other
books may also say that. How then do we decide between them? Moreover,
an argument that uses the item in question to prove itself is a
circular argument. The book must have evidence not only from its own
internal consistency but also from its relevance to the human
situation and from external evidence.''
The West's quest for a post-modern cosmology or world view
(by Miles Hodges, a former professor of international studies)
``It was only when I began to take a deep interest in our American
Civil War that I realized how profoundly our national "cosmology" or
view of our universe had changed over the past century or so. ...
I seldom hear God brought into the discussions about the course of
events and the outworking of policies that involve us in one way or
another.''
Science and God: A Warming Trend? (by Greg Easterbrook)
Paul - Apostle with a good skeptical 'bent'... (by Glenn Miller)
Christian Skepticism, the conjunction of Faith and Doubt (by John Cassidy)
The Existence of God (from the Catholic Encyclopedia)
Der Faktor Mensch im Software Engineering (Software Engineering mit Prinzipien aus dem Neuen Testament, von Andreas Solymosi, Informatiker)
Where Was God on September 11th, 2001?
Physicist and Christian: a dialogue between the communities (by William Grosvenor Pollard, a physicist)
Christian faith and science Essays and web-links by Loren Haarsma (a physicist) about integrating: The teachings of the Bible and the results of modern science, and The life of Christian faith and the everyday work of being a scientist
``It seems to be one of the fundamental features of nature that
fundamental physical laws are described in terms of mathematical
theory of great beauty and power, needing quite a high standard of
mathematics for one to understand it.
You may wonder: Why is nature constructed along these lines?
One can only answer that our present knowledge seems to show that
it is so constructed. We simply have to accept it.
One could perhaps describe the situation by saying that God is a
mathematician of a very high order, and He used very advanced
mathematics in constructing the universe.
Our feeble attempts at mathematics enable us to understand a bit
of the universe, and as we proceed to develop higher and higher
mathematics we can hope to understand the universe better.''
(Paul Dirac)
A Designer Universe? (by Stephen Weinberg, Nobel prize winner in Physics, 1979)
Is Science Killing The Soul? (by Richard Dawkins & Steven Pinker)
The Myth of the Magical "Scientific Method" (a perceptive essay from the Buddhist Dharma Haven site)
God and the big bang - and other arguments about science and faith
(by Mike Poole, a biologist and editor of life sciences books)
An illuminating essay about explanations
The Kalam Cosmological Argument: A summary
(by Bill Ramey)
An annotated bibliography about the argument
``Everything that begins to exist has a cause. The universe began to
exist. Therefore: the universe has a cause. Those arguing this
position then usually go on to argue that this cause is God.''
The Argument From Design (by Dennis McCallum)
The Existence of God and the Beginning of the Universe (by William Lane Craig)
Chance from a Theistic Perspective (by Loren Haarsma)
The Truth is Stranger than Fiction (texts collected by Hugh Ross, an astrophysicist)
Faith & Reason Ministries, Reconciling Christianity with Accepted Science
The Existence of God (by Larry Siekawitch)
Essays by Hans Bodlaender (a mathematician)
Karl Giberson and Francis Collins, The Language of Science and Faith (a recent book)
Scientific Evidence for the Existence of God
(by Walter Bradley, mechanical engineer)
`` I have discovered many additional areas in
which alternative evidences for the existence of God can be found,
persuading me of two things:
(1) God's fingerprints are ubiquitous in his creation, giving
"clear evidence of his eternal power and divine nature through the
things that have been created" (Romans 1:19-20); and
(2) almost anyone who works in a field of science could potentially
develop a presentation of this type in their area of expertise.
... It is a shame so much of the dialogue of the last 35 years between
Christianity and science has centered on the age of the earth and
creation science. It has left the average person, Christian and
nonChristian alike, with the impression that modern science and the
Bible are seriously at odds, maybe irreconcilably so.''
Worship - a scientist's approach
(by Cyril Challice)
[as a sideline, this essay contains the following remark:
``... Psalm 111, the second verse of which, in the Latin version,
is engraved over the entrance to one of the most significant physics
laboratories in the world, the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge, in
England. It is believed they were put there at the request of
Professor James Clerk Maxwell, who was responsible for developing the
mathematical equations which are the basis of modern electrical
engineering.'']
Ways to Think about Christianity and Science Together (by Ben Clausen, a geologist and physicist)
Religion And Science: Must There Be Conflict? (by William Wallace), and other essays on Science and Faith
Has science disproved Christianity? (by Nick Pollard)
Christianity: A Cause of Modern Science? (by Eric Snow)
Christianity, Evidence and Truth (by Roger Forster and Paul Marston)
The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy (by Pearcey and Thaxton)
When Science and Beliefs Collide (by Janet Raloff)
God and Science (an online book by by Charles Henderson)
God and Science (by Jacques Maritain)
Science Christianity United (by Gordon Winder)
Creation, Evolution and Adam (by Ed)
The Future of Religion FAQ (by Richard S. Kirby and Jay E. Gary)
``faith: knowledge without justification''
God After Darwin (by John Haught)
A biblical view of mathematics
Gedanken zum Leben als Christ (einige meiner Gedanken)
Die -Ex- Atheisten (von Hans Joss)
Begründet glauben
Ein Netzwerk für Fragen und Antworten über den christlichen
Glauben
Ist Gott ein Mathematiker? (von Dieter Hattrup)
Naturwissenschaft und christlicher Glaube (vom Evangeliumsnetz)
Wahrheit und Wissen in der Mathematik (von Manfred Zimmermann)
Zwischen Mensch und Gott. Naturwissenschaft und Theologie (von Werner Müller)
Institut fü Glaube und Wissenschaft (mit vielen interessanten Texten)
I Am Really Fascinated by Jesus Christ...
... but My Doubts Are Way Too Noisy to be Silenced
(Does one need to throw one's brain out of the window in order to
be a Christian?)
If you want to be a messenger of Christ at your university, you may want to look at my experience in Sharing One's Faith at University
Scientific Proofs of Authenticity
To find out what I find important as a Christian, see my views on the Christian way of life, many of them composed with scientists as readers in mind, and If you are interested in other topics related to Christian faith, look at my commented links to WWW sites on Christianity and its opponents.
Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics, and Consciousness
(slides relating artificial intelligence and theology)
How to Create a Universe - Instructions for an Apprentice God
Some of my essays in German:
Mathematik, Physik und Ewigkeit (mit einem Augenzwinkern betrachtet)
Parallelen Wissenschaft - Glauben (notiert beim Lesen von H. Poincarè, Der Wert der Wissenschaft, Teubner 1910)
Scientific Refutation of the Bible Codes (by Brendan McKay)
Bibliography of Christianity and Mathematics
Has Science Found God? (by Victor Stenger, a physicist)
Muslim Scientists and Thinkers
Islam & Science, with mainly questionable arguments (I reviewed one of the essays found on the Islam & Science server)
Christian and Muslim Science and Faith Web Pages
Seven reasons why a scientist believes in God
by A. Cressy Morrison,
former president of the New York Academy of Sciences.
The site contains further material from a hinduistic perspective.
What is and what will be - integrating spirituality and science by Paul Budnik
Science Without Bounds,
A Synthesis of Science, Religion and Mysticism
``In 1970 I was twenty-two and looking for something to believe in,
something to make sense of the world and my place in it, a world view.
Years of religious elementary and high school had left me with a
dislike of religion, a distaste for it's irrationality, superstition,
and guilt. Science had been much more to my liking; I had gone to a
state university and just received a degree in electrical engineering.
Yet religion had addressed, however ineptly, however superstitiously,
some questions science ignored. What was my place in the world?
Where had I come from? and Where was I going? Certainly these
questions were as important to me as the voltage and current in an
electrical circuit. In the following years I attempted to find answers
to those questions...'' (The answers found are not Christian.)
In the Absence of the Sacred: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations (Jerry Mander)
Embracing Science. Christianity in the Twenty-First Century
(speculative)
International Society for Environmental Ethics
Look at how God rules the universe, and do likewise! (cf. Matthew 5:48)
Take as your model God's craftsmanship:
Not grubbing projects all for yourself;
Ruling over free people, not over slaves;
creating an order that sustains itself;
planting seeds that unfold on their own;
awakening powers that work without assistance.
H. Planck, Aus dem Buch der Erfahrung, 3. Aufl.,
My Views on the Christian Way of Life
Questions I'd like to know an answer to
Christians in Science
Science and Creation
On Christianity
Challenging Essays on Christian Life
Links to Christian Resources
Famous Christians
Home Pages of Christians
Recreation with a Christian Touch
Gedanken zum Leben als Christ
Christentum Seiten in Deutsch
my
home page (http://arnold-neumaier.at)
Arnold Neumaier (Arnold.Neumaier@univie.ac.at)