Filozofska istraživanja, Vol. 26 No. 3, 2006.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
Theology: Einstein’s Concept of God with the Theological Implications on the Einstein’s Physical View of the World
Tonči Matulić
Sažetak
The research of religious experience of great minds since ever represents demanded, but yet provocative and controversial enterprise. And when that research is focused on one of the most
renowned physicists of the twentieth century, which could also mean of all times, Albert Einstein (1879–1955), than the subject obtains in weight, but no doubt also in attractiveness. This fact is due to the pure evidence of Einstein’s very often mentions of religion and God in his scientific and popular writings. Maybe often mentions of Einstein’s personal views of religion and God are far more significant in his private letters and various public meetings with people. For example, Max Jammer, a philosopher, physicist, and former Rector of the Bar-Ilan University of Jerusalem in Israel, illuminating meticulously Einstein’s intimate, e.g. personal, and professional, e.g. scientific, relation to religion, affirms that his physical cognitions and his understanding of religion are profoundly bound. For Einstein, in such supposed complex of relations, the cognition of nature simultaneously reveals Divine traces. Moreover, according to him precisely by means of natural sciences becomes possible to capture and comprehend Divine thought. Indeed, such view of nature in eighteenth century formed a core of natural theology. However, Einstein’s life and work find place two and a half centuries later. Therefore it is a right place to research some theological implications of Einstein’s physical, e.g. scientific, view of world, because just Einstein by his most important scientific discoveries, more exactly by
special (1905) and general (1915/1916) theory of relativity, simultaneously “buried” two and a half centuries dominated Newtonean mechanistic worldview, based on physical postulates of
classical mechanics, and placed solid foundations for later establishing a new worldview, based on physical postulates of quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle. Behind this epochmaking turn, in terms of scientific revolution and paradigm shift (Th. Kuhn), was Einstein who literally undermined the traditional foundations of comprehensions of reality, reducing, so to speak, a whole issue at one sentence: “The only thing that is incomprehensible about the world is that it is comprehensible” (Einstein). This whole story has stipulated tempestuous philosophical and theological debates, and these debates are going on up to nowadays. On the quest of Randall Thomas Davidson, the Archbishop of Canterbury: “What effect relativity would have on religion?” Einstein without hesitation replied: “None. Relativity is a purely scientific matter and has nothing to do with religion”. Is this true? Indeed, none could be true for direct effects, but those indirect provoked very complex and defiant challenges for theological explanations of
the created reality. Therefore two theological questions seem to be unavoidable within research of theological implications of Einstein’s worldview. First, what exactly means a word ‘God’ for Einstein? Second, what implications have an appeal to God for Einstein’s mathematics and physics? Since vis-à-vis conviction of many in Einstein’s atheism, there is also conviction of many in his deep religious experience originally based on devotion of “mystery” of the universe, than raises the third and the most demanded theological question, whose answer to be sure doesn’t depend upon answers on previous two, but can cast some light on their true meaning.
Namely, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic theology is presupposing a faith in one God as Creator of the world. Therefore the world is eminently creation or direct effect of the agency of Divine
creative will. The word ‘world’ embraces here an entire material reality, and not only the world of man. Consequently, theology speaks about world as creation, while natural sciences speak
about world as nature that is as natural world. This is the motive why Christian theology cannot remain at a distance from fashion of natural-scientific description of the world, since it is inscribed in the same core of theology a demand for continuous reexamination of conditions and possibilities for harmonizing of those descriptions with supposed faith in one God as Creator of the world. Jewish and Christian faith in the creation of the world confirms that just nothing
exists, neither matter as well, without Divine creative will. Now the third theological question sounds like this: What a relation is really possible between God and His creation in the context of a new – natural-scientific – worldview?
Ključne riječi
Albert Einstein; theology; concept of ‘God’; worldview; natural science; religion
Hrčak ID:
11161
URI
Datum izdavanja:
5.10.2006.
Posjeta: 4.087 *