2. From Theology to Physics

To see the genuinely interactive, but asymmetrical, nature of the relations I am proposing, I will suggest at least three paths by which theology can influence physics. (6): Theology provided some key historical assumptions which underlay scientific methodology, such as the contingency and rationality of nature.Note that other assumptions, though grounded in the ex nihilo tradition, were not carried over into the scientific conception of nature, such as goodness and purpose (i.e., axiology and teleology); it would be interesting to re-examine these assumptions in contemporary science.(7) Theological theories can act as sources of inspiration in the scientific ‘context of discovery’. Examples include the influences of religion on the pioneers of quantum theory, including Planck, Einstein, Bohr and Schrödinger; the influence of religious beliefs in cosmology; the consequences of a Whiteheadian approach to scienceor a commitment to temporal irreversibility as foundational in physics. Finally (8), theological theories could offer ‘selection rules’ which might serve as one of various criteria of theory choice in physics:if one considers a theological theory as true, then one can delineate what conditions must obtain within physics for the possibility of its being true. These conditions can then serve as reasons for pursuing a particular scientific program.

Contributed by: Dr. Robert Russell