Should scientsits believe in God?
Position | Religion |
Scientists make terrible theologians. That is the opinion of physicist and researcher Scott M. Tyson--the author of The Unobservable Universe: A Paradox-Free Framework for Understanding the Universe--who thinks colleague Stephen Hawking was wrong to dismiss the concept of life after death. Hawking explained in a newspaper interview his belief that there is no God and that humans therefore should seek to live the most valuable lives they can while on Earth.
"I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years," Hawking stated. "I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first. I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."
Tyson believes that Hawking's comments may serve to do more harm than good for people of faith and science. "I think that people in general believe that scientists don't believe in God, and that's just not true," insists Tyson. "History is filled with scientists who were also men of faith, from [Nicolaus] Copernicus, Galileo [Galilei], and [Sir Isaac] Newton to [Albert] Einstein.
"Now, I do also believe that there are other scientists who would like to prove that God doesn't exist," he adds. "These scientists might want to rain on everyone else's parades with respect to God. The problem is that one of the limitations of science is that it simply cannot prove the nonexistence of objects and phenomena over the full spectrum of possibilities.
"So, while scientists may be able to prove in a scientific framework that there is no life after death, they cannot--nor should they even attempt to-prove it in a theological framework, which is the territory of faith. To do so creates unnecessary divisiveness that can serve no beneficial purpose. That's the line Dr. Hawking dressed--he essentially discounted the idea in both frameworks."
Tyson's concern is that Hawking's comments deepen the rift between the scientific and religious...
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