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Modern physics and ancient faith / Stephen M. Barr.

by Barr, Stephen M., 1953-

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Notre Dame, Ind. : University of Notre Dame Press, c2003.

Physics -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.

0268034710 (cloth : alk. paper)

ix, 312 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.

Conflict between religion and materialism: Materialist creed; Materialism as an anti-religious mythology; Scientific materialism and nature -- In the beginning: Expectations; How things looked one hundred years ago; The Big Bang; Was the Big Bang really the beginning?; What if the Big Bang was not the beginning? Is the Universe designed?: Argument from design; Attack on the argument from design; Design argument and the laws of nature; Symmetry and beauty in the laws of nature; What immortal hand or eye? -- Man's place in the cosmos: Expectations; Anthropic coincidences; Objections to the idea of anthropic coincidences; Alternative explanations of the anthropic coincidences; Why is the universe so big? -- What is man?: Issue; Determinism and free will; Can matter "Understand"?; Is the human mind just a computer?; What does the human mind have that computers lack?; Quantum theory and the mind; Alternatives to traditional quantum theory; Is a pattern emerging? -- Appendices: God, time, and creation; Attempts to explain the beginning scientifically; Godel's theorem.

A considerable amount of public debate and media print has been devoted to the "war between science and religion". In his accessible and readable book, Stephen M. Barr demonstrates that what is really at war with religion is not science itself, but a philosophy called scientific materialism. This book argues that the great discoveries of modern physics are more compatible with the central teachings of Christianity and Judaism about God, the cosmos and the human soul than with the atheistic viewpoint of scientific materialism. Scientific discoveries from the time of Copernicus to the beginning of the 20th century have led many thoughtful people to the conclusion that the universe has no cause or purpose, that the human race is an accidental by-product of blind material forces, and that the ultimate reality is matter itself. Barr contends that the revolutionary discoveries of the 20th century run counter to this line of thought. He uses five of these discoveries--the Big Bang theory, unified field theories, anthropic coincidences, Godel's Theorem in mathematics, and quantum theory--to cast serious doubt on the materialist's view of the world and to give greater credence to Judeo-Christian claims about God and the universe. Written in clear language, Barr's rigorous and fair text explains modern physics to general readers without oversimplification. Using the insights of modern physics, he reveals that modern scientific discoveries and religious faith are deeply consonant.

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