Q&A: Religion and Physics
Religion and Physics
Question
To Rabbi Doctor Michael Abraham,
Shalom.
I am Haredi (in my lifestyle) and am nearing the completion of a master's degree in physics.
I have read a lot from your books and your ideas on the site, and I would be glad to hear your opinion on the following issue:
There are many people (religious and secular) who like to say that there is no contradiction between physics (or science) and religion: physics deals with the material world and religion with the spiritual world, and there is no connection between the two, and so on.
(By the term "a contradiction between physics [science] and religion" I do not mean the issue of the Big Bang and the like; I mean a deep contradiction that stands between science and religion.)
I am convinced that this is nonsense. In my view, the central question that lies at the foundation of both science and religion is the same question, and you could hardly find two approaches more opposed than these.
In other words: It's all about physics; the whole discussion is really physics.
The deep question is: how does the world operate? Does it operate in a "blind" way, indifferent to moral consequences, or not? The religious approach, which until not so long ago was the common view, was that our moral actions have consequences for the physical world, that the reason for the world's existence is spiritual-moral, and so on.
In the past few centuries a completely opposite approach has developed: the world is a mechanical system of blind laws; all events in the physical world are derived from a system of laws that has no connection whatsoever to their moral result.
According to this way of thinking, there is no and cannot be any connection between any physical event and its spiritual aspect. Physical events are simply a blind mechanical expression of laws (usually simple ones), and there is no direction to which they lead. Consequently, there can be no miracles; there is no room for individual providence, or prayer, and so on.
To sum up: the contradiction between physics and religion is deep and fundamental. These two worldviews are opposites of one another and cannot coexist in any way.
Moreover, it seems to me that the birth of secularity is tied at the navel to the birth of science. Only after Newton (a devoutly religious man, ironically) formulated the laws of mechanics could the first secular person be born, and that is indeed what happened.
What do you think?
Answer
Shalom.
In the future, I would appreciate it if you would contact me through the website. It's more convenient for me.
As for the picture you describe, I am completely with you. But in my opinion, precisely for that reason it is incorrect to identify a religious outlook with an alternative explanation of reality (as the hand of God operating out of spiritual considerations), as you assume. That was the view in the past, before the scientific era, and we ought to change it (I have written that either this was never correct in the first place, or it changed following a change in the Holy One's policy, like the disappearance of prophecy and open miracles).
In several places on my site I have pointed out that the scientific view of reality implies that the world is conducted deterministically according to the laws of nature (perhaps with the exception of sporadic anomalies whose existence cannot be ruled out). Therefore, religious life nowadays should focus on observing Jewish law and studying it, and not on interaction with the Holy One through reality. To the best of my judgment, He no longer acts here (perhaps in the past He did. See above). If you search my site (for example, discussions about miracles and the problem of evil), you will find many references to this issue.
With blessings,