The hypothesis

The working hypothesis here is that religion is the force that binds individual, genetically distant human beings into a peaceful and coherent society. The plan is to examine this hypothesis in the light of the foundation of scientific faith: that the Universe is consistent.

The world fits together. Some of this fit is clear to us. Some remains a mystery. We collectively spend many billions of dollars every year on efforts to explore and map more of the fit. If, as our article of faith says, the Universe all fits together, we may say that it is one, and if it is one, knowledge of any part of it contributes to knowledge of the whole.

We assume here that God and the Universe are one, open to our gaze, even if beyond our comprehension. The sciences have been very successful over the last few centuries, and have built up a vast archive of information about the world. If the world is one, this information must tell us something relevant to theology and religion

The Universe is one, but it also has many parts, ranging from subatomic particles to galaxies and beyond. We ourselves are parts of the Universe. We notice that the Universe is a layered structure, since a part may both contain smaller parts and be part of something bigger.

Although the Universe is ceaselessly active it also has many unchanging features which are the foundations of technology. Here we encounter one of the oldest known scientific problems. The difficulty was exposed by the differing opinions of two ancient Greek scientists, Parmenides and Heracleitus. Heracleitus believed that everything moved. Heracleitus - Wikipedia. Parmenides, on the other hand, felt that true reality was unchanging. Parmenides - Wikipedia

This problem remains with us. The classical Christian God is considered to be eternal, that is absolutely unchanging. Aquinas 46. This problem, and many others that arise from contradictions between the classical model of God and the observed Universe can only be dealt with by constructing a model of God which is compatible with both the observed Universe and the classical model of God.

In this way we hope to shine the light of scientific theology on the art of religion in the interest of peace. The devil, of course, is in the detail. First the hypothesis needs to be developed in detail, and the resulting picture compared, in detail, to the world of experience. If the hypothesis fits reality, it becomes a useful guide to practical design and construction. Engineers use physics to construct bridges. Societies use theology to construct humanity.

Copyright:

You may copy this material freely provided only that you quote fairly and provide a link (or reference) to your source.

---

Links

Aquinas 46 Whether God is eternal 'I answer that, The idea of eternity follows immutability, as the idea of time follows movement, as appears from the preceding article. Hence, as God is supremely immutable, it supremely belongs to Him to be eternal. Nor is He eternal only; but He is His own eternity; whereas, no other being is its own duration, as no other is its own being. Now God is His own uniform being; and hence as He is His own essence, so He is His own eternity.' back

Heracleitus - Wikipedia Heracleitus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 'Heraclitus is famous for his insistence on ever-present change in the Universe, as stated in his famous saying, "No man ever steps in the same river twice" . . . ' back

Parmenides - Wikipedia Parmenides - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 'Parmenides of Elea (early 5th century BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Elea, a Greek city on the southern coast of Italy. He was the founder of the Eleatic school of philosophy, his only known work is a poem which has survived only in fragmentary form. In it, Parmenides describes two views of reality. In the Way of Truth, he explained how reality is one; change is impossible; and existence is timeless, uniform, and unchanging. In the Way of Opinion, he explained the world of appearances, which is false and deceitful. These thoughts strongly influenced Plato, and through him, the whole of western philosophy.' back