This page intentionally left blank DIVINE ACTION AND MODERN SCIENCE Divine Action and Modern Science considers the relationship between the natural sciences and the concept of God acting in the world Nicholas Saunders examines the Biblical motivations for asserting a continuing notion of divine action and identifies several different theological approaches to the problem He considers their theoretical relationships with the laws of nature, indeterminism and probabilistic causation His book then embarks on a radical critique of current attempts to reconcile special divine action with quantum theory, chaos theory and quantum chaos As well as considering the implications of these problems for common interpretations of divine action, Saunders also surveys and codifies the many different theological, philosophical and scientific responses to divine action The conclusion reached is that we are still far from a satisfactory account of how God might act in a manner that is consonant with modern science despite the copious recent scholarship in this area is Honorary Associate of the Ian Ramsey Centre at the University of Oxford He has won several international prizes for his science and theology research, including the prestigious Biennial Prize of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology, and a John Templeton Foundation Exemplary Published Papers Prize DIVINE ACTION AND MODERN SCIENCE NICHOLAS SAUNDERS Ian Ramsey Centre, Oxford University Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge , United Kingdom Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521801560 © Nicholas Saunders 2002 This book is in copyright Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press First published in print format 2002 - isbn-13 978-0-511-07181-2 eBook (EBL) - isbn-10 0-511-07181-7 eBook (EBL) - isbn-13 978-0-521-80156-0 hardback - isbn-10 0-521-80156-7 hardback - isbn-13 978-0-521-52416-2 paperback - paperback isbn-10 0-521-52416-4 Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of s for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission All rights reserved To my wife and my mother, with all my love Contents Preface Chapter page ix Motivations The status of Biblical sources The Biblical Theology movement Biblical authority and SDA accounts Chapter Theological approaches to divine action Special and general forms of divine action Attempts to subsume SDA into GDA SDA, occasionalism and divine determinism Intentional and causal accounts of SDA SDA and human action Is there a mental/natural SDA distinction? Compatibilist and incompatibilist notions of SDA SDA – the theological approaches Chapter The laws of nature and miracles Violation or intervention miracles Differing philosophical approaches to the laws of nature Regularity accounts Instrumentalist accounts Necessitarian accounts Irreducibly probabilistic laws The possibilities for non-interventionist SDA Inductive statistical explanations and SDA Conclusions Chapter Determinism and SDA Indeterminism and predictability The theological status of indeterminism vii viii Contents Chapter Divine action and quantum theory Pre-Pollard quantum SDA William Pollard Post-Pollard quantum SDA Summary Chapter Does God cheat at dice? The deterministic basis of quantum mechanics What is an ‘event’ in quantum mechanics? The orthodox interpretation The projection postulate and SDA Summary CSL theories and SDA SDA and the many worlds/minds approach SDA and de Broglie–Bohm mechanics SDA and the transactional interpretation Quantum non-locality and SDA Quantum SDA – final conclusions Chapter Chaos Theory and divine action Chaos in Lorenz’s model Chaotic attractors Claims for chaotic SDA The status of active information Fractal geometry, chaos and ontology Determinism and mathematical chaos Chaotic SDA – a coherent approach? Chapter Whole–part models of SDA Relationship with the laws of nature Chapter Is SDA really tenable? 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the Transcendence of God Religious Studies :, – Whittaker, E Space and Spirit: Theories of the Universe and Arguments for the Existence of God London: Thomas Nelson Wiebe, D On Kaufman’s Problem God Religious Studies :, Wigner, E The Problem of Measurement American Journal of Physics : Wildman, W J and R J Russell Chaos: A Mathematical Introduction with Philosophical Reflections In R J Russell, N Murphy and A R Peacocke, eds., Chaos and Complexity: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action Vatican: Vatican Observatory and Berkeley: Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences Wiles, M Farrer’s Concept of Double Agency Theology :– Religious Authority and Divine Action In O C Thomas, ed., God’s Activity in the World: The Contemporary Problem Chico: Scholars Press God’s Action in the World London: SCM Press , Reason to Believe London: SCM Press Wilson, F Explanation, Causation and Deduction Dordrecht: D Reidel Wilson, M Critical Notice: John Earman’s A Primer on Determinism Philosophy of Science :– Workman, R W Is Indeterminism Supported by Quantum Theory? Philosophy of Science : – Wren-Lewis, J God and Chance Hibbert Journal : – Wright, G E God Who Acts: Biblical Theology as Recital London: SCM Press References Xia, Z The Existence of Non-Collision Singularities in Newtonian Systems Annals of Mathematics : – Yam, P Trends in Physics: Bringing Schrăodingers Cat to Life Scientic American June: Young, R Miracles and Epistemology Religious Studies :– Zhabotinskii, A Period Processes of the Oxidation of Malonic Acid in Solution Study of the Kinetics of Belousov’s Reaction Biofizika : Zilsel, E The Genesis of the Concept of Physical Law The Philosophical Review :, – Index action, basic, mediated, – personal analogy of, acts, master-, sub-, altar, choice of God from the, – animism, –, Apostles, election of, Aquinas, St Thomas, Aristotle, Armstrong, David, , Atkins, Peter, attractors, chaotic, , –, –, – attributes, divine, – Augustine, St, , autocatalysis, autonomy of creation, Babbage, Charles, Barbour, Ian, , , , Bartholomew, David, , , Bell, John, Belousov–Zhabotinskii reaction, – Biblical account of divine action, –, –, , , , , , Biblical theology movement, – Bigelow, John black holes, blind chance, Bodin, Jean, Bohm, David, , –, Bohr, Niels, , , – Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, –, , – Born, Max, , , Bose–Einstein statistics, Boyle, Robert, British Isles, coastline of, Bultmann, Rudolf, Buridan, Jean, butterfly effect, Calvin, Jean, , , Cartwright, Nancy, , , – causal joint, problem of the, , , , , , causality, informational, –, – probabilistic, chaos, Biblical account of, , chaos theory, , –, , – chemical forms of, definition of, – quantum mechanical relationship to, , , – sensitive dependence in, , , classical mechanics, , , –, , , –, –, Clayton, Philip, , , Colwell, Jason, – compatibilism, , –, complementarity, –, –, complexity theory, Compton, Arthur, , – consciousness, , emergence of, contingency, , – Coptic Orthodox Church, – cosmology, x, –, , big bang, x, , big crunch, steady state model of, x Crain, Stephen, Cramer, John, , , – creatio continua, , creatio ex nihilo, x, , , , critical realism, xiii, –, –, Crutchfield, James, Cushing, James, – Index Danto, Arthur, Davis, Paul, – Dawkins, Richard, De Broglie, Louis, , , , – De Laplace, Pierre Simon, , death of God, deism, , , , Dennett, Daniel, – Descartes, Ren´e, , determinism, , , , , – circularity of definition of, definition of, – Laplacian notion of, , , , , –, – metaphysical, relationship to chaos theory, – William James’ definition of, , , , , DeWitt, Bryce, – dice, God playing, diffraction experiments, Dilley, Frank, –, , divine action, denial of, experimental verification of, consistency, principle of, , faithfulness, foreknowledge, intention, justice, knowledge of the natural world, peace, planning, , presence, rationality, watchmaker, DNA, divine action upon, doctrine, apologetic use of, xi, , , , , Drees, Willem, dualism, –, , , , Biblical, Earman, John, , , –, Eddington, Arthur, –, Einstein, Podolski and Rosen (EPR) correlations, – Einstein, Albert, , , , –, – Ellis, George, emergence, –, , – downward, , –, – entanglement, quantum, epistemic ambiguity, problem of, , , , epistemology, , , limitations to, –, eschatology, Euclidean space, events, general scientific understanding of, quantum mechanical, , , , – Everett, Hugh, III, – evil, problem of, , , , , , see also theodicy evolution, divine action in, exegesis, Biblical, Exner, Franz, , Exodus, Book of the, explanation, causal, deductive, inductive statistical form of, , –, intentional, Fagg, Laurence, Farrer, Austin, , , , , , , , , Fermi–Dirac statistics, Feynman, Richard, , Five Ways, Flew, Anthony, , Fock, Vladimir, Ford, Joe, Fourier series, fractals, –, –, – Frankfort, Henri, free will, , , –, , – Fretheim, Terence, – functional integrity, general divine action, , , , –, , , , , Gilkey, Langdon, –, , Gleason, Robert, , Gleick, James, God of the gaps, –, –, , , , – Gregersen, Niels, Hamiltonian systems, Hanle, Paul, Hasker, William, Hausdorff–Besicovitch dimension, Hawking, Stephen, , , –, – heat diffusion equation, Hebblethwaite, Brian, , Heim, Karl, , –, , , Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, , , , – Heisenberg, Werner, , , , Hempel, Carl, , , , , , Hesse, Mary, hidden actions of God, hidden variable, God as the, Hilbert space, , Hinduism, notion of providence in, Hobbes, Thomas, Holism, –, , Holland, R F., – Honderich, Ted, human action, analogy of, , Hume, David, –, , , ignorance, scientific, immanence, incompatibilism, , , – indeterminism, theological status of, – inference to the best explanation, information, active, , –, – instrumentalism, , , – integration, numerical, intelligent design, intentional language, theological role of, , – interventionism, , , – Islam, notion of providence in, James, William, , , , , Jammer, Max, Jantzen, Grace, – Jauch, Josef, Jeeves, Malcolm, John, St, Jones, David, Kant, Immanuel, Kaufman, Gordon, –, Kellenberger, James, –, Kellert, Stephen, Kenny, Anthony, kenosis, –, –, , Kepler, Johannes, Klein–Gordon equation, Koperski, Jeffrey, Langford, Michael, –, –, , Laplace’s demon, , – Larmer, Robert, – laws of nature, functional, historical development of, – instrumentalist account of, – intervention in, Index Mill–Ramsey–Lewis account of, necessitarian approach to, –, , , , , ontological status of, – patchwork, – regularity account of , –, , –, – statistical account of, –, , superabundance of, universality of, , – vacuous, laws of science, , – Leckey, Martin, Leiber, Theodor, Lewis, Clive S., , liberal theology, – linear operator, definition of, Liouville’s theorem, – Locke, John, logistic map, Lord’s Prayer, Lorenz, Edward, –, Luther, Martin, MacGill, Neil, Mach, Ernest, MacKay, Donald, Macmurray, John, – Mandelbrot, Benoit, –, – Mascall, Eric, , Matthew, St, McGeever, John, McKinnon, Alistair, McLain, F Michael, Meier, John, messianic banquet, metaphor, theological, , –, – miracles, contingency approach to, – intervention approach to, – natural categorisation of, – philosophical coherence of, presidential pardon analogy to, statistical mechanics and, testimony and, theological role of, – modelling, scientific, xii, – monism, Monod, Jacques, monotheism, – Montague, Richard, morality of nature, – morality, divine principle of, Murphy, Nancey, , –, , – Index Nagel, Ernest, –, , natural theology, , nature, Biblical understanding of, – Navier–Stokes equation, Near Eastern religion, – necessity, logical form of, physical form of, – Nestorianism, Newton, Sir Isaac, , , , , Newtonian mechanics, see classical mechanics non-locality, quantum mechanical, – Oakley, Francis, objective account, – occasionalism, , , , –, Ockham, William of, Ockham’s razor, Omn`es, Roland, , omniscience, , –, Oppenheimer, H., Owen, Huw, Pailin, David, panentheism, –, pantheism, paradox, ‘solution’ of, , parousia, doctrine of the, Paul, St, xi, Peacocke, Arthur, , , , –, , , – Penrose, Roger, period doubling, chaotic, phase space, –, physicalism, , Pierce, Charles S., , Planck, Max, Plantigna, Alan, Poincar´e, Henri, Polkinghorne, John, , , , , , , , , , –, , – Pollard, William, , , –, , , – Popper, Karl, , , post-modernism, xi postulates, quantum mechanical, –, , , , –, potentiality, quantum probability notion of, pragmatism, prayer, intercessionary, , , , , – Prigogine, Ilya, probability, modification, God’s role in, orthodox account of in quantum mechanics, – propensity theory of, projection postulate, justification of, – providence, , , Purtill, Richard, quantum chaology, quantum chaos, , – quantum gravity, quantum indeterminacy, quantum measurement, , , –, , Continuous Spontaneous Localisation approach to, , – Copenhagen interpretation of, , , , – ‘events’ in, many worlds approach to, x, – orthodox interpretation of, , , –, – pilot wave approach to, , – transactional approach to, , – quantum mechanics, development of, – ensembles in, non-linear form of, , – relation to classical regime of, relative state formulation of, – splitting process in, wave function collapse in, , , wave particle duality in, –, Quick, Oliver, Rahner, Karl, realism, naăve, xxi theological, xi reductionism, , , Reichenbach, Hans, – relativity, general theory of, , , religious experience, Rescher, Nicholas, Russell, Robert, , Schleiermacher, Friedrich, Schrăodinger equation, , , , , , , , Schrăodingers Cat, paradox of, , –, , , –, Schwăobel, Cristoph, , science, advance of, ix science, methodology of, x, xii–xiii, –, –, Index scientific modelling, isomorphism of, Scott, Stephen, shadowing lemma, Shenker, Orly, Shenouda, HH Pope, Sherlock, William, ix, Silberstein, Michael, single act interpretation, singularities, cosmological, Smart, Ninian, Smith, Peter, solipsism, sovereignty, absolute, Sprat, Thomas, Stapp, Henry, , statistical mechanics, Stokes, Sir George, subjective account, – sufficient reason, principle of, supervenience, non-reductive, , – Suppes, Patrick, , – Swartz, Norman, Swinburne, Richard, – symbolism, theological role of, , – Tarozzi, Gino, – teleology, TeSelle, Eugene, theodicy, , , , , , see also evil, problem of theology, methodology of, x, xii–xiii thermodynamics, conservation laws, , –, , , – Thiemann, Ronald, Thomas, Owen, –, Thomson, Sir George, , time, relationship to divine action, – reversal invariance of, – time travel, – top-down divine action, , –, – Tracy, Thomas, , –, , , transcendence, ix, xi, , , , , ‘trickle-down’ effect, two languages approach, – universals, embodiment of, Van Fraasen, Bas, Van Till, Howard, verificationalism, Von Mises, Richard, Von Neumann, John, –, Walker, Ian, Ward, Keith, Ward, Marcus, – Watts, Fraser, Weatherford, Roy, Weinberg, Stephen, Weiner, Friedel, West, P., Wheeler, John, White, Vernon, , , Whittaker, Sir Edmund, , whole–part account, , , , –, see also top-down divine action Wigner, Eugene, , Wildman, Wesley, Wiles, Maurice, , , , , –, , Wilkins, John, , Wilson, Fred, Workman, Rollin, world, God’s body as, Wren-Lewis, John, Wright, G Ernest, – X-ray scattering, Young, Robert, Zhabotinskii, Anatol, Zilsel, Edgar, ...This page intentionally left blank DIVINE ACTION AND MODERN SCIENCE Divine Action and Modern Science considers the relationship between the natural sciences and the concept of God acting in the... to divine action Special and general forms of divine action Attempts to subsume SDA into GDA SDA, occasionalism and divine determinism Intentional and causal accounts of SDA SDA and human action. .. Prize DIVINE ACTION AND MODERN SCIENCE NICHOLAS SAUNDERS Ian Ramsey Centre, Oxford University Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge