Every time I come across some happy-go-lucky atheist cheerfully going on about how science is on the verge of explaining away the existence of God and how it will soon be proved that life, the universe, and everything are just the predictable results of a giant, eternal, meaningless, purposeless, self-replicating science experiment, I think:
“That person has no soul!”
But then, atheists say the same about me, so we’re even.
Over the past few centuries, science can be said to have gradually chipped away at the traditional grounds for believing in God. Much of what once seemed mysterious — the existence of humanity, the life-bearing perfection of Earth, the workings of the universe — can now be explained by biology, astronomy, physics and other domains of science.
Although cosmic mysteries remain, Sean Carroll, a theoretical cosmologist at the California Institute of Technology, says there's good reason to think science will ultimately arrive at a complete understanding of the universe that leaves no grounds for God whatsoever.
Carroll argues that God's sphere of influence has shrunk drastically in modern times, as physics and cosmology have expanded in their ability to explain the origin and evolution of the universe. "As we learn more about the universe, there's less and less need to look outside it for help," he told Life's Little Mysteries.
Read all of Natalie Wolchover’s interview with Sean Carroll at Life’s Little Mysteries.
By the way, Sean is an old friend of this blog, he’s one of my favorite science bloggers, and I heartily recommend his book From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time
Not needing G-d to explain things doesn't mean not needing G-d.
Though it does tend to mean using G-d as "someone to blame," which is not something She would necessarily prefer or accept.
Posted by: Ken Houghton | Monday, September 24, 2012 at 10:03 AM