Physics and Theology – Yesterday and Today

This volume documents the remarkable convergence between theologian Dieter Hattrup and physicist Antoine Weis (along with his Bulgarian colleague Todorka L. Dimitrova) regarding the philosophical implications of 20th-century physics: In the field of quantum physics, randomness does not stem from our current lack of knowledge or from flawed measurement methods. Here, the principle of “pure chance” applies—a principle that physicists discovered over the course of the 20th century and accepted only reluctantly. For this finding implies that identical initial conditions in the past can lead to different final states in the future. In other words, physics must abandon the mechanistic worldview of a causally determined nature. Under these conditions, freedom in nature becomes conceivable once again. Physics has a serious say in theology: “If science can show that freedom is inconceivable in nature, then we would have to abandon the personal God” (Hattrup). Today, it has become easier to believe in God with physics than without it—or even against it. “God does play dice!” is the counterargument to Einstein. This alone does not constitute proof of God. Yet the interplay of chance and necessity—both of which are demonstrable in nature—can be interpreted as a reflection of a freedom that eludes our understanding.