Beyond the Big Bang: Quantum Cosmologies and God / Edition 1

by Willem B. B. Drees, Willem Drees

Overview

Physicist and theologian Willem Drees reviews and criticizes the religious responses to the Big Bang, showing that attempts by theologians to appropriate this scientific theory neglect many difficulties. He examines the various quantum cosmologies in relation to the Beginning, the anthropic principles, the search for "complete" theories, and conceptions of contingency and necessity.

Beyond the Big Bang gives a reliable and easily understood account of modern physical theories of the nature of the universe and contemporary developments in theology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780812691184
Publisher:	Open Court Publishing Company
Publication date:	04/01/1990
Pages:	340
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.76(d)

Table of Contents

	Preface	xiii
	Introduction	1
0.1.	Religious Questions and Scientific Answers	1
0.2.	Approach: Definitions and Decisions	4
0.3.	Preview	9
	Outline of Part I	10
	Outline of Part II and Appendixes	11
Part 1	A Common Quest for Understanding?	15
1.	Theology and the Big Bang Theory	17
1.1.	Introduction	17
1.2.	A Variety of Opinions on Big Bang and Creation	18
1.2.1.	Big Bang Supports the Idea of Creation	18
1.2.2.	The Big Bang Theory is Wrong: Recent Creation	20
	Either God or Evolution	20
	God as Creator of a Developed Universe	21
	The Second Law: Creation and Fall	21
	Arguments for a Young Universe	22
1.2.3.	No Big Bang, Because of its Theistic Implications	22
	'Beginning' is Metaphysics, Not Science	22
	The Lack of Scientific Success of the Big Bang Theory	23
1.2.4.	The Big Bang Theory is Religiously Neutral	24
	The 'Beginning' Might Have Been an Infinite Time Ago	24
	'Beginning' is Theory-Dependent	25
	Ideas and Existence	25
	'How' and 'Why', Facts and Symbols	25
1.2.5.	Consonance	26
1.3.	Cosmological Arguments for the Existence of God	29
1.3.1.	The Argument from a Beginning in Time	29
1.3.2.	The Non-Temporal Cosmological Argument	32
1.4.	Parallels with Genesis	33
1.4.1.	The Bible and Creation	33
1.4.2.	Problems with Parallels between Big Bang and Bible	35
1.5.	Creatio Ex Nihilo and the Big Bang	36
1.5.1.	The Historical Background of Creatio Ex Nihilo	36
1.5.2.	The Doctrine of Creation in Our Time	37
1.5.3.	Is There a Parallel?	40
2.	Quantum Cosmologies and 'the Beginning'	41
2.1.	Introduction	41
2.2.	The Limits of the Big Bang Theory	41
2.2.1.	Big Bang, Planck Time, and Singularity	41
2.2.2.	Beyond the Big Bang Theory	44
	Initial Conditions	44
	The Origination Event	45
2.3.	Philosophical Elements in Three Research Programs	48
2.3.1.	Andrej Linde: Eternal Chaotic Cosmology	48
	Time: End, Beginning, and Evolution	50
2.3.2.	Stephen Hawking: Timeless Quantum Cosmology	51
	The Hartle-Hawking Proposal	52
	The Primacy of the Timeless Description	53
	The Beginning of Time	54
	The Arrow of Time	56
2.3.3.	Roger Penrose: Time-Asymmetric Realist Cosmology	57
	The Specialness of the Initial State	58
	Time Asymmetry	59
	Quantum Reality	60
2.4.	Implications for Science and Theology	62
2.4.1.	Metaphysics and the Variety of Cosmologies	62
	A Locus for the Influence of Theology on Science	67
2.4.2.	Theology and the Variety of Cosmologies	68
2.5.	Edges, Creation, and Nothing	69
2.5.1.	Edges and Deism	70
2.5.2.	Out of Nothing	71
2.5.3.	Creation as Cosmogony or as Dependency	73
2.5.4.	Theology in the Context of Hawking's Cosmology	74
3.	Cosmology with or Without God	77
3.1.	Introduction	77
3.2.	Design as Explanation: Anthropic Principles	78
3.2.1.	Weak, Strong, and Participatory Anthropic Principles	78
3.2.2.	Anthropic Coincidences and Explanations	79
	Size and Age of the Universe	79
	Density of the Universe	80
	Dimensionality	80
3.2.3.	Evaluation of the Weak Anthropic Principle	81
	Weak Anthropic Principle with Many Actual Worlds	82
3.2.4.	The Strong Anthropic Principles	83
3.2.5.	Anthropic Coincidences and Divine Design	86
3.3.	Complete Theories: The One Forgets the Many	89
3.3.1.	Complete Theories: The Ideal of Unity	89
	Mathematical Consistency: The Problem of Infinities	89
	A Universe with All Possibilities Present	91
	Simplicity and Esthetics	91
3.3.2.	Diversity in Nature: The Many	92
3.3.3.	The One and the Many	93
3.4.	Contingencies and the Mystery of Existence	94
3.4.1.	Contingency of Initial Conditions and Laws	96
3.4.2.	Science, Contingency, and Necessity	98
3.4.3.	The Mystery of Existence	100
3.5.	Conceptual Boundedness and Transcendence	102
3.5.1.	The Universe as Everything	102
3.5.2.	The Boundless Beyond Conceptually Bounded Cosmologies	103
3.6.	Recapitulation and Conclusion	104
3.6.1.	The Argument So Far	104
3.6.2.	The Intelligibility of the Universe	107
Part 2	Constructing Theology in a Scientific Culture	113
4.	Eschatology and the Cosmic Future	117
4.1.	The Meaning of Eschatology	117
4.1.1.	Two Types of Eschatology	118
4.1.2.	My Method of Relating Science to Eschatology	120
4.1.3.	Cosmological Futures	122
4.2.	Dyson and Process Eschatology	122
4.2.1.	Dyson's Future	122
4.2.2.	Dyson's Theology	124
4.2.3.	Suchocki's Process Eschatology	126
4.3.	Tipler's Omega Point	128
4.3.1.	Tipler's Cosmology	129
	The Omega Point and Life	129
	The Omega Point as Boundary Condition	130
4.3.2.	Tipler 1: Progress and an Evolving God	131
4.3.3.	Tipler 2: Resurrection and Determination by the Future	133
	Progress and Resurrection	134
	Tipler, Pannenberg, and Determinism	136
4.4.	Time as a Flow and Time in its Entirety	141
4.4.1.	Time in Cosmology	142
	The Absence of a Flowing Present	142
	Time in its Entirety in Spacetime Descriptions	143
	Time's Ontological Status in Quantum Cosmologies	144
4.4.2.	Eternal and Present: Theology in Two Perspectives	146
	Opportunities of the Two Descriptions	146
	The View Sub Specie Aeternitatis	148
	God's Eternity	149
4.5.	Proposal for an Axiological Eschatology	150
4.5.1.	Heyward: Praxis and Present	150
4.5.2.	Sketch of an Axiological Eschatology	151
5.	Theology and Science: Their Relationship and Their Methods	155
5.1.	Introduction	155
5.2.	Critical Realism in Theology and Science	157
5.2.1.	Metaphors and Models in Science and Religion	157
5.2.2.	Science and Religion as Knowledge of One World	159
5.3.	Science and Religion as Interpretations	162
5.3.1.	Gilkey: The Function of Myth in Culture	162
5.3.2.	Understanding as a Metaphoric Process	165
5.4.	Theology and Science in European Protestantism	167
5.4.1.	Beyond Barth: Torrance, Link, and Jungel	167
	T.F. Torrance	167
	Christian Link	169
	Eberhard Jungel	170
5.4.2.	Moltmann and Pannenberg	171
	Jurgen Moltmann	171
	Wolfhart Pannenberg	174
5.5.	Constructive Consonance	175
5.5.1.	A Recapitulation of my Argument	175
	On Theology	175
	On Science	176
	On Metaphysics	177
	On the Relation between Theology and Science	178
5.5.2.	The Priority of Dissimilarities	180
	Essential Dissimilarities	180
	How Can Theology and Science be Related Yet Dissimilar?	181
5.5.3.	Truth and Credibility	182
	Truth as Correspondence with Reality	184
	Coherence and the Domain of Science	186
	Relevance: Pragmatic Truth?	187
	Returning to Correspondence	188
6.	God	189
6.1.	A Hypothetical God?	190
6.1.1.	There are No Cognitive Arguments for the Hypothesis 'God'	190
	No Arguments for God can be Based upon Incompleteness	190
	No Arguments against God can be Based upon Completeness	192
	Conclusion	193
6.1.2.	Absence or Elusive Presence of God in the World	194
6.2.	Constructing a Consonant 'God'	196
6.2.1.	God's Locus: Present Transcendence	197
6.2.2.	God's Nature: Values, Possibilities, and Actuality	200
	God as the Locus of Values	200
	God as the Locus of Possibilities	201
	God as the Source of Actuality	203
6.2.3.	God's Unity	205
6.3.	Constructing a Consonant World	207
Appendix 1	A Brief Sketch of the Big Bang Theory	211
1.	Astronomical Objects	211
2.	Cosmological Observations	213
3.	Cosmological Theory	216
	General Relativity Applied to the Universe as a Whole	217
	Particle Physics in the Big Bang Theory	219
4.	The Steady State Theory	220
5.	Problems and Definitions in Big Bang Cosmology	221
	Problems Already Solved	221
	Questions Still Open	222
	Limits of General Relativity	222
	Definitions	223
Appendix 2	The Second Law of Thermodynamics	225
1.	Thermodynamics and Entropy	225
2.	The Asymmetry of the Second Law	226
3.	Interpretations	228
Appendix 3	Inflation	230
1.	How Inflation Solves the Problems	230
2.	How Inflation Arises	231
Appendix 4	Hawking's Cosmology	233
Appendix 5	Time	237
1.	Some Aspects of Time	237
	Ontological Status	237
	The Structure of Time	237
	Time Asymmetry	239
2.	Trajectories as Whole Histories	240
Appendix 6	The Cosmological Future	242
1.	The Second Law of Thermodynamics and the Future	242
	Objections to the Cosmological Applicability of the Second Law	243
2.	The Big Bang Theory and the Future of Space	244
3.	The Future of Matter and Energy	246
	The Future of Stars	246
	The Future of Galaxies	247
	The Future of Black Holes	248
	The Future of Rocks, Dwarfs, and Neutron Stars	248
	The Future of Particles	249
	The Future of Energy	250
4.	The Future in Quantum Cosmologies	251
Appendix 7	Biblical Creation Narratives	254
1.	Genesis	254
	'In the Beginning ...'	255
	'In the Beginning, God created ...'	256
	The Six Days	258
2.	Other Bible Texts on Cosmogony	261
Appendix 8	The History of Creatio Ex Nihilo	264
1.	Gnosticism and Marcion	264
2.	Platonism and Creatio Ex Nihilo in the Second Century	264
	Notes	269
	Bibliography	291
	Index	317