Einstein: Science, Religion, Theology - Review

Judaism, Summer, 2001 by Stanley M. Flatte

Nonetheless, the appearance of having started from a point in time 15 billion years ago, even if not defined to the microsecond, has given theologians grounds for interpretation of the Bible and other texts that previous scientific theories did not. Pope John Paul II in 1979, the 100th anniversary of Einstein's birth, discussing Einstein, said "Filled with admiration for the genius of the great scientist, in whom is revealed the imprint of the creative spirit, without intervening in any way with a judgment on the doctrines concerning the great systems of the universe, which is not in her power to make, the Church nevertheless recommends these doctrines for consideration by theologians in order to discover the harmony that exists between scientific truth and revealed truth."

Jammer provides much discussion about the origin of time, summarizing people like Adolf Grunbaum, William Lane Craig, and Quentin Smith. He ends by reminding us that we may never answer questions like "Why is there something rather than nothing?" Present science can do no better than to create the "anthropic principle," which merely says that if there were nothing, we would not be around to contemplate it.

I recommend this book highly to those interested in the overlap between science and religion. Jammer's knowledge is incredibly wide-ranging, and each small section of his book can be the source of many hours of discussions, or of long sessions in the library studying the relevant texts. Nothing better can be said of a book than that it stimulates its readers to thoughts they may never have had before.

STANLEY M. FLATTE is a professor of physics at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He has made significant contributions to particle physics, ocean acoustics, seismology. atmospheric optics, and wave propagation in complicated media. He also participates in the Jewish Studies Program at UC Santa Cruz, with a special interest in modern science and Jewish thought.