What can we believe? This is the question that occupies my students and myself as we enter into the final hours of the course I created called “The God of Science and the Science of God.” During the past months we read over a dozen books, watched many video interviews with leading scientists, and wrestled with questions of enduring significance. Here are some of them.
Who is the God of science? The nondual consciousness that manifests all reality.
What is the science of God? Since God is reality, all science is in a sense a science of God. In addition there are disciplines that investigate this consciousness more directly: contemplation, meditation, neuroscience, and neurotheology to name but four.
Can those of us who take science seriously believe in God? Absolutely. The universe is not a random accident but the unfolding of a universal nondual consciousness. God is that consciousness.
Is God purposeful? Yes. God’s purpose is God’s nature, and God’s nature is to manifest a universe capable of knowing itself to be a manifestation of God.
Does God have a plan for my life? Yes. God’s plan is for you to realize your true nature as God incarnate.
Does God choose one people over another? No. The idea of chosenness is a sociological fiction and has nothing to do with God.
Does God save some and damn others? No. Salvation and damnation, heaven and hell, are manipulative tools of political power and coercion and have nothing to do with God.
What kind of religion works with science? One that is not afraid of myth.
What kind of science works with religion? One that is not afraid of mystery.
Where does this leave religious believers? At a crossroads. If we choose biblical literalism over science we must live in abject fear of truth. If we choose a mythic reading of scripture we are free to blend the knowledge of science with the wisdom of faith.
What is the key ingredient to the science-religion dialogue? Humility. Humility on the part of science as it learns to respect the mystery its own methods reveals. Humility on the part of religion as it learns to free God from the superstition of our ancestors.
Does the God you find in this class transcend and even reject religion and its creeds and competitions? Yes. This class doesn’t negate religion but it demands a new understanding of it, one that overthrows the triumphalism as the heart of the three Abrahamic faiths crumbles. The question is will these faiths crumble with it?
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