Science
in Christian Perspective
THE UNIFYING PRINCIPAL
OF THE UNIVERSE
John R. Howitt
From: JASA 3
(June 1951): 12-15.
Foreword
This paper was prepared rather hurriedly by the writer
in the hope of presenting something of a positive nature. The writer has recently been cut off by
unavoidable circumstances from larger libraries and other contacts which would
ordinarily be necessary In preparing such a paper. He is fully aware of its
imperfections and the vulnerability of the thesis, and had intended to withdraw the
paper for more careful preparation later. On the advice of the Committee on Papers
it has been allowed to stand', however, In the hope that the paper may stimulate
discussion. It Is believed that the subject is timely and profitable fcr study.
Editor's Note:
One section of the paper entitled Modern Reductions in the Time Element"
has been deleted. This section was open to some legitimate question and since it
was unessential to the basic theme and structure of this paper it has not been
reproduced.
From the earliest times man has been seeking for a unifying principle in
nature, The universe is so
Vast and the mystery of life so great that man has for
ages sought to reduce the tremendous mass of detail to a simple formula and to bring
some sort of order out of the apparent chaos.
The Search
Thus the Greeks came to the conclusion that the world was composed Of four
elements earth, water, fire and wind. That was very simple of course., but it
apparently satisfied the Philosophers of the day. Since then however the mass of
knowledge has enormously increased. Many laws of physics and chemistry have been
discovered and our knowledge of matter and energy and of time and space has been
extended. Nevertheless the hunger for knowledge is never satisfied and during the
past few centuries the search for a unifying principle has been intensified.
In all the tremendous mass of knowledge which has accumulated It is reason
ably assumed that there must be some order and discipline, Yet no one has been able
to discover or define its unifying principle. If that principle were discovered it
might perhaps afford the key to the still greater problems of purpose and design..
and the relationship of structure to function.
Older Theories
In the past three centuries there have been a number of attempts to simplify
the principles of nature. In 1785 James Hutton) a British geologist,, formulated
the doctrine of continuity or uniformatartanism. According to this principle
essential uniformity in the causes and effects has prevailed in all ages of the
world's physical history and the activities of the past were similar in mode and
intensity to those bf the present time, No one., of course, doubts the uniformity
of the physical laws In the past as in the present but the doctrine of uniformity
excludes the element of supernatural intervention; particularly in regard to
creation and the miracles and also the doctrine of catastrophy and the eschatology of the
Bible. On these grounds it has rightly been rejected by Christian
scholars. The doctrine of uniformity was one of the first of the modern attempts
to formulate a unifying principle. It was the idea of endless conformity to the
laws of nature, a simple correlations as it were of time and space and matter.
In 1859 Charles Darwin published the "Origin of Species,," and there
seems
to be little doubt but that the startling acceptance of his theory was
due largely
to the natural desire of man to find a unifying principle in nature
such as
evolution appeared to be. Thus Dr. W.A. Thompsono F.R S, (1) Assistant
Director
of the Imperial Institute of Entomology in London, has stated, "the
concept of
organic evolution is very highly prized by biologists, for many of whom
it is an
object of genuinely religious devotion, because they regard it as a
supreme integrative principle." The concept of evolution appeared to
correlate the whole
realm of biology, geology and cosmology.
The Search Continues
Now it is important to notice that the search for a unifying principle is
being continued today with even greater intensity. Thus Albert Einstein (2) states
that "this motivation for getting up new theories is., so to speak, trivial, imposed
from without. There is another more subtle motive of no less importance. This is
the striving towards unification and simplification of the premises of the theory
as a whole." A few examples will suffice to Illustrate the present trend in the
search for a supreme integrative principle., and no effort will be made to exhaust
the field.
Moden
Attempts to Discover a
Unifying Principle
Francis J. Mott (3) seeks to simplify the universe into a single principle
of rhythmic interaction between a nucleus and a periphery. Biology, anthropology,
physics and chemistry., astronomy, and even psychiatry may be explained on this
simple principle vhich he describes as biosynthesis. Another example is that of
Prof. N. Rashevsky (4) whose text book "Mathematical Biophysics" seeks to reduce
biology to mathematical proportions,. Prof. Born's (5) recent book on the "Natural
Philosophy of Cause and Chance" appears to be still another effort to correlate
into some general principle the amazing problems of cosmogany.
Albert Einstein (6) has recently announced his new unified field theory
involving the unity of gravitation and electromagnetism, but no one can
tell
just what the outcome of these deductions may be or their effect upon
the older
theory
of uniformity and evolution.' It is believed by many that advances in
the field of
nuclear physics may result in revolutionary changes in science and
philosophy..
particularly in regard to the problems of creation and the age of the
universe.
'We have seen how potent a unifying principle may be in the case of evolution
and no less remarkable has been the result of the
unifying principle of the
Hegelian dialectic when applied to political economy. Hegal's dialectic was Itself
an attempt to simplify and unify psychology and philosophy into a simple formula of
thesis antithesis and synthesis. Engels and Marx applied the Hegelian principle
to history. Historical movements, they explained, would always be followed by the
exact opposite and the final outcome would be the unity of the opposites. After
feudalism came capitalism and out of the tvo Opposites would emerge the synthesis
of socialism or communism. We are only too familiar today with the momentum vhich
the concept of this
unifying
principle has given to those
who
for their own
aggrandizement have exploited the struggling masses
of mankind.
The Spirital Realm
When we come to the spiritual realm we find an inherent desire to simplify
and arrange the great moo of revealed truth into a simple formula, The various
creeds of the early Christian church were perhaps the best attempts to arrange in
orderly fashion the basic truths of the Christian faith. Arminius and Calvin made
statements of faith vhich bear their news and which have done much to clarify the
major problems of theology. In each instance there were five points of doctrine
which considered to be essential. Later the
39
Articles of the Church of England The Westminster Confession of
Faith have played an important role in the history of the Church, The
Baptists have retaliated against this attempt to tabulate
Christian doctrine by taking the Now Testament Itself as their creed,,
but this
might be regarded as perhaps an over
simplification of the problem, More recently still the Oxford Group Movement produced the four absolutes in an attempt to
unify and simplify the Christian way of life. The World Council of Churches and
the ecumenical movement reflect the religious-political ideal of a man-made unifying principle in the spiritual realm today.
All these attempts are symptomatic of the same endless pursuit for a supreme
integrative
principle in
the spiritual world which can be expressed in a simple
formula.
The Unification of Ideals In the Political World
When we turn to the Political arena we find the same hopeless struggle for a
unifying principle in government. The cry for one world, implies one state and one
ruler and one lav, That cry will someday be answered by the emergence
of the Antichrist.
The Unifying Principle in Nature
is
Christ Himself
For the believer there is, of course no mystery about the unifying principle
of
the universe. WO know that the supreme integrative principle is the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself for "by Him all things, consist" or exist.
(col,
1:16-17). He
alone keeps the universe intact and operating as it does. He embodies in Himself
the lave of.nature and He to the all pervading Presence without Whom the atoms or
electrons could not exist or hold together.
"All things were created by Him and for Him." That is the supreme Integrative principle of the universe and we
Md, "Thou hast created all things and for
Thy pleasure they are and were created." (Rev. 4:11). That is the sum total of
teleology. Similarly when we come to the element of time we find that Jesus Christ
is "the saw yesterday and today and for ever." (Neb. 13:8). Here is the supreme
integrative principle of time, that is eternity without changes. "They shall
perish), but Thou remainest," (Neb. 1:11). And into all this marvelous picture
we., as members of His My and His Church are to have a part., "Christ in you the
hope of glory, (Col . 1:27).
We find,, then.. that the great unifying principle of the universe is revealed
to us in the Holy scriptures.. and that principle lies In Christ Himself "Who is the
image of the invisible God." (Col. 1:15). For the believer this is sufficient,
The Slignificance of the Present Intensified Search
We have already noted that the search for a simple formula to explain
the
universe has been intensified In recent years and this unrest is
believed to reflect a deep seated state of dissatisfaction with the
older concepts of uniformity
and evolution. The reason for the intensified investigations of the
present day
may be due to the fact that since the days of Hutton and Darwin the
mass of knowledge has pyramided to such an enormous extent that
uniformity and evolution fail to
satisfy the mind any longer,. A wealth of detail has accumulated., some
of which is
inconsistent with the theories of continuity and evolution and man are
casting about
once more to discover if possible, a new solution to the problem. No
one, of course
can predict that the ultimate scientific formula will be. But in the
meantime
there is certainly no necessity whatever for the believer to compromise
with the
Truth or seek to reconcile the Word of God with human wisdom. God has
said., "I
will destroy the wisdom of the vise., and will bring to nothing the
understanding
of the prudent," (1 Cor. 1:19) Appeasement always ends in surrender and
it is as
futile in the spiritual and scientific field as in the political world.
As believers our efforts should be directed to reconciling human wisdom with
the Word of God and seeking to discover just where the discoveries of science do
agree with the Word of God. Where there is conflict we may well be patient. Some
of the never theories of cosmogeny., for example, are so fantastic that C.S. Levis
suggests that we may be nearing the end of the scientific age. This is quite
possible, The way in which philosophers and scientists are setting forth rival
views and contradicting each other only reveals the human necessity for a revelation
which is verbally inspired and which is, therefore, dependable and authorative.
"Thy word is truth." (John 17:17).
The Christian who is also a scientist will note with interest each
development as it takes place in full assurance of faith that a final
reconciliation of
science and the Word of God must inevitably emerge as truth is
gradually unfolded,
Changes of thought are often very rapid and radical these days and in
the meantime
we may rest content upon the solid foundation of the Holy scriptures. Verbum
domini manet.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1) Thompson: Science and Common Sense- Longmans., Green & Co... 1937. P. 229.
2) Einstein: Scientific American. April, 1950.9 p. 48
3)
Mott: Biosynthesis. David Mc Kay Co.
1948
4) Raohevsky: University of Chicago Press., 1948.
5) Born; Natural Philosophy of Course'and Chance. Oxford University Press 1949
6) Einstein: The Meaning of Relativity. 3rd Edition. Princeton University
Press, 1950
7) Allen: Evolution. By a Medical Scientist. International Christian Crusadelp.62
8) Buehler & Walker: Scientific Monthly. September,
1949, p. 155,
(10) Scientific American: June
1950 p.
58.