5 Great Physicists Who Believed in the Existence of God
Are religion and science reconcilable?
A lot of debates have been going on for ages about the irreconcilability of science and religion. One of the most common arguments that most theists bring up while having debates on this topic is the fact that most scientists are religious too despite the existence of many incompatibilities between the former and the latter. While many scientists are non-believers and even agnostic, there have been many scientists in history who believed in the existence of God. By God, I mean the god that is responsible for the creation of the universe, and who sends people to heaven or hell based on their deeds. In this article, I shall share about five such brilliant physicists who were deeply religious too. The idea of physicists believing in the existence of god is quite an interesting take for me for the laws of physics speak a different story about the how the world works.
Werner Heisenberg
In 1927, physicist Werner Heisenberg published his groundbreaking works in physics regarding the “indeterminacy” in quantum mechanics. After five years, in 1932, Heisenberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for his works. He was one of the youngest Nobel laureates at the time. Heisenberg is considered one of the pioneers of modern quantum mechanics and is best known for his works on the Heisenberg Uncertainty principle and matrix formulation of quantum mechanics.
Heisenberg was born and raised in a Lutheran Christian family. Reportedly Heisenberg was a deeply religious person and had a great sense of conviction toward the belief system of Christianity. Henry Margenau, who was the Professor Emeritus of physics and natural philosophy once mentioned his meeting with Heisenberg after the completion of the second world war. He, in his 1986 article published in the journal Truth, stated,
“One was my first meeting with Heisenberg, who came to America soon after the end of the Second World War. Our conversation was intimate and he impressed me by his deep religious conviction. He was a true Christian in every sense of that word.”
Max Planck
Max Plank is one of the most significant physicists of all time. In the year 1900, he provided the Law of blackbody radiation that was the key aspect in the pioneering of modern Quantum physics. He is also considered the Father of Quantum mechanics. With substantial works on Plank’s law, Albert Einstein provided his theory of energy quanta. Planck won the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics. The Max Planck Society is named after him in his honor. It was previously called the Kaiser Wilhelm Society to which Planck was the president twice.
In 1958, Planck gave a lecture titled Religion and Science where he stated his views on religion and god. Like Heisenberg, Planck was also a member of the Lutheran Christian family. He was a churchwarden from 1920 till the day he died. He was a deep believer in god. He believed that God plays an important role in both religion and science, though for both it might not necessarily mean the same thing. In his 1958 Lecture, he stated,
“Religion represents a bond of man to God. It consists in reverent awe before a supernatural Might, to which human life is subordinated and which has in its power our welfare and misery. To remain in permanent contact with this Might and keep it all the time inclined to oneself, is the unending effort and the highest goal of the believing man. Because only in such a way can one feel himself safe before expected and unexpected dangers, which threaten one in his life, and can take part in the highest happiness — inner psychical peace — which can be attained only by means of strong bond to God and unconditional trust to His omnipotence and willingness to help.”
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday is an important name in science particularly known in the fields of physics and chemistry. Born in September 1791, Faraday has unbound contributions to the development of science. His primary works include the discovery of electromagnetism. This is considered to be one of the greatest discoveries of mankind as it is used in many modern-day technologies. He is also best known for his contributions to the development of electrolysis and diamagnetism. While the contributions of Faraday have no bounds, his views on religion and god are as deep as his passion for science was.
Faraday was born in a family that was a part of the Glasite sect of Christianity. He was a committed Christian. He spent a significant amount of time in his life being a co-pastor and conducting spiritual and pastoral activities for the people of the congregation. Faraday had two completely different aspects of life science and religion-as distinct as he could. Many pieces of evidence show that Faraday’s faith in religions somehow shaped his life in scientific research. There’s an incredible article by I.H. Hutchinson about Faraday’s faith in the religion which you can read here:
James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell is regarded as one of the greatest physicists of all time. He discovered the second greatest unification of physics and provided consistent mathematics for the phenomena associated with it — electricity and magnetism. Maxwell provided a set of partial differential equations that have been monumental in several disciplines of physics. His discovery laid the foundations for the development of quantum mechanics and relativity. Apart from electromagnetism, Maxwell also has significant contributions to the kinetic theory of gases, and he is also considered the founding Father of Modern Electrical Engineering.
As devoted as he was to science and its endeavors, Maxwell was a worshipper of God. He was a deeply religious person and spent a significant amount of time in his life to the services of God. He was an expert in Religious doctrines and spent a great deal of time studying them. In a letter written to his friend at Trinity College, Cambridge, Maxwell stated,
“I maintain that all the evil influences that I can trace have been internal and not external, you know what I mean — that I have the capacity of being more wicked than any example that man could set me, and that if I escape, it is only by God’s grace helping me to get rid of myself, partially in science, more completely in society, — but not perfectly except by committing myself to God.”
Arthur Holly Compton
Arthur Compton won the 1927 Nobel Prize in physics for his works on the Compton effect also known as Compton scattering, which is a phenomenon in physics where a photon interacts with an accelerated charged particle. The effect demonstrates the particle nature of electromagnetic radiation. Compton is a key figure in the development of physics in the 20th century.
Compton was a deeply religious person and believed in the existence of the almighty. In his book The Freedom of Man, Compton shares his views on religion and God,
“We could, in fact, see the whole great drama of evolution moving toward the making of persons with free intelligence capable of glimpsing God’s purpose in nature and of sharing that purpose. In such a case we should not look upon consciousness as the mere servant of the biological organism, but as an end in itself. An intelligent mind would be its own reason for existence.”
You can also read my article about Einstein’s views on religion and god here,
References:
https://sciencemeetsfaith.wordpress.com/2019/09/10/arthur-holly-compton-a-physicist-on-god-science-and-the-freedom-of-man/
https://withalliamgod.wordpress.com/2010/11/28/max-planck-on-god/
http://silas.psfc.mit.edu/Faraday/
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2019/11/werner-heisenberg-on-religion.html
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