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Asked by explode786 to Ben, Jony, Katharine, Mark, Peter on 16 Nov 2011. This question was also asked by rache.
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Ben Still answered on 14 Nov 2011:
There are still extremes of Nature that we cannot describe with our current understanding of physics and in these extremes there may well exist a higher being that set the Universe in motion. I put as much weight on the idea that there is a God within these unknown regions of Nature as all of the many other theories which also try to explain the unknown. As a scientist I will not accept one theory over another until I have seen solid evidence.
So in short yes there is room for a god – but religion is a whole different ball game.
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Jony Hudson answered on 15 Nov 2011:
I’d think it’s important to realise that science and religion cometimes help us understand different aspects of the same big questions.
The big bang theory (the theory, not the tv show) helps us understand how the universe as we see it today came from a much simpler universe a long time ago. The fact that it all comes from a common, simple starting point explains very nicely a lot of the features we see today. It’s a beautiful theory, and it’s mind-boggling to think that we all came from a flash of light!
But science doesn’t do anything for explaining _why_ we’re here! Science sometimes prompts us to think about it: learning about evolution or the big bang can’t help but make us wonder about these big questions. And for some people, religion helps them understand the questions of _why_ we’re here.
So I don’t think there’s a problem with “bringing religion into” a big question like this, as long as we recognize which bits are science and which bits aren’t.
(Actually, more generally, I think to truly appreciate just how great science is, it’s important to recognize what questions is _can’t_ answer as well as what questions it can.)
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Peter Williams answered on 15 Nov 2011:
Firstly, let me declare my philosophical position. I’m a dyed in the wool atheist of the Richard Dawkins variety. I see no need to bring religion into any question.
Over the past few decades, cosmology has gone from being largely guesswork to an increasingly precise description of the evolution of the Universe, backed up by some really impressive data. So now is a hugely exciting time to be even considering questions like this – science really does have something concrete to say about it. Needless to say, the conditions of the early Universe are a long way from human experience so there will be much to understand. I think this process has only just begun.
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Mark Basham answered on 15 Nov 2011:
Part of being a scientist is keeping an open mind, and looking at the evidence as it is presented is a key part of this. I’d always be interested in talking about science with anyone and as long as the religious arguments it didn’t oppose any of the known facts. But a lot of the time you have to know when to pull out if the argument starts to move on to unprovable things 🙂
Excellent question though explode786 and rache
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Katharine Schofield answered on 16 Nov 2011:
Great question. I don’t think that it’s incompatible to think about big questions like this both in terms of religion and in terms of science. But it’s important not to let the two get muddled together, The scientific approach will lead you to question ‘how’ something happened. But it doesn’t answer ‘why’ – and if any of you reading this have a kid sister or brother, you will know that ‘why’ is the first question we ask as children. It seems that we are born with an instinct to want to know the answer to the ‘why’ questions. So it seems natural to me to bring philosophy and religion to the debate – they are also ways of trying to understand things in terms of your experience in the world.
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