Augustine and 20th Century Cosmology

Reasons to BelieveApril 1, 2004

Robert SheldonNASA/MSFC/NSSTC

Introduction● As I was teaching a course on the origins of

Enlightenment thought, I wanted to track down a proper reference to ex nihilo, picked up Augustine and fell into a deep well. Augustine was not just the greatest of the church fathers, but possibly the greatest (meta)physicist in 2 millennia.

● So much of what we read is 2nd and 3rd hand. Often the original manuscripts had far more beauty and depth than the summaries. That’s why we don’t carry commentaries to church. This was true of Augustine as well.

● This talk will be crammed with original texts. Don’t panic, but view it as academic wallpaper whose significance still can’t be captured in sound-bites.

Overview●Augustine presaged the entire body of 20th century cosmology in 400AD, as he point-by-point refuted materialist metaphysics.

●His contributions lasted 1500 years, but were ultimately rejected by 19th century physics, who viewed his defeat as a defeat for Christianity.

●However, 20th century physics vindicated Augustine point-by-point, making physicists very uneasy.

●This leaves 21st century physics in a crisis, what will replace materialist metaphysics? Augustine shows how.

Purpose● We are now at a crossroads, Scientific Materialism has lost its foundations and

is now drifting on the high seas. Yet we have been told, that western science was built upon this rock. What will be the support of science in this tossing sea of postmodern relativism? Are any of the competitors of materialism worth re-examining? Or are we destined to be deluged with pseudo-science, parapsychology, New Age animism and sophistry? What can we rescue from the shipwreck, and what can we glean from Scripture that will provide a solid base for 21st century science?

● Real scientists, though only the famous ones have been able to say so publically, have been grappling with this question since QM was invented in 1930. Everyone asks “How do we know what we know?” Epistemology is key. If we can rebuild the foundations of our knowledge, perhaps we can save the superstructure of our science. Rather than sorting through the arcania of QM interpretations, let us work the other direction, from a distinctly Christian perspective.

● This question might be restated, “What is Truth?” We must abandon the false security of “scientific objectivity” and grapple with the world in the same manner as Augustine. We must humble ourselves and our search for knowledge accepting that we are part of some greater purpose, some greater cause. The great scientists of the past all managed this feat, but our best exemplar remains Augustine.

Augustine's Scientific Method● As we read Augustine’s Confessions, especially the last 3 chapters,

we are astounded by the way in which Augustine blends prayer and prose, supplication and explication. It is a unique book, belonging to no recognizable genre. Most, as I have in this paper, carefully extract the science from the supplication, and distort his work. But Augustine did not. He viewed subjective prayer to be an integral part of his search for objective fact.

● In Scripture, Jesus tells us, “I am the Truth”, and lays claim to the whole realm of cosmology, making himself the one sure epistemic method. He also tells us that should we desire to follow him, we must await the Holy Spirit, who will “guide you into all truth”. This is the nature of subjective truth. We do not own, possess, or control it.

● Thus Augustine was able to be supremely, miraculously prescient because he sought the Holy Spirit in his scientific endeavors. He pleaded for wisdom, he admitted his ignorance, he praised God for revealing his Truth. This is the true sense of the word Confession, and the title of his book. For all truth is personal, all knowledge is subjective. This is not relativism, for the object of our knowledge is permanent. The Truth is a Person.