Do the laws of physics constrain God’s action in the world? Do they inhibit or interfere with God’s normal, non-miraculous action? While the laws of physics enable everything in the physical world, do they determine everything?
On Thursday, 16 June 2022 at 1400 UTC, Prof Barbara Drossel, professor of Theoretical Physics at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany and a fellow of the Faraday Institute at Cambridge University, will argue that the laws of physics do not interfere with God’s normal, non-miraculous action in the world, such as answering prayers and guiding persons and circumstances. This is because the laws of physics are neither complete, nor exact, nor fully deterministic.
On the contrary, the laws of physics are idealizations with a limited range of applicability, and the systems described by them are causally open for top-down influences from higher hierarchical levels within physics (for instance from the classical to the quantum world) and from without physics (for instance from the biological or psychological level) and even from non-material entities (for instance ideas, goals, rules, and values). Due to this broad causal openness, the view that the laws of physics forbid God’s action has no basis. Even though these laws enable everything in physical reality, they do not determine everything.
In preparation for this webinar, we encourage you to read the following essay by Prof Drossel’s essay “How the Laws of Nature Leave Room for God’s Action”. We hope you will join us for this intriguing and insightful webinar by registering below.
You can view Prof Drossel’s presentation here.
