RE: quantum physics and Buddhism

I am right now preparing a philosophical argument which involves looking at
the world-lines through the manifold conceived by General Relativity. While
what I am putting together is a bit more subtle than this, Brian Green
states:

"If you were having a great time at the stroke of midnight on New year's
Eve, 1999, you still are, since that is just one immutable location in
spacetime." Brian Greene, The Fabric of the Cosmos, (New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 2004), p. 139

"If you think of the universe as one four-dimensional entity with world
lines winding through it like so many garden hoses, it is clear why. This
four-dimensional entity does not change-it is like an intricate, fixed
sculpture. If you want to know what it is like to experience living in that
universe, you must look along the world line of a particular person from
beginning to end."

Richard Gott, Time Travel in Einstein's Universe, (New York: Houghton
Mifflin Co, 2001), p. 17 (my bolding)

Such a view would imply that the past is not gone, which has certain
implications to theology.

Would not such a view lead to a hyper-Calvinism? More later when I finish
and am ready to have my ideas critiqued.

  _____

From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
Behalf Of SteamDoc@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2005 3:36 PM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: Re: quantum physics and Buddhism

Randy reported how determinism is an essential part of Buddhism (at least
according to the Dalai Lama) and the resulting tension with quantum physics.

Lest we think our own house is in order, we should remember that there are
also Christians who present absolute determinism of cause and effect as
essential. A fringe-ish example of that (they also dislike relativity and
much other modern science) is found in a group called Common Sense Science
(see www.commonsensescience.org, if you have a strong stomach).

But such a view is also found in more respectable circles, such as R.C.
Sproul in his book "Not a Chance!" that came out a few years ago. I have
not read this book, but apparently he makes strong statements like "If
chance is, God is not." I don't know whether Sproul is driven to this by a
desire to retain the cosmological argument in apologetics, or by his strong
Calvinism (which some would call Hypercalvinism), or what. But the role of
chance in quantum physics seems to present a problem for some expressions of
Christian theology as well.

Allan

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Allan H. Harvey, Boulder, Colorado | SteamDoc@aol.com
"Any opinions expressed here are mine, and should not be
attributed to my employer, my wife, or my cats"
Received on Sun Jun 19 17:51:06 2005