The Physics of Christianity

by Frank J. Tipler

Book Overview

A highly respected physicist demonstrates that the essential beliefs of Christianity are wholly consistent with the laws of physics.

Frank Tipler takes an exciting new approach to the age-old dispute about the relationship between science and religion in The Physics of Christianity. In reviewing centuries of writings and discussions, Tipler realized that in all the debate about science versus religion, there was no serious scientific...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385514247
• ISBN13: 9780385514248
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Speculative but Intriguing

Among academic physicists, Tipler is probably the most creative in linking traditional Christianity with science. While on first read much of what he says in this book may seem outrageous (to both Christians and physicists), subsequent readings somehow seem less so. Surely his ideas are wildly speculative, but have their starting points in accepted physics. A wonderfully entertaining and well-written book.

It's hard to argue with experimentally confirmed physics

Setting aside the far-reaching implications and speculations about Christianity, this book is worth 5 stars just for the physics. Tipler shows how Newton, Einstein, Standard Theory, and Quantum Theory actually fit together into a simple, elegant theory of everything. If you feel yourself cringing at the audacity of attempting a theory of everything, read it. You may be surprised to discover that Tipler doesn't invent a theory of everything, he rather makes a clear and compelling case that the history of physics shows that a theory of everything has already been discovered and rejected on philosophical grounds, not on scientific grounds.

Definitive? No. Plausible? Absolutely.

I must admit, I found the subject mattter of this book interesting to say the least. No matter what belief system or philosophy you come to the table with (besides willful and determined ignorance, I suppose), this book SHOULD interest just about everyone. After all, like it or not, Christianity has arguably had more impact on the human race than any other philosophy, movement, or phenomenon in our entire history (Don't think so? What's the date today, then?) so when somebody takes on the unbelievably ambitious task of attempting to address such deep (and admittedly hard to accept, based on everyday experience) issues from a purely intellectual standpoint it merits a look-see at the very least. This book has obviously stirred some controversy of course but I think it deserves the read and here's why: Tipler does indeed provide a rational, logical, and plausible defense of Christianity based on the natural rules of the universe as we now know them. Do I buy everything in the book? No. But then again, it wasn't Tipler's intention to "prove" THE definitive account of the universe, but rather provide some form of plausible explanation, even if speculative, of the claims of Christianity which, contrary to detractors' objections, it does indeed. I wish I could give you a summary here, but honestly, you really must read the book. This is not light reading and a fair or sensible summary simply could not be done in this limited format. However, that isn't to say that the book is cumbersome or impossible to understand at all. Tipler is engaging (its obvious the subject has his full attention which gives it more impact and immediacy), he's honest, and he's obviously very intelligent and articulate. Most importantly, its very obvious Tipler has spent an immense amount of time truly thinking about the subject. He isn't just throwing a cheap opinion around or making unfounded conjecture. I think some may have missed the point of the book, that is, Tipler isn't saying things DID absolutley happen in this one particular way but that things COULD happen in some way similar to some of his proposals - very big difference. I've seen naturalists not even so much as blink when confronted with the mind-boggling improbability and practical impossibility of the entire universe somehow creating itself from nothing by nothing and then developing through natural proccesses occurring at random over eons and eons of time to produce what we now see. But of course when the shoe is on the other foot, they want absolute 100 percent certainty, ironically citing "speculation", as they simply write off literally any other viewpoint besides their own as "unscientific". But nonetheless, Tipler does an admirable job of providing plausible explanations for his views, which of course is exactly what detractors, most of whom obviously have an axe to grind, don't like, as evidenced by the venom and childish insulting manner seen in some reviews. For example, it's one thin

Turning the Tide on Materialst Apologetics

Far too many of us who have claimed to be scientifically literate and scientifically honest have brought biased philosophical presumptions to our examinations of human life and thinking. Bending the results of experimentation around one or more philosophical biases is not unscientific so long as we maintain awareness we are doing so. We humans are constrained to live and think within the bounds of the drastically limited range of our senses -- even though we extend them somewhat through technological aids. And our brains, for most of us at least, are robust in preferences for adapting to what our senses tell us. Tipler takes us to the very frontiers of our ontological limits, by way of examining not the average, mundane mind, but the very essence of the keenest of physicists, and the farthest limits to which experimentation has taken them; and, at the ontological and epistemic edge of that he invites us to ponder what lies beyond. Quite obviously, the finest minds of man a century ago, two centuries ago, three... did not have benefit of experimental results which would come later. And if the historical momentum of that is any indication, the finest minds of man today, in their own finest hours, may be expected to fall short of knowing what experimental results will further inform science in years to come. How easily one already arrived at an insupportable atheistic stance, and fallaciously assuming he/she is supported in that stance by empirical materialism, presents himself/herself as being a skeptic. Yet the taking of any stance -- including one of atheism -- which is unsupportable by any empirical result yet known -- manifests blatant violation of the very core of scientific objectivity. As Tipler demonstrates, in a way that even a non-scientist of moderate entry-level familiarity with science can grasp, the brightest geniuses in physics have found that experimental results lead to unavoidable conclusions -- such as the mathematical necessity of an other-worlds phenomenon -- which runs counter to the normal and usual human adaptation to the ontological and epistemic cage in which human life plays out. Tipler explains exactly how physics can account for every so-called 'miracle' proffered by the historical accounts of Judeo-Christian records. If those historical records be somewhat hard to confirm precisely, then they do not, by virtue of that, differ from any other historical account. History, after all, does not change what has occurred; it only attempts imperfectly to trace it back. Scientists who are honest with themselves and others cannot, and therefore do not, hold that any experimental result obviates the necessity of something beyond a singularity. And physicists run into singularities all the time. Yes, in this book, Tipler takes the non-scientist to the brink of human understanding of materiality, and to the utmost limits of genius of man's brightest and most scientifically honest and shows us that all these thing