On March 16, 2009, the Templeton Foundation announced the winner of its annual 1 million pound sterling (1.42 million USD) prize, an amount that exceeds the payoff of the prestigious Nobel Prize.1 Bernard d’Espagnat, a French physicist at the University of Paris-Sud, will receive the award from the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace at an elaborate ceremony in May. Dr. d’Espagnat was awarded the prize for his work using theoretical physics to predict the reality of a hypercosmic god, who exists outside of the physical universe.
The Templeton Prize was started in 1972 by Sir John Templeton, an American-born entrepreneur and businessman. Templeton’s goal was to provide monetary resources for research and discovery in science and philosophy, with a focus towards university faculty. Candidates for this award have typically performed research involving a strong metaphysical or spiritual side that very few researchers are willing to tackle.
Dr. D’Espagnat received the recognition specifically for his work in “concept reality,” an off-shoot from his decades of work in quantum mechanics. The goal of quantum mechanics is to provide a complete description/model of the physical world. However, if something exists beyond scientifically predictable phenomena, then there must be some other reality underlying the natural world, another dimension that is not based on time, distance, or physical constraints.
Additionally, events in one dimension are able to simultaneously affect events in the other dimension and distance is not an issue, even though the second dimension is non-local. D’Espagnat’s current hypothesis is that some unknowable divine entity operates in this underlying realm/dimension. In other words, theoretical physics now predicts the reality of a hypercosmic god.
In this model, there is no way to know this divine being or connect with him in a meaningful way. D’Espagnat’s notion of the impersonal/unknowable aspect of this god is not actually predicted by the model, but simply represents his own opinion on the matter.
It is interesting that one of the hottest fields in theoretical physics points towards a Divine Being or God and also predicts God’s divine attributes of omnipotence, immortality, omniscience, and omnipresence. What is even more exciting is that all of these findings line up with the description of God in the Holy Bible, except for one thing—He is knowable and we can connect with Him in a meaningful way through the forgiveness of sin available through His Son Jesus Christ.2
Although it is exciting that modern scientific research clearly points towards God, it does not take millions of dollars in government grants coupled with years of laborious research to prove His existence and know what He is like. His Divine attributes are clearly outlined in the Bible.
Image Credit: NASA
References
- Bernard d’Espagnat wins 2009 Templeton Prize. Templeton Foundation press release, March, 16, 2009.
- John 3:16.
* Dr. Tomkins is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research.
Article posted on March 24, 2009.