Quantum Shift: Theological and Pastoral Implications of Contemporary Developments in Science by Heidi Ann Russell
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Nothing to See Here. Move Along

There must be a position between that of the gauche, ill-informed, puerile, fundamentalist atheism of a Richard Dawkins and the dogmatic, fideistic, tribal, needy, and equally fundamentalist position of the Congregation for the Defence of the Faith in the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church. But this book doesn't suggest what that position might be.

The good news is that the traditional attempts to prove the existence of God through rational argument have been dropped. As have the various God-of-the-gaps apologetics which served as the handy go-to explanation for the anomalies of science. So one might expect the foundations for a reasonable discussion in a book like this.

The bad news is that Quantum Shift typifies a new sort of theological rationalisation, a new genre in which all scientific thought is welcomed...and immediately distorted. Each major scientific breakthrough provides a new set of analogies for pushing the old doctrinal pap: General relativity indicates the fundamental importance of human relationships. Particle/wave complementary is another way of considering the soul/body issue. Quantum entanglement explicates the modern meaning of the Resurrection and the significance of the Body of Christ as described in the Pauline epistles. Chaos theory is affirmation of God's continuing role in creation. The possibility of a multi-verse of universes is but another reminder, along with the Copernican conception, that we are not the centre of existence. Quantum Gravity is something so counter-intuitive that it makes the mysteries of suffering and death seem quite plausible. And so on.

The further bad news is that none of these theological analogies seem to be able to find their way back into the dogmatic and organisational substance of the Church. For example, Perspectivism, a modern philosophy developed by Bernard Lonergan, not dissimilar from that of the 17th century Gottfried Leibniz, is put forward as compatible with Einsteinian Relativity. That may be, but Perspectivism is most certainly incompatible with credal literalism and the fixed, directive character of Church doctrine. The author may feel that the theory of multi-verses implies the prodigality of God's love, literally his fecundity. The 3rd century philosopher, Plotinus, would certainly applaud the metaphor. But it is highly unlikely that this could be crammed into any doctrinal niche controlled by the Curia.

It seems clear that if there is ever to be any rapprochement between science and religion, the embedded Aristotelianism of the Church with its concepts of objectivity, truth, causality, and purpose will have to be thrown over the side of the ecclesiastical ship. Without control over language, however, the Church loses all its traditional levers of power. Mutiny looks inevitable. Still, perhaps a good mutiny would keep the ship afloat. That might seem preferable to slowly sinking without trace.

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