This document discusses the potential relationship between quantum mechanics and theology. It explores how quantum indeterminacy may allow for the possibility of divine intervention in an otherwise determined world, though more research is still needed. Specifically, it examines how rare quantum events amplified into observable macroscopic phenomena could potentially explain reported miracles. However, the document acknowledges that many questions remain regarding the mechanisms of quantum probability and consciousness. Overall, it presents quantum mechanics as a promising but still developing paradigm for understanding the interaction of science and religion.

1. By Colleen M. Farrelly

2.  Quantum Indeterminacy
 Quantum events based on
probability, not causality (as in
classical physics)
 Influences classical mechanics
(Bohm, 27-29)
 Differences (Bohm, 624-625):
 Duality (no discrete elements in
world)
 Not fixed (state of element not
described by variables alone)
 No causality (little
interrelationship of events)
 Gaussian Distribution
 God
 Higher power outside of
nature capable of
interacting with nature
 Assumed to exist and to be
capable of interacting with
the world
 Possibly through
influencing quantum
events
 Miracle
 Low probability natural
event observable to people

3.  Albert Einstein (1879-
1955)
 Quantum Physicist
 Theory of Relativity,
Quantum Theory
 Confirmation
 God as the guarantor of
the laws of nature
 “When I am judging a
theory, I ask myself
whether, if I were God, I
would have arranged the
world in such a way.”
(Foelsing, 703)
 Francis Collins (b. 1950)
 Geneticist/ Doctor/Physical
Chemist
 Sequencer of the human
genome (George, 1)
 Dialogue
 Existence of Moral Law,
evolution (Collins, 21-31)
 John Polkinghorne (b. 1930)
 Particle Physicist, Priest
 Discoverer of the quark
(Mullen, 1)
 Integration
 Creatio Continua
(Polkinghorne, 76-77)

4.  Raised Jewish, left before Bar
Mitzvah after witnessing “lack of
community” in the Jewish faith
(Foelsing, 20-22)
 Viewed God as creator of the
world whose construction plans
needed to be discovered
(Foelsing, 196; Einstein, 1-2)
 Tried to allow religion and
science to interact
 “Science can only be created by
those who are thoroughly
imbued with the aspiration
toward truth and understanding.
This source of feeling, however,
springs from the sphere of
religion.” (Einstein, 2)
 “As for myself, I am so old-
fashioned and stubborn that I
still do not believe that the Lord
throws dice. Because if he had
wanted to do that, he would
have done it thoroughly, and not
kept to a pattern in throwing
dice. Gone the whole hog. In
that case we wouldn’t have to
look for laws at all. It’s true,
everything points against the
belief in total regularity. But I
continue to search for that. If
what I find is no use in the end,
then the fault is probably mine,
not his.” (Foelsing, 704)

5.  Atheist to believer
 Sparked by working
with patients in North
Carolina who
maintained faith during
their suffering
 Read C. S. Lewis’s Mere
Christianity and
encountered the Moral
Law(Collins, 19-31)
 Explanation of
miraculous events
 Rare, unexpected events
 At an important
personal moment
 “Stacking of deck”
analogy (Collins, 43-54)
 No mechanism given by
Collins, but from a
bottom-up approach,
possible for quantum
mechanics

6.  Anglican priest
 Written extensively on faith
and science
 Miracles as:
 Significant Coincidences
 God’s interaction with
creation, not breaking laws
of nature
 Radically “unnatural events”
 Divine consistency not
limiting God’s ability to do
something new
 Such as electromagnetic
force, resistance, and
superconductance
(Polkinghorne, 752-756)
 “Consciousness” as a necessity
for the determination of a
quantum or classical event
 Schroedinger’s cat paradigm
 Indeterminacy limited to
certain macroscopic events
 Amplification of quantum
events possible mechanism
through chance
 Not enough known yet about
quantum probability
(Polkinghorne, 181-191)

7.  Reverend Bayes
 Conditional Probability
 Adjust probability
depending on additional
information
 Example of Bayes’
Theorem (Mlodinow,
107-105)
 Quantum event
Classical observation
 Low probability classical
observation from a low
probability quantum
event (phosphorescence,
fluorescence…)
 Perhaps Collins’ view of
miracles valid
 Captive Problem
(Collins, 49-51)

8.  Much is still to be
learned in quantum
physics
 Observer effects
 Mechanism of influence
on macroscopic events
 Quantum consciousness
 Represents a possible
and promising avenue
for God’s action with a
observably determined
world
 Explanation for miracles
in the Bible and possible
miracles today
 Needs more study

9.  Quantum indeterminacy as an area for possible
intervention in a seemingly determined world
 Not enough known yet
 Offers a plausible paradigm until more is known

10.  Bohm, David, Quantum Theory. Dover Publications, Inc, New York,
New York: 1951.
 Collins, Francis, The Language of God. Free, New York, New York: 2006,
21-54
 Foelsing, Albrecht, Albert Einstein. Viking, New York, New York: 1997
 George, Gina. Francis Collins Vignette. 2009
 Einstein, Albert, Letter to Max Born, 4 December 1926 in Mehra,
Jagdish, Einstein, Physics, and Reality. World Scientific Publishing
Company, Singapore: 1999
 Einstein, Albert, “Science and Religion,” in Religion and the Natural
Sciences. Fort Worth: HJB, 1993
 Mlodinow, Leonard, The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our
Lives. Pantheon Books, New York, New York: 2008, 104-123
 Polkinghorne, John. “The Credibility of the Miraculous.” in Zygon.
Volume 37.3, 2002: 751-757