Temporal Symmetry and Divine Providence: Theological Reflection on the Two-State Vector Formalism and Weak Measurement
Dhelonga Biarufu Williams
The purpose of this work is to open a dialogue between science and theology, particularly between the Two-State Vector Formalism and weak measurement in quantum mechanics, and the doctrines of divine providence, government, and predestination in Thomas Aquinas. To that end, analogy and metaphor function as methodological instruments for relating these two fields without collapsing their proper distinctions. The guiding intuition of the study is that a certain kind of temporal symmetry may be discerned in the doctrines of divine providence and predestination, and that this symmetry may be brought into clearer relief through comparison with, and analogy to, the time symmetry found in the Two-State Vector Formalism. This methodological choice is grounded in Aquinas's account of naming and knowing: God cannot be known by the human intellect as He is in Himself, and therefore cannot be spoken of univocally, as though God and creatures belonged to the same order of being. nor merely equivocally, as though no meaningful theological discourse were possible. Rather, theological language proceeds analogically and, at times, metaphorically. Within this framework, pre-selection in quantum mechanics is interpreted, by analogy, as corresponding to creation, post-selection as corresponding to the eschaton, and weak measurement as illuminating both the gentle manner of divine action in history and the partial way in which human beings apprehend providence within time.
•May 1, 2026•0 citations