Quantum Mechanics: Scientific perspectives on divine action

Robert John Russell, Philip Clayton, Kirk Wegter‐McNelly +1 more

Robert John Russell, Nancey Murphy, Christopher John Isham

Robert John Russell, Nancey Murphy, Christopher John Isham

Nicholas Saunders

The recent debates concerning divine action in the context of quantum mechanics are examined with particular reference to the work of William Pollard, Robert J. Russell, Thomas Tracy, Nancey Murphy, and Keith Ward. The concept of a quantum mechanical “event” is elucidated and shown to be at the center of this debate. An attempt is made to clarify the claims made by the protagonists of quantum mechanical divine action by considering the measurement process of quantum mechanics in detail. Four possibilities for divine influence on quantum mechanics are identified and the theological and scientific implications of each discussed. The conclusion reached is that quantum mechanics is not easily reconciled with the doctrine of divine action.

Michele Caponigro

Hossein Ejtehadian, Rasool Rasoolipoor

Divine action in the world is one of the important problematic questions in contemporary philosophy of religion. After new inventions in modern physics during 20’th century some of the scholars claimed that in spite of classical physics in which physical laws constrain divine actions, in modern physics, uncertainty principle could explain and justify God intervention in the world. But quantum mechanics had produced big challenges in ontology and had not straightforward metaphysics and resulted to different interpretations, each suggesting different way to explain divine actions. Bohmian interpretation of quantum mechanics regarding his special metaphysical ideas like implicate order, holomovement and holism presenting novel perspective on this issue. This article investigate relation between Bohmian interpretation of quantum mechanics and divine actions in the world and shows its capacities on this issue.