Physicist and Christian
Encyclopedia
Physicist and Christian: A dialogue between the communities (1961) is a book by William G. Pollard
. Much of the attention given to the book such as its review in Time magazine has been attributed to the fact that Pollard was not only a well-respected physicist
but also an Anglican priest
. The book deliberately avoids specific subject matter differences, focusing on religion and science both as human communities. An important theme is the idea that human knowledge—scientific or religious—can be developed only by those, like Pollard, who have "fully and freely" given themselves to a human community, whether to the Physics
community or Christian
community or some other, e.g., the United States Marine Corps
. Also an important theme is Pollard's argument and cautions against a cultural norm in which scientific knowledge would be objective and public, on the one hand, while religious knowledge would be subjective and private, on the other.
There are six chapters plus a preface and author's note. The first chapter Community vs. Subject Matter discusses the benefits of focusing on science and religion as communities, outlining five common frameworks in which religion and science are routinely compared. The first chapter's section on "Impersonal vs. Personal knowledge" highlights Werner Heisenberg
's May 1958 article in Harper's magazine
and Michael Polanyi
's 1958 book Personal Knowledge. The second chapter Science and Christianity as Communities begins by mentioning the work of the well-respected sociologist George Homans and anthropologist Robert Redfield
selecting six methods from Redfield's The Little Community (University of Chicago Press
, 1956) with which to study and compare the religion and science communities. In the third chapter The Reality of Spirit, Pollard uses the United States Marine Corp as an example of another community in order to compare it with the religion and science communities and to better explain ancient and modern ideas of spirit
. The third chapter's section on "Spirit and Holy Spirit" states that Eric Hoffer
's The True Believer
"offers a profound understanding and exceptionally clear insights into the nature of the spirit in the community...", but takes exception to Hoffer's idea that any spirit from a mass movement and its community, Christian or otherwise, always ends up being bad. The fourth chapter Nature and Supernature introduces Rudolf Otto
's The Idea of the Holy leading into a discussion about non-conceptual components within the experience of life and how that relates to the science community. The fourth chapter holds that a range of reality can be experienced that is non-conceptual and to illustrate how a portion of reality could appear so, it goes over the idea of higher dimensions using Edwin Abbott
's Flatland
as an example. Chapter five Knowledge discusses epistemology as found in both science and religion communities incorporating ideas from Martin Buber
's book I and Thou
and a diagram from Henry Margenau
. The sixth chapter The Problem of Revelation jocularly states "To one who has known the sense of real achievement which accompanies the gaining of each new understanding and insight in science, the idea of revealed knowledge is likely to seem on a par with copying answers out of an answer book at an examination."
Dean of Physics Harold K. Schilling
, whose lecture Pollard credits as follows. "The effect of it was to let me realize for the first time that the same emphasis on community which was quite natural and generally understood in the acquistion of Christian knowledge within the Church could be applied in a remarkably parallel fashion to my earlier experience of coming to know physics through my personal involvement in and commitment to the community of physicists."
Pollard's extensive use of the analogy between the Holy Spirit
within the Church and the esprit de corps of United States Marine Corps
owes a direct debt to the Reverend Canon Theodore O. Wedel.
William G. Pollard
William Grosvenor Pollard was a physicist and an Episcopal priest. He started his career as a professor of physics in 1936 at University of Tennessee. In 1946 he championed the organization of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies . He was its executive director until 1974. He was ordained...
. Much of the attention given to the book such as its review in Time magazine has been attributed to the fact that Pollard was not only a well-respected physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
but also an Anglican priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
. The book deliberately avoids specific subject matter differences, focusing on religion and science both as human communities. An important theme is the idea that human knowledge—scientific or religious—can be developed only by those, like Pollard, who have "fully and freely" given themselves to a human community, whether to the Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
community or Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
community or some other, e.g., the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. Also an important theme is Pollard's argument and cautions against a cultural norm in which scientific knowledge would be objective and public, on the one hand, while religious knowledge would be subjective and private, on the other.
Contents
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
's May 1958 article in Harper's magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
and Michael Polanyi
Michael Polanyi
Michael Polanyi, FRS was a Hungarian–British polymath, who made important theoretical contributions to physical chemistry, economics, and the theory of knowledge...
's 1958 book Personal Knowledge. The second chapter Science and Christianity as Communities begins by mentioning the work of the well-respected sociologist George Homans and anthropologist Robert Redfield
Robert Redfield
Robert Redfield was an American anthropologist and ethnolinguist. Redfield graduated from the University of Chicago, eventually with a J.D. from its law school and then a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology, which he began to teach in 1927...
selecting six methods from Redfield's The Little Community (University of Chicago Press
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
, 1956) with which to study and compare the religion and science communities. In the third chapter The Reality of Spirit, Pollard uses the United States Marine Corp as an example of another community in order to compare it with the religion and science communities and to better explain ancient and modern ideas of spirit
Spirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
. The third chapter's section on "Spirit and Holy Spirit" states that Eric Hoffer
Eric Hoffer
Eric Hoffer was an American social writer. He was the author of ten books and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983...
's The True Believer
The True Believer
The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements is a 1951 social psychology book by Eric Hoffer which discusses the psychological causes of fanaticism.-Thesis and background:...
"offers a profound understanding and exceptionally clear insights into the nature of the spirit in the community...", but takes exception to Hoffer's idea that any spirit from a mass movement and its community, Christian or otherwise, always ends up being bad. The fourth chapter Nature and Supernature introduces Rudolf Otto
Rudolf Otto
Rudolf Otto was an eminent German Lutheran theologian and scholar of comparative religion.-Life:Born in Peine near Hanover, Otto attended the Gymnasium Andreanum in Hildesheim and studied at the universities of Erlangen and Göttingen, where he wrote his dissertation on Martin Luther's...
's The Idea of the Holy leading into a discussion about non-conceptual components within the experience of life and how that relates to the science community. The fourth chapter holds that a range of reality can be experienced that is non-conceptual and to illustrate how a portion of reality could appear so, it goes over the idea of higher dimensions using Edwin Abbott
Edwin Abbott Abbott
Edwin Abbott Abbott , English schoolmaster and theologian, is best known as the author of the satirical novella Flatland .-Biography:...
's Flatland
Flatland
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is an 1884 satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott. Writing pseudonymously as "A Square", Abbott used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to offer pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture...
as an example. Chapter five Knowledge discusses epistemology as found in both science and religion communities incorporating ideas from Martin Buber
Martin Buber
Martin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
's book I and Thou
I and Thou
Ich und Du, usually translated as I and Thou, is a book by Martin Buber, published in 1923, and first translated to English in 1937.-Premise:Buber's main proposition is that we may address existence in two ways:...
and a diagram from Henry Margenau
Henry Margenau
Henry Margenau was a German-U.S. physicist, and philosopher of science.-Early life:Born Bielefeld, Germany, Margenau obtained his bachelor's degree from Midland Lutheran College, Nebraska before his M.Sc...
. The sixth chapter The Problem of Revelation jocularly states "To one who has known the sense of real achievement which accompanies the gaining of each new understanding and insight in science, the idea of revealed knowledge is likely to seem on a par with copying answers out of an answer book at an examination."
Critical stands
- On pages 9–11, Pollard makes his first argument of five about certain common science-and-religion contrasts, which he holds to be irrelevant once seen in the light of science as a community. Here, the "common assertion that anyone can demonstrate the truths of science for himself, but the tenets of religion have to be accepted blindly on faith" is claimed as false.
- On page 61, Pollard discusses Edward R. MurrowEdward R. MurrowEdward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
's This I BelieveThis I BelieveThis I Believe was a five-minute CBS Radio Network program hosted by journalist Edward R. Murrow from 1951 to 1955. A half-hour European version of This I Believe ran from 1956 to 1958 over Radio Luxembourg....
. Pollard comments that these professions of private belief by prominent figures are inadequate and "disturbing evidence of the religious bankruptcy of our time."
Influences
One of this book's major influences was the then Pennsylvania State UniversityPennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
Dean of Physics Harold K. Schilling
Harold K. Schilling
Harold K. Schilling was a professor of physics at Pennsylvania State University. He had served as chairman of the physics department and then as dean of the graduate school. He also wrote extensively about science and religion.-Works:...
, whose lecture Pollard credits as follows. "The effect of it was to let me realize for the first time that the same emphasis on community which was quite natural and generally understood in the acquistion of Christian knowledge within the Church could be applied in a remarkably parallel fashion to my earlier experience of coming to know physics through my personal involvement in and commitment to the community of physicists."
Pollard's extensive use of the analogy between the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
within the Church and the esprit de corps of United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
owes a direct debt to the Reverend Canon Theodore O. Wedel.
Reviews
- The Christian CenturyThe Christian CenturyThe Christian Century is a Christian magazine based in Chicago, Illinois. Considered the flagship magazine of U.S. mainline Protestantism, the biweekly reports on religious news; comments on theological, moral, and cultural issues; and reviews books, movies, and music...
, "Out of Oakridge", John D. Godsey, volume 79 (February 28, 1962)
Physicist and [Christian] is a good antidote to an impersonal, mechanistic understanding of science or to an individualistic view of Christianity. Its greatest weakness is its failure to do justice to the problem of sin in the empirical community. As a result the distinction between the spirit of the Christian community and the Holy Spirit becomes blurred. Here Pollard's "Catholic Christianity" needs to be corrected by a Protestant understanding of the Word of God in the community.
- Library JournalLibrary JournalLibrary Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
, volume 86, (Sept. 1 1961) - The New York Times Book ReviewThe New York Times Book ReviewThe New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
, "In the Field of Religion", Nash K. Burger, (Dec. 31 1961)
Two subjects of continuing religious and intellectual interest--the relation of science and religion and the matter of education--are given first-rate treatment in recent books by authors speaking with authority. William G. Pollard in [Phsicist and Christian] writes as both atomic scientist and Episcopal clergyman, defining the spheres of physics and religion and showing how the claims and achievements of each, when properly understood, are complementary rather than contradictory.
- Time magazine, volume 78, (Oct. 13 1961)
-
- "The New Heaven" Friday, Oct. 13, 1961
- Journal of the American Scientific AffiliationAmerican Scientific AffiliationThe American Scientific Affiliation is a Christian religious organization of scientists and people in science-related disciplines. The stated purpose is "to investigate any area relating Christian faith and science." The organization publishes a journal, Perspectives of Science and Christian Faith...
, PSCF Book Reviews for March 1965
- Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation
- Review
- "The New Heaven" Friday, Oct. 13, 1961
Citations
- Religion and Science, John Habgood, Mills & Brown, 1964, pp. 130–131
"Learning to be a scientist, being initiated into the scientific community, discovering how to handle scientific concepts, deciding how much weight to give to this or that consideration, or what nuance of interpretation is demanded here or there, has been compared with learning to be a Christian. W.G. PollardWilliam G. PollardWilliam Grosvenor Pollard was a physicist and an Episcopal priest. He started his career as a professor of physics in 1936 at University of Tennessee. In 1946 he championed the organization of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies . He was its executive director until 1974. He was ordained...
, who is a leading American physicist as well as an Anglican clergyman, has recently written a fascinating book making the comparison in detail."
- The Colossal Book of Mathematics: Classic Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Problems : Number Theory, Algebra, Geometry, Probability, Topology, Game Theory, Infinity, and Other Topics of Recreational Mathematics, Martin GardnerMartin GardnerMartin Gardner was an American mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing micromagic, stage magic, literature , philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion...
, W. W. Norton & Company, 2001, ISBN 0393020231, p. 154
"Yes," I said. "I recently read an interesting book called Physcist and Christian, William G. PollardWilliam G. PollardWilliam Grosvenor Pollard was a physicist and an Episcopal priest. He started his career as a professor of physics in 1936 at University of Tennessee. In 1946 he championed the organization of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies . He was its executive director until 1974. He was ordained...
(executive director of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies and an Episcopal clergyman). He draws heavily on Heim'sKarl HeimKarl Heim was a professor of dogmatics at Münster and Tübingen. One of his students was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He retired in 1939. His idea of God controlling quantum events that do and would seem otherwise random has been seen as the precursor to much of the current studies on divine action...
concept of hyperspace."
Further reading
- Pollard, William G.William G. PollardWilliam Grosvenor Pollard was a physicist and an Episcopal priest. He started his career as a professor of physics in 1936 at University of Tennessee. In 1946 he championed the organization of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies . He was its executive director until 1974. He was ordained...
Physicist and Christian: a Dialogue Between the Communities (1st published 1961; 2nd pub. 1964), Seabury Press (full text) - Schilling, Harold K.Harold K. SchillingHarold K. Schilling was a professor of physics at Pennsylvania State University. He had served as chairman of the physics department and then as dean of the graduate school. He also wrote extensively about science and religion.-Works:...
Science and Religion: An Interpretation of Two Communities, New York: Charles Scribner's SonsCharles Scribner's SonsCharles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing a number of American authors including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, Robert A. Heinlein, Thomas Wolfe, George Santayana, John Clellon...
, 1962