(PRWEB) May 19, 2006 -- Bernard Haisch has spent three decades as a professional scientist and a lifetime as a seeker. Through twists and turns, he has arrived at a worldview that offers a satisfying and hopeful explanation of what our reality is all about in The God Theory (Weiser Books, June 2006).
As a young schoolboy at St. Catherine of Sienna in Indianapolis, Haisch's curiosity was measured in equal parts science and religion and in fact he entered the seminary for a brief period before leaving it behind for a career in astronomy. His ideas are the thoughts of an inquisitive but open-minded scientist, and he presents a promising theory that he feels is most likely, as well as intellectually satisfying and humanitarian in The God Theory. While he may have left the priesthood behind, he never left behind the fundamental questions: Is there really a God? What am I? What is my destiny?
"I am gambling that there is a significant audience interested in a kind of rational spirituality that can nudge the world in a more tolerant and uplifting direction. I am gambling that, somewhere between the hardcore reductionists who explain all things as the sum of their parts and greet every suggestion of spirituality with a sneer, and the unquestioning faithful who receive their beliefs full-blown from prophets and preachers, there is a group of philosophical centrists--well-intentioned, open-minded, skeptical, but free spirits eager to investigate their own nature. I am gambling that these inquiring spirits, among whom I count myself, will join me as I explore the handiwork of an extremely ingenious God who, nevertheless, can only experience material reality by living in and through us and all beings everywhere.
To you, I propose a God whose purposeful ideas somehow became the laws of nature underlying our universe. I propose a God whose infinite diversity of ideas was capable of initiating the Big Bang some 14 billion years ago, and also of supporting all the other ‘multiverses' that astrophysical inflation theory has cobbled up over the years. The difference between my proposed worldview and the prevailing reductionism of modern science is that its theories rest squarely on enigmatically pre-existing and randomly distributed ‘laws of nature' mindlessly giving rise to universes that are utterly devoid of purpose.
Mine rests on an acceptance of an infinite intelligence as the source of our universe and all the other universes that modern astrophysical inflation theory postulates. I am gambling that a closer examination of spiritual realities will also appeal to skeptical reductionists plagued by the (nagging and perhaps secretly welcome) suspicion that there may, after all, be more to life than the equations of physics. What I propose may also appeal to those who, although open to the idea of a benevolent deity, are put off by the dogmatism of organized religion."
~Bernard Haisch from the Introduction to The God Theory
Esoteric traditions of many religions claim that light and consciousness are the basis of the material world. Drawing upon his government-funded, published research into the physics of the electromagnetic zero-point field, Haisch posits that there may be a deep truth in such ideas. He also suggests that eventually science will discover that consciousness is not simply an epiphenomenon emerging from brain chemistry, but rather that we are, indeed, immortal conscious beings sharing in God's own infinite consciousness.
"As science integrates the in-depth knowledge of the physical world accumulated over the past three centuries, it will be channeled into a new and exciting line of inquiry that acknowledges the expanded reality of consciousness as a creative force in the universe and the spiritual creative power embodied in our own minds." ~Bernard Haisch
Haisch offers The God Theory, not as a theological treatise, but as a readable exposition of a worldview for those no longer interested in absolutes in either science or religion. This book is for readers interested in pursuing peace and tolerance for a planet in serious peril - due in large part to the irrational dogmatism of both religion and science.
For additional title information, please visit: www.weiserbooks.com.
Bernard Haisch, Ph.D. is an astrophysicist, author of over 130 scientific publications, and was a scientific editor of the Astrophysical Journal for ten years. After earning his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Haisch did postdoctoral research at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands. His professional positions include Staff Scientist at the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory; Deputy Director of the Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Astrophysics at the University of California, Berkeley; and Visiting Scientist at the Max-Planck-Institute für Extraterrestrische Physik in Garching, Germany. He was also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Scientific Exploration. Prior to his career in astrophysics, Haisch attended the Latin School of Indianapolis and the St. Meinrad Seminary as a student for the Catholic priesthood. The God Theory is his first solo book. He is married, with three children, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Marsha Sims.
The God Theory by Bernard Haisch, Ph.D.; Published by Weiser Books; Publication date: June, 2006; Price: $21.95; Hardcover; ISBN 1-57863-374-5; Category: Science; Available soon at bookstores everywhere or through the publisher at (800) 423-7087, or online at www.weiserbooks.com.
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AndhraNews.net News for May 19, 2006
