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Quotes from Famous Scientists about God
“The best data we have are exactly what I would have predicted had I nothing to go on but the
five books of Moses, the Psalms, the Bible as a whole, in that the universe appears to have order
and purpose.”
Arno Penzias (b. 1933), American physicist and Nobel Laureate for the discovery of the cosmic background radiation which substantiated Big Bang theory.
“The laws of [physics]…seem themselves to be the product of exceedingly ingenious
design...[there] is for me powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all…It
seems as though somebody has fine-tuned nature’s numbers to make the Universe…The
impression of design is overwhelming.”
Paul Davies (b. 1946), contributed to black hole and Big Bang theories.
“The book of nature which we have to read is written by the finger of God.”
Michael Faraday (d. 1867), established the existence of the magnetic field, discovered electrolysis, diamagnetism, electromagnetic induction and benzene. He invented an early version of the electric dynamo. His work laid the foundation of the modern electrical system. By showing the inter-relation between magnetism and light, he laid the groundwork for a unified field theory.
“Religion and science demand for their foundation faith in God. For the former (religion), God stands foremost; for the latter (science), at the end of all thought, For religion He represents a basis; for science, a crowning solution towards a world view.”
Max Planck (d. 1947), the founder of quantum physics and one of the most important physicists of the twentieth century.
“The most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.”
Isaac Newton (d. 1727), developed calculus and described it in Principia Mathematica, from which the above quote is taken. He described universal gravitation, the three laws of motion, and developed color theory. He wrote more on theology and religion than he did on science.
“I want to know how God created this world, I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts, the rest are details.”
“The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books… a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects.”
“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.”
Albert Einstein (d. 1955), among his numerous discoveries, he developed the special and general theories of relativity, the law of mass-energy equivalence, and received a Nobel Prize for describing the law of photoelectric effect. He denied the inspiration of Scripture and the idea of the Chosen People.
“I am a scientist and a believer, and I find no conflict between those world views. …and neither apparently do the 40 percent of working scientists who claim to be believers [in a personal God].
Francis Collins (b. 1950), leader of the Human Genome Project, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute.
“In the last few years astronomy has come together so that we’re now able to tell a coherent story [of how the universe began]…This story does not contradict God, but instead enlarges [the idea of] God.”
Joel Primack, Fellow of the American Physical Society, Professor of Physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He studies dark matter, particle astrophysics, cosmology and quantum field theory.
“As the depth of our insight into the wonderful works of God increases, the stronger are our feelings of awe and veneration in contemplating them and in endeavoring to approach their Author…So will he [the earnest student] by his studies and successive acquirements be led through nature up to nature’s God.”
William Lord Kelvin (d. 1907), inventor of the Kelvin temperature scale, ennobled for for his feats in science and engineering.
“When I tell a young person: Look, there is a new star, a galaxy, a neutron star 100 million light-years away, yet the protons, electrons; neutrons and mesons which are found there are
“I find it quite improbable that such order came out of chaos. There has to be some organizing principle. God to me is a mystery but is the explanation for the miracle of existence, why there is something instead of nothing.”
Allan Sandage (b. 1926), winner of the Crawford Prize in Astronomy. He was regarded as the pre-eminent observational cosmologist in the world from the 1950s through the 1970s. His research led him to become a Christian at the age of 50.
“We are, by astronomical standards, a pampered, cosseted, cherished group of creatures….If the Universe had not been made with the most exacting precision we could never have come into existence. It is my view that these circumstances indicate the universe was created for man to live in.”
John O’Keefe (d. 2000), NASA astronomer, major leader in the American lunar program and the first to propose the idea of the scanning electron microscope.
“I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologians who would deny the advances of science. And there is certainly no scientific reason why God cannot retain the same relevance in our modern world that He held before we began probing His creation with telescope, cyclotron, and space vehicles.”
“Can a physicist visualize an electron? The electron is materially inconceivable, and yet it is so perfectly known through its effects that we use it to illuminate our cities, guide our airlines through the night skies, and take the most accurate measurements. What strange rationale makes some physicists accept the inconceivable electron as real, while refusing to accept the reality of God on the ground that they cannot conceive him?”
“My relationship with God is very personal. I think you can be on first name terms with Him, you know, and tell Him what your troubles are, and ask for help. I do it all the time and it works for me.”
Werhner von Braun, NASA engineer and scientist, designer of the Saturn rockets.
