I appreciate the way in which this article addresses the emergence of pantheism in the physical sciences. Just like Paul at the Areopagus it does indeed open the door for discussion of the powerful Christ-centered alternative to Einstein’s god. Is there an equivalent biologist’s (pantheistic) god, I wonder? Until recently modern biology was so enamored with reductionism that few of the leading thinkers moved beyond defining and characterizing the reductionistic forces at the micro level (the bottom up approach) to think about the unique aspects that one detects by starting at the planet’s biological higher levels and working down. Over the past few years this has been changing and there are many fine books that summarize the results so far. As they do this, some are beginning to emphasize the spiritual dimension to life. In proceeding however, there is more of a tendency to look to Buddhist thought for this spirituality than what Christianity has to say (see books by Denis Noble or Fritjof Capra and Pier Luigi Luisi, for example). Like the pantheistic physicists, the pantheistic biologists almost go out of their way to distance themselves from Christian theism. There is so much need for solid Christian theology to be moving into this space. Like the reductionistic biologists, we Christians have been too myopic–too focused on word-by-word details and not the big picture. Both biology and biblically-centered theology can now be freed up to to explore–together–the ramifications and theological richness of what it means to say that all things were created by, and all things are held together in, Christ.
Recently here in San Diego, the Dali Lama spoke at the UCSD graduation to a highly packed-out audience. May the day come when it is Christian thinkers, not Buddhist ones, who are sought out by the wisdom seekers of society.