Saturday, June 30, 2007

The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God by Carl Sagan. Ann Druyan, editor

"...we have a theology that is Earth-centered and involves a tiny piece of space, and when we step back, when we attain a broader cosmic perspective, some of it seems very small in scale. And in fact a general problem with much of Western theology in my view is that the God portrayed is too small. It is a god of a tiny world and not a god of a galaxy, much less of a universe." (30)

"Does trying to understand the universe at all betray a lack of humility? I believe it is true that humility is the only just response in a confrontation with the universe, but not a humility that prevents us from seeking the nature of the universe we are admiring. If we seek that nature, then love can be informed by truth instead of being based on ignorance or self-deception. If a Creator God exists, would He or She or It or whatever the appropriate pronoun is, prefer a sodden blockhead who worships while understanding nothing?" (31)

"You start out the universe, you can do anything. You can see all future consequences of your present action. You want a certain desired end. Why don't you arrange it in the beginning? The intervention of God in human affairs speaks of incompetence." (165)

"I think if we ever reach the point where we think we thoroughly understand who we are and where we came from, we will have failed." (221)

(New York: Penguin Press, 2006)

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