TOPICS: People elevate thought systems to infallibility – materialists also looking for infallible system – science moving very fast, so how can one claim it has discovered final truth? – current science can say nothing about God – scientific materialism a belief system – God can be proven through inner experience – scientific method based on questioning present mental box – materialism has put science in a catch-22 –
Question: You earlier talked about the tendency for people to polarize towards the two extremes of orthodox religion and scientific materialism. What would you say to people who believe in scientific materialism and its claim that science has proven that God does not exist?
Answer from ascended master Jesus through Kim Michaels.
My first impulse is to say nothing because I find it unlikely that a scientific materialist will ever read this material. Nevertheless, I realize that many people are confused about the claims made by science.
I would begin by pointing to history. I believe an open-minded study of history will demonstrate that human beings have a tendency to create belief systems and to elevate them to an absolute or infallible truth. Let us just mention one example that all scientifically minded people should be able to accept, namely the fact that medieval Catholics claimed the earth was the center of the universe. Obviously, this was an incorrect belief, and it was unwise that the Catholic Church elevated it to an infallible doctrine.
Scientifically minded people are very quick to see this tendency in the field of religion, but they are often unwilling to see that the same tendency is operating in the field of science. All human beings have a psychological mechanism that gives them a need to find a solid and unchangeable foundation in a world that is constantly changing. People tend to look for a belief system which claims to be complete and infallible and therefore offers them a stable foundation. Scientists are no different than religious people. We are simply talking about human nature, and although many scientists seem to believe they are above and beyond religious people, I think history proves otherwise.
From time to time, groups of scientists have declared that we have now reached the end of science. Science has discovered all of the basic laws that led to the creation of the universe, and therefore we have a complete and infallible scientific paradigm or belief system. Of course, scientists do not see science as a belief system. They believe it represents an infallible truth. But then again, orthodox religious people say the same about their religion. In the late 1800s, scientists firmly believed that matter and energy were two separate elements. Albert Einstein proved that claim to be incorrect.
What I would like to see from scientifically minded people is a little bit of humility. Science is one of the fastest moving human endeavors, and new discoveries happen at an incredible pace. I cannot understand how any scientist can seriously believe that science has currently discovered everything there is to know about the universe. If you are open to the fact that scientific discovery will continue, you should realize that current scientific knowledge cannot give a complete understanding of the universe or how the universe was formed.
I wish people would see and accept the fact that when scientific materialists claim that God does not exist, they are simply making a claim. From a purely logical viewpoint, you cannot prove that something does not exist. If you are a true scientist, you can only say that current scientific investigations have not proven the existence of God. If you say otherwise, you are like medieval people who believed it was proven that the earth was flat.
The claim that God does not exist is a claim that does not belong in the field of science which should be based on what has been proven through repeated experiments. This claim belongs in the field of belief. Scientific materialism is simply a belief system, and since it deals with the topic of God, it is a religion. If scientists insist that the belief system of scientific materialism is somehow superior to what they call religion, they are no wiser than all of the religious people who claim that their religion is the only true one.
Go back to my original statement that human beings have created an image of the world that is out of alignment with reality. As long as people are caught in the lower state of consciousness, they will never be able to prove the existence of God. However, if people are willing to rise above that limited state of consciousness, they will be able to find such proof. Throughout history, many people have proven the existence of God through a direct inner experience, often called a mystical or spiritual experience.
I will prophesy that if more scientists will open their minds to the spiritual side of life, it will, within the next few decades, be possible to use scientific methods to produce real and valid evidence for the existence of something beyond the material universe. This will not prove the existence of God in an ultimate sense. However, once you have scientific proof that there is something beyond the material universe, any open-minded person must admit that scientific materialism is either incomplete or incorrect.
I would also like to point out that the very essence of the scientific method is that you must never stop asking questions. What scientists most abhor about religion is that so many religious people tend to close their minds and think that their religious doctrine is the ultimate and infallible doctrine. I freely admit that I share this concern. I too think religious people tend to be too close-minded. Nevertheless, as I explained earlier, I see many scientists doing the exact same thing without being willing to admit it.
I am gratified by the fact that there is already a number of scientists who are beginning to realize that scientific materialism has put science in a catch-22. The fact is that once you accept an “infallible” paradigm, you automatically set up limitations for science by limiting the type of questions you are willing to ask. This is what scientists most abhor about the Catholic church. This is why the chasm between religion and science developed. The Catholic church would not allow people to ask questions that could not be answered by church doctrine. Today, many scientists will not even consider questions that go beyond a materialistic view of the world.
If you accept the idea that there cannot be anything beyond the material universe, you have created some very restrictive limitations for scientific research and speculation. You have essentially moved science into the same dilemma that religion was forced into by the Catholic church and so many other orthodox churches.
I will prophesy that in the long run this is not a sustainable situation. The vitality of the scientific method will eventually pull the rug from scientific materialism, and most scientists will come to see it as a blind alley. I find it very likely that within just a couple of decades a large number of scientists will look back at scientific materialism and say, “How did we ever come to accept such a restrictive belief system? How did we ever allow such an idea to limit our scientific exploration?”
Copyright © Kim Michaels, 2003