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Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics
Here, best-selling author Diarmuid O'Murchu presents a vision of the intersection of quantum physics and spirituality. It is now revised to reflect the most recent advances in physics. From black holes to holograms, from relativity theory to the discovery of quarks, this book is an original and rich exposition of quantum theory and the way it unravels profound theological questions.
256 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2004
31 people are currently reading
340 people want to read
About the author
Diarmuid O'Murchu
49 books23 followersDiarmuid O'Murchu, a member of the Sacred Heart Missionary Order, and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin Ireland, is a social psychologist most of whose working life has been in social ministry, predominantly in London, UK. In that capacity he has worked as a couple's counsellor, in bereavement work, AIDS-HIV counselling, and laterally with homeless people and refugees. As a workshop leader and group facilitator he has worked in Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, The Philippines, Thailand,
India, Peru and in several African countries, facilitating programmes on Adult Faith Development.
His best known books include Quantum Theology (1996 - revised in 2004), Reclaiming Spirituality (1998), Evolutionary Faith (2002), Catching Up with Jesus (2005), The Transformation of Desire (2007), Ancestral Grace (2008), Jesus in the Power of Poetry (2009).
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August 21, 2015
In Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics, Diarmuid O’Murchu summarizes the move from a classical model of scientific knowledge to a more “wholistic” approach demanded by current understandings of quantum physics. Quoting Meg Wheatley (Harvard-trained expert in organizational behavior), he quickly establishes the reason this is significant for modern thinkers who are not necessarily in the so-called scientific fields. “I try hard to discipline myself to remain aware of the whole and to resist my well-trained desire to analyze the parts to death. I now look for patterns of movement over time and focus on qualities like rhythm, flow, and shape. …I know I am wasting time whenever I draw straight arrows between two variables in a cause-and-effect diagram. ….I realize more and more that the universe will not cooperate with my desires for determinism.” (p. 37)
Building on the concept of entanglement (“A manifestation of one quantum object, caused by our observation, simultaneously influences its correlated twin object—no matter how far apart they are--quantum action at a distance. (p. 29)), O’Murchu argues that the nature of reality demands “relationships” as opposed to causality (p. 36) and opens one up to a necessary “mystical receptivity.” (p. 38) He warns that the parameters of scientific observation may actually end up falsifying rather than verifying truth (p. 34).
Part of O’Murchu’s conceptualizing is unpacking what quantum theory means for everyday life. To do so requires metaphors and he chose dance and music. Why do we find that we “resonate” in conjunction with things that touch us, inspire us, or convince us? Isn’t it because we are finding a “harmony” with reality? Hence, “We can conceive of a universe in which the spheres themselves are dancing, and from the musical vibrations we are beginning to glimpse a whole new sense of what the universal life is all about. …The energy that animates and enlivens all of life may well be supersonically melodious, and the life force itself may be something more akin to an orchestra than to any spiral of subatomic particles.” (p. 55) In such a fashion, O’Murchu invites readers to a dance of participation in the universe rather than conquest or opposition. He advocates viewing the universe (or multiverse if such it may be) as “…not a landscape of facts or objects, but one of events, process, movement, and energy.” (p. 63)
Those wondering where the “physics” has gone will recognize where O’Murchu is going when one reads the discussion of field theory. O’Murchu even suggests that there are morphogenetic fields that allow for both stability and change. Indeed, he suggests this may be a more accurate understanding than “natural selection” as expressed by Darwin (p. 74). Then, he quotes Stephen Rose to just that effect when Rose writes of life that is “…autopoietically constructed through the interplay of i) physical forces, ii) the intrinsic chemistry of lipids and proteins, iii) the self-organizing and stabilizing properties of complex metabolic webs, and iv) the specificity of genes which permit the elasticity of ontogeny.” (p. 75)
The process of becoming, O’Murchu goes on to explain requires both continuity and change (sounds a lot like Freud in Chapter Four of Beyond the Pleasure Principle when he writes of both receptivity and resistance in the living cell/system) here and later in the book about the process of dissipation and integration (p. 179). This stability which, in turn, adapts, he calls morphic resonance after Rupert Sheldrake. And I loved the way he connected the monkey phenomenon (of changed eating habits in the monkey population of Japan—even when there was no physical contact—p. 75) from the 1950s in Japan conceptually with Jung’s collective unconscious (p. 76). Or even, perhaps, it may fit in with the idea of Wolfhart Pannenberg that field theory may be a scientific explanation of what the Judeo-Christian theology calls the Holy Spirit (p. 80). [Note: Pannenberg has a scientific background and has written prolifically while drawing from both of his formal studies in science and theology.]
The discussion considers the disappointment of scientists who discovered that quarks (and their opposites, leptons) refused to be broken apart as the building blocks of the universe but only survived in groups of two or three (p. 86). Naturally, this observation led O’Murchu to consider the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and Trinitarian formulations in Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and even Ancient Egyptian religion (none exclusively Trinitarian, but having a dominant tri-partite expression—p. 88) and the necessity of a three-dimensional basis for the universe in terms of spatial survival and creative expression (more than three dimensions can create instability and two dimensions become so static and ordered that growth and movement aren’t possible—p. 89). So, we see how both comparative religion and the cosmos point to the idea “…that the essential nature of God is about relatedness and the capacity to relate, that the propensity and power to relate is, in fact, the very essence of God. …In the plain but profound language of the Christian Bible: God is love!” (p. 88)
After discussing the importance of relationships, there is an important caveat, “The more we try to invent community along specific lines—cultural, social, or religious—the more we endanger the possibility of its meaningful existence.” (p. 94) Rather, the essence of creativity and development is fluidity, flexibility, and process (p. 104) which allows both vague, chaotic realities and even “creative vacuum” as keys to self-organization within the meta-field of existence (p. 111). A quotation from Peter Coveney well illustrates this: “Chaos is just a special but very interesting form of self-organization in which there is an overload of order.” (p. 131)
Theologically, the book takes an interesting path in this section. “There is a paradoxical quality to black holes, whereby their destructive power of absorption seems to be a precondition for their life-giving power of ‘evaporation.’ …Perhaps here we have on a grand cosmic scale an insight known to mystics for centuries: abnegation is a precondition for fulfillment; struggle is a pathway to happiness; sickness is the shadow side of health; failure is success in disguise; Calvary precedes resurrection; darkness gives way to light.” (p. 135) Much like the Apostle Paul in Colossians, O’Murchu recognizes that there is no “newness” without a painful termination of the old (p. 141). Unfortunately, in seeking this “newness,” O’Murchu goes rather too far in his abnegation of the individual and defining individualism as always being part of the tyranny of power. He seems so optimistic about the eventual triumph of goodness in the universe; why isn’t he convinced of the ability for human individuals to change within those relationships held to be so important? That’s my problem with the direction of this book which holds so many great insights.
For me, Quantum Theology goes off the rails a this point. It is possible to become so syncretistic that there is no real distinction between any religions and so focused on “totality” that there is no longer any significance to an individual’s decisions. True, the neglect of relationship and identification with the universal “morphogenetic field” leads to a self-determination that can become self-diminution (p. 151), but does it have to do so? Isn’t there a balance between the search for enlightenment and light within this “field” and some sense of personal accountability and responsibility? I like O’Murchu’s concept of sound as a metaphor for cosmic origins and light as a metaphor for ultimate destiny (p. 171), but doesn’t he realize that even light can be refracted and distorted?
He states that only fundamentalists believe in a literal “end of the world” (p. 183), but doesn’t consider that there could be such a, pardon the expression, fundamental change that even if the universe continues, it might not be relevant to the type of life to which he is writing. I guess I’m just fundamentalist enough to believe that the “new heaven” and “new earth” could share some of the “morphogenetic field” of which O’Murchu speaks without being locked into the idea that world must continue as per our current experience or understanding. O’Murchu seems to expect some kind of evolutionary change which precludes a continuation of identity—not really taking into consideration his own science of “action-at-a-distance” where two particles, separated in space-time act the same when affected by a field of circumstances/observation.
Although the conclusion of this theology is about the need for love and follows Sally McFague’s idea of Trinity as Mother (Parent?) [agape—giving love], Lover [eros—relational/healing love], and Friend [philia—covenant, faithful, sustaining love] (p. 205), I felt like the strongest idea was his comparison (as with Teilhard de Chardin) of love as being like a fire “…with the paradoxical combination of warmth, tenderness, care, and closeness, on the one hand, and an enormous power for destructibility, on the other.” (p. 200) With all of his discussion of love, this book needed a little more talk about the danger of love contaminated by the self-determination of individuals seeking their own power and gratification in the name of love.
Building on the concept of entanglement (“A manifestation of one quantum object, caused by our observation, simultaneously influences its correlated twin object—no matter how far apart they are--quantum action at a distance. (p. 29)), O’Murchu argues that the nature of reality demands “relationships” as opposed to causality (p. 36) and opens one up to a necessary “mystical receptivity.” (p. 38) He warns that the parameters of scientific observation may actually end up falsifying rather than verifying truth (p. 34).
Part of O’Murchu’s conceptualizing is unpacking what quantum theory means for everyday life. To do so requires metaphors and he chose dance and music. Why do we find that we “resonate” in conjunction with things that touch us, inspire us, or convince us? Isn’t it because we are finding a “harmony” with reality? Hence, “We can conceive of a universe in which the spheres themselves are dancing, and from the musical vibrations we are beginning to glimpse a whole new sense of what the universal life is all about. …The energy that animates and enlivens all of life may well be supersonically melodious, and the life force itself may be something more akin to an orchestra than to any spiral of subatomic particles.” (p. 55) In such a fashion, O’Murchu invites readers to a dance of participation in the universe rather than conquest or opposition. He advocates viewing the universe (or multiverse if such it may be) as “…not a landscape of facts or objects, but one of events, process, movement, and energy.” (p. 63)
Those wondering where the “physics” has gone will recognize where O’Murchu is going when one reads the discussion of field theory. O’Murchu even suggests that there are morphogenetic fields that allow for both stability and change. Indeed, he suggests this may be a more accurate understanding than “natural selection” as expressed by Darwin (p. 74). Then, he quotes Stephen Rose to just that effect when Rose writes of life that is “…autopoietically constructed through the interplay of i) physical forces, ii) the intrinsic chemistry of lipids and proteins, iii) the self-organizing and stabilizing properties of complex metabolic webs, and iv) the specificity of genes which permit the elasticity of ontogeny.” (p. 75)
The process of becoming, O’Murchu goes on to explain requires both continuity and change (sounds a lot like Freud in Chapter Four of Beyond the Pleasure Principle when he writes of both receptivity and resistance in the living cell/system) here and later in the book about the process of dissipation and integration (p. 179). This stability which, in turn, adapts, he calls morphic resonance after Rupert Sheldrake. And I loved the way he connected the monkey phenomenon (of changed eating habits in the monkey population of Japan—even when there was no physical contact—p. 75) from the 1950s in Japan conceptually with Jung’s collective unconscious (p. 76). Or even, perhaps, it may fit in with the idea of Wolfhart Pannenberg that field theory may be a scientific explanation of what the Judeo-Christian theology calls the Holy Spirit (p. 80). [Note: Pannenberg has a scientific background and has written prolifically while drawing from both of his formal studies in science and theology.]
The discussion considers the disappointment of scientists who discovered that quarks (and their opposites, leptons) refused to be broken apart as the building blocks of the universe but only survived in groups of two or three (p. 86). Naturally, this observation led O’Murchu to consider the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and Trinitarian formulations in Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and even Ancient Egyptian religion (none exclusively Trinitarian, but having a dominant tri-partite expression—p. 88) and the necessity of a three-dimensional basis for the universe in terms of spatial survival and creative expression (more than three dimensions can create instability and two dimensions become so static and ordered that growth and movement aren’t possible—p. 89). So, we see how both comparative religion and the cosmos point to the idea “…that the essential nature of God is about relatedness and the capacity to relate, that the propensity and power to relate is, in fact, the very essence of God. …In the plain but profound language of the Christian Bible: God is love!” (p. 88)
After discussing the importance of relationships, there is an important caveat, “The more we try to invent community along specific lines—cultural, social, or religious—the more we endanger the possibility of its meaningful existence.” (p. 94) Rather, the essence of creativity and development is fluidity, flexibility, and process (p. 104) which allows both vague, chaotic realities and even “creative vacuum” as keys to self-organization within the meta-field of existence (p. 111). A quotation from Peter Coveney well illustrates this: “Chaos is just a special but very interesting form of self-organization in which there is an overload of order.” (p. 131)
Theologically, the book takes an interesting path in this section. “There is a paradoxical quality to black holes, whereby their destructive power of absorption seems to be a precondition for their life-giving power of ‘evaporation.’ …Perhaps here we have on a grand cosmic scale an insight known to mystics for centuries: abnegation is a precondition for fulfillment; struggle is a pathway to happiness; sickness is the shadow side of health; failure is success in disguise; Calvary precedes resurrection; darkness gives way to light.” (p. 135) Much like the Apostle Paul in Colossians, O’Murchu recognizes that there is no “newness” without a painful termination of the old (p. 141). Unfortunately, in seeking this “newness,” O’Murchu goes rather too far in his abnegation of the individual and defining individualism as always being part of the tyranny of power. He seems so optimistic about the eventual triumph of goodness in the universe; why isn’t he convinced of the ability for human individuals to change within those relationships held to be so important? That’s my problem with the direction of this book which holds so many great insights.
For me, Quantum Theology goes off the rails a this point. It is possible to become so syncretistic that there is no real distinction between any religions and so focused on “totality” that there is no longer any significance to an individual’s decisions. True, the neglect of relationship and identification with the universal “morphogenetic field” leads to a self-determination that can become self-diminution (p. 151), but does it have to do so? Isn’t there a balance between the search for enlightenment and light within this “field” and some sense of personal accountability and responsibility? I like O’Murchu’s concept of sound as a metaphor for cosmic origins and light as a metaphor for ultimate destiny (p. 171), but doesn’t he realize that even light can be refracted and distorted?
He states that only fundamentalists believe in a literal “end of the world” (p. 183), but doesn’t consider that there could be such a, pardon the expression, fundamental change that even if the universe continues, it might not be relevant to the type of life to which he is writing. I guess I’m just fundamentalist enough to believe that the “new heaven” and “new earth” could share some of the “morphogenetic field” of which O’Murchu speaks without being locked into the idea that world must continue as per our current experience or understanding. O’Murchu seems to expect some kind of evolutionary change which precludes a continuation of identity—not really taking into consideration his own science of “action-at-a-distance” where two particles, separated in space-time act the same when affected by a field of circumstances/observation.
Although the conclusion of this theology is about the need for love and follows Sally McFague’s idea of Trinity as Mother (Parent?) [agape—giving love], Lover [eros—relational/healing love], and Friend [philia—covenant, faithful, sustaining love] (p. 205), I felt like the strongest idea was his comparison (as with Teilhard de Chardin) of love as being like a fire “…with the paradoxical combination of warmth, tenderness, care, and closeness, on the one hand, and an enormous power for destructibility, on the other.” (p. 200) With all of his discussion of love, this book needed a little more talk about the danger of love contaminated by the self-determination of individuals seeking their own power and gratification in the name of love.
March 3, 2024
I'd like to give this book a 4.5 rating. I don't know where to begin to review it, but I think it is a very important book for our times, very challenging in parts, but his conclusions are satisfying. I especially found it strangely comforting to realize that the universe has apparently always been dying and rising again, and that species rise and disappear, and that homo sapiens will do likewise, but the universe will go on without us, perhaps giving rise to another species on earth that will do a better job than we have, as we enter a larger consciousness. If interested, I recommend that you read the reviews of some of the other readers who are more articulate than I, and then get the book and read it through even if you do not understand all of it.
June 8, 2012
A very thought-provoking, provocative, and dense book that uniquely uses recent discoveries and theories within quantum science to build a systematic theology of human spirituality. I have not encountered anything like it before. I suspect that the book never hit popular markets due to its reliance on complicated concepts and largely undeveloped quantum science. However, I found it fascinating, and many of the author's conclusions ring true to experience. The author sees religion as "the greatest idolatry of all time" and the greatest impediment to human spirituality and connecting with the divine. He accurately observes that "formal religion is a recent visitor to Planet Earth." He explores the way in which quantum theory has done away with previous ideas of autonomy in nature, and explores how the interrelatedness and interdependence of all life has profound spiritual implications. A good read, but as other reviews have warned, don't expect to be able to digest it quickly.
December 13, 2012
I believe that the relationship between science and theology needed to brought to the fore front of conversations. We spend lots of time trying to make sense of the both. Now for those who are new to the Idea of the special relationship, this combo can be a bit unnerving and feel that the purity of history of belief is tarnished, but I can say from personal experience and intuitiveness the topics are twins just realizing they have the common mother. We have an opportunity in this life time to give witness to the unique special entanglement as it unfold before our eyes.
The Author really brings light to the subject and the use of references is great! I have a tendency to read the references material if I like the Author. He hit a home run with me in this book.
The Author really brings light to the subject and the use of references is great! I have a tendency to read the references material if I like the Author. He hit a home run with me in this book.
February 20, 2013
The book seems to be written more for the benefit of readers with a theology background than anyone else. Anyone who has studied science beyond high school cannot avoid the beauty, mystery and majesty of the world around us. For those of us who have some understanding of science and also seek God, our perception of God is primarily shaped by our understanding of creation. As modern science moves forward, it points to a increasingly awesome God.
O'Murchu's focus on "Quantum Theory" is annoying, because Quantum Theory is only the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps theologians should study more science and less scripture :) .... I will continue reading ...
O'Murchu's focus on "Quantum Theory" is annoying, because Quantum Theory is only the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps theologians should study more science and less scripture :) .... I will continue reading ...
February 14, 2009
Everything Father Diarmuid writes is a struggle for me to comprehend but the end result is one where I feel enhanced by a greater understanding of what God has done in His creative work.
September 9, 2023
A PRIEST LOOKS AT ‘THEOLGICAL’ IMPLICATIONS OF THE QUANTUM THEORY
Priest and social psychologist Diarmuid O’Murchu wrote in the Introduction to the Revised Edition of this 2004 book, “The original inspiration [for this book] goes back to 1990 when… I stumbled on a number of books popularizing the quantum theory for nonscientists like myself… my curiosity was quickened as never before. Many things began to fall into place and what till then were fragmented aspects of my experience and understanding of life began to cohere around a new vision…”
He states in the first chapter, “I open this book with an invitation: Come with me on a journey of exploration; let’s link arms in a trajectory whose direction and destiny we’ll discover as we go along. Enter into the experience of searching, seeking, exploring, and, I hope, discovering. Participate in the task rather than remain a mere observer… The journey is all about an EXPERIENCE; of a world awakening to its own inner meaning and mystery, a world we can no longer comprehend purely in scientific terms nor in exclusively religious dogmas, but in the emerging dialogue that enables both fields of learning to meet and interact in a new way, which I have chosen to call ‘quantum theology.’ … We are not journeying IN the universe but WITH the universe… We are parts of a whole, much greater than the sum of its parts, and yet within each part we are interconnected with the whole.” (Pg. 6-7)
He explains, “It seems important that we differentiate between ‘spirituality’ and ‘religion.’ Spirituality is inherent to the human condition… in my estimation, religion is not. Spirituality has an enduring quality… religion serves a transitory and temporary purpose. Theology, therefore, as that body of wisdom which seeks to explore ultimate meaning, has a great deal more in common with spiritual than with religion. Theology, as faith seeking understanding, belongs to the primal and primordial aspirations that underpin the search for meaning, predating religion by thousands of years.” (Pg. 14)
He laments, “Perhaps the greatest disservice that formal religion has rendered to our world is its tendency to disrupt the dance. It tried to project God out of creation into the ‘divine’ realms of the church (on earth) and heaven (in the world beyond). It has led us into a speculative, cerebral mode (of thought and action), which ultimately was not about devotion and worship, but an insatiable desire to control the capricious power of the Deity.” (Pg. 48)
He states is ‘first principle of quantum theology’: “There is more to our world than what can be perceived by the human senses or envisaged by the human imagination. Life is sustained by a creative energy, fundamentally benign in nature, with a tendency to manifest and express itself in movement, rhythm, and pattern. Creation is sustained by a superhuman, pulsating restlessness, a type of resonance vibrating throughout time and eternity.” (Pg. 55)
He continues, “In traditional theology, there tends to be an emphasis on the God who creates from nothing… and is therefore superior and external to the created order… In quantum theology, the creative potential emerges (evolves) from WITHIN the cosmos. God co-creates in conjunction with the evolutionary process.” (Pg. 56) Later, he adds, “the quantum theologian is concerned with church at the heart of the world rather than with church over against the world. And church is, first and foremost, community gathered around the exploration the articulation of a deep, spiritual yearning.” (Pg. 96)
He notes, “we offer another central element of quantum theology: Because the capacity to relate is itself the primary divine energy impregnating creation, we humans need authentic ecclesial and sacramental experiences to explore and articulate our innate vocation to be people in relationship.” (Pg. 96)
He asserts, “we live in an ALIVE UNIVERSE… what do we mean when we claim that the universe is alive?... We need to listen and be receptive to the evolutionary story itself. When we choose to listen, we begin to glimpse the deeper meaning, as it is manifested to us in that aspect of creation than we humans are most closely connected, namely, Planet Earth itself.” (Pg. 105)
He adds, “We conclude with another key principle employed by the quantum theologian: Our passionate desire to understand in depth will not be attained by intellectual prowess or technological achievement, but by immersing ourselves in the divine, evolutionary story and committing ourselves to the contemplation and narration of that story in each new epoch.” (Pg. 116)
He summarizes, “Quantum theology offers a very different set of insights: 1. Creation is an unbroken whole, a totality within which everything---including darkness, chaos, pain, and suffering---plays in independent role in the evolving cycle of creation and destruction… 2. Creation is essentially GOOD and not EVIL… 3. Much of the meaningless pain and suffering is directly, and often deliberately, caused by human beings… 4. Dualistic thought patterns, and the major institutions that thrive on dualistic value systems, exacerbate the meaninglessness of pain and suffering in our world… 5. … How the passion and death of Jesus atoned for human sin, in a once-for-all manner, is a cherished though poorly understood tenet of Christian theology.” (Pg. 141-142)
He adds, “quantum theology adopts the following statement as a key principle: Structural and systemic sin abounds in our world, often provoking people to behave immorally. To integrate the global shadow, we need fresh moral and ethical guidelines to address the structural and systemic sinfulness of our time. The formulation of these guidelines is as much a political as a religious obligation.” (Pg. 158)
He notes, “According to the old theology, in death, we humans became A-COSMIC, that is, cut off from the cosmos. In our new understanding, we become PAN-COSMIC; we enter into a new relationship with the WHOLE cosmos. In our earthly life, we were confined to one part of the cosmos, and to a constricted way of experiencing it. In death, we are released into a potential relationship with the whole of universal life.” (Pg. 181)
He argues, "Genitality is no longer reserved for heterosexual monogamous relationships, never mind for marital union. It has become a dimension of human intimacy in the many different situations in which people seek to express tenderness, affection, and mutuality. There seems to be an enormous reluctance to acknowledge this new development… Culturally, politically, and theologically, it has far more serious implications than the so-called sexual revolution of the 1960s.” (Pg. 202)
In an Appendix, he states al twelve of his ‘Principles of Quantum Theology’; for example, “Principle 1: Life is sustained by a creative energy, fundamentally benign in nature… Principle 2: Wholeness… is the wellspring of all possibility… Principle 3: Evolution is underpinned by a deep unfolding structure… Principle 4: The expanding horizon of divine belonging is the context in which revelation takes place… Principle 5: … we humans need authentic ecclesial and sacramental experiences to explore and articulate our innate vocation to be people in relationship… Principle 6: Ultimate meaning is embedded in story, not in facts… Principle 7: Redemption is planetary (and cosmic) as well as personal… Principle 8: Structural and systemic sin abounds in our world… Principle 9: … our final destiny… is that of enlightenment… Principle 10: The concepts of beginning and end, along with the theological notions ore resurrection and reincarnation, are invoked as dominant myths to help us … make sense of our infinite destiny in an infinite universe… Principle 11: Extinction and transformation… are central coordinates of cosmic and planetary evolution… Principle 12: Love is an independent life force, a spectrum of possibility ranging from its ultimate divine grandeur to its particularity in subatomic interaction. It is the origin and goal of our search for meaning.” (Pg. 209-214)
This book may interest those seeking an integration of theological concepts with quantum physics.
Priest and social psychologist Diarmuid O’Murchu wrote in the Introduction to the Revised Edition of this 2004 book, “The original inspiration [for this book] goes back to 1990 when… I stumbled on a number of books popularizing the quantum theory for nonscientists like myself… my curiosity was quickened as never before. Many things began to fall into place and what till then were fragmented aspects of my experience and understanding of life began to cohere around a new vision…”
He states in the first chapter, “I open this book with an invitation: Come with me on a journey of exploration; let’s link arms in a trajectory whose direction and destiny we’ll discover as we go along. Enter into the experience of searching, seeking, exploring, and, I hope, discovering. Participate in the task rather than remain a mere observer… The journey is all about an EXPERIENCE; of a world awakening to its own inner meaning and mystery, a world we can no longer comprehend purely in scientific terms nor in exclusively religious dogmas, but in the emerging dialogue that enables both fields of learning to meet and interact in a new way, which I have chosen to call ‘quantum theology.’ … We are not journeying IN the universe but WITH the universe… We are parts of a whole, much greater than the sum of its parts, and yet within each part we are interconnected with the whole.” (Pg. 6-7)
He explains, “It seems important that we differentiate between ‘spirituality’ and ‘religion.’ Spirituality is inherent to the human condition… in my estimation, religion is not. Spirituality has an enduring quality… religion serves a transitory and temporary purpose. Theology, therefore, as that body of wisdom which seeks to explore ultimate meaning, has a great deal more in common with spiritual than with religion. Theology, as faith seeking understanding, belongs to the primal and primordial aspirations that underpin the search for meaning, predating religion by thousands of years.” (Pg. 14)
He laments, “Perhaps the greatest disservice that formal religion has rendered to our world is its tendency to disrupt the dance. It tried to project God out of creation into the ‘divine’ realms of the church (on earth) and heaven (in the world beyond). It has led us into a speculative, cerebral mode (of thought and action), which ultimately was not about devotion and worship, but an insatiable desire to control the capricious power of the Deity.” (Pg. 48)
He states is ‘first principle of quantum theology’: “There is more to our world than what can be perceived by the human senses or envisaged by the human imagination. Life is sustained by a creative energy, fundamentally benign in nature, with a tendency to manifest and express itself in movement, rhythm, and pattern. Creation is sustained by a superhuman, pulsating restlessness, a type of resonance vibrating throughout time and eternity.” (Pg. 55)
He continues, “In traditional theology, there tends to be an emphasis on the God who creates from nothing… and is therefore superior and external to the created order… In quantum theology, the creative potential emerges (evolves) from WITHIN the cosmos. God co-creates in conjunction with the evolutionary process.” (Pg. 56) Later, he adds, “the quantum theologian is concerned with church at the heart of the world rather than with church over against the world. And church is, first and foremost, community gathered around the exploration the articulation of a deep, spiritual yearning.” (Pg. 96)
He notes, “we offer another central element of quantum theology: Because the capacity to relate is itself the primary divine energy impregnating creation, we humans need authentic ecclesial and sacramental experiences to explore and articulate our innate vocation to be people in relationship.” (Pg. 96)
He asserts, “we live in an ALIVE UNIVERSE… what do we mean when we claim that the universe is alive?... We need to listen and be receptive to the evolutionary story itself. When we choose to listen, we begin to glimpse the deeper meaning, as it is manifested to us in that aspect of creation than we humans are most closely connected, namely, Planet Earth itself.” (Pg. 105)
He adds, “We conclude with another key principle employed by the quantum theologian: Our passionate desire to understand in depth will not be attained by intellectual prowess or technological achievement, but by immersing ourselves in the divine, evolutionary story and committing ourselves to the contemplation and narration of that story in each new epoch.” (Pg. 116)
He summarizes, “Quantum theology offers a very different set of insights: 1. Creation is an unbroken whole, a totality within which everything---including darkness, chaos, pain, and suffering---plays in independent role in the evolving cycle of creation and destruction… 2. Creation is essentially GOOD and not EVIL… 3. Much of the meaningless pain and suffering is directly, and often deliberately, caused by human beings… 4. Dualistic thought patterns, and the major institutions that thrive on dualistic value systems, exacerbate the meaninglessness of pain and suffering in our world… 5. … How the passion and death of Jesus atoned for human sin, in a once-for-all manner, is a cherished though poorly understood tenet of Christian theology.” (Pg. 141-142)
He adds, “quantum theology adopts the following statement as a key principle: Structural and systemic sin abounds in our world, often provoking people to behave immorally. To integrate the global shadow, we need fresh moral and ethical guidelines to address the structural and systemic sinfulness of our time. The formulation of these guidelines is as much a political as a religious obligation.” (Pg. 158)
He notes, “According to the old theology, in death, we humans became A-COSMIC, that is, cut off from the cosmos. In our new understanding, we become PAN-COSMIC; we enter into a new relationship with the WHOLE cosmos. In our earthly life, we were confined to one part of the cosmos, and to a constricted way of experiencing it. In death, we are released into a potential relationship with the whole of universal life.” (Pg. 181)
He argues, "Genitality is no longer reserved for heterosexual monogamous relationships, never mind for marital union. It has become a dimension of human intimacy in the many different situations in which people seek to express tenderness, affection, and mutuality. There seems to be an enormous reluctance to acknowledge this new development… Culturally, politically, and theologically, it has far more serious implications than the so-called sexual revolution of the 1960s.” (Pg. 202)
In an Appendix, he states al twelve of his ‘Principles of Quantum Theology’; for example, “Principle 1: Life is sustained by a creative energy, fundamentally benign in nature… Principle 2: Wholeness… is the wellspring of all possibility… Principle 3: Evolution is underpinned by a deep unfolding structure… Principle 4: The expanding horizon of divine belonging is the context in which revelation takes place… Principle 5: … we humans need authentic ecclesial and sacramental experiences to explore and articulate our innate vocation to be people in relationship… Principle 6: Ultimate meaning is embedded in story, not in facts… Principle 7: Redemption is planetary (and cosmic) as well as personal… Principle 8: Structural and systemic sin abounds in our world… Principle 9: … our final destiny… is that of enlightenment… Principle 10: The concepts of beginning and end, along with the theological notions ore resurrection and reincarnation, are invoked as dominant myths to help us … make sense of our infinite destiny in an infinite universe… Principle 11: Extinction and transformation… are central coordinates of cosmic and planetary evolution… Principle 12: Love is an independent life force, a spectrum of possibility ranging from its ultimate divine grandeur to its particularity in subatomic interaction. It is the origin and goal of our search for meaning.” (Pg. 209-214)
This book may interest those seeking an integration of theological concepts with quantum physics.
September 30, 2025
A terrible attempt to redefine Theology into a way to excuse a progressive Universalism vs being a book by any reputable man of Faith. If you're looking to excuse how Quantum Physics prove a Diety but want the Diety matching those descriptors to Not be the one of the Christian Bible who matches each perfectly then this book will loosely make that effort, but it is only half truthful as it does so.
December 17, 2010
An excellent book and great introduction to the new roads that theology may be taking over this next century. We are standing at such a pivotal point, theologically speaking, it will be very interesting to see how the future unfolds as more and more theologians begin to reflect upon the changes in science and culture. This book is a great place to begin the reflection process. It will most definitely go on my "read again" pile. The best part of this book is the exhaustive bibliography at the back.
August 23, 2015
This is a great book that addresses how science, specifically quantum physics can and should impact one's spirituality. Understanding we are part of an infinite cosmos can certainly broaden one's understanding of who God is and the impact it has on one's response to that understanding.
There were a few points I would disagree, but being open to the dialogue is what is important ~ there is always room to learn and grow in understanding.
There were a few points I would disagree, but being open to the dialogue is what is important ~ there is always room to learn and grow in understanding.
January 16, 2011
The message is good but had hard time following.
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January 19, 2013I love this book. An accessible insight intoa deep and powerful concept of spirituality.
December 14, 2023
Don't be put off by the folksy introduction. This work is very well thought out and articulated...and quite a valuable soundboard to work out one's own thoughts on the subject.
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