Is God A Physicist?

“God does not play dice with the universe,” a famous quote from Albert Einstein. Most of you must be knowing the meaning of the quote; still, let me explain: In absolute sense, Einstein meant that there were no probabilities in the ways the rules of the universe were played out. In other words, God does not interfere in the working of the physical laws that govern the universe. Many incidents that happen around us demonstrate this point. 

Kerala, India, was battered by massive floods in 2018. Over 480 people died; thousands lost their homes and valuable possessions; and many others faced untold miseries. The dead included both believers in God and non-believers of God. Why did not God intervene to save the believers by safeguarding the place, where the believers lived, from the flood waters?  The answer is there in the Einstein’s quote. In a flood situation, water levels go up depending upon the terrain and the intensity of the deluge and that all the physical laws connected with flood will be in action, irrespective of whether believers or non-believers are present in an area. Physical laws and reasons responsible for such deluges — read human destruction of environment through senseless use of natural resources, global warming — had already happened, setting a perfect storm for deluge and destruction, so the physical laws would play out to their logical conclusion, independent of who was present in the affected area. There is no probability but only definite that if you get trapped in such floods, you will either escape depending upon your ability to escape; or upon the timely arrival of help or that you will die, but no bending of the physical laws to favor or disfavor you by Him.

Do religions have something to state that what Einstein told is correct? Yes, they do have. Let’s look at the Biblical quote of Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will be also reap.” If we translate this quote into simple language that can read like this: Do not be under the false impression that God can be duped, and you will reap the results of your actions. So the Bible says that you will have a life based on what you do in your life — nothing less or more when you harvest the fruits of your deeds. 

The Hindu religious concept of “Karmaphalam” explains the same thing that you will have results in life, in accordance with your actions. Obvious in both these religious concepts is that your actions will make what you are while what is implied is that God does not change the physical laws that govern the universe for anyone’s sake —  no probability for “Rolling the dice.” The same fundamental fact is also signified in the philosophical thought: “Cause and Effect” Theory, which has the same underlining principle: the effects that you confront and the results you take home in life have your actions as the causes. And Newton explained this fact through the Third  Law of Motion, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction;” equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. 

Conventions and customs have made it difficult for those people, who do not believe that religion is a way to God, to avoid visiting worship places like churces, temples, etc., especially if you are a family-man. Even when you show the faculty to ignore such conventional demands, you may have to, still, go to worship places as a part of escorting your family. So I  go to church though I am not a religious man. I was standing outside the church when I overheard someone praying to God that her son should be helped to pass a job interview. Will God grant her wish? I do not think so. The Galatians  6:7 quote as much clearly states that God will not grant her the wish as does the Einstein’s quote. God will not answer the prayer of the woman because He cannot do that.  Why cannot He do that? Because if He answers her wish positively, He will be breaking His own law that people reap what they sow. In other words, her son cannot be made to pass the job examination without him putting in the required effort and no bending of the law  — that meritorious qualifies over non-meritorious — which governs a competitive examination.

Looking at the issue spirituality, God will not help a less-meritorious person to gain something  by giving him undeserving advantage over a meritorious person who compete for the same thing. Doing otherwise will be unrighteousness. God is righteousness, hence, cannot do anything unrighteous. In other words, God will not change the physical laws governing a job examination to favor or disfavor someone. Praying to God asking Him to do undeserving things will never be answered. In the same breath, ask these questions: Does God help you if you donate money in churches and temples?  Or, do you get closer to Him if you contribute generously to the places of worships?  The answer to both questions is a BIG NO because God cannot be duped. And the physical laws that govern your dwelling will not be changed whether you pray to  God or not — “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked.”  But prayer has effects from a psychological point of view.

The common thread that runs through religion and science unambiguously state this fundamental fact: Physical laws are constants and act independent of individuals and that these laws play out as per their own established rules without God interfering in them; hence, He can not be duped to get undeserving blessings and that you will reap as you sow —  in equal magnitude and opposite in direction. And all these sum up to what Einstein said, ”God does not play dice with the universe.”