Famous Scientists Who Believed in God

1. Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543)
   Copernicus was the Polish astronomer who put forward the first mathematically based system of planets going around the sun. He attended various European universities, and became a Canon in the Catholic church in 1497. His new system was actually first presented in the Vatican gardens in 1533 before Pope Clement VII who approved, and urged Copernicus to publish it around this time. Copernicus was never under any threat of religious persecution - and was urged to publish both by Catholic Bishop Guise, Cardinal Schonberg, and the Protestant Professor George Rheticus. Copernicus referred sometimes to God in his works, and did not see his system as in conflict with the Bible.
2. Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1627)
   Bacon was a philosopher who is known for establishing the scientific method of inquiry based on experimentation and inductive reasoning. In De Interpretatione Naturae Prooemium, Bacon established his goals as being the discovery of truth, service to his country, and service to the church. Although his work was based upon experimentation and reasoning, he rejected atheism as being the result of insufficient depth of philosophy, stating, "It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion; for while the mind of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them, and go no further; but when it beholdeth the chain of them confederate, and linked together, it must needs fly to Providence and Deity." (Of Atheism)
3. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
   Kepler was a brilliant mathematician and astronomer. He did early work on light, and established the laws of planetary motion about the sun. He also came close to reaching the Newtonian concept of universal gravity - well before Newton was born! His introduction of the idea of force in astronomy changed it radically in a modern direction. Kepler was an extremely sincere and pious Lutheran, whose works on astronomy contain writings about how space and the heavenly bodies represent the Trinity. Kepler suffered no persecution for his open avowal of the sun-centered system, and, indeed, was allowed as a Protestant to stay in Catholic Graz as a Professor (1595-1600) when other Protestants had been expelled!
4. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
   Galileo is often remembered for his conflict with the Roman Catholic Church. His controversial work on the solar system was published in 1633. It had no proofs of a sun-centered system (Galileo's telescope discoveries did not indicate a moving earth) and his one "proof" based upon the tides was invalid. It ignored the correct elliptical orbits of planets published twenty five years earlier by Kepler. Since his work finished by putting the Pope's favorite argument in the mouth of the simpleton in the dialogue, the Pope (an old friend of Galileo's) was very offended. After the "trial" and being forbidden to teach the sun-centered system, Galileo did his most useful theoretical work, which was on dynamics. Galileo expressly said that the Bible cannot err, and saw his system as an alternate interpretation of the biblical texts.
5. Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
   Descartes was a French mathematician, scientist and philosopher who has been called the father of modern philosophy. His school studies made him dissatisfied with previous philosophy: He had a deep religious faith as a Roman Catholic, which he retained to his dying day, along with a resolute, passionate desire to discover the truth. At the age of 24 he had a dream, and felt the vocational call to seek to bring knowledge together in one system of thought. His system began by asking what could be known if all else were doubted - suggesting the famous "I think therefore I am". Actually, it is often forgotten that the next step for Descartes was to establish the near certainty of the existence of God - for only if God both exists and would not want us to be deceived by our experiences - can we trust our senses and logical thought processes. God is, therefore, central to his whole philosophy. What he really wanted to see was that his philosophy be adopted as standard Roman Catholic teaching. Rene Descartes and Francis Bacon (1561-1626) are generally regarded as the key figures in the development of scientific methodology. Both had systems in which God was important, and both seem more devout than the average for their era.
6. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
   Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and theologian. In mathematics, he published a treatise on the subject of projective geometry and established the foundation for probability theory. Pascal invented a mechanical calculator, and established the principles of vacuums and the pressure of air. He was raised a Roman Catholic, but in 1654 had a religious vision of God, which turned the direction of his study from science to theology. Pascal began publishing a theological work, Lettres provinciales, in 1656. His most influential theological work, the Pensées ("Thoughts"), was a defense of Christianity, which was published after his death. The most famous concept fromPensées was Pascal's Wager. Pascal's last words were, "May God never abandon me."
7. Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
   In optics, mechanics, and mathematics, Newton was a figure of undisputed genius and innovation. In all his science (including chemistry) he saw mathematics and numbers as central. What is less well known is that he was devoutly religious and saw numbers as involved in understanding God's plan for history from the Bible. He did a considerable work on biblical numerology, and, though aspects of his beliefs were not orthodox, he thought theology was very important. In his system of physics, God was essential to the nature and absoluteness of space. In Principia he stated, "The most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being."
8. Robert Boyle (1791-1867)
   One of the founders and key early members of the Royal Society, Boyle gave his name to "Boyle's Law" for gases, and also wrote an important work on chemistry. Encyclopedia Britannica says of him: "By his will he endowed a series of Boyle lectures, or sermons, which still continue, 'for proving the Christian religion against notorious infidels...' As a devout Protestant, Boyle took a special interest in promoting the Christian religion abroad, giving money to translate and publish the New Testament into Irish and Turkish. In 1690 he developed his theological views inThe Christian Virtuoso, which he wrote to show that the study of nature was a central religious duty." Boyle wrote against atheists in his day (the notion that atheism is a modern invention is a myth), and was clearly much more devoutly Christian than the average in his era.
9. Michael Faraday (1791-1867)
   Michael Faraday was the son of a blacksmith who became one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century. His work on electricity and magnetism not only revolutionized physics, but led to much of our lifestyles today, which depends on them (including computers and telephone lines and, so, web sites). Faraday was a devoutly Christian member of the Sandemanians, which significantly influenced him and strongly affected the way in which he approached and interpreted nature. Originating from Presbyterians, the Sandemanians rejected the idea of state churches, and tried to go back to a New Testament type of Christianity.
10. Gregor Mendel (1822-1884)
    Mendel was the first to lay the mathematical foundations of genetics, in what came to be called "Mendelianism". He began his research in 1856 (three years before Darwin published his Origin of Species) in the garden of the Monastery in which he was a monk. Mendel was elected Abbot of his Monastery in 1868. His work remained comparatively unknown until the turn of the century, when a new generation of botanists began finding similar results and "rediscovered" him (though their ideas were not identical to his). An interesting point is that the 1860's was notable for formation of the X-Club, which was dedicated to lessening religious influences and propagating an image of "conflict" between science and religion. One sympathizer was Darwin's cousin Francis Galton, whose scientific interest was in genetics (a proponent of eugenics - selective breeding among humans to "improve" the stock). He was writing how the "priestly mind" was not conducive to science while, at around the same time, an Austrian monk was making the breakthrough in genetics. The rediscovery of the work of Mendel came too late to affect Galton's contribution.
11. William Thomson Kelvin (1824-1907)
    Kelvin was foremost among the small group of British scientists who helped to lay the foundations of modern physics. His work covered many areas of physics, and he was said to have more letters after his name than anyone else in the Commonwealth, since he received numerous honorary degrees from European Universities, which recognized the value of his work. He was a very committed Christian, who was certainly more religious than the average for his era. Interestingly, his fellow physicists George Gabriel Stokes (1819-1903) and James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) were also men of deep Christian commitment, in an era when many were nominal, apathetic, or anti-Christian. The Encyclopedia Britannica says "Maxwell is regarded by most modern physicists as the scientist of the 19th century who had the greatest influence on 20th century physics; he is ranked with Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein for the fundamental nature of his contributions." Lord Kelvin was an Old Earth creationist, who estimated the Earth's age to be somewhere between 20 million and 100 million years, with an upper limit at 500 million years based on cooling rates (a low estimate due to his lack of knowledge about radiogenic heating).
12. Max Planck (1858-1947)
    Planck made many contributions to physics, but is best known for quantum theory, which revolutionized our understanding of the atomic and sub-atomic worlds. In his 1937 lecture "Religion and Naturwissenschaft," Planck expressed the view that God is everywhere present, and held that "the holiness of the unintelligible Godhead is conveyed by the holiness of symbols." Atheists, he thought, attach too much importance to what are merely symbols. Planck was a churchwarden from 1920 until his death, and believed in an almighty, all-knowing, beneficent God (though not necessarily a personal one). Both science and religion wage a "tireless battle against skepticism and dogmatism, against unbelief and superstition" with the goal "toward God!"
13. Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
    Einstein is probably the best known and most highly revered scientist of the twentieth century, and is associated with major revolutions in our thinking about time, gravity, and the conversion of matter to energy (E=mc²). Although never coming to belief in a personal God, he recognized the impossibility of a non-created universe. The Encyclopedia Britannica says of him: "Firmly denying atheism, Einstein expressed a belief in "Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the harmony of what exists." This actually motivated his interest in science, as he once remarked to a young physicist: "I want to know how God created this world, I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts, the rest are details." Einstein's famous epithet on the "uncertainty principle" was "God does not play dice" - and to him this was a real statement about a God in whom he believed. A famous saying of his was "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

THE MAIN TEACHING OF BHAGAVAD GITA

(From a Web Page. Found while searching about Gita)

1.  A T H M A

The individual self : The first topic that Krishna broaches in his dialogue with Arjuna is the nature of the embodied self.  The self is eternal, indestructible, cannot kill or be killed, is not born and does not die, roves every where, yet  is  always firm and unmoved; it is un-manifest, unthinkable, immutable. This is Krishna’s argument as to why  Arjuna should not be depressed about  killing his cousins. It is not his real self that kills nor does he kill their real selves (2:18-25; 3:27-29,  etc.)

2.  Y O G A 

The word yoga is used in a vast number of  senses  in  the Bhagavad  Gita. The root meaning is the same as for the English word ‘yoke’ which refers to  ‘contain’ or ‘control.’  After in Gita  ‘yoga’ merely means ‘method’ necessary for control of mind and senses. So that soul or self, can be kept steadily concentrated on the ultimate object, and realises its true nature. Thus the soul is set free from its entanglement with nature. When properly concentrated in this way, the person is without desire for attachment, which is the cause of sins. The person who is unaffected by the opposites of pleasure and difficulty, by cold or heat etc. is regarded as sinless.

3. K A R M A (works, Action)

Even though it is karma (action) that binds soul to cosmic existence and  re-birth, work is essential in the world.  God himself engages in work, otherwise the worlds would cease to exist.

i) Sva-Dharma: Bhagavad Gita says it is better to perform  one’s  duty (Sva-Dharma) than to do another’s  duty well. You do that to which you are born. This is a very conservative teaching of Bhagavad Gita.

ii) Sacrifice: The Vedic sacrifices to the gods were designed to bring their own reward. Man sustains the Gods so that they may sustain him in return. In a very special sense the sacrifice is Brahman. The whole of life is to be a kind of sacrifice to the Lord, for he is both the cause of the sacrifice and the essential power within the sacrifice.

What is required is performance of duty with desire for benefits  thereby (nis-kama-karma) yoga helps to achieve this disinterest and dis-attachment. But more important is focusing the mind on the supreme Lord.

4. T R I G U N A S 

Every man is powerless and made to  work by  the constituents born of nature.  These are the three constituents of Nature namely Sattva, Rajas, and Tames: goodness or purity; passion or energy; darkness or dullness.  The different types of people and the action done by them in society are divided by these qualities. Krishna says: ‘Know too that all these states of being proceed from me but I am not in them, they are in me.’

5. B R A H M A N      

There are a few passages in Bhagavad Gita  where  the soul is ultimate  and  would appear to be the realisation of oneness with an impersonal Brahman. But the context usually indicates that this is to lead on from the state of isolation, or withdrawal (Kaivalya) from the sense of attachment, through the sense of oneness with the impersonal, to eventual relationship with the supreme person.  It is said that the self must know Brahman, stand stilled in Brahman, even become Brahman.  Brahman Jnana is the ultimate goal.

6.  C R E A T I O N: God is said to be creator of all, being both material and efficient cause.  He contains prakrti, with its changing states, within himself. But the Lord’s nature does not change along with the changes of nature. Creation is said to occur again and again. But the supreme person transcends all this, while containing it within his being.

7.  A V A T A R A: The Lord’s Avataras are also recurring, whenever there is loss of Dharma the Lord takes up the from of  some  created  being, and discards to earth to restore righteousness, destroy evil-does, and save  his devotees (the good). When Arjuna asks to see Krishna’ true, glorious from, he is granted the splendid vision described in all ch.11 Arjuna sees the whole of creation, even all Gods within this glorious  form  (Visva-rupa- darsana).

8.  B H A K T I: (Divine love or prasada-grace) following this vision, it is clear that dependence upon the Lord’s grace is offered as most important means of release. Thus in the final word Krishna tells Arjuna to give up all his dharmas to take him as his sole refuge (sarama) and then he will be set free from all papa(sin). This Bhakti is the ultimate path to mukti according to the Gita.

Maha Shivaratri

Maha Shivratri, the night of the worship of Lord Shiva, occurs on the 14th night of the new moon during the dark half of the month of Phalguna. It falls on a moonless February night, when Hindus offer special prayer to the lord of destruction. Mahashivaratri is the night when Lord Shiva himself was created by his own divine grace.

Of the four Ratris (night), Shivaratri – one of the major Hindu festivals- is a night of fasting and prayer in honour of Lord Shiva. According to Hindu Mythology; Brahma is the creator, Bishnu is the preserver and Lord Shiva is the God of Destruction and thus is sometimes described as God of all Gods. The devotees in their prayer ask Lord Shiva to wash away all the sins they have committed.

Om Namah Shivaya (ॐ नमः शिवाय)

All through the day the devotees keep severe fast, chant the sacred Panchakshara mantra "Om Namah Shivaya", make offerings of flowers and incense to the Lord amidst ringing of temple bells. They maintain long vigils during the night, keeping awake to listen to stories, hymns and songs. The fast is broken only the next morning, after the nightlong worship.

Shivaratri In Nepal

Pashupatinath temple is located at the eastern part of the Kathmandu valley on the banks of the holy river Bagmati. Pashupatinath, which literally means ‘the Lord of animals’, is one of the many forms of the Lord. He is the guardian deity, protector of Nepal, thus Shiva Ratri is one of the major festivals of Nepal. Pilgrims from all over Nepal as Pashupatinath Temple well as India come to Pashupatinath to worship and pray to the deity on his birthday and wash away all the sins committed by them. Only Hindus are allowed inside the temple and tourists are only permitted to observe the festival from across the Bagmati river.

Shiva Ratri is a much anticipated festival by all Hindus. Pilgrims and yogis (holy men), from all over Southeast Asia come to Kathmandu weeks before the festival. On this holy day people fast through out the day. At dawn, worshippers take a holy bath or dip in the river and go to the temple to worship.

One of the interesting aspects of Shiva Ratri is that on this day devotees and non-devotees alike freely indulge in smoking intoxicating substances such as marijuana (GANJA) and bhang for it is the only day in the annual calendar when marijuana is legal. Many people take these intoxicants in the belief that it pleases Lord Shiva for he too is said to be fond of it. Thus marijuana is taken as prasad, holy food blessed by the Gods and one can see eager tourists and faithful Nepalese flocking around the temple complex of the Ram Janaki Mandir across the Bagmati river opposite to the main temple complex of Pashupatinath lingering around sadhus and babas in the hope for some prasad from them.

The Puran, one of the many holy texts of the Hindus, tells us that if you worship Lord Shiva on this day all your sins will be forgiven. Giving an examle the puran talks about an event that occurred ages before about a hunter from Benares. This man worshipped Lord Shiva unknowingly on Shiva Ratri and he was forgiven for all his sins.

On Shiva Ratri the temple of Pashupatinath is filled with worshippers. Devotees are not distinguished as poor or rich but treated equally for Lord Shiva treats us all equally. Even the King of Nepal and the royal family pay homage to the Pashupatunath on this day along with the thousands that gather to celebrate the festival. Thus the festival of Shiva Ratri shows the devotion and faith Nepalese have towards the Hindu religion.

            

                    May Shiva full fill your all wishes in this day. Happy mahashivarati 

                                            ॐ त्र्यम्बकम् यजामहे सुगन्धिम् पुष्टिवर्धनम् ।

                                    उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान् मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात् ।।


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Facebook Messenger for Windows Available for Download

Facebook Messenger, Facebook has officially released an app for windows which lets you chat with your friends, watch their recent posts in the news ticker as well as stay up to date with notifications. According to Facebook, the app is being rolled out to a limited number of users, which answers the question as to why there isn’t an official page on this but just a help topic entry only. Strangely, despite being in trial period, Facebook hasn’t called the Messenger app beta.

Facebook has previously released Messenger apps for mobile platforms namely iOS, Android and blackberry. Lucky for us, Facebook decided not to go with any third party framework such as Adobe ‘hog’ Air to build the app but has used nativeWindows APIs. The app even supports Aero Snap in Windows 7 – you can drag it to the side of the screen to make it stick there – similar to how Windows 8 metro apps work.

The app shows friend requests, messages previews and notifications. Underneath, it shows the news ticker, friends for chat and then the search bar. An annoyance we’ve faced during testing was that the look and feel of messages is horrible when compared to the Facebook Messenger apps for mobile platforms. You can’t see previews of images and videos in messages like you can on Facebook and on the mobile Messenger apps. Clicking on any of the messages in the dropdown in the header takes you to Facebook in your browser instead of opening a messenger window which really beats the purpose of this app. You can’t even change your online/offline status from the app itself either so in many ways, the app is very restricted.

For version 1, the app is pretty decent but we would like to see this app improved as these tiny bugs make it annoying sometimes. The notifications on the desktop make it worthy enough for any Facebook addict’s desktop though.

Download Facebook Messenger for Windows (Supported only on Windows 7)

Janucha Malai