Religion and Science
3. The Mechanical Interpretation of the Universe
~ 43 ~
3. THE MECHANICAL
INTERPRETATION OF THE UNIVERSE
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when
Science discovered a system of cause and effect
operating in the universe, the atheistic philosophers
of the time enthusiastically welcomed it, for it
provided a scientific alternative to God. The
Scientists, however, did not for their part interpret
this law of nature in that way. For instance, to
Newton, that was simply the way that God worked.
He believed that it was through cause and effect
that God made manifest His will throughout the
universe. But those who were building up their
philosophy in the light of scientific discoveries
found in it a ‘proof’ for atheism, and based upon it a
whole system of thought.
On the law of causation, Sir James Jeans has this to
say in his book
The Mysterious Universe:
Confronted with a natural world, the first
question that comes to mind is as to who is its
Maker and who is the Sustainer of the Grand
Machine. In ancient times man held that there
