A CONCEALED GOD: Religion, Science, and the Search for Truth

Is there a "concealed God" that operates as the hidden power behind human existence and the creation of the natural laws that govern the universe? Could it be that this force, this concealed God, can be experienced but not described and provide meaning to life? Swedish molecular oncologist Einhorn addresses these and other questions in this sophomoric exercise in the philosophy of religion. Einhorn examines the similarities in religions by listing five characteristics that all religious systems share: ritual and myth, moral values, comfort and caring, social systems and spiritual content. He finds that every religion seeks to discover a concealed God that provides purpose and power for the religion. Examining the relationship of religion to physics, chemistry and biology, Einhorn then asks whether or not science can provide a path toward insight into the divine. He concludes that the strongest scientific argument for an unexplained divine force is the fact that our world offers all the physical and biological requirements that enable life to exist in it. In the end, he says, neither science nor religion can aid in the search for the concealed God; the only meaningful path to the divine is meditation, contemplation and prayer. His conclusion that it is up to the individual to search for answers to the question of God's existence negates much of what went before. Einhorn's definitions of religions, arguments for the existence of God, and discussions of the relationship of science to religion are left in the end without a raison d'être.. (Sept.)