Readers Respond to ‘God’s Rays’

I write in appreciation of Bryce DeWitt’s extraordinary essay “God’s Rays.” His claim, bolstered and beautifully illustrated by his own life, that theoretical physicists start out (and sometimes even continue!) as amateur theologians is unfortunately a thing of the past. Over my 50 years of teaching courses in materials science and in science, technology, and society, including religion, I have witnessed a new obliteration of familiarity with the roots—the depths—of Western culture. Shakespeare may be taught in high school and college; the Bible, of course, is hardly taught at all; and what is taught is barely retained beyond the final exam. On the basis of my sample of students and young faculty members from the best US universities, I cannot believe that very many who obtain PhDs have a chance to follow in DeWitt’s steps.

By my own testing at the Pennsylvania State University, in my classes of 50 graduate students or 400–500 undergraduate general education students, I can certify that no more than 1–5% would recognize DeWitt’s remarkable list of key biblical lessons. Such is the theological illiteracy of most of today’s scientists, even those involved in the science and religion debate. The failure to read the contemporary literature in religion makes it unlikely that many physicists will understand the depth of DeWitt’s last paragraph—about his religion’s profound innovation, its single-minded focus on love as universal guide to human behavior.