“Now I know I’ve laid a whole lot of new ideas onto you in these last two and a half hours, so if you’ve got some questions, or there’s something you want to go over again, I see we’re going to have to wait for a gate to clear, so maybe I can review or otherwise clear up some things for you.”

“Well, of course, I wish you had all this written down so I could get a copy of it, because I know I’ll be lucky to remember half of what you’ve said. But rather than go over any of it, there’s one last question I’d like to ask.”

“Shoot.”

“I know this is getting way off the subject, but something’s been bothering me about all this. And especially when you started talking about how we human beings came into existence. Do you realize this world view of yours is going to be viewed as contrary to the religious beliefs of a lot of people?”

“In what way?”

“Well, some Christians believe that the existence of life on earth, and in particular the existence of us human beings, is the result of some sort of miracle performed by God. And, being a miracle, some think we’re not supposed to know how it happened. But you’re saying, or, rather, your theory is saying, that there’s nothing at all miraculous about the universe, and life, or anything else. Everything’s the result of purely physical and mundane evolutionary processes.”

“Actually, you’re not off the subject at all. Understanding the relationship between science and the world’s great religions is really the ultimate consequence of this world view. I just hadn’t got to it yet. And, to tell you the truth, I generally try to steer away from discussing religion, and religious beliefs, and so forth with anyone, let alone someone I’ve just met. Like politics, most people are pretty set in their ways about their religious beliefs, whether they do or don’t believe in God or a life after death, and aren’t much interested in what others believe, unless they happen to agree. Besides, even though I think there’s a lot of good stuff in this theory, nobody’s going to pay much attention to it until the pros figure it out for themselves. So I don’t see any percentage in getting into a discussion about what this theory will, or will not, eventually mean to us.

But, as far as your comment about this world view stating specifically that the existence of life here on earth is not a miracle, well, I must take exception to that. Granted, I’m saying the existence of life, and in particular human life, is the result of physical processes which began even before the big bang started. But to say the universe from beginning to end is not a miracle, or at least is not truly miraculous in its nature, is, I think, missing the whole point of what we’ve been talking about here. Now, once again, I’m not trying to preach, or otherwise try to convince you to believe everything I’m saying here. Lord knows I have no business trying to do that. And especially when it comes to religion. But I would hate for you to get off this plane with the idea that this theory does nothing but weigh in on the side of science in the old, and, frankly, totally bogus argument that some say has to exist between science and religion. So, since you brought it up, I’d like to briefly get into this matter. I know nothing of your religious beliefs, but whatever they are, I think you might be interested in how closely science and the world’s great religions actually relate to each other. Or rather, how close they will relate to each other once scholars verify what I think is the general truth of this theory. So will you give me a few more minutes to bring some closure to this entire subject?”

“If you really think it’s that important, then of course I’ll hear what you have to say. But I have to tell you, I don’t believe in the existence of a God, or a life after death. So, yes, I’ll listen to what you have to say. After all, I did indeed bring it up. But I don’t think you can change my mind.”

“For what it’s worth, for most of my life, up until just a few years ago in fact, I felt the same way you feel right now. But I have to tell you, as a result of what this theory is teaching me about the universe, my beliefs about God, and life after death, and so forth, have changed 180 degrees.”

“Well, I’ve found what you’ve said so far to be extremely interesting. And I suppose I ought to hear you out about what you have to say about religion and science. It’s just that I wanted you to know how I feel about religion going in.”

“Fair enough. As a matter of fact, while we’re at it, going in I want to make clear how I’ll be talking about religion. To begin with, if you think about it, there are two very general types of religious beliefs. At least as far as the world’s great monotheistic religions are concerned. There are those beliefs which are specific to a particular religion, or even to a particular congregation within a religion. What some Christians may or may not think about what Christ actually said at a particular time would be an example. Such internal beliefs, matters of historical interpretation and so forth, are not covered by this theory.

The beliefs we are concerned with here are those beliefs which all of the world’s great religions generally have in common, of which, as I see it anyway, there are four. First there’s the belief that there is a world beyond the world of our senses. Second, that in each human being there is an immortal spirit, or life force, or soul which, upon the death of the rest of our bodies, is somehow set free to move into that world beyond. Third, that to successfully make the journey to that world beyond, each of us must act in a particular way during this life time. Specifically, we’re to live in peace and harmony with others and the world around us, and just generally live lives of goodness and mercy. And finally, that there is a Creator of unimaginable power, and wisdom, and infinite mercy, living in that world beyond who created the universe and all that is in it, including us.

Now I know not all the great religions portray these four beliefs in exactly the same way, but I think you’ll agree that in general these beliefs are not only common to each religion, but are also the most important beliefs as well. By that I mean in a very general sense they provide the foundation or cornerstones upon which each of these great religions rest. Agreed?”

“Some people might argue with your wording, but, yes, I think you’re mostly on the right track.”

“Good. As for the wording I used, I did so because it is in this form that these core beliefs, at least to me anyway, will eventually be found to fit perfectly into this theory. Or vice versa, if you prefer. That is, once it’s completed, and proved, and so forth.”

“At this point I don’t see that happening at all.”

“Right. Remember when I talked about how the two step process of first gaining scientific knowledge, and how this then leads to understanding? And how these two steps then lead to wisdom?”

“For the most part.”

“Well, to begin with, I think we need to take a closer look at this idea of wisdom, which is generally considered to be the domain of moral philosophers. Even though we humans are ourselves compounds of energy just like everything else in the universe, because of the ever increasing complexity and organization of these compounds as they’ve evolved, humans, because of our superior brains, and in particular because of our astronomically large memory banks, have ended up with certain capabilities unknown to the rest of the world. Two of these I’ll call awareness and choice. By awareness I mean the capability of being aware of our own existence, the existence of the world around us, and how the two often interact. By choice I mean the capability, again generally unknown elsewhere in the universe, of choosing our own behavior.

But with choice naturally comes the responsibility of always acting in our own best interests. Right? So where do we get this wiseness, or wisdom as we call it? Why, by gaining as much knowledge and understanding of the world as we possibly can. With increasing awareness, then, or more specifically, increasing knowledge and understanding, comes increasing wisdom.

So where does religion weigh in on all this? It turns out it comes in where wisdom is concerned. To consider that, let’s first look at the concept of morality, and specifically the issues of right and wrong, or, as our religions tend to think of these, good and evil. So how do you tell if some thought, or action, or event, or something like that is right or wrong? Well, actually, it all depends. You see, the right and wrong of thoughts and actions and so forth are determined by the goals you wish to achieve. In other words, first pick a goal. Having done so, you can then look at various thoughts and actions, events and so forth. Quite simply, those which help you achieve your goal are considered to be right behavior and events and so forth; at least as far as that goal is concerned; while those which inhibit the achievement of that goal are wrong thoughts and actions and events.”

“But according to you, then, right and wrong are purely arbitrary. I mean, different people have different goals. So their perception of right and wrong is bound to differ from the perceptions of others with different agendas. I mean, that being the case, it’s no wonder there’s so much arguing and fighting going on.”

“And you’re absolutely right. As far as you go. But what happens if we all were to agree on a common goal? A higher purpose so to speak. A goal so much more important than all these other goals, that the rightness or wrongness of all behavior and events are to be from that day forward considered relative to this ultimate goal, with all other value systems subservient to it?”

“Well, then, if we could indeed come up with such a goal, I guess we’d all end up agreeing on what’s right and what’s wrong with just about everything.”

“Absolutely. At least with all the really important things. And this is where the world’s great religions come in. Remember the four core beliefs I just talked about. Basically, our religions are telling us that there is a life after this one. Right? A life that, because of its perfection, longevity, and its proximity to the Creator, to name three reasons, is far more important than this life. Now if that were to turn out to be the case, then wouldn’t we all agree that all behavior and events, etc., of this life which help us achieve this afterlife, this ultimate goal, are right, or as our religions put it, good, with all the behavior and events and so forth which impede the achievement of this goal as wrong, or evil? More specifically, if it were to turn out that living a life of goodness and mercy were to be the key to the achievement of this afterlife, and we believed this beyond a shadow of a doubt, then wouldn’t we all be in agreement on how we should behave?”

“Well, yes, of course we’d be bound to agree. But the fact remains, our religions have so far failed to convince us, or at least a large percentage of us, that there is any sort of afterlife, and that we should therefore always live lives of goodness and mercy in order to achieve that afterlife. In fact, then, our religions have failed us. And rather miserably, I might add. So where are you going with all this?”

“Before I go any farther, let me say that this theory tells us quite clearly it’s not that our religions have failed us, as you’ve suggested, but we who have failed our religions. But, getting back to our discussion, what if science were to weigh in on the side of religion here. What if science were to find out, purely from the physical evidence gained from finally understanding the universe, that there is a creator, and an afterlife, just as our religions say there are? And, further, again purely from the physical evidence, that we can only achieve this afterlife by indeed living this part of our existence in the ways of goodness and mercy?

Or, to put it more specifically, let’s say that scientists and philosophers, by finally achieving complete knowledge and understanding of the universe, were to conclude that the universe could not have existed without the intervention of a Creator, such that the universe is the Creator’s universe, with all the truth about knowledge and understanding the Creator’s truth, and all the wisdom to derive from this truth the Creator’s wisdom. Then if they were to find, again purely from the physical evidence, that this wisdom is the same wisdom Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai, wouldn’t science and religion, and thereby all of humanity, finally come to an agreement on what the universe is, how it came to exist, and why? And, most important of all, who we are, how we came to exist, and why?”