Ep 2.3: Can Science Explain the Resurrection? A Conversation with Robert Russell

In this episode, Richard examines one of the most profound questions in the Christian faith:  Can science explain—or prove—the Resurrection?  Drawing on conversation with physicist-theologian Robert Russell, this episode explores whether scientific cosmology can inform—and deepen—our understanding of resurrection.  

Contents

1. This episode begins by noting that there has always been doubt about the Resurrection, going all the way back to Jesus’ disciples.  The disciple Thomas earned the nickname, “doubting Thomas,” because he initially doubted the Resurrection of Christ, while the Gospel of Matthew records that some disciples worshipped the risen Messiah, while “others doubted,”  Later, in 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul asserts that the Resurrection is central to the Christian faith.
2. Robert Russell believes that the Resurrection must be viewed within the context of God’s work as Creator.  He suggests that God’s work as Creator takes on three different forms.  The third form of God’s creative active occurs at the End-Times, when God renews and heals existing creation, rather than replacing it.  This is the “New Creation” described in the Book of Revelation 21, “Behold, I am making all things new.”  
3. Jesus’ Resurrection on Easter morning is a promissory note, confirming the resurrection as part of God’s plan for the New Creation at the End-Times.
4. The New Creation is both continuous and dis-continuous with reality as we currently experience it.  On the one hand, the New Creation will be dis-continuous with present reality.  For example, the Resurrection currently appears to be in direct conflict with the laws of nature.  However, scientific cosmology allows for the possibility that the laws of nature as we know them are not set in stone.  One possibility in scientific cosmology is that there is not one, single universe.  Rather, there are multiple universes, creating a “multiverse.”  These different universes could have radically different laws of nature.  This suggests that the laws of nature could be transformed in the New Creation, so that Resurrection would no longer violate them.  Instead, resurrection would be a consistent with those different laws of nature.
5. On the other hand, in some ways, the New Creation would be continuous with reality as we know it.  An example of continuity would be that our personal identity continues in the New Creation.  
6. Since Robert Russell situates the New Creation within the overarching creative framework of God, it has been part of God’s creative plan all along.  That is to say, the New Creation is not an afterthought—nor a corrective for some mistake.  It has been part of God’s intention from the beginning.
7. To conclude, while science cannot “explain” the Resurrection, science does not rule out the possibility of resurrection, either.  What science can do is suggest potential frameworks that may make resurrection more intelligible to persons of faith. 

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