today

Bryan Appleyard reviews Tipler's latest book, "The Physics of Christianity" in the "Philadelpia Inquirer" on 10 June, 2007. Appleyard's summary includes: "the experimentally based physics to which Tipler refers predicts a singularity - a point at which all known laws of physics break down and to which, therefore, our science has no access - from which the universe sprang. There is a further singularity at the end of the universe and a third joining the two. This is the Holy Trinity. The first singularity, says Tipler, is God the Father, the second God the Holy Ghost, and the third God the Son. The last, because of his role as the singularity that runs alongside the present, is able to appear in human history."

IMO: I have not read the book but I have read other books by Tipler and I believe I appreciate the thrust of his argument. I'm fairly aware Appleyard is a confirmed sceptic and I think I take that into account, generally speaking. Given that, Tipler is probably still doing damage to established religion by expressing the view that this sort of hokum has any actual value. What people want are ideas. And preferably ideas, to which in substance, we can apply Occam's razor or other reasonable and apparently at least in principle trusted tools. Not entirely. I give bookshelf space to Jung, Eliade, etc. and likewise to the Mahabharata, the Bible, and the Koran. The authors of these books have tried real hard. I give space to Dale Carnegie. He tried hard, too. But honestly, Tipler doesn't cut it, IMO. It would be nice if he did, but he deserves no shibboleth or 'in crowd' status. As yet, and I suppose he could improve, he is out there with the 'crop circles' guys and the "Flying saucers have landed" brigades. A pity.