Are All Physicists Atheists?

Are All Physicists Atheists? Or most at least? Every site I am on, all the physicists do not believe in a god. Maybe having PHD knowledge in physics, will make it seem like there is no god, from all the literature going against a creator? Or is it just that the law of physics go against a creator? Anyone who has a wide knowledge in physics want to comment on this???

Ummmmmm......No........

Physics is probably the only science that is looking for a creative force in the universe.

[edit on 16-2-2010 by SpeakerofTruth]

I have a year left until I am a Physicist and I believe in God... Although I am not religious at all, I consider myself very spiritual, and I practice meditation and yoga daily for a deeper connection with God...


Bella Mente

Albert Einstein believed in God. He talked about it and said that because all of matter and space follow very specific rules of behavior and were under intellegent control.
I see it the same way.

My understanding is that the majority of physicists are actually agnostic. They believe there is something bigger than us, however, not exactly sure what it is.

Now, the God that they expect to find is not this traditional anthropomorphic God that so many people believe in, but many physicist do think that there is at least the possibility that there is a creative force. However, I haven't found it to be true that physicists are athiest. As I stated previously, I think that they are the only ones really searching.

By the way, a lot of physicists are religious - religious with their strict doctrines they are taught, sticking only to the limited education they are programmed with, never questioning anything outside of their little paradigm. This is one of the reasons that I am going for Theoretical Physics instead of Experimental: there is creativity and imagination in Theoretical Physics and there are less limitations. Theoretical Physicists are more likely to be open-minded and think outside of the box, where most of the Experimentalists I come across are extremely stubborn and hooked on their rigid dogma. I find this to be worse with the other sciences and I also find this to be particularly bad in Medicine and Psychology.


Bella Mente

Obviously not ALL physicists are atheists but a huge portion of them are atheist and to a lesser extent agnostic, very few have a personal belief in god.

Here is a link to a short article on a university web site titled: Leading Scientists Still Reject God

I think it is more likely aliens exist than god exists, at least with aliens we already know one self-aware species, humans, has come into existence. We have no evidence that there has ever been an omnipotent, omniscient god.

reply to post by Maddogkull


I am pretty sure Michio Kaku told Art Bell he was agnostic. But also I know he said that most scientists are agnostic, refuting Dawkins and his disciples.

not atheists but the view of god as some invisible man in the heavens sitting on a throne surrounded by angels...well .that view of god is replaced by something of a more mysterious God. That is why most dont like religion gives you a false view of the cosmos and God himself.

most of them dont believe in most of the religion

because if you stop to research the scientific side of things, you will see that life exists in our solar system besides earth, imagine that life is something common in our universe, so you just cant believe in these religion that talks like humans are something important

but that doesnt mean you cant believe in some kind of God or whatever, because we still dont know what originated the universe, but as I said, to believe in these religion from nowadays is painful, you really need to be ignorant, since it doesnt make sense with the scientific information we have

No, not all physics are athiests. One of the greatest living physicists, Stephen Hawkings is a strong supporter of an external force that he calls God.

Not all physicists are atheists...it's hard to get data because they aren't subject to polls on beliefs! I know several 'militant' atheists on ATS are adamant that science and faith cannot exist together. They ridicule the concept and the scientist. The views are didactic and extreme, just like the creationists and hardcore Christians around here.

From my point of view, a hard scientist has greater skills of critical thinking than most. If some physicists come to a conclusion that supports, in their eyes, a God...fair enough.

I've looked for a couple of examples...

John Polkinghorne worked on quantum physics in the first part of his career, but then took up a different line of work: he was ordained an Anglican priest. For him, science and religion are entirely compatible....John Polkinghorne.

Brian Swimme is a cosmologist, and with the theologian Thomas Berry, wrote a book called The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era. Swimme believes that "the universe is attempting to be felt", which makes him a pantheist, someone who believes the cosmos in its entirety can be called God. Brian Swimme

There's an interesting article....God and Physics: A New Dialogue. It's two years old and involves 30 physicists at Cambridge Uni discussing God...some are believers and some are atheist.

A series of intriguing Gallup Polls from the past 20 years show the difference between Joe Public's beliefs and scientists. 5% of scientists have a creationist view compared to 44% of everyone (I'd love to see what field of science these guys are in !! )

Results of public opinion polls on evolution and creation science

Scroll down the link because they are genuinely interesting results over the years...


[edit on 17-2-2010 by Kandinsky]

You would probably find that more biologists are atheists, studying evolution as your career, will result in your realization that the creationism is a myth and therefor, more likely to question the existence of a creator. Especially one who claimed to do it all in 7 days.

reply to post by woodwardjnr


No, Christian people claim it claims to have done it in 7 days. Then there is the whole arguement on what the christian conception of "god" means by seven days.... It's funny when someone sees a whole concept as refuted when they decide they have disproven their negative bias tainted viewpoint of one just one possible flavor. Particularly when they bend logic to do so and then call themselves rational, logical and intelligent..

[edit on 17-2-2010 by Watcher-In-The-Shadows]