Even while much of what he had to say about the cosmos was loaded with spirituality, the late scientist Carl Sagan was always a bit difficult to pin down when it came to his spiritual perspective. This year, a decade after his death from a rare bone-marrow disease, a newly unearthed collection of lectures titled “The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God” is bringing some of Sagan's deepest thoughts on the ultimate concerns to light.
Before You Continue...
Do you know what is your soul number? Take this quick quiz to find out! Get a personalized numerology report, and discover how you can unlock your fullest spiritual potential. Start the quiz now!
The Penguin Press is set to release the book in November, and it is based on a series of presentations Sagan made at the University of Glasgow in 1985 as part of the Gifford Lectures on Natural Theology. The transcripts of the nine audio lectures were unearthed just a few months ago after being concealed for decades in Sagan's archives, according to Ann Druyan, the scientist's widow and longtime partner.
Druyan told me today that the title of the new book is a play on “The Varieties of Religious Experience,” a collection of Gifford Lectures given by American psychologist/philosopher William James a century ago.
“I wanted this book because Carl poured so much of his passion, heart, and brain into giving lectures that were practically perfect as delivered,” Druyan said of the new edition.
Is Carl Sagan religious?
Astronomer extraordinaire Carl Sagan, a devout atheist, mocked religionists regularly. He thought their faith was a waste of time.
According to close acquaintances, he remained an agnostic till the end. There was no deathbed conversion when he died of pneumonia in 1996. He ended his life believing in the cosmos but rejecting God.
Sagan said his goodbyes to loved ones, certain they would never see each other again. He went into a state of oblivion, then nonexistence.
His DNA will continue to existat least until the universe is a spent ember, according to the renowned scientist's beliefsbut the essence of who he was has been extinguished.
As a Christian, I have a different perspective on the universe. A couple of years ago, I made the personal decision to become a Christian, and that decision has had a tremendous impact on my outlook.
For long years, I viewed life through the agnostic's egotistical spectacles. I even dabbled with atheism for a short while. To take a line from Joni Mitchell, “I've seen both sides of life now.”
I've discovered numerous astonishing truths since becoming a believer of Jesus Christ:
1. That the glorious cosmos' creator exists and that I can know him;
2. That he has always known about me and has made provisions for me; and
3. He loves me in spite of my flaws.
What a remarkable achievement! The one who sculpted the Grand Canyon, sent waves slamming against the promontories of Big Sur, and cut the Hawaiian island chain from the ocean floor reaches out to touch me.
Accepting him has taught me that life has more depth and richness when God is present. Every stunning sunset, every alpine meadow, and every infant's tranquil slumber gain new meaning and texture because to him.
I'm tethered to an altar of personal ambition or, worse, to a life of unending emptiness and sadness if I don't have him.
I embrace the world's alternatives for religion in his absence: professional success, political and social action, and self-gratification. My spiritual thirst, on the other hand, is disregarded.
Since I've chosen to follow him, he has humbled me with forgiveness and charity at every turn. He takes everything from me and replaces it with something better: himself.
He supports, lifts, loves, carries, and comforts me. And he assigns significance to everything.
The vigil of the atheist is alone. Nothing of actual significance or transcendence is concerned with him in the least. Despite the fact that I have no idea why, I am adored by the creator of a billion galaxies.
When I ultimately reach my deathbed, I can rest assured that I will not be alone in a wide abyss. My Heavenly Father, the magnificent First Initiator, waits with his promise of eternal life.
Carl Sagan and I have opposing viewpoints on the universe. One of hope is the one I've chosen. I have hope not because I am smarter or more intelligent than Sagan, nor because I am more deserving.
I'm able to grasp it because Christ paid for my redemption by dying on a cross. I believe in a profound truth that any 4-year-old will enthusiastically affirm: “I know Jesus loves me because the Bible says so.”
On Faith is a platform for clergy and others in Orange County to share their perspectives on religious matters of general interest. Submissions should be sent to Orange County religion page editor William Lobdell, who will publish them at The Times' discretion and subject to editing.
What distinctions does Sagan make between science religion?
“This flammable mix of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces sooner or later,” Carl Sagan remarked in his farewell interview with Charlie Ross. The remark might be applied to any circumstance in today's world, but Sagan was referring to how we have built our lives around science and technology, yet we have such a poor comprehension of it in general that we are unlikely to be able to navigate our way through it.
“Science is more than a collection of facts; it is a style of thinking, a way of probing the universe with a keen awareness of human fallibility. “If we can't probe those who tell us something is true, if we can't be sceptical of authority, then we're up for grabs,” Sagan adds, underlining that the main issue isn't one of rights but rather one of intelligent people asking for their rights. We can only express our rights with integrity if we grasp not just what is beneficial for us and mankind, but also what fits within the purview of the logical growth of life on Earth in the context of the entire cosmos. In this context, Sagan claims that humans are unimportant in the grand scheme of things…this humility should be enough to get us on the correct course.
He does not consider science to be difficult to grasp. “People read the stock market…see how difficult it is…understanding science isn't much more complicated than that…,” Sagan remarks, separating science from religion. “In the absence of evidence, faith is belief. It is, in my opinion, a mistake to believe in the lack of evidence. The aim is to hold on to your beliefs until you have strong proof to back them up. If the Universe does not agree with our previous assumptions, we must adapt… Religion deals with history, poetry, great literature, ethics, morals, and compassion…where religion gets into problems is when it purports to know something about science,” says Sagan, who goes on to remark that religion must admit that we have learned something since the faiths were born. The issue is caused by, “…those who believe the Bible was dictated to an infallible stenographer by the Creator of the Universe…”
Continuing on in this vein, he inquires, “Who is the most modest? The scientist who approaches the Universe with an open mind and accepts everything the Universe has to teach us, or someone who claims that everything in this book is the literal truth, regardless of the author's fallibility…”
What's it called to not believe in religion?
According to Merriam-Webster, the literal definition of “atheist” is “a person who does not believe in the existence of a deity or gods.” And the vast majority of atheists in the United States fit this profile: 81 percent of people claim they don't believe in God, a higher power, or any type of spiritual force. (This viewpoint is shared by 10% of all adults in the United States.) At the same time, about one-fifth of self-described atheists (18%) say they believe in some sort of greater force. However, none of the atheists we polled claim to believe in “God as described in the Bible.”
How would you describe Carl Sagan?
-gn (November 9, 1934 December 20, 1996) was an American actor who lived from 1934 to 1996. was an astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator who worked in the United States. His most well-known scientific contribution is extraterrestrial life research, which includes an experimental demonstration of the creation of amino acids from basic molecules using radiation. The Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, constructed by Sagan, were the first physical messages carried into space, universal communications that could theoretically be comprehended by any extraterrestrial civilization that could locate them. The high surface temperatures of Venus can be attributed to, and computed using, the greenhouse effect, according to Sagan's theory, which has since been accepted. In 1985, he testified before the United States Congress that the greenhouse effect will alter the earth's climate system.
Did Carl Sagan win a Nobel Prize?
He was even awarded the Nobel Prize for “discovering that x-rays can cause mutations.” Carl Sagan, a young man, was met in Indiana. Carl Sagan sent a cousin, Seymour Abrahamson, some of his thoughts about the beginning of life in 1952.
What did Carl Sagan believe in?
Science As a Candle in the Dark (1996) is a sequel to The Demon-Haunted World (1996). Sagan expressed doubt about traditional religion, which he wished to replace with a scientifically based belief system, but denying that he was an atheist. Some detractors stated that Sagan's arguments against traditional religious beliefs were simple and showed a lack of theological understanding.
Who was the first atheist?
Diagoras, the “first atheist,” was a Greek philosopher who challenged religion and mysticism in the 5th century BCE. Epicurus was an early philosopher who questioned numerous religious ideas, such as the existence of an afterlife or a personal god.