Towards a New

Apologetic
Three lectures by Protopresbyter Dr Doru Costache on the Anthropic
Cosmological Principle and its usefulness for a contemporary
Christian apologetic

Greek Orthodox Youth Fellowship of Kogarah
13, 20 & 27 October 2014
Towards a New
Apologetic
27 Oct - Anthropic Thinking within the
Orthodox Tradition
Is the anthropic principle compatible
with the Orthodox mindset? In what
ways could the modern formulations
of the principle contribute towards
the shaping of a new Christian
apologetic?
Thinking
Anthropically
Recapitulating my description: The anthropic
cosmological principle is a complex
philosophical and scientific narrative, which
proposes the integration of all aspects of
reality - as perceived by modern culture -
namely, human, biological and cosmic. And
because human conscience can no longer be
ignored as significant in the making of
reality, meaning and purposefulness can no
longer be ignored.
Back to the Final
Anthropic Principle
Definition: Intelligent information-processing
must come into existence in the Universe, and,
once it comes into existence, it will never die out.
Observation A speculative principle, based on
the properties of the universe, being endowed
with moral values and implying the existence of
a melioristic universe.
Barrow and Tipler, The Anthropic Cosmological
Principle 23.
What does FAP
Entail?
What is a melioristic universe? Two answers:
A space where the human existence and progress
are possible, and which ensures the permanence
of the human phenomenon
A space that is transformed by the ethical
values and technological progress of
humankind
Barrow and Tipler, The Anthropic Cosmological
Principle 23.
Glossing around
FAP
To say that intelligent life has some
global cosmological significance is to
say that intelligent life will some day
begin to transform and continue to
transform the Universe on a
cosmological scale.
Barrow and Tipler, The Anthropic
Cosmological Principle 615.
Glossing around
FAP
A summary: Currently there are no signs of the intelligent
lifes impact upon the universe. Nevertheless, it is very likely
that in the distant future human beings (or their
descendants) will be able to fully master and reshape the
universe. Either the human beings or their descendants will
leave the mark of their values upon the universe by way of
technology, possibly in the form of information technology
in a universe which will survive as information and energy.
Barrow and Tipler, The Anthropic Cosmological Principle
613-14, 658-77.
Traditional Orthodox
Perspectives
The universe is made for humankind (St Gregory of
Nyssa, On the Structure of Humankind 2)
God makes and remakes the universe in relation to
humankind (St Maximus the Confessor, The Mystagogy 7; St
Symeon the New Theologian, The First Ethical Discourse 2)
The universe takes the form of our inner state (St Symeon
the New Theologian, The First Ethical Discourse 2; John
Moschos, The Spiritual Orchard 18; apolytikia for hermits)
The Universe is Made
for Humankind
The house that God built for us
When the Maker of all had prepared beforehand, as it were, a royal
lodging for the future king (and this was the land, and islands, and
sea, and the heaven arching like a roof over them), and when all
kinds of wealth had been stored in this palace (and by wealth I mean
the whole creation, all that is in plants and trees, and all that has
sense, and breath, and life; and [] all that for their beauty are
reckoned precious in the eyes of men []), he thus reveals man in the
world, to be the beholder of some of the wonders therein, and the
lord of others; that by his enjoyment he might have knowledge of the
Giver, and by the beauty and majesty of the things he saw might trace
out that power of the Maker which is beyond speech and language.
St Gregory of Nyssa (fourth century), On the Structure of Humankind
2.1.
God Makes/Remakes the Universe
in Relation to Humankind




There is a perfect correspondence between the house and
its inhabitants
St Maximus the Confessor (seventh century), The Mystagogy
7.
God Makes and Remakes
the Universe in Relation to
Humankind
There is a perfect correspondence between the house and its
inhabitants
God [] wills that creation serve man for whom it was made,
and like him become corruptible, so that when again man is
renewed and becomes spiritual, incorruptible and immortal,
then creation, too, [] will be freed from its slavery and,
together with man, be made new, and become incorruptible and
wholly spiritual.
St Symeon the New Theologian (tenth/eleventh century), The
First Ethical Discourse 2.
The Universe Takes the
Form of Our Inner State
The house collapses because of the dwellers
when it saw him leave Paradise, all of the created world which God
had brought out of non-being into existence no longer wished to be
subject to the transgressor. The sun did not want to shine by day, nor
the moon by night, nor the stars to be seen by him. The springs of water
did not want to well up for him, nor the rivers to flow. The very air
itself thought about contracting itself and not providing breath for the
rebel. The wild beasts and all the animals of the earth saw him
stripped of his former glory and, despising him, immediately turned
savagely against him. The sky was moving as if to fall justly down on
him, and the very earth would not endure bearing him upon its back.
St Symeon the New Theologian, The First Ethical Discourse 2.
The Universe Takes the
Form of Our Inner State
The house is remade together with the inhabitants
Abba Polychronius the presbyter told us about another old man in the
Laura of abba Peter who quite often went off and wandered about on
the banks of the Jordan, and if he came across a lions den he would
sleep there. One day he picked up two lion cubs in his cloak and
brought them into the church. If we were keeping the commandments
of our Lord Jesus Christ, he said to the brothers, these animals
should really be frightened of us. But because of the sin which affects
us all we seem bound to be frightened of them. The brothers went
back to their cells greatly impressed by this magnificent deed.
John Moschos, The Spiritual Orchard 18.
The Universe Takes the
Form of Our Inner State
The house is remade together with the inhabitants
With the rivers of your tears, you have made the barren desert
fertile. Through sighs of sorrow from deep within you, your
labours have borne fruit a hundred-fold. By your miracles you
have become a light, shining upon the world. O Paul, our Holy
Father, pray to Christ our God, to save our souls. (15 January)
O Father Anthony, you imitated the zealous Elijah. You followed
the straight paths of the Baptist and became a desert dweller. By
prayer you made the universe firm. Wherefore, intercede with
Christ our God to save our souls. (17 January)
Contemporary
Orthodoxy
Whilst traces of anthropic thinking can be found in Panayiotis
Nellas Deification in Christ (St Vladimirs Seminary Press, 1987),
the Orthodox theologian that used the anthropic principle most
consistently in the last century was Father Dumitru St!niloae.
See his Orthodox Dogmatic Theology: The Experience of God,
six volumes.
On his anthropic thinking, see my At the Crossroads of
Contemporary Cosmology and the Patristic Worldview:
Movement, Rationality and Purpose in Father Dumitru
St!niloae. Studii Teologice 2 (2013) 141-63, 155-60.
https://sagotc.academia.edu/DoruCostache/Papers
Drawing Wisdom
A traditional Orthodox perception of reality presupposes
both the anthropic thinking in general and the FAP in
particular
Contrary to the current anthropic thinking, Orthodoxy
teaches that we already leave marks upon the structure of
the universe, both as sinners and as saints a situation
which can be described by the global causality of quantum
physics and David Bohms concept of sub-totality (cf. his
Wholeness and the Implicate Order, Routledge, 1980)
Drawing Wisdom
What does Orthodoxy bring to the conversation?
The inner disposition and state are not without
direct cosmic consequences.
Immediate (environmental) and global (cosmic)
responsibility for our way of life
A melioristic universe that entails both the human
attaining of holiness and the universes
transfiguration in and around the saints
A New Alliance
Restating my original proposition: Insofar
as it discloses the meaningfulness of a
universe conditioned by/toward our
existence, with or without it being
endowed with theological connotations the
anthropic cosmological principle opens up
new avenues for the dissemination of the
Christian worldview and values today.