Augustine Pamplany CST

Ilya Prigogine (1917-2003) was a physical chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1977. He was born in Moscow, but his family moved to Europe due to the political turmoil in Russia and he obtained the Belgian citizenship in 1949.
His researches gave rise to a new branch of physical chemistry known as Chaos Theory. Chaos theory holds that order springs forth from chaos. It is based on Prigogine’s works in non-equilibrium thermodynamics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his researches in non-equilibrium thermodynamics. The Classical thermodynamics of the nineteenth century held that the flow of heat in systems tend towards a thermal equilibrium. For instance, the doors of two adjacent rooms with 80 degrees and 60 degrees were opened, the temperature will gradually settle at 70 degrees. However, contrary to the classical theories of thermodynamics, Prigogine found out that there could be strange behaviours, oscillations and erratic and unpredictable behaviors by chemical solutions and heated fluids. This system is called non-linear thermodynamics.
Prigogine argued that greater order, complexity and higher and newer levels could emerge from this sort of nonlinearity.  He thought that the original of life itself could be explained in non-linear terms. He wrote: “The idea of spontaneous generation of life in its present form is therefore highly improbable even to the scale of the billions of years during which prebiotic evolution occurred.”
According to Prigogine, determinism – the idea that everything is governed by deterministic laws –  has lost its scientific viability: “The more we know about our universe, the more difficult it becomes to believe in determinism.” In his best seller published in 1984, Ilya Prigogine has written, “Everywhere we look, we find a nature that is rich in diversity and innovations.” This is an acknowledgement said to be close to the marvel shared in the Book of Job.  As God asks, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations?” (Job 38:4), Job realizes that a greater realization of the features and mysteries of nature can generate wonder and awe in the face of God’s creative work.
It is said that the discoveries of chaos theory offer some of the most exciting episodes in the history of mankind’s interaction with God’s creation. John Jefferson Davis at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary wrote that Prigogine’s findings present better opportunities for theology: “Far from being a threat to a biblical understanding of providence, chaos theory can be seen as a new avenue for appreciating both the limitations of human ability to predict the future and the complexity and richness of God’s creative power.”
As regards Science and Religion he said that he did not put both in opposition to each other: “We are creating a new utopia, a new dialogue with the universe. I would not like to call it necessarily a religion. I would like to call it more a community with the universe, an interaction with the universe…. seeing how we emerging from the Universe.”