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ADOLFO PEREZ ESQUIVEL – NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE

Nobel Prize: Adolfo Perez Esquivel (born 1931) was awarded the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle for democracy and human rights in Argentina. He was arrested in 1977 and held without charge for 14 months, during which time he was tortured.

Nationality: Argentinean

Education: Architect and sculptor, National University of La Plata, Argentina

Occupation: Professor of Architecture and Sculpture at the National Academy of Art in Buenos Aires (1968-1974); Secretary-General of the international organization “Peace and Justice Service” (1974 – present)

1. In his Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech (Les Prix Nobel 1980) Prof. Perez Esquivel said:

“I am convinced that the gospel power of nonviolence presents a choice that opens up for us a challenge of new and radical perspectives. It is an option which gives priority to the essential Christian value: the dignity of the human being; the sacred, transcendent and irrevocable dignity that belongs to the human being by reason of being a child of God and a brother or sister in Christ, and therefore, our own brother and sister.” (Perez Esquivel 1981).

2. To the question of Denver Catholic Register (February 2001) “You were imprisoned in 1977 for your opposition of the Argentinean government, what sustained you through that imprisonment and through the torture you endured?” Perez Esquivel replied:

“For me, prayer was very important. And the experience of beginning to understand faith from the experience of suffering and through an experience of pain. Oftentimes, that experience is so much an abstraction and not real, and so to begin to understand and live one’s faith through pain and through suffering and being at the margin. But it was a very difficult process.

It was a time of much questioning because those who were torturing me, for instance, also called themselves Christians. And all the crimes that they committed, they committed them in the name of the defense of so called ‘Western Christian civilization.’

Another experience that was very difficult for me, that took a long time for me to be able to deal with, was reflecting on Christ’s words as he is tried and put to the cross. He says, ‘Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.’ It took me a long time, and a lot of reflection, to be able to see that I think what Christ was saying there was, as he was saying to these people who tortured me and others, that they don’t understand that the man or woman they are torturing is their own sister, or their own brother.” (Perez Esquivel, as cited in Bledsoe 2001).

3. “For us liberty is that inalienable capacity that all humans alike have at their disposal. This is the capacity that permits the building of communion and participation which encourage human beings to relate fully with the world, with their brothers and sisters and with God.” (Perez Esquivel 1981, Nobel Lecture).

4. “For me it is essential to have the inner peace and serenity of prayer in order to listen to the silence of God, which speaks to us in our personal life and the history of our times, of the power of love. Because of this faith in Christ and humankind, we must apply our humble efforts to build a more just and humane world. I want to affirm emphatically: such a world is possible.” (Perez Esquivel 1981, Acceptance Speech).

5. Perez Esquivel closed his Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech (Les Prix Nobel 1980) with the words:

“Invoking the strength of Christ, our Lord, I would like to share with you, with my people, and with the world what He has taught us in the Sermon on the Mount:

Blessed are the poor in spirit

– theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn

– they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the gentle

– they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

– they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful

– they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart

– they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers

– they shall be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake

– theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of falsehoods against you for my sake.

Rejoice and be glad, for great will be your reward in heaven. In the same way they persecuted the prophets before you. [Matthew 5, 3-12].” (Perez Esquivel 1981).

1. 子曰：「學而時習之，不亦說乎？有朋自遠方來，不亦樂乎？人不知而不慍，不亦君子 乎？」

The Master said, To learn and then do, is not that a pleasure? When friends come from afar do we not rejoice? To live unknown and not fret, is not that to be a gentleman?

2. 有子曰：「其為人也孝弟，而好犯上者，鮮矣；不好犯上，而好作亂者，未之有也。 君子務本，本立而道生。孝弟也者，其為仁之本與！」

Yu-tzu said. Few men that are good sons and good brothers are fond of withstanding those over them. A man that is not fond of withstanding those over him and is yet fond of broils is nowhere found. A gentleman heeds the roots. When the root has taken, the Way is born. And to be a good son and a good brother, is not that the root of love?

3. 子曰：「巧言、令色，鮮矣仁！」

The Master said, Smooth words and fawning looks are seldom found with love.

4. 曾子曰：「吾日三省吾身，為人謀而不忠乎？與朋友交而不信乎？傳不習乎？」

Tseng-tzu said, Thrice daily I ask myself: In dealing for others, have I been unfaithful? Have I been untrue to friends? Do I practise what I preach?

5. 子曰：「道千乘之國，敬事而信，節用而愛人，使民以時。」

The Master said, To guide a land of a thousand chariots, honour business and be true; spend little and love men; time thy calls on the people.

6. 子曰：「弟子入則孝，出則弟，謹而信，汎愛眾，而親仁。行有餘力，則以學文。」

The Master said, The young should be dutiful at home, modest abroad, careful and true, overflowing in kindness for all, but in brotherhood with love. And if they have strength to spare they should spend it on the arts.

7. 子夏曰：「賢賢易色，事父母能竭其力，事君能致其身，與朋友交言而有信，雖曰未 學，吾必謂之學矣。」

Tzu-hsia said, If a man eschews beauty and honours worth, if he serves his father and mother with all his strength, if he is ready to give his life for his lord, and keeps faith with his friends, though others may say he has no learning, I must call him learned.

8. 子曰：「君子不重，則不威，學則不固。主忠信，無友不如己者，過則勿憚改。」

The Master said, A gentleman will not be looked up to unless he is staid, nor will his learning be sound. Put faithfulness and truth first; have no friends unlike thyself; be not ashamed to mend thy faults.

9. 曾子曰：「慎終追遠，民德歸厚矣。」

Tseng-tzu said, Heed the dead, follow up the past, and the soul of the people will again grow great.

10. 子禽問於子貢曰：「夫子至於是邦也，必聞其政，求之與？抑與之與？子貢曰：「夫 子溫良恭儉讓以得之，夫子之求之也，其諸異乎人之求之與？」

Tzu-ch'in said to Tzu-kung, When he comes to a country the Master always hears how it is governed; does he ask, or is it told him? Tzu-kung said, The Master gets it by his warmth and honesty, by politeness, modesty and yielding. The way the Master asks is unlike other men's asking.

11. 子曰：「父在觀其志，父沒觀其行，三年無改於父之道，可謂孝矣。」

The Master said, Whilst thy father lives look for his purpose; when he is gone, look how he walked. To change nothing in thy father's ways for three years may be called pious.

12. 有子曰：「禮之用，和為貴。先王之道，斯為美，小大由之，有所不行，知和而和， 不以禮節之，亦不可行也。」

Yu-tzu said, To behave with ease is the best part of courtesy. This was the beauty of the old kings' ways; this they followed in small and great. But knowing this, it will not do to give way to ease, unchecked by courtesy. This too is wrong.

13. 有子曰：「信近於義，言可復也。恭近於禮，遠恥辱也。因不失其親，亦可宗也。」

Yu-tzu said, If pledges are close to right, word can be kept. If attentions are close to courtesy, shame will be kept far. If we do not choose our leaders wrong, we may worship them too.

14. 子曰：「君子食無求飽，居無求安，敏於事而慎於言，就有道而正焉，可謂好學也 已。」

The Master said, A gentleman that does not seek to eat his fill, nor look for ease in his home, who is earnest at work and careful of speech, who walks with those that keep the Way, and is guided by them, may be said to love learning.

15. 子貢曰：「貧而無諂，富而無驕，何如？」子曰：「可也，未若貧而樂，富而好禮者 也。」子貢曰：「詩云：『如切如磋，如琢如磨』，其斯之謂與？」子曰：「賜也，始可與言詩已矣，告諸往而知來者。」

Tzu-kung said, Poor, but no flatterer; rich, but not proud: how would that be? It would do, said the Master; but better still were poor but merry; rich, but loving courtesy. Tzu-kung said, When the poem says: If ye cut, if ye file, If ye polish and grind, is that what is meant? The Master said, Now I can begin to talk of poetry to Tz'u. Tell him what is gone, and he knows what shall come.

16. 子曰：「不患人之不己之，患不知人也。」

The Master said, Not to be known is no sorrow. My sorrow is not knowing men.

第六章

谷神不死，是謂玄牝。玄牝之門，是謂天地根。綿綿若存，用之不勤。

Chapter 6

The valley spirit dies not, aye the same; The female mystery thus do we name. Its gate, from which at first they issued forth, Is called the root from which grew heaven and earth. Long and unbroken does its power remain, Used gently, and without the touch of pain.

第七章

天長地久。天地所以能長且久者，以其不自生，故能長久。是以聖人後其 身而身先，外其身而身存。非以其無私邪？故能成其私。

Chapter 7

1. Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are able to continue and endure.

2. Therefore the sage puts his own person last, and yet it is found in the foremost place; he treats his person as if it were foreign to him, and yet that person is preserved. Is it not because he has no personal and private ends, that therefore such ends are realised?

第八章

上善若水。水善利萬物而不爭。處眾人之所惡，故幾於道。居善地，心善 淵，與善仁，言善信，政善治，事善能，動善時。夫唯不爭，故無尤。

Chapter 8

1. The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying, without striving (to the contrary), the low place which all men dislike. Hence (its way) is near to (that of) the Tao.

2. The excellence of a residence is in (the suitability of) the place; that of the mind is in abysmal stillness; that of associations is in their being with the virtuous; that of government is in its securing good order; that of (the conduct of) affairs is in its ability; and that of (the initiation of) any movement is in its timeliness.

3. And when (one with the highest excellence) does not wrangle (about his low position), no one finds fault with him.

第九章

持而盈之，不如其已﹔揣而銳之，不可長保。金玉滿堂，莫之能守﹔富貴 而驕，自遺其咎。功遂身退，天之道。

Chapter 9

1. It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to carry it when it is full. If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.

2. When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them safe. When wealth and honours lead to arrogancy, this brings its evil on itself. When the work is done, and one's name is becoming distinguished, to withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven.

第十章

載營魄抱一，能無離乎？專氣致柔，能嬰兒乎？滌除玄覽，能無疵乎？愛 國治民，能無為乎？天門開闔，能為雌乎？明白四達，能無知乎？生之畜 之，生而不有，為而不恃，長而不宰，是謂玄德。

Chapter 10

1. When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in one embrace, they can be kept from separating. When one gives undivided attention to the (vital) breath, and brings it to the utmost degree of pliancy, he can become as a (tender) babe. When he has cleansed away the most mysterious sights (of his imagination), he can become without a flaw.

2. In loving the people and ruling the state, cannot he proceed without any (purpose of) action? In the opening and shutting of his gates of heaven, cannot he do so as a female bird? While his intelligence reaches in every direction, cannot he (appear to) be without knowledge?

3. (The Tao) produces (all things) and nourishes them; it produces them and does not claim them as its own; it does all, and yet does not boast of it; it presides over all, and yet does not control them. This is what is called 'The mysterious Quality' (of the Tao).

WALTER KOHN – NOBEL LAUREATE IN CHEMISTRY

Nobel Prize: Walter Kohn (born 1923) won the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the development of the density functional theory, which fundamentally transformed scientists’ approach to the electronic structure of atoms and molecules.

Nationality: Austrian; later American citizen

Education: Ph.D. in physics, Harvard University, 1948

Occupation: Professor of Physics at the University of California, San Diego (1960-1979); Director of the Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara (1979-1984); Professor of Physics at the UCSB, Santa Barbara (1984-1991); Professor Emeritus of Physics and Research Professor at the UCSB, Santa Barbara (1991-present).

1. In the interview, entitled “Dr. Walter Kohn: Science, Religion, and the Human Experience” (July 26, 2001), Dr. Kohn stated:

“I am Jewish and have a strong identification with Judaism. I would say I see myself as religious simultaneously in two ways. One is that I have found that religion, specifically the Jewish religion, has very much enriched my own life and is something that I have conveyed to my children and feel their lives also have been enriched by.

Secondly, I am very much of a scientist, and so I naturally have thought about religion also through the eyes of a scientist. When I do that, I see religion not denominationally, but in a more, let us say, deistic sense. I have been influenced in my thinking by the writings of Einstein who has made remarks to the effect that when he contemplated the world he sensed an underlying Force much greater than any human force. I feel very much the same. There is a sense of awe, a sense of reverence, and a sense of great mystery.” (Kohn 2001a).

2. To the question, “When you refer to yourself as a deist, I understand deism to mean the belief that some divine force set the universe in motion, but after that it’s basically a hands-off relationship. Is that what you mean by deism?” Dr. Kohn replied:

“It includes that. I see no reason to believe that every once in awhile the laws of nature, that as scientists we study, are suspended by divine intervention. But at the same time I do not see the universe as necessarily proceeding in a simple, totally predictable, mechanistic fashion. There continue to be very deep epistemological questions about the significance of sharp scientific laws like the laws of quantum mechanics and the laws that govern the nature of chaos. Both of these fields have irreversibly shaken the 18th and 19th centuries’ purely deterministic, mechanistic view of the world.

These are my reactions to your question as to how I see deism and your statement - to paraphrase what you said – that the world is set in motion by some divine force and now it runs on its own. I’m trying to say it’s not quite so simple. It’s incredible, one struggles for the right word. One feels awe and reverence for the world of experience and the world of science.

In any case there’s a sense of a world that to an amazing extent yields to our comprehension, but fundamentally remains incomprehensible. And because it is manifestly such a wonderful thing, it leads one – I follow here in Einstein’s footsteps – to sense some Force that can take responsibility and credit for it.” (Kohn 2001a).

3. To the question, “What do you think should be the relationship between science and religion?” Walter Kohn replied: “Mutual respect. They are complementary important parts of the human experience.” (Kohn 2002).

4. And to the inquiry, “What do you think about the existence of God?” Walter Kohn gave the following answer: “There are essential parts of the human experience about which science intrinsically has nothing to say. I associate them with an entity which I call God.” (Kohn 2002).

5. In his lecture Reflections of a Physicist after an Encounter with the Vatican and Pope John Paul II (April 20, 2001, University of California, Santa Barbara) Dr. Kohn said:

“Certainly science, especially physics and chemistry, is a very important part of my identity. But I also consider myself a religious person, and in two senses: one, based on my liberal Jewish upbringing which I have passed on to my children; the other, a kind of non-denominational deism which springs from my awe of the world of our experiences and is heightened by my identity as a scientist. It also includes a conviction that science alone is an insufficient guide to life, leaving many deep questions unanswered and needs unfulfilled.” (Kohn 2001b).

第一章

道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。無，名天地之始﹔有，名萬物之母。 故常無，欲以觀其妙；常有，欲以觀其徼。此兩者，同出而異名，同謂之 玄。玄之又玄，眾妙之門。

1. The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name. 2. (Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all things. 3. Always without desire we must be found, If its deep mystery we would sound; But if desire always within us be, Its outer fringe is all that we shall see. 4. Under these two aspects, it is really the same; but as development takes place, it receives the different names. Together we call them the Mystery. Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle and wonderful.

第二章

天下皆知美之為美，斯惡矣﹔皆知善之為善，斯不善矣。故有無相生，難 易相成，長短相形，高下相傾，音聲相和，前後相隨。是以聖人處「無為 」之事，行「不言」之教。萬物作焉而不辭，生而不有，為而不恃，功成 而弗居。夫唯弗居，是以不去。

1. All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is; they all know the skill of the skilful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what the want of skill is. 2. So it is that existence and non-existence give birth the one to (the idea of) the other; that difficulty and ease produce the one (the idea of) the other; that length and shortness fashion out the one the figure of the other; that (the ideas of) height and lowness arise from the contrast of the one with the other; that the musical notes and tones become harmonious through the relation of one with another; and that being before and behind give the idea of one following another. 3. Therefore the sage manages affairs without doing anything, and conveys his instructions without the use of speech. 4. All things spring up, and there is not one which declines to show itself; they grow, and there is no claim made for their ownership; they go through their processes, and there is no expectation (of a reward for the results). The work is accomplished, and there is no resting in it (as an achievement). The work is done, but how no one can see;'Tis this that makes the power not cease to be.

第三章

不尚賢，使民不爭﹔不貴難得之貨，使民不為盜﹔不見可欲，使民心不亂 。是以「聖人」之治，虛其心，實其腹，弱其志，強其骨。常使民無知無 欲。使夫智者不敢為也。為「無為」，則無不治。

1. Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to keep the people from rivalry among themselves; not to prize articles which are difficult to procure is the way to keep them from becoming thieves; not to show them what is likely to excite their desires is the way to keep their minds from disorder. 2. Therefore the sage, in the exercise of his government, empties their minds, fills their bellies, weakens their wills, and strengthens their bones. 3. He constantly (tries to) keep them without knowledge and without desire, and where there are those who have knowledge, to keep them from presuming to act (on it). When there is this abstinence from action, good order is universal.

第四章

「道」沖，而用之或不盈。淵兮，似萬物之宗﹔挫其銳，解其紛，和其光 ，同其塵﹔湛兮似或存。吾不知誰之子？象帝之先。

1. The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our employment of it we must be on our guard against all fulness. How deep and unfathomable it is, as if it were the Honoured Ancestor of all things! 2. We should blunt our sharp points, and unravel the complications of things; we should attemper our brightness, and bring ourselves into agreement with the obscurity of others. How pure and still the Tao is, as if it would ever so continue! 3. I do not know whose son it is. It might appear to have been before God.

第五章

天地不仁，以萬物為芻狗﹔聖人不仁，以百姓為芻狗。天地之間，其猶橐 蘥乎？虛而不屈，動而愈出。多言數窮，不如守中。

1. Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to be benevolent; they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt with. The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; they deal with the people as the dogs of grass are dealt with. 2. May not the space between heaven and earth be compared to a bellows? 'Tis emptied, yet it loses not its power;'Tis moved again, and sends forth air the more. Much speech to swift exhaustion lead we see; Your inner being guard, and keep it free.

ARNO PENZIAS – NOBEL LAUREATE IN PHYSICS

Nobel Prize: Arno Penzias (born 1933) won the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation, which supported the Big Bang theory of the creation of the Universe.

Nationality: German; later American citizen

Education: Ph.D. in physics, Columbia University, 1962

Occupation: Researcher and Administrator at Bell Laboratories, NJ

1. “If there are a bunch of fruit trees, one can say that whoever created these fruit trees wanted some apples. In other words, by looking at the order in the world, we can infer purpose and from purpose we begin to get some knowledge of the Creator, the Planner of all this. This is, then, how I look at God. I look at God through the works of God’s hands and from those works imply intentions. From these intentions, I receive an impression of the Almighty.” (Penzias, as cited in ‘The God I Believe in’, Joshua O. Haberman - editor, New York, Maxwell Macmillan International, 1994, 184).

2. In an interview published in the anthology 'The God I Believe in' (1994), Penzias talks about his religious views and the Mount Sinai, where God gave the Ten Commandments to the entire Jewish nation – 3 million people:

“Q: You referred before to Sinai. This brings up one of the most complex problems – revelation. Do you think that God revealed Himself at Sinai?

PENZIAS: Or, maybe God always reveals Himself? Again I think as Psalm 19, ‘the heavens proclaim the glory of God,’ that is, God reveals Himself in all there is. All reality, to a greater or lesser extent, reveals the purpose of God. There is some connection to the purpose and order of the world in all aspects of human experience.

Q: When you read or hear the Torah, is it to you the word of Moses or the word of God?

PENZIAS: Well, to me it is the word of Moses and the word of God through Moses.

Q: Then why did Sinai happen?

PENZIAS: I don’t have a good answer, except that Sinai was important for Judaism and important for the future of the world. It was a place where God chose the Jews, but the Jews also chose God. It was a historical moment in which a spiritual connection was made.

Q: Jewish speculations about the hereafter involve the Messiah. Do you believe in such a redeemer or final redemption from all evil here on earth?

PENZIAS: Yes. I believe the world has a purpose, hopefully a good purpose. So I think that a Messiah is necessary to help achieve a purposeful world.” (Penzias, as cited in ‘The God I Believe in’, Joshua O. Haberman - editor, New York, Maxwell Macmillan International, 1994, 188-190).

3. In connection with the Big Bang theory and the issue of the origin of our highly ordered universe, on March 12, 1978, Dr. Penzias stated to the New York Times:

“The best data we have are exactly what I would have predicted, had I had nothing to go on but the five books of Moses, the Psalms, the Bible as a whole.” (Penzias, as cited in Bergman 1994, 183; see also Brian 1995, 163).

Arno Penzias’ research into astrophysics has caused him to see “evidence of a plan of divine creation” (Penzias, as cited in Bergman 1994, 183).

4. In an interview published in the scientific anthology The Voice of Genius (1995), Dr. Penzias says:

“Penzias: The Bible talks of purposeful creation. What we have, however, is an amazing amount of order; and when we see order, in our experience it normally reflects purpose.

Brian: And this order is reflected in the Bible?

Penzias: Well, if we read the Bible as a whole we would expect order in the world. Purpose would imply order, and what we actually find is order.

Brian: So we can assume there might be purpose?

Penzias: Exactly. …This world is most consistent with purposeful creation.” (Penzias, as cited in Brian 1995, 163-165).

5. In Gordy Slack’s article “When Science and Religion Collide or Why Einstein Wasn’t an Atheist: Scientists Talk about Why They Believe in God” (1997), Dr. Penzias stated: “If God created the universe, he would have done it elegantly. The absence of any imprint of intervention upon creation is what we would expect from a truly all-powerful Creator. You don’t need somebody diddling around like Frank Morgan in The Wizard of Oz to keep the universe going. Instead, what you have is half a page of mathematics that describes everything. In some sense, the power of the creation lies in its underlying simplicity.” (Penzias, as cited in Slack 1997).

6. Concerning the Big Bang theory and the observational evidence that the universe was created, Penzias pointed out:

“How could the everyday person take sides in this dispute between giants? One held that the universe was created out of nothing, while the other proclaimed the evident eternity of matter. The ‘dogma’ of creation was thwarted by the ‘fact’ of the eternal nature of matter.

Well, today’s dogma holds that matter is eternal. The dogma comes from the intuitive belief of people (including the majority of physicists) who don’t want to accept the observational evidence that the universe was created – despite the fact that the creation of the universe is supported by all the observable data astronomy has produced so far. As a result, the people who reject the data can arguably be described as having a ‘religious’ belief that matter must be eternal. These people regard themselves as objective scientists.” (Penzias, 1983, 3; see also Bergman 1994, 183).

ISIDOR ISAAC RABI – NOBEL LAUREATE IN PHYSICS

Nobel Prize: I. I. Rabi (1898-1988) won the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei.

Nationality: Austrian; later American citizen

Education: Ph.D. in physics, Columbia University, 1927

Occupation: Professor of Physics at Columbia University (1937-1988)

1. “Physics filled me with awe, put me in touch with a sense of original causes. Physics brought me closer to God. That feeling stayed with me throughout my years in science. Whenever one of my students came to me with a scientific project, I asked only one question, ‘Will it bring you nearer to God?’ ” (I. I. Rabi 1999, Physics Today).

2. “The first verses of Genesis were very moving to me as a kid. The whole idea of the Creation - the mystery and the philosophy of it. It sank in on me, and it’s something I still feel.

There’s no question that basically, somewhere way down, I’m an Orthodox Jew. My early upbringing, so struck by God, the Maker of the world, this has stayed with me.” (Rabi, as cited in John S. Rigden, Rabi: Scientist and Citizen, Harvard University Press, 2000, 21).

3. “Rabi’s Orthodox upbringing had given him a feeling for the mystery of physics, a taste for generalization, and a belief in the profundity and underlying unity of nature.

‘When you’re doing physics, you’re wrestling with a champ,’ he liked to say. ‘You’re trying to find out how God made the world, just like Jacob wrestling with the angel.’ Physics brought Rabi nearer to God because the world was His creation. And like God, physics was infinite and certainly not trivial.” (Brian VanDeMark, Pandora’s Keepers: Nine Men and the Atomic Bomb, Little Brown & Co., 2003, ch. 1).

4. In his article “Isidor Isaac Rabi” (Physics World, November 1999) John Rigden wrote:

“To Rabi, physics, like religion, springs from human aspirations, from the depths of the soul, from deep thinking and deep feeling. For Rabi, doing great physics was walking the path of God.” (Rigden 1999, 31).

RICHARD SMALLEY – NOBEL LAUREATE IN CHEMISTRY

Nobel Prize: Richard Smalley (1943-2005) won the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of fullerenes – the third elemental form of carbon (along with graphite and diamond). Upon his passing, the US Senate passed a resolution to honor Smalley, crediting him as the “Father of Nanotechnology.”

Nationality: American

Education: Ph.D. in chemistry, Princeton University (USA), 1973

Occupation: Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Physics at Rice University in Houston, Texas (1981-2005)

1. “Recently I have gone back to church regularly with a new focus to understand as best I can what it is that makes Christianity so vital and powerful in the lives of billions of people today, even though almost 2000 years have passed since the death and resurrection of Christ.

Although I suspect I will never fully understand, I now think the answer is very simple: it’s true. God did create the universe about 13.7 billion years ago, and of necessity has involved Himself with His creation ever since. The purpose of this universe is something that only God knows for sure, but it is increasingly clear to modern science that the universe was exquisitely fine-tuned to enable human life. We are somehow critically involved in His purpose. Our job is to sense that purpose as best we can, love one another, and help Him get that job done.” (Smalley 2005).

2. The books ‘Origins of Life’ and ‘Who Was Adam?’ are authored by Dr. Hugh Ross (astrophysicist) and Dr. Fazale Rana (biochemist). Richard Smalley had this to say about these books:

“Evolution has just been dealt its death blow. After reading ‘Origins of Life’, with my background in chemistry and physics, it is clear evolution could not have occurred. The new book, ‘Who Was Adam?’, is the silver bullet that puts the evolutionary model to death.” (Smalley 2005a).

3. In his address at the Tuskegee University’s 79th Annual Scholarship Convocation (October 3, 2004) Smalley mentioned the ideas of evolution versus creationism, Darwin versus the Bible’s ‘Genesis’; then he pointed out:

“The burden of proof is on those who don’t believe that ‘Genesis’ was right, and there was a creation, and that Creator is still involved.” (Smalley 2004).

GALILEO GALILEI (1564-1642), founder of Experimental Physics

1. “To the Lord, whom I worship and thank,

That governs the heavens with His eyelid

To Him I return tired, but full of living.” (Galileo, as cited in Caputo 2000, 85).

2. “When I reflect on so many profoundly marvellous things that persons have grasped, sought, and done, I recognize even more clearly that human intelligence is a work of God, and one of the most excellent.” (Galileo, as cited in Caputo 2000, 85).

3. “The Holy Scripture cannot err and the decrees therein contained are absolutely true and inviolable. But its expounders and interpreters are liable to err in many ways.” (Galileo, as cited in Ross 1991, 20).

4. “The Holy Bible can never speak untruth -- whenever its true meaning is understood.” (Galileo, as cited in Drake 1957, 181).

NELSON MANDELA – NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE

Nobel Prize: The President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela (born 1918) was granted the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize for his resistance against the ruling National Party’s apartheid policies and for his efforts to establish nonracial democracy in South Africa. Mandela was tried for high treason in December 1956, he was jailed for five years in November 1962, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 12, 1964. Mandela was released from prison on February 11, 1990, after 27 years of imprisonment.

Nationality: South African

Education: Law Degree, University of Witwatersrand, 1942; University College of Fort Hare, South Africa

Occupation: President of South Africa, 1994-99 (elected in South Africa’s first all-race elections, 1994)

1. In his speech at the Zionist Christian Church Easter Conference (Moria, 3 April 1994) Nelson Mandela stated:

“We bow our heads in worship on this day and give thanks to the Almighty for the bounty He has bestowed upon us over the past year. We raise our voices in holy gladness to celebrate the victory of the risen Christ over the terrible forces of death.

Easter is a joyful festival! It is a celebration because it is indeed a festival of hope!

Easter marks the renewal of life! The triumph of the light of truth over the darkness of falsehood!

Easter is a festival of human solidarity, because it celebrates the fulfilment of the Good News!

The Good News borne by our risen Messiah who chose not one race, who chose not one country, who chose not one language, who chose not one tribe, who chose all of humankind!

Each Easter marks the rebirth of our faith. It marks the victory of our risen Saviour over the torture of the cross and the grave.

Our Messiah, who came to us in the form of a mortal man, but who by his suffering and crucifixion attained immortality.

Our Messiah, born like an outcast in a stable, and executed like criminal on the cross.

Our Messiah, whose life bears testimony to the truth that there is no shame in poverty: Those who should be ashamed are they who impoverish others.

Whose life testifies to the truth that there is no shame in being persecuted: Those who should be ashamed are they who persecute others.

Whose life proclaims the truth that there is no shame in being conquered: Those who should be ashamed are they who conquer others.

Whose life testifies to the truth that there is no shame in being dispossessed: Those who should be ashamed are they who dispossess others.

Whose life testifies to the truth that there is no shame in being oppressed: Those who should be ashamed are they who oppress others.” (Mandela 1994).

2. “Why is it that in this day and age, human beings still butcher one another simply because they dared to belong to different religions, to speak different tongues, or belong to different races?

Are human beings inherently evil?

What infuses individuals with the ego and ambition to so clamour for power that genocide assumes the mantle of means that justify coveted ends?

These are difficult questions, which, if wrongly examined can lead one to lose faith in fellow human beings. And there is where we would go wrong.

Firstly, because to lose faith in fellow humans is, as the Archbishop would correctly point out, to lose faith in God and in the purpose of life itself.

Secondly, it is erroneous to attribute to the human character a universal trait it does not possess – that of being either inherently evil or inherently humane.

I would venture to say that there is something inherently good in all human beings, deriving from, among other things, the attribute of social consciousness that we all possess. And, yes, there is also something inherently bad in all of us, flesh and blood as we are, with the attendant desire to perpetuate and pamper the self.

From this premise arises the challenge to order our lives and mould our mores in such a way that the good in all of us takes precedence. In other words, we are not passive and hapless souls waiting for manna or the plague from on high. All of us have a role to play in shaping society.” (Mandela 1994b).

3. In another speech at the Zionist Christian Church Easter Conference (Moria, 20 April 1992) Nelson Mandela said:

“May Peace be with you!

We have joined you this Easter in an act of solidarity, and in an act of worship. We have come, like all the other pilgrims, to join in an act of renewal and rededication. The festival of Easter, which is so closely linked with the festival of the Passover, marks the rebirth of the resurrected Messiah,

who without arms,

without soldiers,

without police and covert special forces,

without hit squads or bands of vigilantes,

overcame the mightiest state during his time.

This great festival of rejoicing marks the victory of the forces of life over death, of hope over despair.

We pray with you for the blessings of peace! We pray with you for the blessings of love! We pray with you for the blessings of freedom!” (Mandela 1992; see also Mandela 2003, 332).

4. “Yes! We affirm it and we shall proclaim it from the mountaintops, that all people – be they black or white, be they brown or yellow, be they rich or poor, be they wise or fools, are created in the image of the Creator and are his children!

Those who dare to cast out from the human family people of a darker hue with their racism!

Those who exclude from the sight of God’s grace, people who profess another faith with their religious intolerance!

Those who wish to keep their fellow countrymen away from God’s bounty with forced removals!

Those who have driven away from the altar of God people whom He has chosen to make different, commit an ugly sin! The sin called APARTHEID.” (Mandela 1992; see also Mandela 2003, 332).