From Science to the Realization of God

universe. Then, in the early 20th century, this gave way to the Einsteinian energy paradigm, with energy being the basic building block of the universe. The latest paradigm is accepted in the present era when more and more scientists accept consciousness as the basic building block of the universe. These shifts have had inevitable consequences for contemporary philosophy, helping crass materialism to give way, in many circles, to spirituality, another name for which is the authentic version of Divine religion. What can be called the ‘Modern Scientific Age’ began four centuries or so ago in Western Europe. Gradually, an impression generally prevailed that science was the highest means for knowing reality. It came to be believed that something that was proven through science alone was real, while something that could not be established through science was unreal. Initially, science was considered synonymous with just knowledge of material phenomena that were directly observable. Because religious realities did not appear to be proven through methods used for studying material phenomena, they were deemed to be ‘unscientific.’ However, the river of knowledge continued to flow ahead until the time came when science recognized the reality of phenomena that cannot be seen or otherwise directly observed—such as the subatomic particle known as the electron, which is always in motion—but whose existence can be inferred only through its effect, that is the heat it generates while in motion. Using the inferential argument, an unobservable particle becomes discoverable indirectly. Science admitted the validity of the inferential method.