Beyond All Reasonable Doubt

By Michael Meredith

Beyond All Reasonable Doubt clearly spells out the limiting territory of science and mathematics, delineates between normal and transcendental experiences, here we find that ‘something’ of the very heart of the divine mystery is laid bare. The book is vibrant with stories from the author’s own life experiences, weaving together profound aspects from his dialogue with leading scientists, philosophers, world religions and other traditions taking us into a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world which we inhabit.

After careful examination of the evidence, Dr Meredith concludes that neither “evolutionary” nor “sacred” information can ever be reliable enough to be the bedrock from which to start a quest to discover the reality of God. To conduct an experiment on the reality of God one must observe from inside the actual experiment. The ultimate basis of truth is “being” itself. He describes different orders of experiential proof using narrative and deduction. One class of experience inexorably points to the human mind having the ability to communicate with the transcendental. In deepening and exploring our own experiences we can find a language that does justice to both heart and mind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Meredith
• Release date: Dec 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301957552

Michael Meredith

Professor Mike Meredith is an oceanographer and Science Leader at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in Cambridge, UK. He is head of the Polar Oceans team at BAS, which has research foci on determining the role of the polar oceans on global climate, the ice sheets, and the interdisciplinary ocean system. He is an Honorary Professor at the University of Bristol, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and a NERC Individual Merit Promotion (Band 2) scientist. He has published more than 200 papers in international journals, and was the inaugural Chair of the Southern Ocean Observing System. He led the design and delivery of the multi-institute ORCHESTRA programme, which is unravelling the role of the Southern Ocean in controlling global climate. He was recently coordinating lead author for the IPCC Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate. In 2018, Mike was awarded the Tinker-Muse Prize for Science and Policy in Antarctica, in recognition of his contributions to the study of the Southern Ocean and its global impacts, and the Challenger Medal, for his contributions to marine science.

Book preview

BEYOND ALL

REASONABLE DOUBT

MICHAEL MEREDITH

At least once in our lifetime

we should attempt

to evaluate for ourselves

the reality of God.

This is my once.

God Under the Microscope Series

Structured in story, Michael’s work weaves together profound aspects from his experience with leading scientists, philosophers, world religions and other traditions taking us into a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world which we inhabit. The words God, being, transcendental and Self are uniquely used throughout this series – see Appendix.

The Trilogy Books

* BEYOND ALL REASONABLE DOUBT (A)

* FROM STARDUST TO ETERNITY (B)

* THE HOUSE OF TRUTH(C)

Comes at just the right time… taking a deeper look at who we are and how this knowledge forms our life’s path.

Martin Kenney, CEO WRC Media Inc.

A remarkable personal account of one man’s journey into faith in the God who is both amongst us and beyond us. A joy indeed.

Bruce Kent, past president International Peace Bureau and Chairperson of CND

Well written… full of wisdom… a new vision … thoughtful, and thought-provoking.

Bertie Everard ICI Company Education and Training Manager (retired).

Clearly written, … encouraging us to explore our own spiritual understandings of life …

Sea of Faith

… a gem for the modern spiritual seeker. Scientific and Medical Network Review

The author’s contagious love of science is folded nicely into an appreciative reflection on religious traditions and practices… unique and inspiring.

John F. Haught, Professor of Theology, Georgetown University

Acquire the latest…

(A) Beyond All Reasonable Doubt the limits of science. A definitive pointer to the reality of God. First published by John Hunt Publishing Ltd in 2002. New Edition by TheWordOfTheDragon Publishers 2012.

(B) From Stardust to Eternity integrating the time-space continuum and the spiritual continuum: combining patterns through science, mediation, meaning, prayer, consciousness, and experience. First published as ‘A Thoughtful Guide to Science and Religion’ by John Hunt Publishing Ltd in 2005. New Edition by TheWordOfTheDragon Publishers 2013.

(C)The House of Truth develops a comprehensive system to distinguish between the truths of science and those of religion. First edition by TheWordOfTheDragon Publishers 2011.

*See latest information at www.dr-meredith.com/books.htm

BEYOND ALL REASONABLE DOUBT

First Published 2002 by O Books, John Hunt Publishing Ltd

Second revised edition published 2012 by TheWordOfTheDragon Publishers.

Copyright © by Michael Meredith

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

Cover design copyright passed to TheWordOfTheDragon Publishers by John Hunt Publishers

updated by Martyn Butler

All characters in this book are real people; any resemblance to fictional persons is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission in writing from the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchase, except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

BARD is dedicated to Jeanette

All experiences we have and people we meet

can give us priceless gifts of understanding.

May such insights turn our negative thoughts

into positive compassionate action for others.

Contents

FOREWORD

ROWAN WILLIAMS ARCHBISHOP of CANTERBURY

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE - WHERE SCIENCE AND RELIGION MEET

CHAPTER TWO - THE BOUNDARIES OF SCIENCE

CHAPTER THREE - APPROACHING GOD

CHAPTER FOUR - EXPERIENCING GOD

CHAPTER FIVE - ASPECTS OF GOD

CHAPTER SIX - CONCLUSIONS

Further Reading

Appendix – God, being & the Transcendental

The Author

FOREWORD

ROWAN WILLIAMS ARCHBISHOP of CANTERBURY

This book is in every sense the work of a lifetime: it has been long in gestation, certainly, and I have watched with admiration as its argument has been extended and refined over the years. But much more importantly, it is the record of a life seeking understanding. Dr Meredith has a passion for truth, and he movingly tells us of his search for language about God that does justice to both heart and mind.

Like some of the great philosophers of the past, he finds some of his answers by reflecting on the very nature of mind, leading us to see ourselves afresh. As someone with scientific training, he argues with crispness and vigour. But always intersperses this with deeply personal testimony. He has a notable feel for words, and readers will treasure some of the phrases he coins (seeking God is like trying to observe a very shy animal, which only rarely comes to the watering-hole for a drink).

The whole book is really an invitation to the reader to discover for him or herself how the mind moves us outwards from itself. Because it shows us how to explore our own stories, it has something of the quality not only of an academic argument but of a work of spiritual guidance.

Michael Meredith helps us see things through his eyes, with a rare gift of imaginative evocation.

His conclusions are deeply Christian, though none too conventional. His hospitality towards the other great religious traditions of the world is striking; but he works hard to make sense of the belief that in Jesus something of the very heart of the divine mystery is laid bare for all. Like many recent writers, he finds he can best put into words what Jesus makes possible by speaking of our encounter with him as realisation of being (some will be reminded of those Eastern icons in which the figure of Jesus is framed with the Greek words meaning, He who is).

In all, this is profoundly enriching work, prompting us to discover ourselves and our world in new ways – and to recover the right kind of confidence in our faith: not an arrogant assurance that we have received the key to all knowledge, but the amazed gratitude that a flash of vision has been granted. I hope all his readers will experience something of that vision through this remarkable book.

PREFACE

I was born into a Christian family. My mother exuded love for me; my father pointed to the majesty of galaxies in the night sky. I first met with God as a three-year-old and Jesus a few years later. But, the light of religious understanding flickered and died in my late teens.

I became a spiritual drifter. At forty, during a period of intense family suffering, I prayed and through my tears I heard God’s answer. My spiritual drifting became sincere seeking.

However, as a ‘doubting Thomas’, I could not convince my restless, turbulent mind to give its full allegiance to God through the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. My training as a Professional Chartered Engineer kept calling for objective proof.

I was in my mid-fifties when I finally understood how to express my belief in the universality of that mystery which many call God – a God that is within, yet beyond, the confines of all religion, philosophy, art or science. At last I had uncovered the diamond in the mud.

Over the last decade my need to express my absolute belief in God has intensified. It was early on in this period that a close friend insisted that I write down the thoughts that came to me during my meditations and research. Much later, a group of friendly writers encouragingly pushed me into seeking publication.

When our belief in God is challenged we need to know how to respond, with words and actions that resonate with today’s technological society. Beyond All Reasonable Doubt is the first step in doing just that. It’s sets out to verify that God is real. Countering the claims of those who are deluded into believing that as human beings they are the most advanced knowledge based processors this universe has to offer. The book reflects my belief that the human condition has meaning far beyond our day-to-day existence.

INTRODUCTION

In this edition of Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, BARD, some amusing, perceptive illustrations of Marianne Griffiths have been added within the book. The words GOD, being and transcendental have lost their sharpness in the cacophony of meanings today so for clarity their usage in BARD have been included in a supplementary appendix. The science/religious debate has been well aired in writings and the media since this book was first published in 2002 but conceptually little has changed, hence it was decided to be unnecessary to update the Further Reading list.

Since the first edition the evolving properties of flexible solids have come to be, which could modify the ‘Law of Bounce-less Glass’ cited in Chapter Two. Also the Higgs Boson, the ‘god particle’, appears to be on the physicist’s radar and out ingenious scientists are now bar coding individual ants and the Arab spring could well be seen as predicted in Second Paragraph of section six of Chapter Two. However, as all paradigms and dimensions of science are limited, the knowledge gleaned through science will not affect the case for God as proposed in BARD – although discoveries to come will, I suspect, upset some of today’s scientific theories and cause the narrow minded interpreters of scriptures to shudder.

ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION

One of the last things Stella, my mother, asked me was, Is there really a God, Mike? She was 94 years old and a lifelong Christian. My answer, somewhat to my own surprise at the time, was a strong and unequivocal, ‘Yes, Mum there is.’

I believe that there are many today like Stella, who instinctively believe in the reality of God but are lost for words when intellectuals, whether humanists or scientist, argue against the reality of God [see appendix]. There is today a need for bedrock to be established which confirms, or denies, the existence of God – a verification, independent of any particular religious belief, which does not crumble at the first (or the last) intellectual argument.

That profound, yet simple, question of Stella’s is only the beginning, for there are many subsidiary questions concerning the intimacy of God and the underlying purpose of our human condition. Every shade of human belief and religious system will offer us a plethora of solutions to these questions. But before embarking on such details, important though they are, it is imperative to know that God actually exists.

There are classical theories that claim to verify God’s existence in the form of ontological, cosmological, religious, pragmatic and other lesser known arguments. Being a sceptical, down-to-earth, engineering scientist none of these intellectual philosophical arguments has ever satisfied me as being an unequivocal proof from which to start a journey of God realisation. A God realisation that includes the complexity of our rapidly changing world brought about by the discoveries of science and the application of technology.

To understand science does not mean that we have to crawl through pages of equations or grasp advanced theories. Much more important is for us to understand the intrinsic limits of science, where it has come from, and where it is leading us. We need to extract an understanding of its ultimate boundaries and ascertain if the knowledge of God can be found within these boundaries. I have found that if we embrace science, instead of shying away from it, we become more focused on its limitations. By exploring the boundaries, or limits, of science we are no longer hoodwinked by arguments which suggest that the ultimate truth of our human existence is to be found in cosmological theories, evolution, genetics, quantum physics, mathematics and so forth. We free our minds ready for a fruitful journey into the realms of transcendental [see appendix] truth.

If we wish to analyse anything in conventional science we have to consciously employ the right equipment, the right procedures, and be in the right environment at the right time – so it is when we come to examining the reality of God.

There are many world beliefs that have already provided what they consider to be the right place to experience the transcendental. Some have even placed sumptuous buildings on sacred places (such as great Churches, Mosques, Temples, Synagogues and Gurdwaras). However when different groups elaborate on the characteristics of God there is a vast variation of opinion. The history of religion is filled with controversy, perhaps best captured in the Works of Swami Vivekananda:

…We find that although there is nothing that has brought to man more blessings than religion, yet at the same time, there is nothing that has brought more horror than religion. Nothing has made more for peace and love than religion; nothing has engendered fiercer hatred than religion. Nothing has made the brotherhood of man more tangible than religion; nothing has bred more bitter enmity between man and man than religion. Nothing has built more charitable institutions, more hospitals for men and even for animals, than religion; nothing has deluged the world with more blood than religion.

This book is concerned with examining that part of religion which is claimed to be transcendental: in particular the transcendental reality which suggests that God exists.

I can recollect that over thirty years ago, when I was in my twenties, asking a devout member of the Christian church about fundamental aspects of the Jesus story, but he could only say, First Mike, you have to believe, then I can explain it all to you – a typical ‘chicken and egg’ situation. To overcome this circular dilemma I have spent the intervening years searching for a definitive experiment, which verifies the reality of God. I now fully believe that I have found an experimental procedure, so that now I know that God exists. This book sets out to tell how I know.

The first Chapter starts our journey