--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As long as God does not intervene in the…" description: "\"As long as God does not intervene in the contemporary universe in such a way as to violate physical laws, science has no way of knowing whether God exi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bf/alan-lightman-2270_belief_as-long-as-god-does-not-intervene-in-the_94062.png" --- # As long as God does not intervene in the contemporary… ![“As long as God does not intervene in the contemporary universe in such a way as to violate physical laws, science has no way of knowing whether God exists or not. The belief or disbelief in such a Being is therefore a matter of faith.” quote by Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bf/alan-lightman-2270_belief_as-long-as-god-does-not-intervene-in-the_94062.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bf/alan-lightman-2270_belief_as-long-as-god-does-not-intervene-in-the_94062.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bf/alan-lightman-2270_belief_as-long-as-god-does-not-intervene-in-the_94062.png) > “As long as God does not intervene in the contemporary universe in such a way as to violate physical laws, science has no way of knowing whether God exists or not. The belief or disbelief in such a Being is therefore a matter of faith.” [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If God respects physical laws, science cannot test divine existence; belief thus remains a matter of faith. **In simple terms:** Faith fills science’s limits. Key Takeaway Divine existence is untestable scientifically. Themes philosophy of religion science limits faith vs reason metaphysics epistemology Mood thoughtful inquisitive serene Type argument observation philosophical claim When to use this quote - theology seminars - philosophy courses - public debates on religion Key Concepts God physical laws science faith Practical Applications - academic discourse - public speaking Questions to Reflect On - Can science ever address metaphysical claims? - What role does faith play when evidence is absent? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Belief Disbelief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief-disbelief-655998/) [Contemporary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemporary/) [Disbelief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disbelief/) [Disbelief Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disbelief-matter-1159516/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Exists Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exists-belief-1159517/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [God exists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-exists/) [Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Whether god exists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whether-god-exists/) ## Related quotes > [As a scientist, I don't believe science will ever discover whether God exists. Nor do I believe religion will ever prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/as-a-scientist-i-don-t-believe-science-will-ever-discover-whether-god/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [The devil only exists because of your belief in him; same goes for that other guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sage-francis/the-devil-only-exists-because-of-your-belief-in-him-same-goes-for/) [Sage Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sage-francis/) > [“Belief and disbelief were the same creature within me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-nordan/belief-and-disbelief-were-the-same-creature-within-me/) [Lewis Nordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-nordan/) > [Certainly the affirmative pursuit of one's convictions about the ultimate mystery of the universe and man's relation to it is placed beyond the reach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/certainly-the-affirmative-pursuit-of-one-s-convictions-about-the/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [Man who is created alone should be aware that he will also die alone. Yet during his life, he lives almost addicted to possessions...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harun-yahya/man-who-is-created-alone-should-be-aware-that-he-will-also-die-alone/) [Harun Yahya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harun-yahya/) > [Our belief or disbelief of a thing does not alter the nature of the thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tillotson/our-belief-or-disbelief-of-a-thing-does-not-alter-the-nature-of-the/) [John Tillotson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tillotson/) > [Nothing, absolutely nothing, has a more direct bearing on the moral choices made by individuals or the purposes pursued by society than belief or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/nothing-absolutely-nothing-has-a-more-direct-bearing-on-the-moral/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [A disbelief in God does not result in a belief in nothing; disbelief in God usuallyresults in a belief in anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-lynch/a-disbelief-in-god-does-not-result-in-a-belief-in-nothing-disbelief-2/) [Arthur Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-lynch/) > [A disbelief in God does not result in a belief in nothing; disbelief in God usually results in a belief in anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-lynch/a-disbelief-in-god-does-not-result-in-a-belief-in-nothing-disbelief/) [Arthur Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-lynch/) > [The battle that never ends is the battle of belief against disbelief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-battle-that-never-ends-is-the-battle-of-belief-against-disbelief/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [If there is a soul, what is it, and where did it come from, and where does it go? Can anyone who is guided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-darrow/if-there-is-a-soul-what-is-it-and-where-did-it-come-from-and-where/) [Clarence Darrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-darrow/) > [So little is actually worthy of belief or disbelief. Better to strive to coexist than seek to disapprove . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/so-little-is-actually-worthy-of-belief-or-disbelief-better-to-strive/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [Just because you're 40, you don't have to decide whether God exists...when you're already worrying that the National Security Agency is reading your emails,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/just-because-you-re-40-you-don-t-have-to-decide-whether-god-exists/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [I don't know whether God exists or not. ... Some forms of atheism are arrogant and ignorant and should be rejected, but agnosticism—to admit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/i-don-t-know-whether-god-exists-or-not-some-forms-of-atheism-are/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [I don't spend much time thinking about whether God exists. I don't consider that a relevant question. It's unanswerable and irrelevant to my life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-kaminer/i-don-t-spend-much-time-thinking-about-whether-god-exists-i-don-t/) [Wendy Kaminer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-kaminer/) ## More by Alan Lightman > [“In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Every reader gets something different from a book and every reader, in a sense, completes it in a different way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/every-reader-gets-something-different-from-a-book-and-every-reader-in/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > ["The Diagnosis" is by far my most ambitious book. I such great hopes for it... there was so much I wanted to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/the-diagnosis-is-by-far-my-most-ambitious-book-i-such-great-hopes-for/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Except for a God who sits down after the universe begins, all other gods conflict with the assumptions of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/except-for-a-god-who-sits-down-after-the-universe-begins-all-other/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Each person who gets stuck in time gets stuck alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/each-person-who-gets-stuck-in-time-gets-stuck-alone/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [A writer is someone who has a one-man tent in the desert and occasionally he sees the footprint of an other writer - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/a-writer-is-someone-who-has-a-one-man-tent-in-the-desert-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Time is a rigid, bonelike structure, extending infinitely ahead and behind, fossilizing the future as well as the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/time-is-a-rigid-bonelike-structure-extending-infinitely-ahead-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [For me, spirituality includes the belief in things larger than ourselves, an appreciation of nature and beauty, a sensitivity to the world, a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/for-me-spirituality-includes-the-belief-in-things-larger-than/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Writers are a loosely knit community - community is an overstated word. Writers don't see each other very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/writers-are-a-loosely-knit-community-community-is-an-overstated-word/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Imagine a world in which there is no time. Only images.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/imagine-a-world-in-which-there-is-no-time-only-images/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Time is the clarity for seeing right and wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/time-is-the-clarity-for-seeing-right-and-wrong/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [In this world, time has three dimensions, like space. Just as an object may move in three perpendicular directions, corresponding to horizontal, vertical, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-time-has-three-dimensions-like-space-just-as-an-object/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [In this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time." "They do not keep clocks in their houses.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-there-are-two-times-there-is-mechanical-time-and-there/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [I should have written books instead of reading them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-should-have-written-books-instead-of-reading-them/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) [Explore all 174 Alan Lightman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) ## More Belief quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“MIND & GRIND Self-belief and hard work can propel you past more talented peers”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamil-ali/mind-grind-self-belief-and-hard-work-can-propel-you-past-more/) [Kamil Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamil-ali/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [It took me 20 years of hard training to get the physique I have today. what you need is what i had - BELIEF…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/branch-warren/it-took-me-20-years-of-hard-training-to-get-the-physique-i-have-today/) [Branch Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/branch-warren/) > [“Here is a fundamental difference between the man of faith and the man of unbelief. The unbeliever is 'of the world', judges everything by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-pink/here-is-a-fundamental-difference-between-the-man-of-faith-and-the-man/) [Arthur W. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-pink/) > [“She herself vacillated when it came to belief. She did not particularly believe in God. Or, rather, she didn't believe in a particular God.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/she-herself-vacillated-when-it-came-to-belief-she-did-not/) [Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/) > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [“Rigid traditions capture souls prisons of spiritual thought man’s religion has captured a god grown too small and very weak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-w-earle/rigid-traditions-capture-souls-prisons-of-spiritual-thought-man-s/) [David W Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-w-earle/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. 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