Chapter 1

Do-tt-Yourself Theolo^
^^^ our monthe after my ten^ fired from Harvard r^ University the Association of Lutherans Psy- ^ chologists invited us to make an address at the 1963 American Psychological Association. In the 1950s I had administered psychological screening tests for most of the younger ministers in the Lutheran Church, and so I wondered if my contributions to the faith were, perhaps, being recognized. itw"M«M«B«B«*i The address was an attempt to 1 Wanted tO
scientize myth and mythologize sci- 5CientlZe
ence. We were trying so romantically myth 3m
to heroicize — sanctify our lives, their mythobgize lives, life itself. SClence.
An essay describing my summa theology was widely reprinted in several languages and probably contributed to the blossoming of young vision- ary scientists who, in the 1980s aged 30 to 45, were pushing out the frontiers of physics, chemistry, and biology. I had been working on the translation of classic issues of theology into the language of modem science for
6 Your ^rainb God
the previous 18 years, refining and updating. It was my summa theology and may have been the first compre- hensive philosophy to deal with evolution, both species and individual, both past and future.
It is safe to estimate that over a hundred young physicists and a like number of biologists read that first ^g^t^KggiigggtgKggtummm paper at some point along the 1 had awakened ^^y- Imagine yourself an impres- f roni a low sionable, brilliant college student,
ontobgical 5tep. ^^^^^ 1964-70, searching, experi- mmmmmmmmmmmm tnenting, dreaming the dreams of grandeur and idealism and splen- dor that characterized that more Utopian optimistic period.
Activist Theology
This is an activist, do- it- yourself theology. God is defined in terms of the technologies involved in creating a universe and engineering the obvious stages of evolu- tion. Anyone interested in playing the God- game is given suggestions for activating the various levels of intelligence in hir own brain and DNA and expressing them through the tools of modem science. Any human being who wishes to accept the responsibility is offered the powers traditionally assigned to divinity.