Henry F. Schaefer, III quotes

“It is relatively unusual that a physical scientist is truly an atheist. Why is this true? Some point to the anthropic constraints, the remarkable fine tuning of the universe. For example, Freeman Dyson, a Princeton faculty member, has said, 'Nature has been kinder to us that we had any right to expect.'”
-- Henry F. Schaefer, III

#Atheist Quotes #Atheism Quotes #Tuning Quotes

“The significance and joy in my science comes in those occasional moments of discovering something new and saying to myself, 'So that's how God did it.' My goal is to understand a little corner of God's plan.”
-- Henry F. Schaefer, III

#Goal Quotes #Joy Quotes #Atheism Quotes

“A Creator must exist. The Big Bang ripples and subsequent scientific findings are clearly pointing to an ex nihilo creation consistent with the first few verses of the book of Genesis.”
-- Henry F. Schaefer, III

#Book Quotes #Atheism Quotes #Firsts Quotes

“If Jesus remained dead, how can you explain the reality of the Christian church and its phenomenal growth in the first three centuries of the Christian era? Christ's church covered the Western world by the fourth century. A religious movement built on a lie could not have accomplished that....All the power of Rome and of the religious establishment in Jerusalem was geared to stop the Christian faith. All they had to do was to dig up the grave and to present the corpse. They didn't.”
-- Henry F. Schaefer, III

#Christian Quotes #Religious Quotes #Jesus Quotes

“I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how a man could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.”

“We are all given a gift of existence and of being sentient beings, and I think true happiness lies in love and compassion.”

“It is the most ambitious and driven among us who are the most sorely in need of having our reckless hopes dampened through immersive dousings in the darkness which religions have explored. This is a particular priority for secular Americans, perhaps the most anxious and disappointed people on earth, for their nation infuses them with the most extreme hopes about what they may be able to achieve in their working lives and relationships.”

“I still don't like the word agnostic. It's too fancy. I'm simply not a believer. But, as simple as this notion is, it confuses some people. Someone wrote a Wikipedia entry about me, identifying me as an atheist because I'd said in a book I wrote that I wasn't a believer. I guess in a world uncomfortable with uncertainty, an unbeliever must be an atheist, and possibly an infidel. This gets us back to that most pressing of human questions: why do people worry so much about other people's holding beliefs other than their own?”

“Religions survive mainly because they brainwash the young.”

Source : A.C. Grayling (2012). “Against All Gods: Six Polemics on Religion and an Essay on Kindness”, p.12, Oberon Books

“Oh, that [his Thanksgiving Message] is some of Seward's nonsense, and it pleases the fools.”

“I am personally convinced of the great power and deep significance of Christianity, and I won't allow any other religion to be promoted.”

“It is the tuning of the universe... It's as if at the beginning of the symphony God turns up the volume just a tiny bit.”

“It has been a wonderful five years. I'm excited about the many projects we're working on as we move into year six, and I want to thank everyone for tuning in. We couldn't do it without you!”

Source : "Joan Rivers' 'resting comfortably' in hospital, daughter says" by Alan Duke, www.cnn.com. August 29, 2014.

“It is annoying that the rules of chess do not allow a pawn to take either horizontally or backwards, but only forwards ... This psychological tuning is ideal for attacking purposes, but what about for defence?”