張智北教授（臺灣大學大氣科學系特聘講座教授、美國海軍研究學院榮譽特聘教授）演講
從一個氣象學者的視角看自然神學：上帝，時間，和人類自由意志 A meteorologist’s perspective on God, Time, and Human Free Will
評論人：鄧敦民（臺大哲學系副教授）、周先捷（臺大哲學系助理教授）
時間：2023/5/18（四） 1:10 pm – 3:00 pm地點：基隆路四段144巷61號臺大大氣科學系B-105教室
主辦單位：臺灣大學大氣科學系、臺大傳統與科學形上學研究中心
摘要：這個宗教哲學的演講對象，主要是理學院的同學。開始會先介紹爲什麽在人工智慧的時代，理工科的人也應該注意哲學和宗教的問題。
對唯物論者，因爲物理定律決定論，宇宙大爆炸時就已決定一切，人類的自由意志只是假象。犯罪者身不由己，應該被懲罰嗎？對有神論者，上帝在創世時就知道人類所有行爲。犯罪來自上帝給人類的自由意志。但是上帝所知不能改變，人怎麽會有自由意志？兩個相反的世界觀有同樣的挑戰。
物理科學還在繼續發展，但是宗教教義不易改變。很多神學家還指出廣義相對論支持奧古斯丁的理論，永恆的上帝在時空塊宇宙之外。然而聖經裏都是神在時間之内（A理論）的故事，信徒如果希望上帝回應祈禱，也在A理論框架裏才説得通。可是基督宗教堅持B理論（上帝在時間外），因爲擔心神的主權被侵犯。
氣象教科書上强迫波動常用自由波的共振來解釋。可是分析MJO會發現它和自由波沒有共振，因爲物理和散頻都根本不同。混沌機制和輻射强迫互不干涉，解釋了爲什麽對十天溫度預報沒信心，但是卻相信更久的全球暖化。這個啓示是，上帝讓人類有自由意志時依然可以握有絕對主權。這不但有利於對上帝製造罪惡指控的辯護，也對一個著名的上帝先知的故事，做出了顛覆性但是更合邏輯的闡釋。
For materialists, the universe’s deterministic physical laws dictate that everything was predetermined since the Big Bang, and human free will is an illusion. If people causing evils have no control over their actions, should they be punished? For theists, God knew all human behavior since creation, and evil stems from God’s gift of free will. But if God’s knowledge cannot be changed, how can humans have free will? These two opposing worldviews face the same challenge.
While the science of physics continues to evolve, religious doctrine is slow to change. Many theologians also like to invoke Einstein’s theory as a modern physics support for St. Augustine’s view, that God’s eternity being outside of the block universe. On the other hand, Bible’s stories of God all take place inside time (A theory). God’s answering to prayers is also easier to comprehend within the A-theory framework. However, Christianity insists on the B theory (God outside of time) to protect God’s sovereignty.
Examination of the relationship between forced and free wave motions in the atmosphere reveals that they are not necessarily resonant as often assumed by textbooks. Chaos mechanisms and radiation forcing also do not interfere with each other, so that while the confidence in a 10-day temperature forecast may be low, we can predict with high confidence that global warming is true. Apply these insights as an analogy, God can maintain absolute sovereignty while allowing humans free will. This concept offers a revolutionary interpretation of a famous story on God’s omniscience, and a more robust theodicy in the defense against accusations that God creates evil.
