Prigogine and Pannenberg: Theological and Scientific Perspectives on Contingency and Irreversibility

Abstract

The author demonstrates how Nobel Laureate Ilya Prigogine\'s pioneering work on dissipative structures and non-equilibrium thermodynamics might be used to answer theological questions about contingency and irreversibility that theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg posed to scientists twenty years ago. Prigogine \'s reformulation of classical dynamics and his mathematical model of irreversibility seem to corroborate Pannenberg \'s claim that natural phenomena must be both contingent and irreversible, if the Christian worldview is correct. The writings of Prigogine and Pannenberg provide an interesting example of the methodological difficulties encountered when comparing scientific and theological worldviews