From Mr Edmund Booth

Sir, — The Revd Professor Adrian Low argues that Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, a basic tenet of quantum mechanics, makes miracles (particularly small ones) possible and “well worth praying for” (Comment, 31 July).

I first heard (and rejected) this argument about 15 years ago from a priest who certainly didn’t have Professor Low’s scientific pedigree; but the Professor’s article has done nothing to convince me I was wrong. It seems to me that equating the operation of God to a mid-20th-century human construct risks breaching the second commandment.

It also fails another basic test: what if Einstein was right, and a theory was developed some time in the future which enabled the uncertainty to be resolved? If that happened, that would shut the door on God’s being able to operate in the way described. Theology, I think, should be wary of relying on theories that science would in principle be able to disprove.

Frankly, the idea that God might choose to operate by dodging between the (rather small) gaps offered by quantum mechanics seems to me ludicrous, and diminishing of the Almighty.

EDMUND BOOTH
2 Miswell Cottages
Icknield Way, Tring
Hertfordshire HP23 4JU