The universe is not only stranger than we suppose - it is stranger than we can suppose!
J.B.S. Haldane, Oxford University, 1920's

Current breakthroughs in science continually influence our knowledge of  who we are and our ever-changing perceptions of the undefinable power, i.e., God. Great scientists such as Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg and Hawking – to name only a few – have forever changed our understanding of the Universe, from the very small (microcosm) to the very large (macrocosm). 
Studies of cosmology (theory of the Universe) and particle physics (quantum theory) continue to  provide an ever-changing perception of the underlying mysteries of the cosmos.

The relationship between science and religion rests on two basic premises: “Science”, the search for truth in all aspects of the physical universe; and “Religion”, the search for truth in the realm of spirituality.  Here “spirituality” represents “that dimension of living in which we are aware of the indescribable mystery referred to as God –  an ever-present possibility for
each individual and a  reflection of the immediacy of God’s presence everywhere.”1 The word “religion” is an English translation of the  Latin word “relegare.”  Legare means “to bind together”: thus re-legare is to “re-bind.”  Such community rebinding is revealed in churches, mosques, synagogues, etc. Science can nourish faith, and faith can deepen our understanding of what science reveals to us. Modern physics has shown that  we are not only deeply connected  to the universe  but  are  an intrinsic part of  it.  We  can  be  conceived  as children  of God  who  created all  reality,  through  the continuing dynamism of the laws of nature. Everything in our bodies is shared with the rest of the universe.  Without the stars and their prior
explosions, over several billion years, there would be no oxygen, carbon, iron or other minerals that constitute us.  We are truly stardust! Such a  realization yields a deeper appreciation of the mystery of God.

Studies of quantum physics and complexity theory are continually demonstrating  that the universe is  more sophisticated and harmonious than previously believed.  Underneath it all, deep patterns of self-organization continue to emerge. Scientific discoveries since the early 1920's disclosed that Newtonian physics was incorrect when it claimed  we exist in a deterministic world in which past events foretold the future. Instead, the universe at the microcosmic level appears to be permeated by intricate non-deterministic relationships, an holistic totality. The part contains the whole, but the whole is
greater than the sum of the parts!  As we become more open to new
understandings in science, we must  be willing to release traditional anthropomorphic (humanistic) views of God.  The “All-in-All”2 (i.e., God) is not to be conceived  as a tinkerer who enters creation only long enough to fix things when they go wrong.  Instead, God is continually operating in reality and relationships.  Science, however,  does not explain the ultimate meaning of life. Why isn’t there just nothing? The question of “existence” will last forever.

In 1987 a  remarkable interaction occurred in the realm of Science and Religion.   The occasion was a conference entitled “Our Knowledge of God and Nature”,convened at Castel Gandolfo, the Pope’s summer residence south of Rome, to mark the third centenary of the appearance of  Isaac Newton’s famous book Principia Mathematica, the founding work of modern mechanics. The meeting  was organized by the Jesuit astronomers from the Vatican
Observatory at Castel Gandolfo. The participating  scholars (25) represented various religious backgrounds: Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, etc. The resulting documents were published in a book entitled Physics,  Philosophy  and Theology:  A Common  Quest  for Understanding, edited by Robert J. Russell (Chairperson), The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Berkeley, CA,  William R. Stoeger, S.J.,  and  George V. Coyne, S.J.  The  Foreword  of the  book,  signed by John Paul II, emphasized the inter-dependence of science and religion. As quoted by the Pope, “We need each other to be what we must be, what we are called to be, with each helping to define the limits of theother so that theology does not profess a pseudoscience andscience does not become an unconscious theology.”3 The meeting emphasized that scientists cannot isolate themselves from wider
human concerns for ultimate meaning and value, yet their own methods are not designed to deal with such concerns.  They must, therefore, look beyond these methods and techniques and devote to this quest something of the energy and care that they give to their research in science.  Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes.  Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish. Contemporary developments in science have challenged theology far more deeply than did the introduction of Aristotelian philosophy into Western Europe in the 13th century. This challenge also promises resources for new theological development, but only if there are theologians sufficiently well-versed in the sciences to make authentic and creative use of the resources the best-established theories may offer them. 

This common quest for understanding requires investigation of a diversity of  sources. Science is not merely a means to technical control or accurate prediction; religion is not just a matter of moral action or private converse between the individual and God. Each contributes to our understanding of the remarkable universe in which we exist. The Science/Religion interaction is a
collaborative one in which the viewpoints of the participants are to be respected.  In the  natural sciences  (physics,  biology, etc.)  one  can  discern  analogies to this search for unity through the discovery of natural  laws and processes  that unify all aspects of reality and, at the same time,  give rise to the vast diversity of structures and organisms which constitute the physical,  biological, psychological and sociological realms. In physics, for example, 
efforts to unify the microcosmos  (quantum theory)  with  the macrocosmos (relativity theory) into one Grand Unified Theory have not yet been accomplished.  It is crucial that the dialoguebetween religion and science remain an open one, each retaining its autonomy. The conference did not  propose that science should become religion or  religion  science. Both should support each other as distinct dimensions of a common human culture. Neither
should assume that it forms a necessary premise for the other. The unprecedented opportunity is for a common interactive and complementary relationship in which each discipline retains its integrity and yet is open to the ever-changing discoveries and insights of the other.

The 1987 conference was the first of  a  biennial series of meetings on science and religion alternating between Castel Gandolfo and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Berkeley, California. The resulting documents were compiled in a number of books – e.g., Quantum Cosmology and the Laws of Nature, 1993; Chaos and Complexity: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action, 1995; Quantum Physics and Quantum Field Theory, 2000. Distribution in the USA and Canada is provided by the University of Chicago Press. Since the mid-1980's Science/Religion discussion groups continue to experience a rapid
growth in areas such as North America, South America, Europe and India, along with a continuing increase in related literature.4 

In closing, the following quotations provide a brief reflection on the interactions between Science and Religion as expressed in the above biennial conferences. 

“Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.”
       - Albert Einstein.5

“Without any doubt, there is ‘something’ which links material energy and spiritual energy together and makes them a continuity. In the last resort there must ‘somehow’ be but one single energy active in the universe!”
       - Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.6
 

REFERENCES
1 GOD was in This PLACE and I, i did not know.  Rabbi Lawrence Kushner. 
   Longhill Partners, Inc., Woodstock, Vermont, 1991. p.28.
2 “so that God may be all in all.” 1 Corinthians 15:28.
3 Physics, Philosophy and Theology. Message from the Pope. Vatican 
   Observatory, 1988. p.M7. 
4 Related textbooks on Science and Religion:
   -Quantum Theology. Diarmuid O’Murchu, M.S.C. (priest and social
     psychologist). Crossroad Publishing Co., New York, 1997.
   -The Mind of God. Paul Davies (physics professor, University of Adelaide, 
    Australia). Simon & Schuster, New York, 1992.
5 Ideas and Opinions, Albert Einstein, Crown Publishers, New York, 1954, 
   p.46. 
6 Hymn of the Universe. Teilhard de Chardin. Harper & Row, New York.
   1965. p.80