Does the universe have a purpose?

This is the first in a series of conversations about the “Big Questions” the John Templeton Foundation
is conducting among leading scientists and scholars.

Unlikely. Lawrence M. Krauss is Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Case Western Reserve University.

Yes. David Gelernter is a professor of computer science at Yale and a National fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Perhaps. Paul Davies is a physicist, cosmologist, and astrobiologist. He is the director of the Beyond Center at Arizona State University.

---

No. Peter William Atkins is a Fellow and professor of chemistry at Lincoln College, Oxford.

Indeed. Nancey Murphy is Professor of Christian Philosophy at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Yes. Owen Gingerich is Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard University and a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

---

Very Likely. Bruno Guiderdoni is an astrophysicist and the Director of the Observatory of Lyon, France.

No. Christian de Duve is a biochemist. He received the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.

Yes. John F. Haught is Senior Fellow, Science & Religion, at the Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University.

---

Not Sure. Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist and the Director of New York City's Hayden Planetarium.

Certainly. Jane Goodall is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a UN Messenger of Peace.

I Hope So. Elie Wiesel is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities and University Professor at Boston

John Templeton Foundation
BIG Questions

The Foundation has sponsored three online exchanges on questions that illuminate our philanthropic mission.

• Does science make belief in God obsolete?
• Will money solve Africa's development problems?
• Does the universe have a purpose?

. Join the conversation»