Scientific Proof

First of all, we must define scientific proof. According to modern science, scientific proof does not mean that there can be any degree of absolute certainty about whatever is to be proved. This kind of undeniable certainty is not universally possible. According to the modern scientific stand, when we say that something has been scientifically proved, this statement only means that its probability has been established. In modern science, those concepts presented as established facts are generally accepted only because their probability has been established, rather than that there has been any definite knowledge of them acquired as a result of observing them. An example of this nature is the acceptance of the structure of the atom.

We can, with confidence, apply this same scientific method to belief in the world Hereafter. Indeed, employing any other method would not in principle be appropriate. From the scientific viewpoint, we cannot refuse to apply to the case of the world Hereafter a method which we hold valid in other scientific matters. As we know, in this realm, there are three stages of the scientific method—hypothesis, observation and verification.

If we apply this three-point formula to the world Hereafter, we can certainly arrive at an understanding of its probability. And as explained above, certainty is only another name for this probability.

Out of all God’s creatures, man, who is unlike any of His other creatures, is the one who has the greatest need of certainty, for he is exceptional in that the concept of ‘tomorrow’ is engrained in him. He must know what lies ahead of him. No other created entity, whether animate or inanimate, is possessed of such a concept. It is clear that the destination of all creatures, save man, is simply that of ‘today’, while man’s destination pertains to ‘tomorrow’.