Mihajlo Pupin and Orthodox legacy

1. Entity type Lemma
2. Original titleMihajlo Pupin i pravoslavni legat
3. Language term Serbian
4. lemma author Stevanovic, Aleksandra
5. lemma category Complementarity
6. Publication date 30-9-2016
7. lemma work Mihajlo Pupin – Man of Christ and Saint Sava
8. lemma manifestations Mihajlo Pupin – Man of Christ and Saint Sava - Belgrade: Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovac, 2000.
9. Keywords
   1. Jovic, B., Savo
10. Keywords Pupin, Mihajlo - “Divine Intelligence”
11. Lemma body

    1. The author tracks the life of one of the most prominent Serbian scientists – Mihajlo Pupin (1854–1935). Despite the fact that Pupin is a scientist of the highest rank, it is not widely known that he was a very religious man who has immensely helped Orthodox Church, both financially and spiritually. This work is found very significant because it explores faith of a great scientist and emphasizes his devotion to religion, showing the paradigm that there may be a solid base both in scientific and religious life.

       The chapter “Pupin on his faith” presents the views of Mihajlo Pupin on Orthodoxy, where it is evident that he belonged to the Orthodox and Saint Sava’s legacy, despite his exceptional scientific career. Whenever science has explored Cosmos, there has always been one principle which connects and brings all the phenomena into harmony and such principle was regarded by Pupin as “Divine Intelligence”. In his view, there are two approaches – to believe in such a principle of divine law and order or in the principle of a mere, blind case. Thereby, Pupin could not accept the idea that the process in Cosmos is the outcome of an accidental case, but of “Divine Intelligence”. Pupin has acknowledged that mathematical proof of God’s existence cannot be given as God is way too complex to allow such evidence, but people have always sensed that their reason and spirit are a part of something bigger. Science strengthens the belief that human soul is something greatest in the whole Cosmos. For Pupin, it is the “crown of God’s creation”.

       Statements common in scientific circles that science takes us farther from God is, in the case of Pupin and many other great scientists, not true. In Pupin’s opinion, it takes us closer to God and in his case, science has only strengthened his faith. Science confirms the value and eternity of the human soul and shows that everything is in the process of development and advancement, and as such, it is in the process of connecting human to his divinity. From Pupin’s point of view, it would have been ridiculous that human soul, after periods of advancement, has been silenced together with the body. In that sense, it is logical that soul lives after the physical death. Although science proves neither evidence nor formulae for the eternity of the soul, it does provide some ideas for further thinking. According to the law of continuity and general scientific understanding of the Universe, it is hence obvious that after the physical death, soul still develops. Therefore, according to Pupin, science and religion complement each other, in their depth and breadth, so that life can be perceived and understood through them. The aim of science is not commodity, but to help people understand religion and the perception of the Creator, and if science does not do this, Pupin said he would not have considered himself to be a successful scientist.

       Since Pupin’s work was, even during his lifetime, regarded as exceptional contribution to science development and he himself a great scholar, this book is important because the author presents and accentuates the correlation of science and religion through the life, work and thoughts and religion as the paragon of his creativity. In his life and work, Pupin has showed the greatness of a scientist for there was Orthodox religion as a solid base. In that sense, it is obvious that science does not hinder religion, but enables man to understand the spiritual significance of religion.