Schrödinger’s Cat, Quantum Theory, and Christianity

Debra Hodges
6 days ago
4 min read

A cat sits in a glass box with glowing blue and orange swirls. Nearby is a vintage device with a radioactive symbol. Mystical ambiance. — By Author

Introduction

Those unfamiliar with physicist Erwin Schrödinger’s famous 1935 thought experiment, Schrödinger’s Cat, may be wondering, “What in the world is the above image showing? Somebody please let that poor cat out of that box before it suffocates!” As a cat lover, I naturally felt sorry for the cat in this image, too, until I realized it was only a story meant to highlight the strangeness of modern physics.

Schrödinger’s thought experiment wasn’t an actual experiment. [1] He used the illustration to demonstrate how ridiculous it is to apply the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum-mechanical superposition (something existing in two states simultaneously) to everyday objects. The following describes how he designed his illustration.

He envisioned a cat placed in a sealed box with a radioactive atom, a Geiger counter, and poison gas. If the atom decays, the cat dies; if it does not, the cat lives. According to quantum mechanics, until the box is opened and observed, the cat, like the atom, exists in a superposition, meaning it is both alive and dead at the same time.

Schrödinger was not trying to prove that reality is ambiguous. He was trying to say that our theories about reality may be incomplete. I heartily agree with Steve Turgeon’s comments on this thought experiment.

It’s ironic how Schrödinger is celebrated as a pioneer of quantum mechanics, when his most famous thought experiment was actually a critique of its absurdity. The cat wasn’t meant to illustrate a quantum mystery — it was meant to expose how ridiculous it is to treat superpositions as literal. He didn’t glorify the weirdness; he challenged it. Sometimes the sharpest contributions come from those who aren’t convinced by the “theory” at all. [2]

How this illustration relates to Christianity

One interpretation of Schrödinger’s cat is that reality doesn’t exist until it is observed. In this view, consciousness, or observation itself, is what creates truth. The “Relativists” love this idea. Christianity, however, firmly rejects this idea, holding that observation itself does not create reality. Scripture presents God as the ultimate observer who created the universe, which exists and operates independently of human awareness.

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17, NIV)

Reality, like truth, exists whether we acknowledge it or not. We know that the theoretical cat in this illustration is either alive or dead, regardless of who observes it. Christian theology insists that God, not human observers, forms the basis of reality.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. (Hebrews 4:13, NIV)

According to God’s Word, reality is always fully known, truth is never ambiguous or in superposition (in two states at once), and creation is sustained moment by moment. What may seem uncertain to us is never uncertain to God.

Modern culture loves quantum mechanics

Humanists in our modern culture often borrow quantum language (such as the term superposition) to justify their belief in moral relativism. They assume that the uncertainty of subatomic particles’ states and the observer issue justify the belief that truth is fluid, undefined, or depends on the situation or the individual’s perspective.

Christianity rejects this ambiguity and the idea that both good and evil can be true at the same time. Scripture shows that Truth is not invented, it is not created by group consensus or individual observation, it is discovered.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. (Isaiah 5:20, NIV)

Many people today believe that faith is believing in something that isn’t true, and that people who live by it ignore reality. Christianity teaches the opposite, treating faith as something concrete and insisting that it doesn’t deny unseen reality; it trusts that unseen reality is real, ordered, and purposeful.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1, NIV)

Just as scientists trust that invisible particles exist based on scientific evidence, Christian’s trust God based on revelation, history, and reason.

We all want clarity

Schrödinger’s cat illustration highlights humanity’s discomfort with ambiguity. The unresolved states in the story unsettle us because we want clarity and certainty. Christianity grappled with the uncertainty principle as well. At the cross, death seemed victorious. At the resurrection, God resolved the deepest uncertainty of all: Is there life after death, or is death final? He didn’t leave that question in superposition but proclaimed that life wins!

Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. (Luke 24:5–6, ESV)

Conclusion

Christianity teaches that God and truth are knowable, even as Schrödinger’s cat illustrates the absurdity of applying the quantum principle of superposition to the state of a cat’s life.

The universe is understandable because it was created by the One who created it and who wanted us to understand it. Truth is not waiting for us to define it. It is defined by and sustained by God, and that fact makes me and my cat O’Malley very happy.