Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Kudryavtsev: “Take your hands off my faith!”

– Alexander Mikhailovich, why did you suddenly decide to participate in the theological conference? You are not a theologian, but a scientist.

– On the one hand, of course, I am a scientist, and on the other, an Orthodox Christian. Here a very serious question is raised: can an Orthodox Christian be a scientist and vice versa?

– Why not? General Director of the Kola Science Center Academician Sergei Krivovichev is a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, a candidate of theology. And in general, a huge number of scientists were and remain believers.

“That’s right—and they get kicked for it.” For some reason, the idea has settled in the minds of the public that a believer cannot engage in science, and if a scientist is a believer, he is necessarily an obscurantist. I don’t see any contradictions here. Faith does not in the least interfere with my scientific activity.

I must say that this is the third time I speak at such a conference “Man – the Universe – the search for harmony”. Previously, there were no exceptions. This time, for some reason, my report caused a wide resonance – not even the report itself, but its distorted interpretation, which very quickly spread through various media outlets. None of them bothered to ask the source, that is, me, how everything really happened – you are the first.

Why are you invited to speak at this conference?

– I am invited there because the Church also wants to understand how different strata of society, including scientists, relate to various social phenomena of our time. They have many questions to which they want answers, in particular, from scientists. Since this is a theological conference, the terminology that I used at it was appropriate. I would never use such terms at a scientific conference.

– What exactly are we talking about?

– For example, I am accused of saying that sin affects the genome. A theologian would say that the sin of drunkenness affects posterity. At a scientific conference, this would be a report on the genotoxic effects of ethanol, and no one could object to me, because there are dozens of reviews and articles on this subject.

– But you also spoke about original sin?

– In our everyday understanding, original sin is that Adam sinned with Eve or ate an apple without permission. For the theologian, this is the falling away of man from God, as a result of which all nature falls into decay. What is smoldering? This is the state when order spontaneously turns into chaos.

If I spoke about this in terms of a scientific conference, I would say about the influence of entropic processes on the genome. Someone may object to me: but the genome is also damaged by other factors – for example, radiation and mutagens.

This is true, but there are entropy processes associated with the fact that matter always tends to energy dissipation – to chaos. If I said so at a scientific conference, I don’t think that someone would accuse me of obscurantism. Scientific books have been written on this subject, for example, Professor of Cornell University, Dr. John Sanford “Genetic Entropy and the Mystery of the Genome”.

But when we listen to what is intended for theologians and translate it into our philistine language, as a rule, without understanding what is being said, such incidents arise.

– You said that our ancestors lived 900 years. Do you really think so?

– I said only that it follows from the biblical story. In this case, I, as a scientist, turn to analysis and can say that I do not have such facts. I do not know how many years the forefathers lived, I can only state, as indicated in the Holy Scriptures. Very specific dates are indicated there, with the help of which you can create a graph of how long they lived then and now. Once upon a time, I made such a schedule myself. I included it in my report.

– What is this schedule?

“This graph shows very clearly the correlation of lifespan with antediluvian times. It turns out that then they lived much longer, and in the post-Flood period we see a sharp decrease in life expectancy. In theology, the flood is associated with the general fall of mankind. In this case, I argue as a theologian, although I am not one. But my words were pulled out of context and attributed to me what I did not say. Honestly, I did not expect such a reaction from the general public. On the contrary, he expected it from theologians, since he expressed an idea that was very controversial for them.

– Which one?

This was the main part of my report. As a scientist, I stated that the Earth is overcrowded, there is nothing to feed people, and at the same time we have the commandment of God, which all theologians honor: be fruitful and multiply.

We see rapid population growth: in the last four months, we have added 70 million people on the globe. What’s next? Are we ready for this? As a biologist, I understand that things that are terrible from an ecological point of view are happening in the biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. I cite data from open sources on the state of water and air. In general, we are facing global problems.

Western civilization has a very controversial concept of the “golden billion” – now, however, they are already talking about five hundred million. This is also a red flag for many people. We understand the inhuman nature of this project. But we don’t know what to do with it.

– You are also credited with the statement that our distant ancestors were not subject to harmful mutations. This is true?

“I didn’t say anything of the sort. I cited absolutely scientific data on how much the human genome is now affected. This is the data of medical genetics, with which no one can argue.

The reasons can be very diverse, and I recognize all these factors. But I wanted to emphasize the pernicious influence of so-called bad habits – what theologians call sin. They also affect the genome. If a mutation occurs in your body, in your gametes, it will be passed on to your offspring, and nothing can be done about it. The conclusion is simple – if you want to have healthy offspring, do not get into bad habits, do not fall into sin.

– On the one hand, you are urged “not to fall into sin”, on the other hand, you are talking about the overpopulation of the planet. But if we lead a healthy lifestyle, we will become even more. Is there a contradiction here?

– There is a contradiction, and how to be, I do not know. I don’t offer ready-made recipes, I just point out problems, considering them important. This encourages discussion, the search for truth, which, as you know, is born in a dispute. Only this dispute should be constructive, and not at all the one that arose as a result of distorting my words.

– Do I understand correctly that both scientists and priests took up arms against you?

No, neither one nor the other showed aggression. There were isolated attacks that did not have any specifics, but contained a large number of distortions. I want to state that I voiced a personal point of view. It is in no way the position of the RAS, nor the position of the Church. All this does not affect the work of the Institute of Genetics.

In general, in this story, I was struck by the level of public rejection of the fact that a scientist can be an Orthodox person. Yes, I am a scientist and I know that there is no place for God in the scientific picture of the world, but this does not prevent me from doing scientific research and believing in Him.

If I speak at scientific conferences and write articles in scientific journals, you will not find such reasoning there. But if I come to a theological conference and speak there, take your hands off my faith. She doesn’t concern you. It has nothing to do with my profession. My faith is my right, which I exercise in accordance with the laws of my country and my conscience.