By Msgana Reda —
As an undergraduate headed into the hard science of physics, Tom Rudelius thought Christianity was the stuff of the intellectually weak.
“I had this idea of Christians as being narrow-minded, judgmental, weirdos,” he says now that he’s a theoretical physicist specializing in string theory, quantum field theory and early universe cosmology.
But after his twin brother, Steve, converted, Tom relented and agreed to read the New Testament, after which he viewed Christianity as “plausible.”
The next step of faith was a polygraph test when he applied for the National Security Agency. He failed the test because he got nervous; he realized he was lying when he was saying he was a good person; the concepts of sin from the Bible had percolated through his consciousness and imbued him with truth to the point that he failed the lie detector test.
No worries, though. He’s an assistant professor at Department of Mathematical Sciences at Durham University in England since fall 2023.
He earned a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University (2017) and bachelor’s degrees in mathematics, physics, and statistical science from Cornell University, followed by postdoctoral research at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and the University of California, Berkeley.
Eventually, he took the step of faith and now is a prominent speaker on the intersection of science and faith, having converted from skepticism to Christianity while an undergraduate at Cornell, a journey he details in his 2023 book, Chasing Proof, Finding Faith.
He frequently addresses topics such as the compatibility of Christianity with scientific inquiry, the nature of miracles, and the weak gravity conjecture, while also serving on the board of the Mamelodi Initiative, a tutoring organization in South Africa.
