Is science the new religion – or merely its most magnificent cathedral?

Science explains a lot – but in the end, it becomes clear where the journey is headed.

Agenda for Impatient Music Lovers:

(4:00 min) – Concert Begins
Opening of the 2025 Nobel Prize Concert
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Semyon Bychkov

04:03 – Bryce Dessner – Mari
Contemporary Opening Composition
Meditation on Transience, composed during the pandemic years

(Dedicated to Semyon Bychkov, with thematic echoes of Dvořák)

22:41 min – Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy – Violin Concerto in E Minor
Soloist: María Dueñas
Classical Centerpiece of the Evening
Virtuosic, lyrical, youthful – Mendelssohn at his best

– Antonín Dvořák – Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”
Monumental Masterpiece of the Program

A Musical Bridge Between Europe and America
Hymnic, Melancholic, Hopeful

1:42:33 min – Finale / Conclusion
Michael W. Smith – “Awesome God”
Deliberate stylistic break and festive epilogue
From Nobel Prize concert directly to worship
With timpani, trumpets – and uplifted gaze

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Video Summary

“Science is the new religion—of course, it has its own cathedral.”

We begin with a brief glimpse into the high mass of knowledge:

Crystal chandeliers, tails, and fanfares—the Nobel Prize banquet. A professor speaks reverently about tiny RNA fragments with just 22 nucleotides. MicroRNA, gene regulation, evolutionary wonders—applause erupts, even royal hands clap euphorically. The new liturgy is precise, complex, and full of promise.

But this is precisely where we tune out.

Not out of disrespect—but out of curiosity.

Because what follows is the true ritual beyond words: the Nobel Prize Concert. Music takes over where language becomes too technical. María Dueñas lets Mendelssohn speak, Dvořák opens the “New World,” Bryce Dessner evokes transience and pandemic silence. Knowledge is not explained here, but felt.

Before the concert, a brief leap forward in time: 1964 – Jean-Paul Sartre refuses the Nobel Prize. A quiet, almost defiantly human moment. A reminder that even great prizes are not always accepted – and that doubt is part of the history of progress.

Then there is an unusual silence:
Semyon Bychkov speaks. Black and white. No music. No score.

He reminds us that the Nobel Prize has not always been awarded.

And that there were years – many years – without a Peace Prize.

Music as a search for peace, not as decoration. An unexpectedly serious tone amidst the splendor.

The concert fades away. The mood remains contemplative.

The king looks grim. Stockholm seems cold.

And that is precisely why our film does not end there.

Because if science has its cathedrals,
humanity still needs something else:

Hope. Celebration. Exuberance.

So we change the scene –
away from the Nobel Committee,
directly to the Lord.

With a bang. With trumpets.

With a refrain that even a PhD can understand:

"Our God is an awesome God."

Short biography – Michael W. Smith (with a wink)

Michael W. Smith is not your typical "converted early, never did anything else."

Quite the opposite.

🎹 Born in 1957, a trained pianist,
🎤 initially a pop and soft rock songwriter in the 1980s,

✍️ wrote hits – including one for Amy Grant ("El Shaddai," in case anyone suddenly starts humming along).

Then came the change of direction:

Smith realized that his greatest successes lay where pop music and faith were not mutually exclusive, but rather mutually reinforcing.

He became one of the most important artists in contemporary Christian music – but with stadium-sized appeal.

Multiple Grammys, Dove Awards, millions of albums sold, performances for presidents, popes, and youth groups with fog machines.

And the crucial point:

Michael W. Smith doesn't make church music in the sense of "please sit down."

He makes worship with a guaranteed catchy chorus.

🎶 "Awesome God" is like his musical amen with an exclamation mark:

a song that reduces theology to four chords—
and that's precisely why it works.

In short:

Yes, he had a pop past.

Yes, he knows the charts.

And that's exactly why his praise still sounds like he's not afraid of volume.

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Sources:

2025 Nobel Prize Concert, @NobelPrize,

the Nobel Prize’s official YouTube channel, which showcases videos about Nobel Prize-awarded achievements and Nobel laureates.

Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace, while a memorial prize in economic sciences was added in 1968.

Please note that our YouTube comments are moderated. Abusive, promotional and otherwise inappropriate comments will not be posted.
#Nobelprize.org

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1964: Sartre Refuses the Nobel Prize,
Time Pieces, @thistimeinhistory

Who was Jean Paul Sartre? Jean-Paul Sartre was a French philosopher, novelist, and playwright, known for his promotion of 20th-century existentialism—the belief that people are born free to create their own meaning. What is Sartre known for? Sartre was a prolific writer, publishing significant works such as Nausea, Being and Nothingness, and Existentialism and Humanism. His beliefs about human existence eventually led him to political activism, where he championed anti-colonialism and other left-wing causes. What was Jean-Paul Sartre's relationship with Simone de Beauvoir? In 1929, Sartre began a 51-year relationship with the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir—known for the classic work of feminist philosophy, The Second Sex. The couple were intimate and intellectual companions but never married. Why did Sartre decline the Nobel Prize in Literature? In 1964, Sartre declined the Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded to him for his influential writings on "Freedom and the Search for Truth." He wrote in a statement: "The writer must... refuse to be transformed into an institution, even under the most honorable circumstances." What did Sartre mean by "Man is condemned to be free"? During his famous lecture "Existentialism and Humanism," which laid out the main points of his seminal book Being and Nothingness, Sartre said: "Man is condemned to be free." This expression reflects Sartre's conviction that all people are free to define the meaning and significance of the world around them, as well as the purpose of their own lives. This great privilege comes with a great burden: to create meaning in a world without answers.

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AWESOME GOD (Worship Forever 2021) - Michael W. Smith

Michael W. Smith,
@michaelwsmithTV

#michaelwsmith
AWESOME GOD from Michael W. Smith's new album, WORSHIP FOREVER!
Save to your library here: #slinky.to/WorshipForeverLive
Description
Welcome to the official YouTube channel of Michael W. Smith!

His new song “Kingdom Come” is out now. Michael is currently on his Fall Tour, followed by the Christmas Together Tour, and then the Every Christmas Tour this holiday season.

Visit michaelwsmith.com for tickets and more information.