A similar example comes from the early development of GR. Initially Einstein actually changed the field equations to allow for a universe that did not change in time by adding to it the famous ‘cosmological constant’ Λ, but withdrew it after Hubble’s discovery of the expansion of the universe, calling it his "greatest blunder". Misner, Kip S. Thorne and John Archibald Wheeler, Gravitation, 409-11. I think it is another illuminating example of the way philosophical and theological concepts can influence the development of scientific theories. See Robert John Russell, "Did God Create Our Universe? Theological Reflections on Big Bang, Inflation and Quantum Cosmologies," in Cosmic Questions Conference Proceedings, ed. Jim Miller (American Association for the Advancement of Science, to be published, 1999).