If it is not about Jesus, it’s not about anything
(Motto of the
Fountain of Life)
SPS
(Sermon Purpose Statement):
1) Examine the meaning of “nothing.”
2) Examine its application to the creation process. 3) Have fun with biblical quantum speculation.
1) Examine the meaning of “nothing.”
2) Examine its application to the creation process. 3) Have fun with biblical quantum speculation.
Guiding
Principle: “For what would it
profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the
philosophers, (Let’s include all the knowledge of quantum theory) if we live
without grace and the love of God?”
Thomas a’ Kempis
Motto: All for the glory
of Christ, Jesus.
WARNING: Speculations into anything other than
Jesus can be seductive and become an idol.
In relation to salvation is this question about the when and how of
creation a need to know, a nice to know, or want to know issue? The danger is when the want to know becomes
an uncontrollable idol; when we elevate a teaching or a doctrine or even a
godly attribute such as love or freedom above Jesus we create an idol in
opposition to Him.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christopher
Hitchens and Richard Dawkins are two powerful exponents of atheism. The recently departed Mr. Hitchens (Dec. 15th,
2011) proposed a rhetorical argument against teleology. That is the argument that finding design in
the universe is a proof of a designer. The Greek philosophers posed the teleological
question this way, “What is the purpose of something?” Study the design and you determine the
purpose. And there is also an argument from
astrophysics.
Hitchens accurately states that the Big
Bang (The creation of the universe) is speeding up. In other words the universe is expanding at
an ever increasing rate. It is not
slowing down. He says, “But we can see
the end of it coming. And while we wait
for that we can see the galaxy of Andromeda moving nearer to the collision that
is coming with us.” Hitchens focuses on
this inevitable cataclysm and posits; “At the macro level is this is the object
of a designer?” The unspoken question is
what kind of sentient loving designer intentionally designs inevitable
destruction into the mechanism. He
continues, “At the micro level 99.8% of all created species are already
extinct.” Again the implied question
is: Is this the object of an
all-powerful loving designer? His
conclusion is, No, it is not the action of a designer at all because there is
no designer, or it is the action of a really bad designer who therefore can’t
be Godlike. He rhetorically asks, “Why
ask ‘Why is there something rather than nothing?’ when you can see the
nothingness coming?” This rhetorical
argument is not a proof of atheism however clever and interesting it may be.
Astrophysics now maintains that the
whole universe, even multiverses, came from nothing. This is based on the understanding of dark
matter in the universe. Theoretical mathematical
models and astrological and laboratory observations indicate that dark matter
must exist in order to hold the universe together. Dark matter exists at the sub atomic level
and operates outside the laws of physics.
Mathematical models have been devised to explain operation at this
level: quantum theory, string theory and particle theory for example. These are theories of math, not laws of
math. The argument is that dark matter
exists in empty space, therefore it exists in nothing. There are artist models of an atom showing
evidence of dark matter appearing and disappearing in the empty spaces of the
atom. The Higgs Boson particle (A Higgs boson of mass ~125 GeV) has been tentatively
confirmed by CERN on 14 March 2013 although unclear as yet which model the
particle best supports or whether multiple Higgs bosons exist. It would
explain why some
fundamental particles have mass when our
current physical understanding should require them to be massless. In other words, interaction with and in the
Higgs Field seems to be the natural mechanism, not a supernatural or created one,
whereby mass is assigned to particles; whereby matter appears out of nothing. Since its source is nothing, it is assumed
that it is not created. These massless
particles exist within the fabric of empty space and in the empty spaces within
the atom. It is proposed that they exist
therefore in nothing and come to being from nothing.
With that premise, by definition, purposeful design cannot occur
because design reflects natural processes which had their ultimate origin in
nothing. Because they are natural
processes there is no conscious purpose behind them. All design was by chance, making us accidents
of nature rather than the focus of nature.
Professor Richard Dawkins, in his book, “The God Delusion” also touches
upon this subject. He calls the position
of the earth in the universe the “Goldilocks Zone.” Life exists in this Zone. His point is that since we are here, we
exist. Our very existence confirms that the
process exists, but purposeful design is only an illusion because the process
evolved it was not created. He proposes
that design reflects natural processes already extant. He opposes the position that natural
processes were designed to produce us. There
was no purpose or planned end result to the evolving design; design just reflected
evolving chemical events and life just happened by accident. Therefore the process created the design and
not that a designer created the processes.
This is the basic philosophical question, does form follow function or
does function follow form?
The Importance of Being Nobody
(If everyone is somebody, no one’s
anybody: Gilbert and Sullivan)
Nothing is such an interesting
word. We can use it like Ulysses used "no
one". He told Cyclops that his name was
“No One.” That gives a positive identity
to a real entity. When the gods asked
Cyclops who harmed him, he said “No one did this to me,” indicating
"nobody". So when I say nothing can exist
do I mean that there is nothing that can exist, or do I mean nothing does
exist; but if it exists it has some being and if it has some being it is
something not nothing. That confusion
complicates any discussion of creation.
This next point is important. The terms “nothing,” “space” and even “empty
space” are entirely different concepts. Well-reasoned
and mathematical argument indicates that something can come from empty
space. Models show the dark matter and
dark forces popping in and out of the matrix of the space inside an atom. Then this is loosely described as activity in
nothing and therefore that something can come from nothing. However, philosophically if something exists
in empty space; that means that empty space is not empty nor is it nothing. It is something. It is the medium for containing the dark
matter.
Our minds allow us to make sense of the
impossible and construct a nonexistent condition that gives clarity to certain
proposals. For example: Imagine the time 1 hour or 1 billion years
before time existed; prior to the big bang.
What was there? Imagine being
located on an observation station located in infinity, some distance away from
a point, which did not yet exist and which was in time to become the point of singularity. Imaging observing the big bang and watching
it approach your station. Imagine
retreating from the approaching boundary while still being located in infinity
outside of time and watching time approach and seeing space being created
behind the boundary as it passes through the infinity you just vacated. You do not age because you are still outside
of time but you are watching time approach toward you and watching the time
pass by the former point of singularity giving it and its parts age. The concepts presented are easy to visualize and
it sounds real, BUT none of it takes place in reality. It is created by language and
imagination to accommodate our limited understanding. This example takes our minds outside of the
known universe and allows us to stand outside the boundary of time and space while
still using our finite abilities to apprehend it. The concept of “nothing” has similar
difficulties of meaning, understanding and comprehension and apprehension. Perhaps the concept of quantum does too.
Perhaps the philosopher was nearly
correct when he said that “Nothing is that which rocks dream of.” According to this definition “nothing” is
certainly not space. “Nothing” by
definition cannot be defined as "anything" because it is 'nothing". Whenever we say that “nothing is…;” we assign
meaning to it and make it something.
Even to say that “I’m doing nothing” or that “nothing is nothing”* is
incorrect because to give it meaning is to make it something, which makes it
not "nothing". It sounds convoluted. Perhaps “Nothing” is properly a transcendent
concept which is not understood by humans but nonetheless, to say that “nothing
is nothing” is a workable construct giving useful meaning to other finite or
perhaps even infinite concepts. Space is
something therefore it is incorrect to say that nothing is space. Space is emptiness, space is a lack of
matter; space is the location of the universe and space is a medium containing
dark matter and dark energy. Each of
those definitions make space "something", not "nothing". God created ex-nihilo. That is creation out of "nothing" as opposed to
creations from existing stuff or creation from within a point of singularity
located in an already existing eternal medium called space.
[*NOTE: My computer spell check red-lined the term,
“nothing is nothing.” It suggested that
the phrasing should be “nothing is anything.”
The computer corrected my statement and suggested an impossibility as a
solution. That was interesting. (AI - O; Man - 1)]
FUN WITH SPECULATION
Astrophysicist Lawrence Krauss said that
“In quantum gravity there is no preexisting free space, it is just
created.” That is a very easy sentence
to understand. What does it mean? It seems that Krauss is saying that “nothing”
can exist before space exists; and by usage they, "nothing" and space, must be
different entities. Despite the infinity
of space, space seems to have had a finite time for its creation. And the implication is that quantum gravity
is always there, even if there is no space. What
is this gravity? Did it come from
itself? Is it eternal? How?
The sentence now seems hard to understand. Perhaps the mathematical theoretical models
do not translate into reality. I am just
making an observation here, not making an argument, not criticizing the math;
just asking what the words mean that explain the math. Are they language of accommodation? If yes, do they reflect reality or just a
concept of reality? Just asking!
What mechanism did God use to create the
universe? It was His voice, His word as
He spoke it into existence. But
consider, does God have a voice box to produce sound. Was there air to produce vibrations to
produce sound? Of course not. God’s voice in this passage is metaphorical
and anthropological. It is the language
of accommodation allowing the finite to comprehend the infinite. What then was the mechanism used to create
the universe? Did God create and use the
quantum?
Consider Jesus appearing to the Apostles
after the resurrection. The doors were
closed and Jesus appeared. We are
conditioned to regard the doors as the solid reality, and Jesus’ resurrected
spirit body as ethereal, not real in a physical sense; and that He passed
through the door like a vapor. Perhaps
Spirit is the solid reality and the door only the imitation of reality and was
like a hologram to Jesus. In any event,
scripture indicates that the atomic structure of Jesus’ body changed at several
levels.
[NOTE: Many will ask is this story also language of
accommodation? The answer is no. Its literary genre is historical, not poetic,
not prophetic and not apocalyptic. It is
written from first person eye witness accounts.
The genre itself states that the several authors’ intention was to
convey fact not symbolism.]
Wherever God is; there is something and
that is His Spirit. Spirit is real. Therefore since God is everywhere, in
absolute terms “nothing” does not exist.
His Spirit touches, surrounds and permeates everything. Following His spoken word bringing all into
existence, could His initial touch itself be a secondary creation event
interacting with newly created material producing the quantum world as a
result? Just as hot steel is tempered
when placed into water, perhaps the newly created matter was tempered when in
contact with the Spirit of God. We don’t
know how the actual confluence of spirit with matter effects physical things. Perhaps it is the mechanism that gives new
life or rebirth to the flesh. Perhaps it
is the prime mover in the quantum experience.
Please remember this is our fun with
speculation, not selling my doctrine. It
is not fiery intellect and searing logic, it is just fun. There is no need for the religious or the
seculars to take up arms or march against Masontown. Let us consider as an unproven assumption or
theory that space itself was created before the beginning of the beginning to
host the point of singularity, which became the big bang. This theory does no violence to Genesis in
respect to maintaining God as creator. Nor
can I see it doing any violence to quantum theories since the final results and
mechanisms are the same. Consider that
there was a time when space was not. Of
course, that sentence is meaningless yet we intuitively understand the concept
being presented and it seems to be in line with quantum theory. Yes, let us consider a time when space was
not. In other words, let us consider a
time before Genesis 1:1 when there was nothing, not even space.
From this linear time sequence of 5 events:
1)
of being before nothing, being before there is a quantum gravity, before there
is a Higgs Field;
2) of being before there is space to contain a Higgs Field;
3)
creating space concurrent with Higgs Field;
4) creating matter to fill space
and energy to run it;
5) creating dark matter and dark energy to fill the Higgs
Field and quantum gravity to run it; it follows that the validity of the
observation that something cannot come from nothing, and the validity of the
question, “Why is there something instead of nothing?” is still relevant.
This time sequence also makes relevant the
questions: Why is there dark energy instead of nothing? Why are there Higgs Boson particles instead
of nothing? They are relevant because
“nothing” is not space and it is space where these phenomena exist. They do not exist in nothing, nor do they
come from “nothing.” It may be
scientifically more correct to say non-scientifically that they seem to appear
from nowhere.
Some assume that space is eternal and
that it existed with the same properties as it has now and it possessed them
prior to the big bang. With that
assumption in hand, many claim that the mechanism of space filled with dark
matter will always tend to produce matter.
Hence, something is produced out of nothing. That is still false. Something is produced from a mechanism in
empty space, something is not produced from nothing.
God is transcendent. God dwells (again, God dwelling is language
of accommodation for a finite creature to relate to an infinite one) beyond the
universe, and beyond space, beyond time, beyond quantum gravity. Dwelling beyond space and time is a difficult
concept. That would make God infinitely
powerful. That is a possibility that Dawkins
believes to be virtually impossible statistically. Because the universe in which we live is
already nearly infinitely improbable, a god who could make and control it would
have to be again infinitely more infinitely* improbable than that which He created,
making the probability for His existence virtually Zero.
*[NOTE: ∞ x ∞ = ∞.
That is a workable mathematical expression, but does it have any meaning
in finite reality? How close can
anything come to be nearly infinite without being infinite? Professor David
Lane Craig points out that math has certain rules and conventions to
prevent contradictions from occurring.
In transfinite arithmetic the inverse of operations of subtraction and
division are prohibited because they lead to contradictions.]
And here is a great mystery, which
science cannot understand, nor indeed has the language to even form an opinion: God is also imminent. He dwells with us, we finite creature. And it is this intentional imminence of God with
us that reveals knowledge which science can never discover. And that is why Jesus came down to us, to
reveal the Father. (See the article
“Genesis, What Do You Think” in the April 2013 drop down box on this page.)
Brethren,
I am an ordained minister and a preacher
of the Word of God. If I have ever said
anything under the influence and power of the Holy Spirit this is it: Look to Jesus as the author and
finisher of your faith and all these other things will sort themselves out. Resist the lure of endless genealogies and
speculations. Just have fun with them.
May the love and grace of God our Father
of His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, be with you all.
Rev. George Relic, Assistant Pastor
Fountain of Life Church
2021 Old National Pike
Washington, Pa 15301
A congregation of Grace Communion International
PS: I know that Senior Pastor
Crouch would want me encourage you to go to church this week. So go, and feel free to drop us a line. God bless!
No comments:
Post a Comment