Singularities And Infinity
I
have run into a "science" word: "singularity", which is new
to me and which may help shed light on the mysteries of our beginnings.
The
clearest definitions I have found are these:
• A singularity is an event without a beginning
and therefore outside the laws of physics, chemistry and thermodynamics; a
supernatural event.
• Singularity - a geometric point with no
dimensions where the laws of physics break down. It is a theoretical point of
zero volume and infinite density.
• Singularity - a point where all parallel
lines meet.
Scientists tend to not like singularities because they cannot be explained. What they call the "Big Bang" is a singularity. Scientists talk as though the word, singularity, on its own, fills the gaps in their explanations of where the Universe and all life come from.
I'm glad science does recognise that there is a beginning, that there was something before time, matter, galaxies, supernovas, our Sun and our lovely "blue planet" came to be. A time before life and flowers, strawberries, dogs, eagles and us. Logic, (and our heart), tell us that these all had to come from somewhere, and must be for a purpose.
When I ponder "singularity" I see God. Singularities have to do with the infinite, so from that perspective must be theoretical. God is the only infinite thing we know. This may seem strange to say, because in the world of science the concept of infinity is often present. But things are not infinite, infinity is just a necessary theory and a part of mathematics. Even the smallest atomic particle can be measured so is not infinitely small. If we travel to the outer edge of the universe there will be a "last" or furthest galaxy, so not an infinite distance.
The early scientists were Christian. They saw their discoveries as showing the glory, creativity, order, and kindness of God in His provision for us, and they delighted to continue to learn more, and better understand their Creator. Today many scientists try to persuade us that there is an impassable divide between faith and science, but this is not true. Scientists need faith too, to believe what they think they have found. We have faith because we are "certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1); we are assured that we "will see God" (Matthew 5:8).
God Is
All
God's attributes are without end, without limit. Infinite:
•
His love is boundless, (happily,
Christians know this to be true; even in trouble we know God's great love (John
16:33)).
•
His omnipotence is without limit,
(though His power is always exactly
what is needed).
•
Omniscience is what we call God's
understanding of everything.
•
God will even forgive sins seventy times
seven times and that is a Bible
number without end, infinite.
We know our Father God to be real and present with influence, purpose and power, all of which come from His great and infinite love. God can set things "as far as the East is from the West" (Psalm 103:12), a distance which cannot be measured. Infinity?
Everything else is created.
Time began. We Christians know this as the "beginning" in our Bible (Genesis 1:1, and John 1:1). Time is not infinite, though eternity is. Eternity belongs to God. Every other use of "infinity" can only be symbolic, hypothetical or imaginary.
Science has never come close to explaining where all the Universe’s energy and its mass, (physical matter), came from; it has no reasonable, scientifically proven explanation at all for where life comes from. (Attempts to demonstrate the "origins of life" are seen as empty by serious molecular biologists (YouTube: "James Tour: The Mystery of the Origin of Life")). On top of all this lack, the much heralded "Scientific Method" rules out any possibility of there being a supernatural reality, a spiritual world, where miracles occur; (yet "supernatural" is included in definitions of "singularity"!)
Our Bibles tell us that ours is a world where, besides the Kingdom of God, there are "rulers, authorities, cosmic powers", and "spiritual forces" (Ephesians 6:12). Can you imagine living without the possibility of God and miracles in your life? In your family? In our world?
When we think of God as being infinite, beyond measure, then we can see that it would be no trouble for Him to create a big Universe, no more trouble than creating a small one, or just a "garden in Eden" .. (Genesis 2:15).
I know from Scripture, from hundreds, (probably thousands), of testimonies I have heard, from studying history, science and logic, and from many of my own experiences, that God can do anything; I can think of nothing that could limit Him from "creat[ing] the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1) in a heartbeat.
And all this Creation was put in place on God's spoken word. A one-time event, a singularity.
"God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:4; 10; 12; 18; 21; 25; 31).
Let us remember that God also created the intangibles that are so vital to life: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23). These "fruits of the Spirit" are known to every person who ever lived. Let us not forget that these words are God's, that it was God who brought these concepts, and their reality, to the Universe and to us.
The atheist world of accidental creation of life, and purposeless incremental development through countless generations of evolution and partial-development, (including much doomed-to-failure-partial-development), is claimed to have brought survival and breeding success of the fittest. There is no room there for empathy or compassion or loyalty or laughter, all gifts of God to us. Even whales, horses and baby lions love to play.
And
how could gender form, you know, so that species could breed and reproduce
themselves? How could that very complicated multi-faceted both-male-and-female
process develop over countless accidental and purposeless generations? Now
there is a question!
Mark Twain said: "there is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such trifling investments of fact". Quoted by Michael Crichton in "State Of Fear", Harper Collins, 2004. Just as true today as in Mr. Twain's lifetime.
A New Heaven And A New Earth
And it will be just as easy for God to roll up the Universe, when He is ready, "like a garment" (Hebrews 1:12), and create the "new Heaven and the new Earth" (Revelation 21:1) that He already has planned. It does not sound as though it will take millions or billions of years for God to dismantle what He created, or to establish our new home; a heaven to last for eternity .. another singularity from infinity and for infinity.
Those "beginning" days of creation were unique, never to be repeated. The Bible tells the creation story, and it fits with what we see of the world. From the infinity of eternity, the infinite God created. As my lovely theology teacher often says, "it is all for His Son and for His glory!"
A singular "God" event, from love, for love, never to be repeated. Awesome!
Thank you Jesus.
Favourite Scriptures
"And, 'You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end'" (Hebrews 1:10-12).
"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens" (Psalm 8:1).
"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends" (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a).
"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands" (Isaiah 55:10-12).
Amen.
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