by Aaron Davis
Within days Benyamin became deathly ill himself and within a week’s time, the family not only lost a patriarch but also a son.
In a hypothetical scenario like this, I can hear a grieving mother screaming out to God about how “good” her son was and how unfair it was that God would take his life simply because he failed to obey a stupid cleansing ritual. As is human nature, the rule would become the focus, and for no other reason than ignorance, Benyamin’s family and all who knew him would assume that Benyamin was a tragic victim of a failure to adhere to God’s law regarding the dead, and God killed him! But, from a twenty-first-century perspective, we know it wasn’t the law, or God, that killed young Benyamin, but the microorganisms that entered his body when he kissed his grandfather.
Once we understand the totality of the circumstances, what could never make sense to an ancient Hebrew mother makes perfect sense to us today as we realize that the rule was never about a rule for the sake of rules but for the sake of preservation and protection from man’s own ignorance. Microorganisms have always been a part of the scenario; it’s just that man’s understanding of them was not.
Until history and science revealed the advancements of the microscope, allowing us to actually see life at a cellular level, the understanding of the complexities of cells, bacteria, and microorganisms would have likely been beyond the realistic capacity of man’s ability to process this information properly and within the scales of balance.
So, in this case, there was a significant divide between what was instructed and what was understood in the overall complexity paradigm of the law of cleansing and understanding why the law was even necessary.
In this scenario, I also see the parallel in the book of Revelations written by the Prophet John, in which we see accounts of a vision that he had of the future. This book is a written depiction of what he saw concerning the end-time and he tried to explain it through the eyes of someone born 2,000 years ago.
Rev. 9:7, 9–10 (NASB)
The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle . . . They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. They had tails like scorpions, and stung . . .
For thousands of years and until the advancements of the twentieth century with helicopters, planes, tanks, and other war machines, what John saw in his vision could only have been defined and explained in terms that he, the author of the text, could relate to with giant locusts, scorpions, and other mythological creatures like dragons. For nearly 2,000 years, theologians and laypeople alike have speculated from whence these beasts and unnatural freaks of nature would originate. But knowing what we know today, we can look at this text and now elaborate more clearly upon what was traditionally misunderstood until the last century.
So, as I ponder questions like, “Is it possible?” one of the things I ask myself is: “Is it possible that some of what we do not completely understand today about God could be directly linked to the failure to consider something that has either not previously been revealed, or that possibly time and progress have not reached the point to where we can actually make sense of the information within the realm of absolute understanding?”
BACK TO THE FIG TREE
So in the case of the fig tree that Jesus cursed, I wonder if there is an unknown law at the root of this example that perhaps has always been in existence between the spiritual and physical realms, but perhaps never completely understood, and which remains untapped in its potential.
After all, when Jesus shared this concept with His disciples, this was not the first occurrence of this principle being displayed or conveyed in the Bible (Pay particular attention to verse 28).
Job 22:25–29 (NKJV)
Yes, the Almighty will be your gold
And your precious silver;
For then you will have your delight in the Almighty,
And lift up your face to God.
You will make your prayer to Him,
He will hear you,
And you will pay your vows.
28 You will also declare a thing,
And it will be established for you;
So light will shine on your ways.
When they cast you down, and you say, ‘Exaltation will come!’
Then He will save the humble person.
According to theologians, the book of Job is the oldest known documented text in the Bible, not chronologically but physically. Yet, here in the oldest known canonical text in existence today, we see the same principle taught as Jesus conveyed in Mark 11 and was also apparently even exemplified by God himself in the beginning of physical time.
If you read in Genesis 1, you will see that the physical universe was spoken into being by God. Interesting to me is the fact that Jesus models the same apparent principle to His disciples that was conveyed to Job and also seemingly exhibited in the creation of the universe from a biblical standpoint. He spoke, and the tree obeyed. It seems to me, at least theoretically, that the Bible, on multiple occasions, points to a law in existence whose conductor appears to be a combination of faith, or belief, along with spoken words, declaration, or release of sound.
LOCALITY DEFINED BY NON-LOCALITY
In layman’s terms, our measurable physical universe consists within the confines of what science would term locality, and an object existing in this definable locality is directly influenced by its surroundings.
As in Chapter 6, when we talked about the theoretical fifth dimension of Quantum Physics, the term non-locality has been introduced to express the location or “non-location” of existance or a realm (possibly additional physical dimensions) outside of our previously understood and defined physical reality.
A 1998 article in the New Scientist magazine titled, “Why God Plays Dice,” conveyed this position on the subject of non-locality: “Quantum Theory isn’t just a tiny bit nonlocal. It’s overwhelmingly nonlocal. Non-locality is the rule for our Universe.”42
More than ten years later, Phil Mason, an author and theoretical physics enthusiast, shared his experiences, claiming to have witnessed miracles on a level that most would consider impossible. He states it this way:
Physicists have stumbled upon an attribute of the sub-atomic world that compels us to re-think the very nature of the world that we live in. Some eminent thinkers have even speculated that the discovery of the existence of non-local realities would suggest that scientists have accidentally bumped into the reality of the spiritual realm.43
From what I’ve been able to derive, the existence of non-local dimensions from a quantum-physics perspective is not even arguable. As a matter of fact, for the math to line up, they must exist and the existence of “additional dimensions,” although unseen, is absolutely connected to what we understand as physicality.
I find these types of recent quantum scientific discoveries extremely interesting as they pertain to the theological parallel of creation outlined in Genesis, where a God, existing in a non-local, timeless, and physically indefinable (or at least physically intangible) spirit realm, created the physical realm. These two understandings of dimensions are interconnected, to the extent that at least the non-local (possibly spirit realm) directly influences local physicality as we understand it, and on the earth, physicality plays a part in the establishment of spiritual kingdoms.
For the writers of a scientific article to state that quantum “Non-locality is the rule for our Universe” doesn’t surprise me in the least. If the spirit realm created the physical realm, it would stand to reason that its existence should be the rule for our existence.
Statements like this and other scientific advancements seem to continually move toward a more level playing field between previously opposing positions. They confirm a theory that I have had for some time now that theology and science are on a crash course toward each other, and eventually, with the advancement and evolution of scientific knowledge, the two will become undeniably entangled and sc
ience will confirm what theology has stated for millennia.
We have to consider the possibility of the Bible being accurate in its depiction of the four dimensions (length, width, height, and time) that we currently understand to be our physical universe, and how this was created by a being (God) existing in a fifth dimension (spirit realm) or perhaps more scientifically referred to as a non-locality (another dimension of reality transcending time and space as we understand it). What if, through the use of an apparent creative law that somehow connects these dimensions (physical locality and dimensional non-locality), we can exercise an outward display of beliefs or faith through declaration and expect some sort of connective or inherent authority?
Perhaps the same creative power or law exists for us, and this is what Jesus was actually loosely teaching His disciples, who couldn’t have understood the complexity of the law itself at that time, but would be able to comprehend its effects through the simplicity of its application. If that’s possible, perhaps this unknown law remains today a mystery, much like microorganisms and bacteria did for thousands of years until such a time as our progression in understanding of science, or even faith, catches up with the lesson conveyed hundreds of generations before in the Bible.
STRING THEORY
Science has speculated through String Theory (proposed in 1970 and further built upon today) that matter, at its basest level, is comprised of tiny strings of resonating sound: “The length of a typical string loop is a about a hundred billion, billion times smaller than an atomic nucleus”44 and that in order for the theory to be complete and quantifiable, the existence of additional unseen dimensions must be present.
As Brian Greene, physicist and professor of physics at Columbia University, says, “Einstein comes along and says, space and time can warp and curve, that’s what gravity is. Now String Theory comes along and says, yes, gravity, quantum mechanics, electromagnetism—all together in one package, but only if the universe has more dimensions than the ones that we see.”45
It’s interesting to me that, from a creationist’s perspective, sound expressed through the spoken words and authority of Almighty God created a universe. Science also theorizes that creation, at its most minute level, is comprised of strings of vibration and sound. Is there a connection between faith through the action of spoken word and the reestablished authority of man in this realm? That actually physically and spiritually spans the gap between heaven and earth and establishes all that God intended for those operating in His kingdom?
From the scientific perspective of String Theory, the very thing that draws the elements of atoms together is the vibration of the strings at the basest form of the atom. It seems amazing to me that creation was solidified through the vibration of spoken sound waves by the Creator who also models in the Old and New Testaments a law of declarative establishment through the same release of sound by vessels created in His image and given authority in the earth—mankind. As Pastor Mark Ramsey, from Citipointe Church Australia, says, “Once you become a Christian, it’s not about getting to heaven; the goal at that point changes and it becomes about bringing heaven to earth . . . Jesus said thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”
Brian Greene explained String Theory this way:
It’s an approach to realize Einstein’s dream of a unified theory of physics, a single overarching framework that would be able to describe all the forces at work in the universe. And the central idea of string theory is quite straightforward. It says that if you examine any piece of matter ever more finely, at first you’ll find molecules and then you’ll find atoms and subatomic particles. But the theory says that if you could probe smaller, much smaller than we can with existing technology, you’d find something else inside these particles—a little tiny vibrating filament of energy, a little tiny vibrating string. And just like the strings on a violin, they can vibrate in different patterns producing different musical notes. These little fundamental strings, when they vibrate in different patterns, they produce different kinds of particles—so electrons, quarks, neutrinos, photons, all other particles would be united into a single framework, as they would all arise from vibrating strings. It’s a compelling picture, a kind of cosmic symphony, where all the richness that we see in the world around us emerges from the music that these little, tiny strings can play.
But there’s a cost to this elegant unification, because years of research have shown that the math of string theory doesn’t quite work. It has internal inconsistencies, unless we allow for something wholly unfamiliar—extra dimensions of space. That is, we all know about the usual three dimensions of space. And you can think about those as height, width and depth. But string theory says that, on fantastically small scales, there are additional dimensions crumpled to a tiny size so small that we have not detected them. But even though the dimensions are hidden, they would have an impact on things that we can observe because the shape of the extra dimensions constrains how the strings can vibrate. And in string theory, vibration determines everything. 46
Certainly science has speculated about the possibility of additional dimensions beyond length, width, height, and time. Even recently in studies surrounding collisions of atoms with the particle accelerator, science acknowledges that the properties of the atoms, upon their collision, at times disappear as if entering a different dimension, only to reappear in a different place.
Could we be just now scratching the surface of knowledge and a physical, tangible awareness as it pertains to a dimension that up to this point was only quantifiable through theory or faith? Could it be that time and discovery will reveal additionally specific laws of interconnectedness between the spiritual and physical dimensions, actually reestablishing a connection between science and theology? If so, this may bridge a gap where only the separation between our understanding of where we are today and where we will be tomorrow is the time, experiences, and the pursuits necessary to take our theories to a point of quantifiable equations.
If all of the ingredients are present for the spiritual sweet-tea formula of next level, Quantum Christianity progress, and all that is required is the catalyst of action, the stirring, if you will, to combine all the parts and produce the much-needed, much-desired result, what exactly is the catalyst?
CHAPTER NINE
In the Beginning
“For myself, faith begins with a realization that a supreme intelligence brought the universe into being and created man. It is not difficult for me to have this faith, for it is incontrovertible that where there is a plan there is intelligence—an orderly, unfolding universe testifies to the truth of the most majestic statement ever uttered—
‘In the beginning God.’”
—Arthur Compton, winner of the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics
for his discovery of the Compton Effect
What is the beginning? Or perhaps better put, when was the beginning? This is one of the most-argued points between science and Christianity. Science dates the earth at 4.54 billion years, plus or minus 1 percent,47 while on the other hand, some Christian apologists (an apologist is one who offers an argument in defense of something controversial) date the earth at 6,000 years. This is a significant difference in perspective and the chasm created between the communities over this argument alone is as great as the divide in the dates. Christians insist that the science is flawed and science argues that the Christian is delusional!
Genesis 1 (NKJV)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Both groups have a significant interest in the argument presented from their respective positions. Although there is no beginning date absolutely defined, from the Christian apologist’s perspective, they’ve decided the earth is 6,000 years old through studying genealogies listed in the Bible and other speculative sources. Should they adopt the scientific position of the earth being billions of
years old, they feel that they are betraying their faith and what they believe would be a contradiction of what the Bible says is the beginning.
The scientist, on the other hand, hears the stout (and what they perceive as irrational) argument of the Christian and disregards much of anything else they might say because, from their perspective, even if science missed it by a mere billion or two years, there is still ample evidence from their scientific findings to support a reasonable and rational conclusion by their standards, considering that 6,000 is only .00013215859 percent of 4.54 billion years.
Couple this with the Christian apologetic theory of dinosaurs existing in tandem in the last 6,000 years48 (pre-2348 BC) with what we understand to be Modern Man and that they were destroyed in the great flood of Noah, versus the most widely accepted scientific theory of the dinosaurs being destroyed by a significant ice age occurring on earth after a possible collision of an asteroid with the earth 65 million years ago,49 and we see additionally why this gap between perspectives continues to increase exponentially.
Amidst the controversy, I question if maybe science and the Bible actually support each other more than has been previously understood or interpreted.
IS THERE A GAP?
There’s an additional theory about the beginning that I would like to present that may shorten the distance across many of our science-versus-religion chasms—even for Christians who have struggled with weighing the science against what many present as biblical perspectives.
The Gap Theory was initially presented in the 1800s after the advancements in geological dating began to date the earth as older than traditional Christian historians and theologians had previously theorized. It has been presented as a theoretical possibility in several reference Bibles and by some of the most revered Christian leaders of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and from my perspective, does not change or infringe upon the faith in traditionally accepted foundational truths of the Bible. It actually could be a very comfortable middle ground between theories that have not been proven to be absolute.