Quantum Christianity: Believe Again

by Aaron Davis

  Despite its age and acceptability by revered men and institutions, I have found that many who I come in contact with, Christian, agnostic, and atheist alike, have never heard of the Gap Theory but argue the point in favor of or against the traditionally accepted 6,000-year-old-earth theory. Although some have proposed that the Gap Theory is heretical and harmful to Christian belief systems, to me it seems to be worth considering as at least a possible bridge between a distinct gap of opposing belief systems. Not to mention, it makes logical sense of a confusing differentiation between 6,000 and 4.54 billion years.

  In essence, the Gap Theory says there’s an indeterminable amount of time represented between Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” and Genesis 1:2, “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.”50

  I recently heard Steven Furtick, a prominent pastor of one of the largest churches in the world, say, “You say God is in control. I ask you to define what control means to you so I can understand what you are inferring.” I think that with the word beginning in Genesis, one can also use this same line of questioning: Define what beginning means to you so I can understand.

  The word beginning is interesting to me. It seems, if you read Genesis 1, that in the span of six days (the beginning), God created the heavens (the universe), the earth, and all of its creational inhabitants, including man. Yet, from a Genesis 1 perspective, there is an introduction of a character whose origin is only defined in later chapters of the Bible—Satan in the form of the serpent.

  It’s not until Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, and Jesus’ own account of Satan in Luke 10 that we have the clarity surrounding the character of Lucifer, the former angel being cast from heaven for his rebellion against God. If Satan was present in the Garden of Eden, then his being cast from heaven must have taken place before the existence of man on earth, as there is no record of it in the six accounted days of creation.

  Until recently, I had never even considered this, but it positions the Christian in a place to necessitate an explanation that is not clearly defined from a biblical perspective, and herein lies the dilemma with the question of the beginning.

  Look at these verses again:51

  Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heaven and the Earth.

  Genesis 1:2: And the Earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

  Translating Genesis 1:2 from its original language of Hebrew is:

  erets hayah tohuw bohuw choshek paniym tehowm ruwach elohiym rachaph al paniym mayim

  According to the Hebrew/English Dictionary of Strong’s Concordance, the words are interpreted:

  (erets – Earth) (hayah – was, come to pass, became) (tohuw – formlessness, confusion, chaos) (bohuw – emptiness, void, waste) (choshek – darkness, obscurity) (paniym – face, surface) (tehowm – primeval ocean, deep) (ruwach – wind, breath, mind, spirit ) (Elohiym – God) (rachaph – move, hover) (al – over) (paniym – face, surface) (mayim – waters, waterflood).

  The second Hebrew word, was, in Genesis 1:2 translated to hayah, which can also be translated as “came to pass” or “became.” So, it is possible that the traditional interpretation of “the earth was without form and void,” according to the Hebrew could also read, “the earth became without form and void”?

  Maybe this sounds like semantics to you, but dig deeper. Some would argue that a lot of world history, perhaps billions of years of it, could be summed up within this gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. If the earth became dark at some point in that gap, dinosaurs, an ice age, even prehistoric man, and an explanation for the missing link in what is scientifically argued in the theory of evolution could possibly still be a part of earth’s history, just not necessarily our history as modern man.

  TIME AND ETERNITY

  Time is an interesting concept when considering the possibility and perspective of an eternal God. As created physical beings, we can only abstractly conceive of existence outside of our experiential time and space, beginning and end, or an existence outside of created physicality and its laws.

  To fathom the complexity of an infinite eternity with no beginning or ending is almost impossible from the perspective of our finite existence. As a result, there are natural questions that arise and defy our limited perspective and understanding of a dimension outside of our own, even though they existed long before we did and will continue to thrive long after we are gone (from a physical perspective).

  Since we’re talking about time and about what could be possible, here are some additional questions to consider.

  Could God have created the universe billions of years ago with an event that parallels the scientific Big Bang Theory?

  Could God, over the span of eternity, have created beings other than just man?

  Could God have utilized the same earth that we now call home for some other race of beings where dinosaurs and cavemen lived and experienced a scientifically documentable evolution that differs from our own existence and progression through human history?

  Are there undocumented things about God, His history in eternity, things that He has created, laws He has instituted, or events that have taken place that we do not know about and will not know about until we enter eternity?

  Is God in His omnipotence big enough to have created everything that we know of in the physical universe in a time frame that defies scientific understanding of time and space?

  Could He have created all that we know and understand in a moment?

  Who knows?

  If you say, “No, absolutely not!” on an issue that, from a biblical perspective, does not have an absolute answer, then I question your level of maturity or ability to objectively analyze information.

  I have seen pastors point to their Bibles and say, “I don’t read any other book because this has everything that I will ever need to know,” and I can appreciate this sentiment (considering that they have dedicated their lives to understanding and teaching the principles within it). The problem arises when those who have not studied anything outside of the embossed leather cover of their Bibles begin to ignorantly form opinions and teach authoritatively on subjects that exist beyond their understanding or experience.

  People of any depth of knowledge or experience will usually concede that the more that you learn, the less it reveals that you actually know. Ultimately, in this case, you may have a theoretical resolve, but one cannot have absolute biblical or faith-based resolve on an issue that even the Bible does not offer absolute clarity upon.

  As I pointed out in a previous chapter, but bears repeating here, typically people who speak in absolutes on issues that are not absolute simply unveil the depths of their ignorance. I don’t say that to be offensive; I say that to make a point. There are a great many people in the world who speak as an authority on subjects (particularly in representation of God) or have absolute resolves on issues when they actually have no idea what they are talking about. And this has a significantly damaging impact when they ignorantly speak authoritatively about issues with those who actually do know what they are talking about.

  However, for those who are discerning, this practice of unnecessarily alienating ourselves with absolutes can be easily combated by simply stating the same perspective with the possibility of someone else having a different experience than our own as in this example: “Most of the time, from my experience, God __________.” Instead of, “God always ________.” Or “God never______.”

  WAVE/PARTICLE DUALITY

  Quantum physics studies nature at a quantum level (with quanta being the most minute invisible packets of energy). Within quantum physics is a principle called the wave/particle duality principle, which reveals that all of what we call “matter” has a dual existence where quantum realities simultaneously exist as both a wave (a non-materialized state) and a particle (a m
aterialized state). This is an incredibly complex process of thinking that is much like trying to rationalize what eternity looks like from our own finite existence. But with a simple explanation and the reference of an experiment called the double-slit experiment, I’m going to try to at least give you a peak into wave/particle duality.

  In the double-slit experiment, physicists release a photon of light at a barrier that has two vertical slits in it and behind the barrier is a screen that registers the light when it travels through the slits (much like film would register the light passing through the lens of a camera). When simply fired at the barrier, the light passed through both slits in the barrier and registered across the screen much like a wave. However, when the same experiment was recreated and the focus was not on the screen behind the barrier but upon the slits in the barrier, the photon took on a particle form, and in layman’s terms, chose one slit or the other to travel through and left the corresponding individualized impression on the screen behind it. Same experiment, different results based upon where the focus of the experiment was directed.

  When it is unobserved, the photon remains in a wave form. But the second it is observed, it becomes materialized. This is the strangest of all mysteries in the science of quantum physics, but according to the science, matter can only exist in a materialized state while it is being observed.52

  John Archibald Wheeler is one of the twentieth century’s most renowned theoretical physicists and the scientist who invented the term black hole in 1967. Wheeler gave a lot of time to exploring the question of the relationship between the observer and the universe and came to the conclusion that an observer was essential to the existence of the universe because it is the observer who confers reality up on the phenomena he observes. John Gribbin said of him:53

  Wheeler has actually gone so far as to suggest that the entire universe only exists because someone is watching it—that everything, right back to the Big Bang some 15 billion years ago, remained undefined until noticed. This raises huge questions about what kind of creature qualifies as being alert enough to notice that it exists, and collapses the cosmic wave function as defined by the example of observation in the dual slit experiment between matter existing in wave or particle form based solely upon observation.54

  This line of thinking is extremely deep, and even to those with a significant quantum scientific background, it tends to overwhelm the mind because it requires analyzing information outside of the realm of traditional thinking and education on matter and existence.

  In essence, taking into consideration what Wheeler was suggesting—all of history became, in a moment, material with the introduction of an observer. The possibilities of this particular train of thought can fuel immense amounts of theoretical discussions about creation that surpass what we have traditionally accepted as a “one side or the other” argument. At the very least, it does add additional elements to the debate on whether or not science and theology share common ground.

  THE ULTIMATE OBSERVER

  Although many in science may reject the idea of it, there is also an additional perspective that comes to mind in light of the necessity of an observer, which places God into the equation as the ultimate observer (if the law of observation within creation is not limited to the creation itself).

  If matter is the product of invisible packets (or quanta) of energy that have been collapsed through interaction with conscious observation, could it be possible that, if there is a God, that He may be the ultimate observer, capable of determining and observing matter from the smallest of atoms to the grandeur of entire galaxies, where as long as He is observing the universe, it remains collapsed into a material state?

  Psalm 33:13–14 (NLT)

  The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race.

  From his throne he observes all who live on the earth.

  Hebrews 4:13 (NIV)

  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

  If you are inclined to rationalize the possibility of this God-Creator and are also inclined to explore the theories surrounding the science of Quantum Physics, then this possibility is one that could be essential to ponder when also taking into consideration theological perspectives like Psalm 33:13–14 and Hebrews 4:13.

  DOES IT HAVE TO BE BLACK OR WHITE?

  The black-and-white answers to the probability of whether or not these arguments are possibilities are not as important to me as asking the questions leading to them; in asking the questions, it begs an awareness of a revealed truth that we do not absolutely know the answer to from either a scientific or a religious perspective. Certainly we have definable theories and beliefs as a result of our own deductions, but an acknowledgment of the fact that we don’t actually know fosters an environment where possibly we all can learn and grow.

  How the universe began, when exactly it took place, whether or not conscious observation is a necessity in order for it all to be collapsed from wave to particle form, how it all interconnects, and what holds it all together are biblical and scientific issues we don’t have absolute answers for yet. Still we argue as though we know the infinite truth from both sides of the fence.

  Once we reach an absolute conclusion on issues that are not absolute, we take ourselves out of the growth equation and instead become another obstacle to progress. Brian Greene puts it this way: “Sometimes nature guards her secrets with the unbreakable grip of physical law. Sometimes the true nature of reality beckons from just beyond the horizon.”

  The truth is, as it pertains to the beginning and life on earth, we don’t really know what happened, when it happened, or how it happened. This is why we develop theories based upon our understanding of the evidence that we have been presented. As knowledge and understanding increases, so do the depths of the theories and possibilities of how everything seems to connect.

  It is apparent that these theories have been substantiated within the parameters of those who have put a significant amount of time into developing them, but the fact still remains that they are referred to as theories because they have not been proven beyond the point of the perceived evidence of truth that one subscribes to. However, through the advancements in scientific discovery, more and more scientists and intellectuals are beginning to change their perspectives on whether or not intelligent design (which we’ll discuss next) may actually hold more merit than previously assumed, which could redefine what the beginning looked like within the scientific model.

  THE GOLDEN MEAN

  As intriguing as I find this subject, it has the potential to overcomplicate the simplicity of what I am conveying in Quantum Christianity. As I stated before, I’m not a physicist and really am not able to completely comprehend the depths of what the higher math is justifying. But in order to keep the content interesting to readers at all levels of scientific interest, I will simply summarize what the Golden Mean is without all of the scientific background and numbers. However, if you would like to read more about how this astounding subject relates to all of physical existence and why it is causing scientific perspective to give creationism a second look, I would encourage you to read Chapter 9 of Quantum Glory: The Science of Heaven Invading Earth by Phil Mason.

  In this chapter dedicated to explaining the Golden Mean, Mason cites multiple references, simplifying and clarifying the history behind the progression of scientific understanding of Divine Proportion and the Golden Mean, dating back thousands of years to the recent breakthrough mathematical and scientific discoveries of its universal application. It is an incredibly interesting read and is written simply enough that most will likely be able to relate to it in some capacity.

  As for our purposes, “The Golden Mean is a mathematical pattern that has been detected from the quantum field all the way up to the spiral galaxies that are sprinkled through the universe. Wherever we look in the developmental transitions from quarks all the way up to macroscopic object
s we can discern the role that this unique mathematical pattern plays in the building blocks of nature.”55

  Mathematically, this golden number is 1.6180339, which is called “Phi” and is symbolized by the Greek letter ϕ. Its inverse number is 0.6180339, which is 1/ϕ. Phi is (1 + √5)/2.56 All of these simply being different ways to mathematically identify “Phi” depending upon the depth of your understanding of the higher math involved.

  Within the scientific community, there has been a discovery between the Golden Mean Ratio (also known as the Golden Selection), Divine Proportion, and the Fibonacci sequence, all of which seem to point to the fact that mathematical patterns from the greatest measures of the mass of planets and galaxies to the nucleus of an atom can be derived by multiplication and division of “Phi.”

  All of creation can be quantified by varying degrees of multiplying and dividing it by this number. Amazingly, this Fibonacci-patterned series of numbers continue throughout creation through infinity positively and negatively (meaning the greater the mass or the smaller the mass), the Fibonacci pattern will hold true and can be measured and exactly calculated by using Phi.

  The series is known as the Fibonacci numbers, sometimes called the Fibonacci series or just the Fibs. You find this number by adding together the preceding two numbers in the series, starting with the first two digits on the number line. 0 + 1 = 1; 1 + 1 = 2; 1 + 2 = 3; and so on into infinity.