A Whole Universe – Is it by accident or by design?
That is the foundational
question. Not just the existence of planet Earth which
holds a thriving ecosystem of life. I mean to question the nature matter,
the properties of the vacuum of space and dimensionality of space-time
itself!
Around the
time when Einstein first published his historic papers on Special Relativity,
many scientists believed the universe had no beginning; assuming it is
infinitely old. In fact, Einstein was trying to conform to that conventional
belief when he introduced a factor called the “Cosmological Constant” into his
formulae. Later he admitted that this addition was the biggest mistake of
his career. [1]
Now, of
course, just about all scientists agree that our Universe had a beginning most
believing in some variation of the Big Bang Theory; all matter in the universe
existed in a tiny speck, smaller than the period at the end of a
sentence. ¶
Then
it exploded!
The “Big Bang”?
In fact,
years ago, I used this question to open conversations about the Origin of the
Universe. I would ask someone, “Have you ever heard about the ‘Big Bang’
Theory”. Usually, just about everyone had at least heard about
it. Then I would ask, “Isn’t it similar to when the BREAK happens on a
pool table, and all the balls fly-off in every direction?”
Invariably,
the people would say, “Yes” and would sometimes add “but a LOT bigger.”
“So
…who do you think hit the cue ball?”
This is what philosophers and
scientists call the “First Cause” that created the “effect” we call our
Universe. It has been a subject of debate for generations. Two
opposing schools of thought pertaining to the origin of the universe are:
(1) That some mindless,
purposeless, series of cosmic accidents is responsible for this universe we
live in.
(2) That an eternally existent, Supreme Being: with unfathomable depth of
understanding, with purposeful intent applied His infinite wisdom to the design
and implementation of this Universe.
The minimum requirements of a Creator
In
the many years that I studied Biblical apologetics, perhaps the best
presentation on Creation was Dr. Mark Eastman’s lecture, “The Cosmos and the
Creator”. He asks a very interesting
series of questions that outline four minimum attributes of a Creator:
(1) Space-time
“itself” would be a product of the creation process, the Creator would,
therefore, “transcend” space-time. In other words, The Creator MUST
have been, is, and continues to be eternal – meaning He has no beginning! Also, while acting from outside our
Space-Time domain, He would constructively influence structuring energy into
matter.
(2) An effect is never greater than its cause. The
Creator would, necessarily, be powerful enough to bring all the matter in the
universe into existence. Einstein’s famous formula, E=Mc2,
would indicate that an astronomically enormous amount of energy was needed to
create the planets and stars in all the galaxies in the universe. The
Creator would possess virtually infinite power, thus being All-Powerful.
(3) The Creator would have a depth of intelligence, enough to
provide the information needed to engineer the genetic structures of all life
forms. The Creator must be able to arrange matter to construct amino acid
molecules, enzymes, DNA molecules and the information sequencing that defines
the genetic programming of various life forms. The level of intelligence
required is beyond the sum total understanding of the entire human race, even
through-out history! The Creator would have to be All-Knowing.
(4) The Creator would
have the capacity to understand and experience emotions of love, happiness and sadness,
able to appreciate humor and sarcasm in order to design personal beings such as
ourselves. He must be a personal Being.
(5) Bonus Attribute: The Creator, in order to prophesize the
future, would be able to perceive everything happening. He would have to see everywhere at once.
So the Creator would be a
Transcendent, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, personal Being. This
describes the God of the Bible!
· Transcendent: Gen 1:1 In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth, 2Tim 1:9 …before time began.
· Omnipotent: Jer 32:17 Ah Oh Lord
GOD! Behold thou has made the heavens and the Earth by thy great power and
stretched out arm and there is nothing too hard for thee.
· Omniscience: Ps 147:5 Great is our
Lord and of great power, his understanding is infinite.
· Omnipresence: Jer 23:24 Can any hide
himself in secret places that I shall not see him? Says the LORD, Do not I fill
heaven and earth? Says the LORD.
If Not by Accident then: Mathematician, Scientist and Creative
Artist
Leonardo da Vinci, (1452-1519),
incorporated the depth of his understanding of mathematics and science in his
art. Many have studied his techniques used in his most famous
paintings. The Mona Lisa is a superb example of three techniques: (1) The
use of the Golden Ratio[2],
φ, framing key features spiraling out from the nose, face, head. He
continues this method, out to the “height to width” ratio of the entire
painting. (2) The use of subtle transitions between color areas, creating
delicately smoky effects, called sfumato. (3) Also a technique of modeling and defining forms through
contrasts of light and shadow, called chiaroscuro; of which Leonardo was one of the first great masters.
Leonardo was also among the first artists to introduce atmospheric
perspective into his landscape backgrounds.[3]
The author views the universe as a
work of art, painted with the full electro-magnetic spectrum of light on a quantum
woven canvas of space-time. This artistic creation illustrates the
Artist’s unfathomable depth of scientific and mathematical understanding using
modeling techniques “defining forms through contrasts” in light and shadow.
Not only an Artist, but a Poet as
well…
Having
an external perspective of any problem or situation is not just helpful, it’s
necessary. Viewing this world as an outside observer will
help to understand it. As Shakespeare expressed it:
“All
the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts, …”[4]
The roles we play in life, the things we learn along the
way, and how we apply our gifts can either accomplish a higher purpose or lead to the contrary.[5]
When we seek God’s wisdom and align our hearts with the will of God taking
faithful actions, then we are contributing to God’s Kingdom.
For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.
Eph
2:10
The word “workmanship”, translated from the Greek word ποίημα
“poiēma”,
is where we get our word for poem. God
is weaving poetry into this dynamic tapestry of creation by the subtle yet
persistent work of His Spirit flowing in and through the lives of those who put
their trust in Him. That’s how He accomplishes making “all things
work together for the good for those who love God, for those who are called
according to His purpose. (Rom
8:28) Everyone who is called of God has a purpose to
fulfill in this life; each of our lives can contribute a verse to this Great
Poem.
God’s eternal perspective gives him the ability to see the
whole cosmos across the entire span of time in a single glance.
Furthermore, His ability to see plainly into the hearts of all mankind, to view
their motives and how those motives manifest as thoughts, gives Him the
soundest judgment imaginable.
History will play out the Great Chess game, good and
evil. Those who are deceived by the Father of Lies, those who devote
themselves to darkness, are playing the role of Satan’s deceived chess
pieces. God, on the other hand, can see so many moves ahead that He has
already won – in fact “Checkmate!” was called almost 2,000 years
ago! Those faithful chess pieces that obey His calling cooperate with His
plan to redeem lost territory, part of God’s plan to saves souls from Satan’s
deceptive control. The fields are ripe for harvest, those
workers faithful to God’s calling store up riches for themselves in heaven.