SCIENCE AND THE TRINITY; Random Reflections

NOTE: information on this page is technical and included here for those interested in Christian apologetics.

Secular scholars have, for centuries, either struggled with or outright rejected, many of the so called "spiritual" concepts found in the Bible.  As discussed in the Logos Project web site, empirical science does not have the tools or methods necessary to examine the non-material world.  Thus, any conclusions reached about the spiritual domain of Scripture, must, of necessity, derive from an extrapolation of the laws of the physical universe.  This, at the very least, is an inappropriate application of empirical methodology.   To better understand this, let's move on to a clearer example of what I'm talking about.

Ranging from the resurrection of Jesus to the Trinity, Bible critics vehemently decry these concepts as impossible because they contradict the established laws of science.  "When", they ask, "has anyone ever scientifically monitored the confirmed death of a human body for 3 days and then examine its reanimation, including the ability to physically materialize or stand on a cloud and ascend into heaven!   I'm referencing, of course, this passage in Acts 1:9-11.   "After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

This is just one of many examples from the Scriptures where unnatural phenomena, usually called miracles, are recorded as fact while any educated person knows it's an impossibility, a myth or a superstition.    But this should come as no surprise, given the current acceptance of empirical science as the de facto authority on reality.   This, in addition to the ongoing encroachment of Secular Humanism in learning institutions, makes such a conclusion perfectly understandable.   In fact, it is the tension caused by this apparent contradiction between Science and Scripture that is so keenly felt by the Christian community at one time or another.   Unfortunately, although this topic is certainly a viable and important subject for discussion, it's beyond the scope of this page.   A more detailed discussion will, however, appear soon as a link from the Logos home page.   

My purpose for bringing this up here, however, is simply to mention that the validity of this "extrapolation method" of criticism, has steadily lost ground under recent discoveries made in a different but well recognized branch of science: quantum physics.  This is the relatively new science which deals with the subatomic world of forces and particles smaller than an atom. These are so small as to be directly unobservable, do not obey the established laws of Classical Physics and exhibit near mystical qualities.   Curiously enough, that definition sounds strangely reminiscent of the spiritual world described in Scripture.  

Furthermore, it in this branch of science that we are finding more and more challenges to established scientific laws.  Take for example, Einstein's famous formula: E=MC2. This simple yet powerful formula relies entirely on the putative value "C", the speed of light, being constant.  "Nothing", they say, "can exceed the speed of light".  Yet, some physicists are now finding evidence that, not only does the speed of light change, but that there is some mystical force in the universe capable of traveling instantaneously across the vast reaches of space millions of times faster than light.  I've already discussed this on the page about omnipresence so will simply reiterate that these findings come out of John Bell's theorem on locality.

SPIRITS AND SAINTS IN PARALLEL

Interestingly enough, there are an increasing number of theories coming out of quantum physics that are so weird and mystical that the "miracles" of the Bible pales in comparison.  Take parallel universes, for example, which in quantum physics is called the multiverse. This theory proposes that our universe is just one of many which co-exist in an invisible, intangible form.   Without getting mired in minutia, some theorists subscribe to a "daughter universe" theory which relies on the probability element of quantum physics.  It suggests that there are many simultaneous universes containing an earth, such as ours, with an identical population including a separate and distinct version of each person on earth.   These "cosmic clones" all co-exist together, unseen, unperceived by us yet are real people, going about their lives just as you and I do every day.  Fantastic? Of course, yet this theory comes out of a respected branch of science, viewed as an authoritative source of scientific data.

WAVING AT PHOTONS

Finally, there's the intriguing example of radiation.  During my college days, I often took occasion to discuss Christianity with both seekers and doubters, many of whom would raise trivial questions about the Bible.   One such incident, I recall, went something like this: "Three Gods in one, how stupid is that?".   

Well, let's see if we can answer that by taking an imaginary trip back in time to 1905 to look over the shoulder of that most famous of all physicists, Albert Einstein.   He had just published his theory of "Special Relativity" and was already working on the problems found in his General Theory when he chanced across a mathematical formula written by a colleague.    After tinkering with the math, he came to the remarkable conclusion that light, which is universality considered a wave, also exists as a particle.   Here, for the first time, a renowned scientist asserts that matter could exist in two different forms at the same time.  This dual nature of light has now become an established fact by an abundance of empirical data.  Although it is not yet fully understood, the fact remains that scientists the world over have accepted the unintuitive, unnatural fact that light exists in two different forms at the same time.

Well, you can see where I'm going with this.  If something as tangible, measurable and observable as light can exist, miraculously, in more than one form at the same time, why not God?  The apparent problem some folks have with the notion of a trinity, seems to be a result of their particular point of reference.  In the macroworld of daily life, such a notion is pure fantasy, but in the microworld of quantum physics, it's as natural as a parallel universe.

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