Posted on 08/07/2006 10:27:04 AM PDT by SirLinksalot
(Zondervan’s New International Version) And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
According to current Physics conceptualization, there is a subatomic quantum that is the force communicator for each fundamental force in the universe, such as gravity at galaxy sizes (the graviton), electromagnetism at atomic and molecular sizes (the photon), the weak force and strong force at nuclear sizes (with separate ‘photonesque’ particles of specific properties for each). Physicists have succeeded in combining predictability equations for all but gravity, and are seeking an equation or set of equations that can include gravity. Such an equation or equations would be called grand unification, making it possible to calculate phenomena from the smallest scales all the way to the reality of galaxies, using the same equations. One of the problems with this quantum mechanical definition of reality is the yet to be found gravity particle, the graviton. If no such particle for the force communicator is found then some other way of describing the ‘field’ of gravity will be necessary.
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Time is as much a dimension as space is a dimension. We speak of past, present, and future time, but in fact we perceive only events that have already happened in our world because it takes time for information of the event to reach our senses and be processed … the information system of energy exchange (those force communicator particles) carry a representation of present for when the event takes place at the sender, and that present is conveyed to our mind via photon particle arrival at the receiver. According to Physics (but there is a catch to this that we will get to in a later chapter) nothing can transmit information at a rate faster than the speed of light (300,000,000 meters per second --meters are almost as long as yards, for you football fans), or roughly 186,000 miles per second. It is possible to transmit information much more slowly, as in the Pony Express for example, but the top speed limit for information transfer in the universe of our perceptions is the speed of light because that is the typical speed at which light exists in our spacetime.
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Do not assume that God created the universe from light. God created the universe of spacetime with information, the Wisdom of God, the Word of God. [John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. JN 1:3 Through him all things were made (NIV)]
God’s command to time and space became light to build the things in space and time, but the universe of spacetime and the energy were created through His Word. God created space, time, and energy, then He made things with light … which brings us back to light (sort of). What follows is not basic Physics, it is a speculation upon the nature of God’s command ‘to’ the energy in spacetime at the beginning.
The Genesis 1:3 passage conveys a kind of span, from present to present, as if a length of time, or a length of space bounded by variables of time. Notice that in the majority of parallel versions quoted the command starts with a verb ‘Let’, followed by location ‘there’, followed by another verb ‘be’, followed by a noun ‘light’. The verse is completed with ‘and there’, that location which is a representation of space and implying present tense with the ‘and’, then ‘was’, a past tense verb, then the noun again, ‘light’. The first part of verse three is a linear span of time or space bounded at each end with present tense, the second part of verse three is a span of time bounded at one end by present and the other end by past tense. It is as if there are two versions of light: one bounded by present and present, one bounded by past and present. Would the present and present separated by a span represent the mixing of space and time? Could the expression of length of dimension space be the notion conveyed by present bounding each end of a span (linear, as simplest variable of space)? Might the span with past at one end and present implied at the other be conveying an unfinished span and thus make room for wave motion of the energy we perceive as light?
If we were discussing classic string theory [the notion that everything in the quantum world is made of very small vibrating strings, some of which are open on one end or the other and others closed upon themselves like tiny circles or closed loops] one might think that Genesis 1:3 is describing the formation of quantum strings! We are not asserting that, but we will use that concept to aid in explaining what happened at the Belshazzar party.
Meant to ping you, sorry.
Milton he ain't.
You lost me, RW, but then you do that occasionally.
"and he blew into him the breath of life"... Spirit must be a metaphor for something as are the metaphors that explain/describe it.. Few if any have seen a pure spirit.. is spirit "plasmic?"... The future holds many wonders too wonderfull to wonder at.. "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered the heart of man, the wonders in store".. Be shame to miss it.. Your candid spirit is appreciated..
Please keep me posted on that.
We need to find that "pesky" graviton! And understand the activity of the photon far, far better than we now do. Not to mention the elusive "time problem" and "extra" dimensionality....
Thank you so very much for your marvelous essay-post!
I agree with you all: great thoughts from Mark (and in reply to him) and bravo!
There are two ways to approach your question - science and theology - and since I believe your interest is in the theology, I'll start there.
Scriptures and Jewish tradition speaks of the soul and spirit in four levels as follows:
2. ruach - the self-will or free will peculiar to man (abstraction, anticipation, intention, etc.) – by Jewish tradition, the pivot wherein a man decides to be Godly minded or earthy minded (also related to Romans 8, choosing)
3. neshama - the breath of God given to Adam (Genesis 2:7) which may also be seen as the “ears to hear” (John 10) - a sense of belonging beyond space/time, a predisposition to seek God and seek answers to the deep questions such as “what is the meaning of life?"
4. ruach Elohim - the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2) which indwells Christians (I Cor 2, John 3) – the presently existing in the “beyond” while still in the flesh. (Col 3:3) This is the life in passage you quoted: "In him was life, and the life was the light of men..." (John 1)
The “self-will” is in the domain of the ongoing inter-disciplinary studies of consciousness and the mind. The monist view would be that consciousness (as well as the soul) are merely an epiphenomenon of the physical brain. Qualia speaks against such a conclusion. Qualia are the properties of sensory experiences which are epistemically unknowable in the absence of direct experience of them and therefore, are also incommunicable. Examples include likes and dislikes, pain and pleasure, love and hate, good and evil.
Finished with a flourish... quite good too...
What if, "God", has access to and can mold "dark energy/matter" at will?... Then creating planets, galaxys, even lifeforms, walking on unfrozen water, would seem like magic.. Coming from nowhere.. Yet it (the stuff) was always there(dark energy/matter).. On the otherhand, what if, in the future,"WE" will be given gifts to do some of the same things(populating "and remodeling" the Universe[this one]).. Trumping "string theory" so bad it would make it seem like a comic book..
Reading 'Paradise Lost' for the first time in 45 years. What a difference some life experience makes! What seemed silly nonsense and turned one off to poetry now speaks loudly.
It was THIS fact that got me seriously thinking about GOD!
A snot nosed young lad of 18; a know-it-all HS graduate, thinking of the BigBang and a sky full of brillant pinpoints of light on a cold Colorado, November night.
"Yeah! That's how all this came about: BANG! and all those massive stars are flung out there. Einstein and all that stuff!"
Walking along, back to the barracks, when a small, almost audible thought(?) formed in my head, asking, "Where did the ENERGY come from?"
I knew the formula -
E=mC2
and knew you could re-arrange it so:
m=E/C2
A few years later, and many contacts with folks who KNEW what and where the ENERGY Source was, I, too, came to believe.
I suspect that is a function of your acquired wisdom rather than any new wisdom in Milton's text.
The energy was the command to disturb the ground state of space and time so that they could express together our spacetime ... the disturbing of ground state with the command 'caused' it all. Science measures and describes what has emerged so far ... and I do mean to leave that door open, for we have not yet been shown the blessings He has in store for those whom He transforms into the image of His Son.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this!
ping
great post...
Bump for later reading.
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Ah, but what of the Heavenly Muse?
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