Saturday, December 18, 2004

God=MC²?

What if?

Einstein's famous equation from 1905, E=MC², demonstrates that energy is equivalent with matter. It suggests that energy can be transformed into mass and mass can be transformed into energy. The 1st law of thermodynamics tells us that energy/matter can neither be created nor destroyed -- only transformed. Using theological terminology, energy might be described as omnipotent and omnipresent. I think you can all see where I'm going with this. Add omniscience and you have what most people require of God. Can two omnipotents/omnipresents coexist in the universe -- or is God sentient energy?

Does the idea of God=E=MC² cause conflict with the Bible? In other words, how would that idea play in scripture? Most would agree that spiritual beings are not composed of known substances that decompose. That leaves the question, what ARE they composed of?

Let's start very early in the Bible. Genesis 1:26 states, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness". OK. If we bounce the idea of God being sentient energy against this verse, what would we have?

Well, we accept that a human's body is matter, and that matter is compressed energy that cannot be created nor destroyed. This would mean that God did not "create" us, exactly. But what would prevent Him from "making" us in his own likeness -- and how could He do that?

Maybe he could do that by using a portion of Himself (energy) to "make" the body-matter of man. Of course, that would also imply that God did the same when he "made" all the rest of the universe, including the earth and all life thereon.

Does the logic hold up so far and would it pose no conflict with the Bible? Well, we have already acknowledged that all matter is energy and vice versa, so I don't see a problem so far with the energy-to-matter logic. Does it cause a conflict with the words from scripture, "in our image, after our likeness"? I can't see a problem, yet.

So, if we accept things so far, what is man at this point of "making"? Seems like he is a bundle of energy that shares its existence with its creator. In other words, material man would not be fundamentally different than the trees and the stars.

Well, if we were to accept that God is "sentient" energy, then what would keep Him from giving mankind some of that sentient energy as well as material (bodily) energy? In other words, maybe God "breathed" His (sentient) "Spirit" into man -- an act above and beyond that which he did for the trees and stars.

Would this finally give some explanation to why mankind has a personal and immortal spirit that survives the death (change) of his material form? Could this provide a glimpse into the physics of how we can hope for a continuation of our "selves" after our physical death?
  • Energy, like God -- just is.
  • Energy can neither be created nor destroyed.
  • God can neither be created nor destroyed.
  • Energy is omnipresent.
  • God is omnipresent.
  • Energy is omnipotent.
  • God is omnipotent.

By definition of "omni", there cannot be two omnipresents or two omnipotents. Do you think it is somehow sacriligious to consider the possibility that God and energy are one and the same? If not, it might help explain a lot of things, such as the Trinity.

No comments: