Counter-culture Journals (文革)

Counter-culture Journals (文革)

Thursday, January 08, 2009

What is God?

Christianity is one of the few religions left that believe that man can only reach heaven and salvation through a divine personality; Jesus Christ. He is what some of us call, the dying god-man. The idea is that a person is born into this world who is part god, part man, and when this person dies, he becomes a divine personality of god. Of the five main modern world religions, only Christianity, some Buddhist sects and Hinduism have such god-men. Islam and Judaism have no god-men and in Islam it is considered a form of blasphemy.
Does this make sense? The Bible also claims man was made in god’s image and likeness. So how much are we alike? We take up space, we are restricted by time and space. We can’t go backward in time and it is extremely hard for us to change the rate at which we go forward. The theory of relativity tells us we have a scientific speed limit for traveling in space. If there are other universes (as string and M theory claim)[1] we can not get to them.
On the other hand god is an immortal being who is everywhere, has no beginning or end. In other words, has none of the constrictions placed on it as man? It has an intelligence that is able to understand all facets of all universes and everything in them. So how are we alike?
Christianity gives us a creation story, just as many religions do. But what did God do before creation? Another question, if the Universe has a specific size, what does God do with all that other space?
If we except M theory, that there are a number, maybe unlimited number, of universes that we can barely detect and if we accept that these universes are created and die continuously throughout time, then there is a rational explanation for god. But that’s not what religion tells us. And how can such an infinite intelligence possibly connect with a tiny individual that can’t even travel more than 1 percent of the space it has been given? It’s like believing an amoeba can imagine being human or that a human can transform him or herself into such a microbe. It just doesn’t make any logical sense. Jesus is like an amoeba that can think like a human, which really doesn’t make any sense. God is supposed to be infinite and all powerful. He is supposed to be all knowing. In what way is he human? In what way could he be human? How could he take the form of a human? Humans have a brain and intelligence. Amoebas have no real brain and live in a world so small we can’t even see them without a microscope. If I were to believe humans could really be gods, then I might as well believe an amoeba can transform itself into a human, or be able to somehow obtain the knowledge of a human and pass it on to other amoebas. The idea is ludicrous.
` If M theory is true, then it answers two important questions. If god created the universe, what did he do with all that time he had before it? If there is an end to the known universe, what does god do with all that empty space around it? According to M theory, there are countless universes divided by a dimension called a membrane. That means that there is no “end” to existence. Also, universes are born with a big bang and then die out as cold dark ever expending clouds of remnants of matter and energy after the last star and the last atom have deteriorated and died out. So there are no beginnings to existence. There is no beginning of universes. They exist in infinity.
[1] String theory holds that the physics of atomic particles should work in harmony with the physics of large objects, such as galaxies. For this theory to work there must be 6 additional dimensions, beyond the three known dimensions of space and one of time. There is also one more dimension called a membrane. The membrane is a dimension that traps all but gravitons to this universe, leaving other universes invisible to us as they are trapped on separate membranes. These universes are created and die out over time, just as ours. There may be a limitless number of such universes. See “The Elegant Universe,” NOVA, Three parts, “Einstein’s Dream,” Hour 1, “String’s the Thing,” hour 2, both shown on Tuesday, 21 December 2004 from 8 to 10 p.m., “Welcome to the 11th Dimension,” Hour 3, shown on Tuesday 28 December 2004 at 8 p.m., on PBS, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html.




No comments: