In Search of Another World
Written by Fr. Jaroslaw Buciora
One of the latest articles on the subject of laws and physics in God’s universe, written by Monica Grady: “Life’s Big Question”, put me to the task of expanding my horizons with contemporary science and the truth contained in the Holy Bible. This article, written only eight months ago, testifies once again that science and the belief in God do not have to go against each other, but rather they can and should coexist as two separate entities in search of what is beyond our universe. Monica Grady, a professor of planetary and space science at the Open University, analyzes established laws of physics and the limitation of modern sciences to establish the parameters of an existing universe.
This very short article ends with a short phrase from the book titled “Reaper Man” by Terry Pratchett, which in itself deserves a separate presentation: “Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it”. The physical law presented by Terry Pratchett could be understood by some of us as a beautiful insignificant phrase from a contemporary English satirist and humorist, but for the others this phrase contains in itself a profound scientific and Biblical truth. In the scientific world, this phrase presents the universal truth about the continual expansion of the universe at an incredible speed.
The known universe: cosmos is getting bigger and bigger as light penetrates the darkness. The expansion of the universe reaches the limitations of the human imagination by approximately 46 billion light years. In the Biblical language, although never mentioned by Monica Grady, the sentence paraphrases Genesis 1:1-3: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light, and there was light”. If we look closely at the phrase, we will find two elements which are originally found in Genesis: darkness and light. These two elements are integral for Genesis 1:1, where after the creation of heaven and earth, God created darkness and light. According to the Book of Genesis, darkness precedes light. The darkness is characterized by: “darkness was over the surface of the deep”.
The author of the Book of Genesis uses a known language to describe a reality, which in contemporary science we call the edge of the universe. The scientific world describes the physical reality of the universe, which according to the Bible was already known 3500 years ago. It is very interesting to emphasize that the Bible doesn’t limit the universe with time and space, but leaves the reality open ended. The Book of Genesis characterizes the universe as an open reality where God continues to be the source of the universe. According to Genesis, there is darkness, but darkness knows its Creator. Light, secondary to the darkness, is called by Genesis as good. Light penetrates the darkness, which in the contemporary scientific world is called the expansion of the world. The only problem which remains unsolved between the scientific world and the Bible is a mutual understanding of the origins of darkness and light.
Another very interesting common element between the article and the Bible is the existence of many different universes. According to the Book of Genesis 1:1, God created heavens, which signifies plurality of heaven. The Bible confirms the existence of many heavens, but doesn’t define the number of heavenly realities or its physical laws. The Bible confirms only the existence of heavens, which in contemporary theology corresponds to nine angelic realities or conditions of relationships with God. Theology only confirms the existence of this heavenly world, which is known and characterized with limitations by the mystical experience of the saints. It is a plurality of heavenly abodes created for humanity. In the scientific world, according to Monica Grady, there is an idea of a multiverse, where many different universes co-exist but don’t interact. According to this theory, we might be living at the present time in a multidimensional world, which does not interact with each other. It is a reality, which is described in the Gospel by Abraham as a “great chasm” (Luke 16:19-31)… There is a great mystery which is not revealed by God to humanity yet. This should not be a moment of frustration in the scientific world, but a reality of the greatness of the providence of God and the incredible potential for humanity.
If the scientific world could understand the truth contained in the Bible, there could be a synergy of cooperation and greatness of discovery never understood before. It is my hope that this article serves as a reflection of humanity’s journey, which does need to be rejected but to be embraced with a syncretic approach.