The Mind-Boggling Infinitum
The Big Bang. Science has revealed an interesting aspect of the universe that continually points to it having a beginning. An explosion from a nothingness that began process, time, and all that we know and that which we have not yet discovered. The Theist uses the big bang as evidence of a God sparking life into existence, for we know from logic that something does not come from nothing. The Atheist use the big bang as an addition to their theory of evolution.
The difference for the atheist is that the big bang did not come from nothing, but the whole universe, or so the idea goes, was pressed into the area much smaller than the smallest atom, building pressure and energy until finally it burst out with great energy starting the process that has brought us here. Sidestepping the problems of why or how the universe was fitted into such a infinitesimally small space and after fitting into such a small space how pressure would continue to build, for the atheist, this version of the big bang only passes the buck. Instead of explaining the origin of the universe, it takes the next step towards postulating that the matter of the universe has always existed.
There are many problems with this. First of all, for matter to be eternal, that means by necessity that time and space also had no beginning. Eternity is beyond understanding numerically, but in theory, philosophy, the logic of the concept, time must have a beginning. For eternity is not only positive in such a case, but also negative. If time has no beginning and no end, then not only does it go on for forever in the future, but it goes back for forever in the past. But that is precisely the problem, if there is an infinite amount of time behind us how could we ever get to the present?
For the same reason we could not ever reach the end of eternity counting forward, we could never reach today by counting backwards to the beginning of eternity.
This is a dilemma science has no answer to. It may feel quaint, but the only explanation that can assuage this recondite (difficult problem) is an entity that surpasses both time and space, an entity with unbridled power that created space and gave time it’s beginning; i.e. God. This is truly boggling though, how can someone be outside of time? How can moments be measured if you are outside of time, and can anything happen when it is not measured in moments? I remember asking myself as a child, who is God’s Daddy? If He created all of us, where did He come from? It is an honest question, but one that stems from a misunderstanding, something that is truly beyond us.
Scientists say that time is the fourth dimension. Imagine being a 2-D cartoon drawing who hypothetically has consciousness, now try and imagine a 2-D object as yourself trying to understand the concept of 3-D. I have thought about such a scenario many times, and have extinguished all possibilities and hope of finding an explanation fitting for a 2 dimensional consciousness to understand the third dimension - Depth - outside of granting the cartoon three dimensions. I have a hard time accepting that we cannot ever understand being outside of time without somehow stepping outside of time, but I will not let not completely understanding keep me from accepting it as true.
As far as where did God come from, it is counter-intuitive to even ask. Let me explain. If what we call God was not the creator of all things, in other words, if God had a beginning, then He would not be sustainer of all things, or what we would call God. If God relied upon anyone else for His existence, He would not through definition, be God, because God is that entity in which derives His existence from Himself. He has no beginning and no end, one that exists outside of time and space, one that has unbridled power, one capable of creating the world in which we live in. God is God for the very reason that we are here within time. For time has a beginning, God does not.
I accept that which we can know about time, here in our limited abilities, and hope for the day the mind-boggling concept of eternity is explained to me, from within eternity.
Jared Williams
The difference for the atheist is that the big bang did not come from nothing, but the whole universe, or so the idea goes, was pressed into the area much smaller than the smallest atom, building pressure and energy until finally it burst out with great energy starting the process that has brought us here. Sidestepping the problems of why or how the universe was fitted into such a infinitesimally small space and after fitting into such a small space how pressure would continue to build, for the atheist, this version of the big bang only passes the buck. Instead of explaining the origin of the universe, it takes the next step towards postulating that the matter of the universe has always existed.
There are many problems with this. First of all, for matter to be eternal, that means by necessity that time and space also had no beginning. Eternity is beyond understanding numerically, but in theory, philosophy, the logic of the concept, time must have a beginning. For eternity is not only positive in such a case, but also negative. If time has no beginning and no end, then not only does it go on for forever in the future, but it goes back for forever in the past. But that is precisely the problem, if there is an infinite amount of time behind us how could we ever get to the present?
For the same reason we could not ever reach the end of eternity counting forward, we could never reach today by counting backwards to the beginning of eternity.
This is a dilemma science has no answer to. It may feel quaint, but the only explanation that can assuage this recondite (difficult problem) is an entity that surpasses both time and space, an entity with unbridled power that created space and gave time it’s beginning; i.e. God. This is truly boggling though, how can someone be outside of time? How can moments be measured if you are outside of time, and can anything happen when it is not measured in moments? I remember asking myself as a child, who is God’s Daddy? If He created all of us, where did He come from? It is an honest question, but one that stems from a misunderstanding, something that is truly beyond us.
Scientists say that time is the fourth dimension. Imagine being a 2-D cartoon drawing who hypothetically has consciousness, now try and imagine a 2-D object as yourself trying to understand the concept of 3-D. I have thought about such a scenario many times, and have extinguished all possibilities and hope of finding an explanation fitting for a 2 dimensional consciousness to understand the third dimension - Depth - outside of granting the cartoon three dimensions. I have a hard time accepting that we cannot ever understand being outside of time without somehow stepping outside of time, but I will not let not completely understanding keep me from accepting it as true.
As far as where did God come from, it is counter-intuitive to even ask. Let me explain. If what we call God was not the creator of all things, in other words, if God had a beginning, then He would not be sustainer of all things, or what we would call God. If God relied upon anyone else for His existence, He would not through definition, be God, because God is that entity in which derives His existence from Himself. He has no beginning and no end, one that exists outside of time and space, one that has unbridled power, one capable of creating the world in which we live in. God is God for the very reason that we are here within time. For time has a beginning, God does not.
I accept that which we can know about time, here in our limited abilities, and hope for the day the mind-boggling concept of eternity is explained to me, from within eternity.
Jared Williams
