God is iInfinity and Infinity is God

 

[1]

Psalm 147:5 New American Standard Bible

⁵ Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;
His understanding is infinite.

 

The NASB gives a marginal reading for [a] (the word “infinite”) as literally “innumerable.”

In 1968 I took a graduate course in Mathematics labeled Set Theory. There was a very astute Catholic nun in our class. We sort of gravitated to each other because we both openly identified ourselves as Christian. We often compared notes with each other and encouraged each other in the faith. One day our teacher talked about infinity. An obviously infinite set is the regular counting numbers[2] Z = {1, 2, 3, …}. This set Z is clearly infinite because there is no biggest number. [You can reason that if x is the biggest number in Z then clearly x + 1 is also n Z, so our assumption was false.]

Our teacher then reasoned that the set of all fractions Q of integers is also infinite because it contains the integers [{1/1, 2/1. 3/1, …} are all fractions.] He then proceeded to show that Q has no more numbers in it than Z. So, he called this kind of infinity countable or numerable. Then our teacher went on to show that the set of all real numbers R is infinite, but Cantor proved very ingeniously that R is not numerable. So, the infinity of R is a bigger infinity than that of Z. We call it uncountable or innumerable.

Realizing that there are at least two different infinities, one bigger than the other, the natural question is: “Are there more infinities, even bigger than the two we have discovered?” He went on to show that there are bigger and bigger infinities.

My nun friend and I walked out, both of our heads buzzing with this new concept we had talked about. Finally, she looked at me and stated, “I don’t care about all that. For me God is Infinity and Infinity is God! That’s all I need to know!”

Is God infinite for you? If so what kind of infinity is your God? How does this affect your concept of God?

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[1] https://i.ytimg.com/vi/egPANcJWOWs/maxresdefault.jpg

[2] We use Z because the word for counting numbers in German is Zahle. We use Q because the set of fractions can be described as the set of quotients of integers. And we use R for all numbers including numbers that are not quotients of integers, such as π, √2, √3, e, etc.

Surely Not Every Good Cause!

[1]

 

Galatians 6:9 Good News Translation

⁹ So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest.

 

The last blog I posted used the text 2 Corinthians 8:9 “And God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause.”

My brother responded with “I'm afraid that every good cause would easily bankrupt me.”

To which I concurred: “I couldn't help thinking that, when I read this verse and thought about its ramifications!”

Practically every day my mail brings me a request for handout for some good (and not so good) cause. My email, my phone, my pastor, my social media connections, my politicians, the pan handler on the street corner, all stand there with a hand stretched out for my help.

In this age others often appear to expect that we are infinite. When I first started teaching, there was one method of getting a message to me, other than in person—in my mail. Even at that time, much of it was junk mail. During my tenure as a teacher, I got a desk phone, then a phone answering machine. Then along came email, text messaging, electronic calendars, a mobile phone, and the list grew. I was told by a host of messaging agents—some people, some simply robotic machines—that they had left me a message, hadn’t I seen it?!

At this point, as mathematicians say, I need to exercise the axiom of choice. To abuse Set Theory, where there is an unlimited number of choices, I can always make a choice. It is up to me to decide which choice I wish to make.

When Paul wrote Galatians 6:9 he must have been thinking about the number of “good causes” that present themselves to a Christian every day. He encourages us to not become weary in well doing. Even though I have an infinite God with me, He knows that I am not infinite—He didn’t make me infinite, and He doesn’t expect me to be infinite. But He assures me that if I don’t give up, there is a reward awaiting me.

Now, think of God continually receiving requests, often contradictory, from the entire universe!

Whew, Lord! You assure us that You don’t get weary and are infinitely able to easily handle all our requests. Thank You!

 

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[1] https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-nJv0EQrLbM/maxresdefault.jpg

God's Hidden Code of Life

[i]

Ecclesiastes 11:5 

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁵ Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.

 

We know that when a human fetus forms, it starts out as one cell. This cell divides into two identical cells. In turn each of these cells divide into identical cells. As this division occurs over and over again, eventually the cells differentiate and form the various parts of our bodies. Some of the cells become the hard bones that give us structure and make our blood. Some form our organs that make us viable and human.

We know that the key to this variation in cell structure is a giant molecule that is in the very nucleus of every cell. This DNA molecule is identical in every cell. It is composed of only four building blocks, called nucleotides. There are over three billion nucleotides in each DNA molecule.

Humans have performed enough experiments to know the position of a set of nucleotides in the DNA molecule determines the entire structure of the human. It tells each cell what its function is. Cellular division continues throughout the life of the person. Built into this division is an instruction that determines when a cell dies.

What is amazing is how the cell interprets the appropriate tiny substring of the DNA to determine which one of the seemingly infinite possible forms it must assume. This results in a recognizably different human being from all others. But they are all equally human beings.

When the cell loses the instruction that determines when it dies, it then goes on living and dividing, forming too many of the same cell. We call this aberration cancer, and it normally kills the person who gets it. So death, cell death, is essential for human life. How thankful we can be that God intended us for life, not death.

Thank You, Lord, for letting us begin to understand the building code You have used to make us. We see in this structure the extreme complexity yet basic simplicity of Your creation.

 

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[i] https://www.zmescience.com/medicine/genetic/human-genome-write-project/