Richard Morris

 

I would like to discuss some ideas about this world, and other possible worlds. These are ideas about current theories proposed by cosmologists, ideas that may have religious significance; particularly for Christians. Many scientific thinkers believe our universe is only one of many universes. Theories are being presented to respectable scientific journals, stating reasons for believing an infinite many different universes are possible; some of these universes are radically different from this one we know. Christians have always believed in existence of another world, call it another universe if you wish. I want to present a theory about such a universe. This is not a scientific theory, because it includes God as a vital part of my idea. This proposal could be called metaphysics or simply an interesting religious idea; an idea that should be of interest for all Christians.

            The idea that many universes, possibly infinitely many, may exist is not a new idea. I have read that some ancient Greek thinkers considered the possibility. A smart man named, Giordano Bruno, was executed around 1600 because he believed in the existence of many other universes. The idea is being revived by cosmologists today, with supporting scientific arguments. This revival has been a fruit of research on the Big Bang and evolution of our universe from a violent, explosive beginning.  

            Think of the possibility for imaginative writers. Exotic and strange creatures with powers we do not have.   There might be other kingdoms and civilizations, not only in distant galaxies but also in other universes.   In these stories, beings travel between universes through wormholes, using vehicles of strange design. I thought only small wiggily things traveled through wormholes. But not in science fiction. The idea of wormholes was originally theorized by a highly respectable Princeton physicist, John Wheeler, an expert on General Relativity; the man who invented the label Black Holes for those collapsed stars studied widely today.

            If other universes exist, it is reasonable to ask, “where are these other universes?” The correct answer given by some physicists is, “everywhere and nowhere.” Quantum physicists love answers like that. A popular one of those is,

“Light is both a particle and a wave.” 

Sensible people think about that and ask,

            “How can that be? Aren’t waves and particles two different kinds of things?” 

“Well, our laboratory results show sometimes light behaves as a wave and sometimes it behaves like a particle. Einstein theorized that, and sure enough he seems to be correct.” 

“But?? How can that be? Sounds crazy to me.” 

“If you don’t understand you need to take a course in quantum mechanics. Then you will understand.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t want those guys tinkering with my brain. You guys are nuts.”

 

            Well in a way, you may be right. Or, maybe they are. Remember the fine line between genius and insanity. The great physicist, Neils Bohr, one of the founding fathers for quantum physics, reminded his acquaintances that creative thinking in physics requires some crazy ideas at times. Such crazy sounding ideas are needed to jolt us out of ruts in our thinking.

            But it is true that if other universes exist they are “everywhere and nowhere.” Crazy as that sounds, I agree. If a universe is at “some place”, then that is a location in space, in our space in this universe. Other universes could not be in our universe so they are nowhere. But theorists think they have shown that infinitely many other universes exist, so they must be somewhere, and since infinitely many universes exist they must be everywhere. Follow that? The concept “where” is a part of our thinking. It has no meaning except in our universe; not applicable to other universes. 

            The same applies to time. We think in terms of time. “When did it occur?” The answer is, “Never and always”, when speaking of other universes. Time as we know it is a part of our universe. In other universes there is no space and no time, nothing like our idea of space and time.

            To sum that up, what all of this means is that a large number of smart, scientifically aware thinkers believe other universes may exist. I agree to some extent. I am sure there is one other universe, another world unlike ours.   I think there is probably only one. I do not believe in 2, 3 or infinitely many other universes. Just one other, truly magnificent other world, or universe if you wish to call it. How do I know that? Because a man did come to our universe, from another world, to tell us about that world, aka “universe”.  

            I am a mathematical physicist, but I am not proposing my theory as a scientific theory. I know the rules on that. I am proposing a theory that is a merge of the best thinking in science and religion. I know something many of my scientific friends do not know. There are other truths and other realities, above and beyond the physical world studied by physicists.

            “Other universe theorists”, believe people may be able to travel between universes. The physical laws in another universe, if any exist, will probably be different from that of our universe. That means the inhabitants of that other universe must be very different from us. It has been shown scientifically that life as we know it would not be possible in a universe very much different from ours. Small differences in certain physical constants, small differences in the basic forces, would make the world as we know it impossible.

            One example of that kind of thinking is worth examining. The most important of the basic forces in our universe are electromagnetic forces, electrical and magnetic. If these forces were too weak, matter as we know it could not exist. There would be no solids and no liquids. No water? We cannot exist without water. Experts tell us there would be nothing in the universe but gases. I can hear the jokes run through your head now. There is a lot of gas of all kinds in this universe. Much hot stuff concentrated in Washington, D.C.   Some would include churches. We need some gases of course but too much of a good thing would not be good. Changing strength, up or down, in the basic forces could be disastrous for our universe.

            For a long time we have had among us students of a new area of biology called astro-biology. Astro-biologists study possible life forms on other planets or in other galaxies. People are considering the affect of different gravitational fields, higher or lower temperatures, chemical composition and physical properties of atmospheres, and other factors. It is probable that life forms in other galaxies, if any exist, would be very different from us. Witness the strange creatures, varying from people with strange powers to horrible monsters, described for us by writers of science fiction. I don’t understand why so many of these science fiction creatures resemble reptiles or large insects. These creatures are assumed to live within our universe, somewhere. What happens when we consider other universes? No body knows.

            Let us suppose, that one universe all Christians believe in is examined in the light of current cosmologic thinking. We call that other universe, “heaven”.   For the moment that is just a convenient name. Leave the Bible closed. There would be no space or time in heaven. Christians have speculated about that for centuries. Scientists tell us not to worry about where it is, or how life would be there. All you need to know is it would be different, very different. Some people get anxious about going to a different place, a strange place that is radically different. A women living in Ohio might be nervous about a trip to New York, prior to her first visit to that city loved by so many people. Jesus came to us from that other world we call heaven. He told us that. He assured us, not to worry, everything will be fine. Even scientists believe light, radiation, was in our world from the moment of beginning. We call that creation. It follows that heaven would be filled with light. Sounds good to me.

            Current scientists believe it might be possible to communicate with other worlds, and beings can travel between universes. Many non Christians find it hard to believe God spoke to Noah, Moses and others. But now we know communication between heaven and earth is scientifically possible. Could one actually travel between heaven and earth? Current science says yes. We knew that anyway, because Jesus did just that. Scientists need to note how he did it. He came as a baby, born to a human mother. Amazing, but true . His final return to that other universe, heaven, is described in Chapter 1 of the Book of Acts. In Acts 1:9 – 11 we read,

            While men watched, Jesus spoke his final words, and then he ascended into the clouds, and disappeared from sight. He returned to that other universe we call heaven. Jesus did not die again. He went to another universe. Not to another location in our universe. There were witnesses of this event, hard evidence of existence of another universe. It’s as simple as that. What more evidence do we need that another universe really does exist? Many of us, billions, believe we will go that world we call heaven. We simply die to do that. We were given our tickets long ago. They were free. Better than a super bowl.

            The normal inhabitants of heaven are different from earthlings. Science tells us that. Jesus confirmed that theory. Witnesses stated repeatedly about Jesus. “We never before saw anyone like this.” “No man ever before did things like this.” “How does he know these things?” So, the Bible confirms the scientific claim. I became a Christian, following billions that became Christians over the last 2000 years, because this was clearly no ordinary man. The brilliant writer and thinker, C.S. Lewis, believed that. He testified to that in writing. This was a most unusual, amazing, man. Earth was truly visited by one who came to us from another universe, heaven.

            Can God, or Jesus if you prefer, communicate with us today? I think so.   How does he do that? Probably many ways. We are dealing with a being unlike us, not limited as we are in our ability to communicate. We speak by means of sound waves or visible signals. Experts tell us ninety percent of our communication is by silent body language. If God decides to communicate to our universe he has many ways. Ways we probably could not understand. Remember, laws of science in other universes are not like ours. We can only imagine what the science of heaven is like. I look forward to discovering those laws of heavenly science some day.

            Maybe after hearing about the scientific confirmation of the existence of other universes we can agree that heaven is one of those universes; the only other one that actually exists. With that said, the words written in the Revelation of John certainly sound more believable. Now we know what his vision was. 

Read the beautiful words in Rev 21:1 – 4 again.

 

 

(Copyright 2010 Benjamin F. Plybon. All rights reserved.)