A Different View of God

Having written somewhat extensively about our need to re-examine, re-define, and
reconsider God, I have suggested that we should move beyond our
anthropomorphic representations and human characterizations of the Creator. God,
I contend, is beyond our grasp. Our conception of God must expand and deepen if
we are to become closer to God even if God is by their very nature
incomprehensible. Let us not be nave: we are simply too ignorant and shallow to
give God their due1. But that does not excuse us from trying our best.
The approach I have suggested in pursuing awareness of God is through Gods
creation Creation. Specifically, our best chance of knowing anything about God
is by knowing and grasping the reality of our existence within the reality of the
Universe. Because physics (and its cosmological, astronomical, and quantum fields)
has revealed deep and broad order within the physical Universe and clear
underlying intelligence behind its processes, we rightfully presume that physics
also reveals much about the Creator.
Here, we will attempt another perspective using a similar approach only now we
will work from mathematics instead of physics (as if they are different). In the same
manner that I contend a need to clear ones mind of pre-misconceptions regarding
God, I insist that you work hard to rid yourself of similar detractive ideas and
attitudes regarding mathematics. Mathematics is one of Gods greatest gifts, it is
probably the closest language we could share with God, and it is the most
fundamental proof for the existence of a Creator. And although mathematics
encompasses arithmetic and algebra and calculus and the like, it is much MUCH
more. In order to utilize mathematics to get closer to God we should begin by reexamining, re-defining, and reconsidering mathematics.

1 Yes, God is a plurality.

The laws of nature are but the mathematical

thoughts of God.

The single most unexpected and astonishing quality of the Universe is the existence
of mathematics. Yes, I just said that mathematics is even bigger and better than
sex. It is even bigger and better than us. It represents a level of ordered complexity
which far transcends our own (and we are hands down the most ordered and
complex objects that we know of). For thousands of years we have systematically
pursued an understanding of mathematics and every time we seem to be getting
close to some finite representation of mathematics we find another deeper level.
Know we understand that we have just reached the point where we have some idea
of how much we dont know about mathematics. But, before you run away
screaming, let me assure you that we are going to keep it simple here.

Let us begin by re-defining mathematics. To do that we should know something

surprising about reality, something we generally overlook. Science has revealed the

true underlying nature of Creation as information. Every physical thing is made up

of energy (including matter as E=MC2) and energy is all about information. At the
most basic level the quantum level we find that all energy is built from quantum
particles
and that
those
particles are
complex
packets of
information.
Every
particle in
the
Universe
interacts
with other
particles
through a
complex
array of
forces, fields, and laws all of which are informational. And, all that information
comes in one standard format mathematics. That is why every object in the
Universe will eventually be represented within a mathematical expression.
Mathematics is the Creators way of creation. Wow! Did you just say Wow?
If not, please keep reading and re-reading the above until you do. Good

Eugene Wigner, Nobel Laureate for physics, wrote about The Unreasonable
Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences referring to the uncanny
ability of mathematics to describe and predict phenomena in the physical world. He
wrote:
"The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics to
the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we
neither understand nor deserve".
Paul Dirac2 was clearly correct God is a mathematician. How else do we explain
the apparently omnipotent powers of mathematics to describe the world we live in.

2 From The Cosmic Code : Quantum Physics As The Language Of Nature by Heinz
R. Pagels, Simon & Schuster (1982) one of my favorite books.

God used beautiful

mathematics in creating the
world.
Paul Dirac

It is not that we create mathematics, but that we discover the mathematics that
underlies the design of the Universe. More than poetry of logical ideas (Albert
Einstein), mathematics reveals the thoughts of God (Euclid) 3 and the manner in
which mathematics has been written into the nature of Creation reveals much about
the nature of the Creator. So let us take another look at what mathematics actually
are.
One of the best indications of our limited understanding of mathematics is our
inability to properly define it. Viewed as a concrete science, mathematics deals with
numbers, quantities, shapes, and relations. If it was nothing more, it would still
amaze us with coherence and complexity. Viewed as an abstract science,
mathematics is the study of all possible patterns and the study of the properties and
interactions of any object. Viewed as a language, mathematics is a high-order
language4 with specialized symbols, explicit syntactical rules, and broad descriptive
power. Viewed as a philosophical system, mathematics is an inductive activity
which consists of the sequenced execution of specific mental constructions (logic)
which are necessary and effective. Mathematics is that mental construct which
draws necessary conclusions.

Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully

human. At best he is a tolerable subhuman who has
learned to wear shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the
house. (Note below).
Robert Heinlein
3 The laws of nature are but the mathematical thoughts of God.
4 First-order languages define the use of a vocabulary to form complex, sentencelike entities by assigning each term an object that it represents and then assigning
each sentence a truth value whereby all logical and non-logical constants are
denoted (within that language). High-order languages determine a domain of
discourse (within a specific range of quantifiers).

To these definitions, I would add a theological meaning: mathematics is a creative

language used by God to provide coherence, structure, and depth to the information
which underlies the Universe. Mathematics is truly divine

"Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not

only truth, but supreme beauty."
Bertrand Russell
I would also
propose that
there is
another
worthwhile view of mathematics that it also functions as a programming
language in a manner akin to computer/programming languages. Mathematics
includes instruction sets, commands, functions, operands, specifications,
declarations, symbols, components of syntax (form) and semantics (meaning),
specifications, algorithms, relations, constructs, expressions, and abstractions (for
defining, manipulating, or controlling the flow of execution). When viewed as such
mathematics requires a processor which executes the language. We might view the
Universe generally as an information processor and we might see our own meaning
as including mathematical computations. (To be dealt with more thoroughly
elsewhere).
Fundamentally, mathematics is about structure, order, and relations. The most
compelling unifying thread of all of mathematics is its ability to describe
relationships between things that vary over time (e.g. algebra) 5. As al-Khwarizmi
(the discoverer of algebra) realized, the key relation in the Universe is equality
and the "reunion of broken parts") is the broadest essence of mathematics
(together with number theory, geometry, and analysis). By studying the symbols
and the rules for manipulating the symbols of the Universe we discover properties
of operations and the structures these operations which we term physics.
Mathematics is the descriptor of physical reality.
When we re-conceptualize the Universe as the Creation of a mathematician, we
immediately see the significance of information. Knowing that information is
symbolic representation of truth and that mathematics is the language of that truth,
we can only conclude that mathematics is essential to our understanding of God
the Creator of Truth.
Hopefully, you have now jumped ahead of me. If not, here is where Im headed
We may define God as the ultimate cause of Creation and the essence of Creation
as Truth. The Universe is an operational platform (lets not say computer) which
5 Algebra literally (as Arabic )means the "reunion of broken parts".

processes information using the language of mathematics. Thus, objects are created
which have equivalent representations in symbols and methods are employed which
operate as functions and logic. The physical reality which we experience is
comprised entirely of objects, forces, and laws all of which are essentially
information in a mathematical system.
The Universe began as a singularity a unity of truth (information which allows
the accurate prediction and control of the totality). The unity (with perfect
symmetry) was broken as the primary act of causation yielding an asymmetrical
(broken parts) universe. Our search for a theory of everything (or ToE) is a
mathematical pursuit to represent the original unity of creation 6. While interesting,
the original unity means far less to us than the mathematical progression which has
followed. (While it is nice to have a starting point, we may follow a progression
from any point in its continuum). We must also note that the ToE hardy
encompasses everything since it only represents primordial physical forces
without addressing dimensions, laws, and other non-physical aspects of reality. It
also presumes a substrate upon which the forces may operate.
While our mathematics are primitive, we can begin to understand the potential.
Thus far, wherever we look in the physical universe we find a mathematical
representation which parallels the reality we observe. We also find that there is a
mathematical reality which transcends the physical universe and its potential is
largely unexplored. Perhaps most significant in the unexplored potentiality of
mathematics is what it states logically about the Creator and Creation.

Our view of God as a mathematician reveals the truth and beauty of the Divine (as
per Russell, above). In a Universe founded upon indeterminism, chaos, and entropy,
there emerges predictability, order, and progress (evolution) all based upon
mathematics. As we transition from beings focused primarily upon materials to
societies based essentially upon information, we may find hope and direction from
6 The ToE is one step beyond the theoretical grand unified theory where the
primordial forces of electro- magnetism and the nucleus are not yet distinct in the
grand unification epoch of the early universe. When gravity is unified with the other
fundamental forces, well have a ToE.

There are only two types of people in this

Creation
world: those who understand binary and those
with
who don't.
and which
outcome of
information (truth).

which began
information
seeks a clear
better

In mathematics the final realization of truth is a proof. Soon we may realize that
the final proof of theology is the truth of mathematics.