What has Christianity got to do with mathematics?

_{David Anderson

January 19, 2011

Intelligent Design, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics}

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Just added to the web, the linked article aims to give a short, non-technical, beginner’s answer to the question: “What has Christianity got to do with Mathematics?”

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I say this because I, as a non-Christian theist, am particularly sensitive to what I perceive as a kind of tacit assumption among many Christians that any argument for the existence of God is an argument for the truth of the Christian world view, and it just ain’t so. I appreciate the distinction you're making here, but I don't think most theists do that. Everyone from Aquinas to William Lane Craig, as far as I've seen, have acknowledged that (say) these various arguments get one to a God, maybe even a God with specific attributes (Omniscient, omnipotence, omnibenevolence, etc), but they also note that said arguments aren't sufficient to establish the Christian God specifically. (On the other hand, they may take said arguments to establish a God who can be the Christian God, which I think would make said arguments at least indirect arguments for the Christian God.) ID's proponents in particular have been, in my following of them, very good about acknowledging the limits of their inferences.nullasalus_{January 19, 2011
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Bruce David: Hinduism claims about 330 million gods and goddesses, but the triad of most prominent gods is Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Siva the Destroyer. Oh, and for anyone interested in mathematics and physics, I highly recommend the book God Created the Integers.Barb_{January 19, 2011
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Bruce David, while I agree with your overall assessment, none-the-less, with a bit of elucidation from the right minds, and as I tried to do in baby steps earlier, I believe the entirety of the mathematical description of the universe shall be subsumed into the Christian framework. rehash: e ^(i*pi) + 1 = 0 — Euler's Identity It should be noted that pi is used in the General Relativity equation, while the square root of negative one, i, is used in Schrodinger’s quantum mechanic equation,,, The Five Foundational Equations of the Universe and Brief Descriptions of Each: https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYmaSrBPNEmGZGM4ejY3d3pfNDdnc3E4bmhkZg&hl=en ,,, yet the ‘finite world of General Relativity’ and the ‘infinite world Quantum Mechanics’ are notoriously difficult for mathematicians and physicists the unify into a ‘theory of everything’. And yet in Euler’s identity, the absolutely essential constants of pi and the square root of negative one, i, readily ‘unify’ when ‘e’, the constant used for ascertaining growth in this universe, is brought to bear with them.,,, e ^(i*pi) + 1 = 0 — Euler's Identity And this 'mathematical enigma' correlates with Christianity seemingly as thus: The End Of Christianity – Finding a Good God in an Evil World – Pg.31 William Dembski PhD. Mathematics Excerpt: “In mathematics there are two ways to go to infinity. One is to grow large without measure. The other is to form a fraction in which the denominator goes to zero. The Cross is a path of humility in which the infinite God becomes finite and then contracts to zero, only to resurrect and thereby unite a finite humanity within a newfound infinity.” http://www.designinference.com/documents/2009.05.end_of_xty.pdf The Center Of The Universe Is Life – General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Entropy and The Shroud Of Turin – video http://www.metacafe.com/w/5070355/ “Miracles do not happen in contradiction to nature, but only in contradiction to that which is known to us of nature.” St. Augustine ,,, Thus Bruce David, though you may brush off this enigmatic correlation in mathematics and Theology as the ravings of a mad man, as fantastic as the correlation sounds, the fact is that there is a stunning correlation woven throughout our understanding of reality that, despite my failure to articulate this wonder of wonders in a clear and concise manner, never-the-less points decidedly to Jesus Christ as the successful arbiter between the finite entropic space-time world of General Relativity and the infinite space-time defying world of Quantum Mechanics.bornagain77_{January 19, 2011
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For the record: the arguments in this post, the fine tuning of the physical constants, the Big Bang, the origin of life on earth, and the failure of the neo-Darwinian synthesis all point to the existence of a supreme, trans-physical, staggeringly intelligent creator of the Universe. However, there is nothing in any of these observations that implies that the Christian concept of God is said creator. They could equally be used to argue for the existence of Allah, Jehovah, the Hindu idea of God (whose name, unfortunately, I do not know), or indeed the God who speaks to us through the Conversations with God series of books. I say this because I, as a non-Christian theist, am particularly sensitive to what I perceive as a kind of tacit assumption among many Christians that any argument for the existence of God is an argument for the truth of the Christian world view, and it just ain't so.Bruce David_{January 19, 2011
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It should be noted also that pi is used in the General Relativity equation, while the square root of negative one is used in Schrodinger's quantum mechanic equation,,, The Five Foundational Equations of the Universe and Brief Descriptions of Each: https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYmaSrBPNEmGZGM4ejY3d3pfNDdnc3E4bmhkZg&hl=en ,,, yet the 'finite world of General Relativity' and the 'infinite world Quantum Mechanics' are notoriously difficult for mathematicians and physicists the unify into a 'theory of everything'. Yet in Euler's number the pi and the square root of negative one readily 'unify' when 'e', the constant for growth, is brought to bear with them. And this correlates with Christianity as thus: The End Of Christianity - Finding a Good God in an Evil World - Pg.31 William Dembski PhD. Mathematics Excerpt: "In mathematics there are two ways to go to infinity. One is to grow large without measure. The other is to form a fraction in which the denominator goes to zero. The Cross is a path of humility in which the infinite God becomes finite and then contracts to zero, only to resurrect and thereby unite a finite humanity within a newfound infinity." http://www.designinference.com/documents/2009.05.end_of_xty.pdf Yet, the unification, into a 'theory of everything', between what is in essence the 'infinite world of Quantum Mechanics' and the 'finite world of the space-time of General Relativity' seems to be directly related to what Jesus apparently joined together with His resurrection, i.e. related to the unification of infinite God with finite man: The Center Of The Universe Is Life - General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Entropy and The Shroud Of Turin - video http://www.metacafe.com/w/5070355 "Miracles do not happen in contradiction to nature, but only in contradiction to that which is known to us of nature." St. Augustinebornagain77_{January 19, 2011
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David and BA77. THANKS. Fascinating and worthy of much reflection.tgpeeler_{January 19, 2011
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cont. David, Towards the end of the following video, Michael Denton speaks of the square root of negative 1 being necessary to understand the foundational quantum behavior of this universe. The square root of -1 is 'coincidentally' found in Euler's identity: Michael Denton – Mathematical Truths Are Transcendent And Beautiful – Square root of -1 is built into the fabric of reality – video http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4003918" I find it extremely strange that the enigmatic Euler's identity would find such striking correlation to reality. In pi we have correlation to the 'sphere of the universe' as revealed by the Cosmic Background radiation, as well pi correlates to the finely-tuned 'geometric flatness' within the 'sphere of the universe' that has now been found. In e we have the fundamental constant that is used for ascertaining exponential growth in math that strongly correlates to the fact that space-time is 'expanding/growing equally' in all places of the universe. In the square root of -1 we have what is termed a 'imaginary number', which was first proposed to help solve equations like x2+ 1 = 0 back in the 17th century, yet now, as Michael Denton pointed out in the preceding video, it is found that the square root of -1 is required to explain the behavior of quantum mechanics in this universe. The correlation of Euler's identity, to the foundational characteristics of how this universe is constructed and operates, points overwhelmingly to a transcendent Intelligence, with a capital I, which created this universe! It should also be noted that these universal constants, pi,e, and square root -1, were at first thought by many to be completely transcendent of any material basis, to find that these transcendent constants of Euler's identity in fact 'govern' material reality, in such a foundational way, should be enough to send shivers down any mathematicians spine. Here is a very well done video, showing the stringent 'mathematical proofs' of Euler's Identity: Euler's identity - video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zApx1UlkpNs The mystery doesn't stop there, this following video shows how pi and e are found in Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1 Euler's Identity - God Created Mathematics - video http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4003905 This following website has the complete working out of the math of Pi and e in the Bible, in the Hebrew and Greek languages respectively, for Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1: http://www.biblemaths.com/pag03_pie/ Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe. Galileo Galilei further note: The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences - Eugene Wigner Excerpt: The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. We should be grateful for it and hope that it will remain valid in future research and that it will extend, for better or for worse, to our pleasure, even though perhaps also to our bafflement, to wide branches of learning. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/MathDrama/reading/Wigner.html The Underlying Mathematical Foundation Of The Universe -Walter Bradley - video http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4491491 The Five Foundational Equations of the Universe and Brief Descriptions of Each: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYmaSrBPNEmGZGM4ejY3d3pfNDdnc3E4bmhkZg&hl=en This following site is a easy to use, and understand, interactive website that takes the user through what is termed 'Presuppositional apologetics'. The website clearly shows that our use of the laws of logic, mathematics, science and moral...ity cannot be accounted for unless we believe in a God who guarantees our perceptions and reasoning are trustworthy in the first place. Proof That God Exists - easy to use interactive website http://www.proofthatgodexists.org/index.php Materialism simply dissolves into absurdity when pushed to extremes and certainly offers no guarantee to us for believing our perceptions and reasoning within science are trustworthy in the first place: Dr. Bruce Gordon - The Absurdity Of The Multiverse & Materialism in General - video http://www.metacafe.com/watch/5318486/bornagain77_{January 19, 2011
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David, The correspondence of mathematics to reality runs very deep indeed: The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences - Eugene Wigner Excerpt: The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. We should be grateful for it and hope that it will remain valid in future research and that it will extend, for better or for worse, to our pleasure, even though perhaps also to our bafflement, to wide branches of learning. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/MathDrama/reading/Wigner.html The Underlying Mathematical Foundation Of The Universe -Walter Bradley - video http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4491491 The Five Foundational Equations of the Universe and Brief Descriptions of Each: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYmaSrBPNEmGZGM4ejY3d3pfNDdnc3E4bmhkZg&hl=en Finely Tuned Big Bang, Elvis In The Multiverse, and the Schroedinger Equation - Granville Sewell - video http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4233012 To solidly confirm Dr. Sewell's observation that mathematics governs how reality is constructed, I note just one little equation: 0 = 1 + e ^(i*pi) — Euler God by the Numbers - Connecting the constants Excerpt: The final number comes from theoretical mathematics. It is Euler's (pronounced "Oiler's") number: e*pi*i. This number is equal to -1, so when the formula is written e*pi*i+1 = 0, it connects the five most important constants in mathematics (e, pi, i, 0, and 1) along with three of the most important mathematical operations (addition, multiplication, and exponentiation). These five constants symbolize the four major branches of classical mathematics: arithmetic, represented by 1 and 0; algebra, by i; geometry, by pi; and analysis, by e, the base of the natural log. e*pi*i+1 = 0 has been called "the most famous of all formulas," because, as one textbook says, "It appeals equally to the mystic, the scientist, the philosopher, and the mathematician." http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/march/26.44.html?start=3 (of note; Euler's Number (equation) is more properly called Euler's Identity in math circles.) Moreover Euler’s Identity, rather than just being the most enigmatic equation in math, finds striking correlation to how our 3D reality is actually structured,,, The following picture, Bible verse, and video are very interesting since, with the discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR), the universe is found to actually be a circular sphere which 'coincidentally' corresponds to the circle of pi within Euler's identity: Picture of CMBR https://webspace.utexas.edu/reyesr/SolarSystem/cmbr.jpg Proverbs 8:26-27 While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields, or the primeval dust of the world. When He prepared the heavens, I was there, when He drew a circle on the face of the deep, The Known Universe by AMNH – video - (please note the 'centrality' of the Earth in the universe in the video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U The flatness of the ‘entire’ universe, which 'coincidentally' corresponds to the diameter of pi in Euler’s identity, is found on this following site; (of note this flatness of the universe is an extremely finely tuned condition for the universe that could have, in reality, been a multitude of different values than 'flat'): Did the Universe Hyperinflate? – Hugh Ross – April 2010 Excerpt: Perfect geometric flatness is where the space-time surface of the universe exhibits zero curvature (see figure 3). Two meaningful measurements of the universe’s curvature parameter, ½k, exist. Analysis of the 5-year database from WMAP establishes that -0.0170 < ½k < 0.0068.4 Weak gravitational lensing of distant quasars by intervening galaxies places -0.031 < ½k < 0.009.5 Both measurements confirm the universe indeed manifests zero or very close to zero geometric curvature,,, http://www.reasons.org/did-universe-hyperinflate This following video shows that the universe also has a primary characteristic of expanding/growing equally in all places,, which 'coincidentally' strongly corresponds to e in Euler's identity. e is the constant used in all sorts of equations of math for finding what the true rates of growth and decay are for any given problem trying to find as such: Every 3D Place Is Center In This Universe – 4D space/time – video http://www.metacafe.com/watch/3991873/bornagain77_{January 19, 2011
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