Quotes & Sayings


We, and creation itself, actualize the possibilities of the God who sustains the world, towards becoming in the world in a fuller, more deeper way. - R.E. Slater

There is urgency in coming to see the world as a web of interrelated processes of which we are integral parts, so that all of our choices and actions have [consequential effects upon] the world around us. - Process Metaphysician Alfred North Whitehead

Kurt Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem says (i) all closed systems are unprovable within themselves and, that (ii) all open systems are rightly understood as incomplete. - R.E. Slater

The most true thing about you is what God has said to you in Christ, "You are My Beloved." - Tripp Fuller

The God among us is the God who refuses to be God without us, so great is God's Love. - Tripp Fuller

According to some Christian outlooks we were made for another world. Perhaps, rather, we were made for this world to recreate, reclaim, redeem, and renew unto God's future aspiration by the power of His Spirit. - R.E. Slater

Our eschatological ethos is to love. To stand with those who are oppressed. To stand against those who are oppressing. It is that simple. Love is our only calling and Christian Hope. - R.E. Slater

Secularization theory has been massively falsified. We don't live in an age of secularity. We live in an age of explosive, pervasive religiosity... an age of religious pluralism. - Peter L. Berger

Exploring the edge of life and faith in a post-everything world. - Todd Littleton

I don't need another reason to believe, your love is all around for me to see. – Anon

Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all. - Khalil Gibran, Prayer XXIII

Be careful what you pretend to be. You become what you pretend to be. - Kurt Vonnegut

Religious beliefs, far from being primary, are often shaped and adjusted by our social goals. - Jim Forest

We become who we are by what we believe and can justify. - R.E. Slater

People, even more than things, need to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. – Anon

Certainly, God's love has made fools of us all. - R.E. Slater

An apocalyptic Christian faith doesn't wait for Jesus to come, but for Jesus to become in our midst. - R.E. Slater

Christian belief in God begins with the cross and resurrection of Jesus, not with rational apologetics. - Eberhard Jüngel, Jürgen Moltmann

Our knowledge of God is through the 'I-Thou' encounter, not in finding God at the end of a syllogism or argument. There is a grave danger in any Christian treatment of God as an object. The God of Jesus Christ and Scripture is irreducibly subject and never made as an object, a force, a power, or a principle that can be manipulated. - Emil Brunner

“Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” means "I will be that who I have yet to become." - God (Ex 3.14) or, conversely, “I AM who I AM Becoming.”

Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. - Thomas Merton

The church is God's world-changing social experiment of bringing unlikes and differents to the Eucharist/Communion table to share life with one another as a new kind of family. When this happens, we show to the world what love, justice, peace, reconciliation, and life together is designed by God to be. The church is God's show-and-tell for the world to see how God wants us to live as a blended, global, polypluralistic family united with one will, by one Lord, and baptized by one Spirit. – Anon

The cross that is planted at the heart of the history of the world cannot be uprooted. - Jacques Ellul

The Unity in whose loving presence the universe unfolds is inside each person as a call to welcome the stranger, protect animals and the earth, respect the dignity of each person, think new thoughts, and help bring about ecological civilizations. - John Cobb & Farhan A. Shah

If you board the wrong train it is of no use running along the corridors of the train in the other direction. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God's justice is restorative rather than punitive; His discipline is merciful rather than punishing; His power is made perfect in weakness; and His grace is sufficient for all. – Anon

Our little [biblical] systems have their day; they have their day and cease to be. They are but broken lights of Thee, and Thou, O God art more than they. - Alfred Lord Tennyson

We can’t control God; God is uncontrollable. God can’t control us; God’s love is uncontrolling! - Thomas Jay Oord

Life in perspective but always in process... as we are relational beings in process to one another, so life events are in process in relation to each event... as God is to Self, is to world, is to us... like Father, like sons and daughters, like events... life in process yet always in perspective. - R.E. Slater

To promote societal transition to sustainable ways of living and a global society founded on a shared ethical framework which includes respect and care for the community of life, ecological integrity, universal human rights, respect for diversity, economic justice, democracy, and a culture of peace. - The Earth Charter Mission Statement

Christian humanism is the belief that human freedom, individual conscience, and unencumbered rational inquiry are compatible with the practice of Christianity or even intrinsic in its doctrine. It represents a philosophical union of Christian faith and classical humanist principles. - Scott Postma

It is never wise to have a self-appointed religious institution determine a nation's moral code. The opportunities for moral compromise and failure are high; the moral codes and creeds assuredly racist, discriminatory, or subjectively and religiously defined; and the pronouncement of inhumanitarian political objectives quite predictable. - R.E. Slater

God's love must both center and define the Christian faith and all religious or human faiths seeking human and ecological balance in worlds of subtraction, harm, tragedy, and evil. - R.E. Slater

In Whitehead’s process ontology, we can think of the experiential ground of reality as an eternal pulse whereby what is objectively public in one moment becomes subjectively prehended in the next, and whereby the subject that emerges from its feelings then perishes into public expression as an object (or “superject”) aiming for novelty. There is a rhythm of Being between object and subject, not an ontological division. This rhythm powers the creative growth of the universe from one occasion of experience to the next. This is the Whiteheadian mantra: “The many become one and are increased by one.” - Matthew Segall

Without Love there is no Truth. And True Truth is always Loving. There is no dichotomy between these terms but only seamless integration. This is the premier centering focus of a Processual Theology of Love. - R.E. Slater

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Note: Generally I do not respond to commentary. I may read the comments but wish to reserve my time to write (or write from the comments I read). Instead, I'd like to see our community help one another and in the helping encourage and exhort each of us towards Christian love in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. - re slater

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Love is Always Louder







Bible Verses About Love:
25 Awesome Scripture Quotes

by Josh on May 26, 2011

The Bible is full of great verses and passages about the topic of love. God’s love for us is a perfect example and starting place to study on love. There are also great verses about love in relation to marriage, brotherly love or friendship, and loving your neighbor. Here is a collection of some of the greatest love quotes from the Bible. What is your favorite love Bible verse? Share it with us in the comments!

God’s Love

John 3:16 For God so loved the world,that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Love One Another

Romans 13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Ephesians 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

1 Peter 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

What Did Jesus Say About Love

Matthew 5:43-48 You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 6:24-25No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Mark 12:28-30 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

John 14:21-24 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

John 15:9-17 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Bible Verses About Love for Marriage or Weddings

Song of Solomon 8:6-7 Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

Ephesians 4:2-3 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Philippians 2:2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

1 John 3:18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Love Scripture Quotes from Proverbs or Psalms

Psalm 23:5-6 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 31:16 Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!

Psalm 63:3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Christian Love Quotes

The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. ~Mother Teresa

The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost. ~G.K. Chesterton

God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus. – Max Lucado










Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Stephen Hawking: The Strangeness of Quantum Physics and Cosmic Indeterminacy



How Multiverses Form: A supplement to the original Big Bang Theory of the Universe.
(click to enlarge for a clearer picture)



The Strangeness of Quantum Physics,
Cosmic Indeterminacy and Multiverses

R.E. Slater
June 27, 2012

The most incomprehensible thing about the universe
is that it is comprehensible.

                                                  - Albert Einstein
Introduction

Through several past articles (listed at the end) I have been reviewing the mathematical and scientific observations made by Stephen Hawking in his book, The Grand Design (2010), as a way to explain the evolution of our cosmos through the eyes of quantum physics. As a Christian I have found this fascinating but one which was excluded from conversation in my branch of evangelicalism and Christian theology (though not from mine own self-made studies and review). Recently I have decided to describe evolution - both organically and cosmologically - in theological terms and through mine own Christian observations. And as I read and wrote I soon found other literately-disposed Christian writers and theologians likewise working towards updating their evangelic Christian understanding of the Bible, of man's origins, and of God as Creator, through the discoveries of evolution. Which has encouraged me in my determination to rediscover this amazing world that we live in, its holiness and goodness, and its projected teleology ecologically as the future expectation of the believer, while writing of a more holistic environment between theology and science.

Obviously this cannot be done in so simple a posting as here but through the body of this blog's indices and postings the inquisitive reader will find many directional pieces and thoughts that can be stitched together into a composite whole. Obviously blogs are not meant for this. But this form of digital media is what we have to work with (even as I am familiar with it) and consequently I intend to create a compendium of updated Christian thought from the diligent observations and prayerful training of my past as best I can until other religious institutions, Christian colleges, and theological church bodies take over this task in a more formidable fashion (as I suspect is happening even now in a variety of efforts and expended energies regardless of the political / religious push-back by sincere-minded Christians).

For me, postmodernism seems to best fit with this newer form of Christianity. One I think of as Emergent to the times at hand and to the present opportunities of sharing Jesus' gospel message with the many global cultures and heritages of our technological age. A message that has been unreflective of the Church at large with its many regional messages flaring some aspect or another of particulate dogma and doctrinal teaching by denominational preference or traditional historic familiarity. Again, these themes have been mentioned and discussed here before but in this post I wish to continue our research into understanding what quantum physics means for the Christian interested in exploring both science and some form of evolutionary understanding of her/his world and origin. So let us begin....


"Philosophy has not kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics."

- Stephen Hawking, The Grand Design, pg 5

(*and by inference, neither has Theology - R.E. Slater)


"The universe itself has no single history, nor even an independent existence."

- Stephen Hawking, The Grand Design, pg 6



Click to enlarge for a clearer picture


The Universe In Which We Live

There are key features of quantum physics that can only be explained as fantastic and fascinating. Weird, unexplainable features that serve as the bedrock to science’s most profound discoveries of a universe we deem ours without even beginning to understand its infinite vastness and incomprehensibilities. Discoveries that take us to the heart of our own sun’s hot fusion furnaces immense in the heats of its boiling turmoils. To the oscillating radio emissions of fast spinning stars held in eccentric orbits within the immense spiral galaxy in which we live. To even the very center of our own galaxy which we call the Milky Way because of its milky white appearance set across the black skies of the heavens on crystal clear nights brilliantly darkened for our wonder and amazement. A galactic home set infinitesimally within a much larger universe flowing in infinite arrays of innumerable galaxies locked in web-like lattices of gravitational interplay and exchange with one another. Each set within a goo of dark matter and dark energy that we cannot explain filling the dark voids of space with powerful quantum forces bearing up the essence of the universe itself, stretching and pulling, crushing and propelling, the cosmological essence of the universe throughout its immense, cosmic history.

A history that science tries to describe by hypothetically standing at the center of our Milky Way and there peer into its very core described as a black hole to postulate elaborate theories of origins of the primordial universe under titles of "Big Bang, Big Crunch, Big Freeze, Big Rip" and such like. Each describing some aspect of the universe through theories of "No Boundary Conditions," "Eternal Inflation," "p-brane Cosmology," "String Theory," and "Multiverses." And while there - hypothetically standing and peering over its cosmic edge - seeing only an impenetrable blackness set within this very dangerous precipice that scientists call the event horizon, from whose edge we can see nothing but a black emptiness. An emptiness that hungrily draws into itself, and swallowing whole, the cosmic debris of what once were suns and moons, galactic gas and dust, and even very light itself, into its black gaping maw refusing sight or trace of what happens next so strong the force of gravity that overcomes all known quantum forces to man’s quantum sciences. And so we must ask, what then does science mean by the several terms of quantum sciencequantum physics, or even, quantum mechanics? For we know it is a journey that must begin below the atomic level. Even below the sub-atomic level! A level so microscopic that it can only be described in powers of nth degrees.






Aspects of Quantum Physics

In the world of the small, specifically the world of sub-atomic particles we must note at once that these particles either have mass or do not have mass, which is described as subatomic weight measured in terms of an object's (i) resistance to acceleration or, (ii) measured as a gravitational force acting upon it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass). Particles with mass are associated with matter and are further given the description as "fermions" - such as an electron (negatively charged), a quark, or a lepton. They may also consist in a composite particulate arrangement such as a proton (positively charged), a neutron (neutral charge), a meson, or a baryon (the latter two are formed of either two or three quarks respectively). These are matter particles. Or fermions.

Fermions are different from force particles that have no mass, and are not associated with matter such as light (photons), electro-magnetic forces (of which light is a type of e.m. force ), the weak, and strong, nuclear forces. We call these force particles photons (from which we get various forms of radiation), gluons and bosons. Each carries a "force" as a result of interactions made between matter particles (fermions) as they collide and repel from one another in combinations of strange, and strongly reactive, astringencies. (And if you have not  already noticed, we've slipped beyond the normalcies of language... for how can one describe a particle as a force? And a force as a particle? And yet science has proved both descriptors as true!).

All of which seems a tidy description until realizing that some massless force particles have "rest mass" when in a state of rest (or inertia). So, to help overcome this descriptive problem quantum mechanics will further describe matter and force particles in accordance with their "integer spin." Particles with positive integer spin are known as bosons (e.g., force particles) and those with half-integer spin are known as fermions (e.g., matter particles). Unlike bosons which may share the same quantum space with each other (if they have the same energy level), fermions cannot unless they each have a different spin from one another. From the study of these interactions has been developed the Standard Model of Quantum Interactions which   describes the known associations between fermions and force carriers:


The Standard Model of elementary particles
with the fermions in the first three columns.


Each particle has its anti-matter counterpart


Click for a clearer picture


Something that we've mentioned, but haven't explained - and is a large part of quantum physics discussions - is the strange notion that a particle may exhibit the dual combined properties of a light wave as well as that of a bit of matter. Like a beam of light that refracts across a solid surface, or as a series of expanding waves refracting across the surface of water in light and dark patterns, a particle will leave wave-like trails of quantum energy in its wake. Which seems more "force-like" than "matter-like" and confused early rudimentary physical sciences for many decades when examining electro-magnetic forces and thinking of quantum particles as having "wave-like" properties (rather than dualistically as also being granular bits of microscopic matter). Much later, when this was discovered, the dualism of matter particles (we'll call these fermions) was made all the more curious when discovering that these singular bits of particulate matter/energy "balls" could interfere with themselves as shown by their propogated wave-like trails of "light and dark".

Moreover, in later observations, it was found that a particle did not take one singular path from a point A to a point B but every possible path between two points and, amazingly, at the same time! Truly the quantum world of physics is strange indeed.... More so because it was at the point of human observation that a particle would not do exhibit these properties but would then settle down into a consistent wave-like pattern of interference as a form of energy. And yet, when separated from our "observation" this same particle was discovered to search out all probable paths and investigate all possibilities before finalizing its end-path. Even more, it can double back on itself, go here and there (to Jupiter and Mars, or the other side of the universe, and back) before finally completing its journey! Consequently, fermions are described as having the dual nature of a wave and as matter.

Thus when speaking of quantum interference a physicist will speak to a particle's "sum over histories" which can cancel itself out in wave patterns of light and dark as previously described. This can occur even if it were its own solitary particle, incredulous as it seems. However, it was also found that minute, quantum "packages" of particles could not be isolated alone by themselves. They always exist in motion with other like quantum particles - they can be slowed down (thus making it a naturally occurring phenomena) - but not isolated. And secondly, even the slightest human observation can, and will, affect its motion or its "phenomenatic" character.




Quantum Indeterminism

According to the Heisenberg Uncertainty principle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heisenberg_uncertainty) the position, or the velocity, of a particle cannot both be known at the same time. You may know either its position, or its velocity, but you cannot predict with certainty each in relation to the other because they are not determined with certainty. That is, nature determines its future state through a process that is fundamentally uncertain and so, reflects a fundamental randomness in its quantum state. Therefore the outcome cannot be known even in the simplest situations. Rather, nature allows for a number of infinite eventualities at the quantum level each with a certain likelihood of being realized. To paraphrase Einstein, it was as if God threw the dice before deciding the result of every physical process. We now know this principle as the principle of indeterminacy. In summary then, and in accordance with the quantum model, a particle is said to have no definite position, that it takes every possible path (however ridiculous this path could be), and that it will take them all simultaneously. This is the incredible world of the small that God has created.

Thus, we are led to a new form of determinism: "Given the state of a system at some time, the "laws of nature" determine the probabilities of various futures and pasts, rather than to determine them with certainty." This is known as outcome probabilities (or, indeterminacy). Consequently, we live in a non-deterministic creation. Which isn't the same thing as saying that creation has a "free will" of a kind. Just that its indetermined (rather than un-determined or uncertain). To speak of indeterminacy is to speak of the quantum laws of physics. But for the Christian to speak of un-determinacy, not only is it not a word, but it does not portray what we know of God from the Bible as One who directs all things - even the quantum things of creation. Even if by that direction He has given creation its own "free will" which we should more probably call indeterminacy. This aspect of divine sovereignty is no different than God's direction in our own lives, though they be lived as free-willed beings. Still God is sovereign. How? Verily, it is a mystery. But this is how the Bible describes God. To creation He has given a fundamental randomness. To humanity (as to all living things) He has given free will. Over both God still rules. We cannot explain it. It just is.

But somehow, in the mystery of God's sovereignty, comes the parallel mystery of God's partnership with the worlds of both matter and flesh. To rule God has determined (or decreed) to "not rule" by allowing both creation and man their own course and objectives. I sometimes wonder what this world would be like without sin when someday sin and death are removed.... In what way will that affect, or not affect, the indeterminacy of nature and the free will of mankind (and that of all living things)? No less because I think both these concepts and realities will still exist and remain unchanged in scope and nature, though now placed within the newer paradigms of redemption and perfect submission to the Creator-Redeemer's divine will. A will that still will exist in harmony with a creation that may continue even as it now still doesIt is an interesting question to ask because I think when we begin exploring the claims of process theology we will see that very little may differ between this world and the next - except in what way, and how, sin's absence may leave things. And if that be the case, than we already live in a world God wanted for us sans our corruption, pollution, disharmonious lifestyles, combative monopolies, aggressions, prideful lusts and greed, and such like. How often have we heard the expression that God's divinity may be found in this world? That His essence is ever present around us? Of course it does little to help us when considering earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and storms. But should we be unaffected by such terrible ecological disasters (natural acts of randomness and indeterminacies) in the new world, we might then ask ourselves how many times have we looked upon the raging sea and felt its powerful winds and have found them beautiful? Awesome? Divinely inspiring? To picture a new earth and a new heaven without such turbulence, and destruction, I cannot imagine (nor even want to imagine). Even so, however my conjectures, for now we must be content and patiently await the outcome posited by our intuitive understanding of nature, helped along by relational-process theology's unique vision of the universe, when we begin studying it as a theological perspective. For now, let us return to the subject at hand....

Summary of the Characteristics of a Particle
  • It exists as a wave/particle duality
  • Its speed and position cannot be known for certainty (the Pauli Exclusionary Principle)
  • Observing its system will alter its behavior (Feynman's Sum of Histories)
  • Its (unobserved) past, like the future, is indefinite and exists only as a spectrum of possibilities, such that there can be no single history. (By extrapolation we may also say this of the universe and its origins with which we wish to speculate upon).


Click to Enlarge

Of Probabilities, Histories and MultiUniverses

So then, by extrapolation, to accept the fact that any observations made on a system in its present state will affect its past states seems a little bizarre to say the least. But in quantum physics this is a true finding confirmed and verified by scientific methods many times over. Thus, to observe a system is to affect its choice even when its already been chosen - as found in delayed-choice experiments. Consequently, a photon emitted from a dying quasar located at the furthest reaches of space and having travelled billions of light years before our Earth, Sun, Solar System, or even our galaxy were formed can, with observation, alter its original path of departure merely because it has been affected by our choice of observation. Even after billions of years of passage! Strange indeed. However, it is not through o-u-r observation that that particle's trajectory path is thus affected. No. But because this particle has travelled e-v-e-r-y possible path to reach us at this point and time.

Then what does this mean? It means that our universe doesn't have any one single history but every possible history each with its own probabilities and possibilities. This is the conceptual framework that quantum physics means when speaking of a "multi-universe." Furthermore, through observation we cannot affect the universe's future but can only isolate an instance of any one of an infinite number  of paths that the universe travelled as a rapidly expanding, massive singularity, consisting of both quantum waves and particles. So that, in this case, we our observing our own cosmic history and not that of another. Why? Because it would be physically impossible to observe those other universes since we are confined to only observe this present universe that we are bounded within (temporally, dimensionally, physically, etc). Simply said, we cannot leave the universe of our own experience for another universe. And if we could, that theoretical universe may have a completely different set of natural and physical laws; or, consist of a different cosmic structure, construction, and duration; and as such, would be inhospitable to our chances of surviving as we presently exist.

Thus, the collapse of time backwards towards its Big Bang origin would result in a cosmic state of not just one cosmos being birthed, but an infinite and never-ending birthing array of singular cosmological infinities (much like soap bubbles creating more soap bubbles each from the other to the other, when blown upon, should they have an infinite source of soapy water and breath). Which then leads us into the quantum world of multi-universes (more properly known as multiverses) existing in a never-ending array of infinite amplitudes (cosmic inflations and deflations) and experiences. At least this is what the mathematics tell us on the other end of our quantum observations. That we may perhaps be living in a phenomenal universe that we once thought bore only one history of primordial birth and development when, at the last, it bore every possible primordial birth through a chance sequence of indeterminate interactions. Till at last was bourne a planet like Earth bearing the remarkable evolutionary progress of carbon-based life forms and systems resulting in human kind, as sentient, spiritual beings, made in the image of God by the breath of God using the processes on hand of cosmic and organic evolution. However, this birthing process never stopped. It continues even unto this day. And will continue forever. Consequently, it can be correctly said mathematically, that our present universe is only one of an infinite set of universes either dying or living, expanding or contracting. And not one of those universes inhabits the physical space or dimensionality of the other. That this event goes on-and-on-and-on at the hands of God. This is the mathematics of it... and so incredible is the statement that we would doubt the practicality, or the reality of it, but for mathematical formulae and speculation. But we'll never know. This is matter that seemingly cannot be fathomed. At least in our present state of knowledge and learning.

The Conclusion of the Matter -
The Need to Update the Church's Theology

And so, here again is yet another mystery. Unfathomable. Inexpressible. Incredible. Known only to God. However, we do know that we exist at the hands of a Creator and are told so through God's provision of divine revelation collected at the hands of godly men and women of the Old and New Testaments by whose experiences we now have as a canonized collection of redemptive stories. We call it God's Word. The Holy Scriptures. Which we even now continue to explore and scrutinize in feeble attempts to plumb the depths of God's inspired revelations  given to an ancient Hebrew civilization well before today's more advanced scientific and archaeological discoveries, and theoretical propositions. Even amidst humanity's many refined and sophisticated cultural groupings and experiences reactive to human wars and disasters,  and its expanding banks of knowledge within societal industry. And because of these most recent quantum discoveries by particle physics, we are necessarily forced to go back to the theologies that we thought we knew, and to revisit those foundational truths once thought so certain, in the newer revelatory light of science and philosophical phenomenolgy. Thus has arisen a whole new set of theologies unthought until now. Going by the names of evolutionary creationism, relational process thought, narrative theology, postmodern  Emergent Christianity, philosophical deconstruction set within uncertain opening borders of existential epistemology, inspired and re-incarnating hermeneutics of interpretation. Each building upon yesteryear's earlier historical-grammatical approaches as each segment interacts and informs the other of its chaotic discoveries, formulations, certainties and incertainties. And for the contemporary, modern day church to ignore these discoveries is but only to confuse their worshippers with contradictory half-truths and false inferences leading to simplistic naivety and popular arguments of who (or what theology) is faithful to the truths of Scripture. And in many instances, simply not connecting today's theologically illiterate masses to the wonderful truths of Christ's present-day cruciform ministries. Who, both from within, and from without, the transparent, living walls of today's postmodern church need to know of the relevancy of God's incredulous redemptive revelation to their lives, works, habits, interests, pursuits, thoughts, beliefs, and assurances.

Incredibly then, this is the kind of God who is revealing Himself to man. Who desires that we seek Him, and know Him, as our Redeemer-Creator. Whom we attempt to explain and cannot. Who simply "IS". Just as He said He is. "I Am Who I Am" (Exodus 3.14). Even as "He will be, what He will be." (Exodus 3.14) - the holy One whom we cannot explain. Nor grasp. Nor begin to understand. The incomprehensible One. The One who lives in the deep voids of the living and non-living. Who speaks from the whirlwind and perturbs our hearts. Who soothes the troubled waters of our soul and speaks peace be still to the calamitous waves around us. Our Sovereign Creator. The Lover of our souls. Our Savior Redeemer. No, we do not stand at the edge of a cosmic precipice like that of a Black Hole and look in and find only despair and nothingness. No, we stand at that same edge and look up from its twin side as a White Hole to discover rebirthed dimensions of another space-time from another parallel universe unknown to us. A universe unknown to us except for our heart that would believe.

That if God be for us than who can stand against us? Can sin? Can death? Can hell? Nay, it is not for naught that through this immense divine effort, struggle, and care, that God still will be who He will be - not only in our lives but in that of His created world. We are but to submit to His will and learn to better hear him in the tempests of our hearts. A fleshly sanctuary where He would most desire to dwell both now and forevermore. A templed living Lifeforce whatever our past. Whatever our future. It is Christ Jesus alone who is our God. Our King. Our Ruler. Our Creator. Our Priest and Lamb. Our Redeemer and Saviour. Who is described in the Scriptures as the ever guiding Star of David to all men everywhere. Or liken to the Morning Star set within the heavens of our hearts. To that Star may our paths be lit and found illuminated as we struggle forward to comprehend this amazing God of the universe who wishes to share His love, grace, mercy and peace with us. As the divine works of His holy hands. And as the templed treasures of His divine heart. Amen.

R.E. Slater
June 27, 2012
rev. September 24, 2012



Job 38

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Lord Answers Job

38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Dress for action[a] like a man;

    I will question you, and you make it known to me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
9 when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
13 that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 It is changed like clay under the seal,
and its features stand out like a garment.
15 From the wicked their light is withheld,
and their uplifted arm is broken....







continue to -






Relevancy22 Index: Particle Physics
"Science and the Universe"



QUANTUM PHYSICS, INDETERMINACY & MULTIVERSES
Stephen Hawking, Indeterminacy, God & Quantum Physics, 5/30/12

Stephen Hawking, Multi-Universes, and God's Grander Design, 5/24/12

Allowing Indeterminacy and Randomness in God's Creation, 5/24/12

Process Theology - "Divine Action, Indeterminacy, and Dipolarism", 5/19/12

John Polkinghorne: How Do We Explain the Incredible Uniqueness of Our Form of Multiverse?, 6/14/12

Alan Guth on Inflationary Cosmology, 12/14/11

Stephen Hawking, The Grand Design of God and the Cosmos, 4/26/12



PARTICLE PHYSICS AND MULTIVERSES
Biologos: Particle Physics of the Universe & Multiverse, Part 5, 5/1/12

Biologos: Particle Physics of the Universe & Multiverse, Parts 1-4, 4/11/12



DISCOVERY AND DISCUSSION ON THE HIGGS-BOSON PARTICLE
Columbia University - Panel Discussion on the Higgs Particle Research at CERN, 4/19/12

CERN physicists find hint of Higgs boson, 12/13/11

The Higgs-Boson God Particle Found, 12/13/11



VIDEO SERIES ON THE UNIVERSE
Brian Greene Hosts "The Fabric of the Universe" on NOVA, 11/24/11








"Awake My Soul"... You Were Made to Meet Your Maker

Mumford and Sons - Awake my Soul




Awake My Soul!

by Bill Gaultiere © 2005, 2010

“Awake my soul!” David prays in Psalm 57:8. With an alert mind
and a fixed heart David continually opened his soul to God’s presence.

What is the soul? The Bible has a lot to say about it, especially in the Psalms, the “soul book” of God’s Word. The soul is essential, but few people today understand their soul or know how to care for it.

We often equate the soul with the spirit, but in the Biblical understanding they are distinct. The spirit is essentially the same as our heart or will – it is the core of our being.

Your soul is the most encompassing aspect of your person. It is designed to integrate and enliven all aspects of your person – spiritual, psychological, and physical – into one unifying personality or flow of being that runs almost on its own. This is why the Psalmist often talks to his soul in the second person, often saying things like, “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone” (Psalm 62:1, 5).

We say that “soul food” is tasty and “soul music” moves us to dance. This is because the healthy soul is alive! It is alert and dynamic and it flows with strength, direction, and harmony.

But to live with soul is elusive! So much so that Jesus warns us to be careful not to lose our soul! (Matthew 16:26). If you neglect your soul you lose touch with it. To lose soulfulness is to lose your vitality.

May God help you to care for your soul so that it flows in a stream of life and overflows to bless other people.


Bible Verses to Help You Care
for Your Soul (with God!)
Be Careful to Keep your Soul
“Give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently” (Deuteronomy 4:9, NASB).
Our Soul Needs to Learn to Obey the Lord
“Follow [the Lord’s] decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 26:16).
Meditate on God’s Law to Revive your Soul
“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul” (Psalm 19:7).
Lift Up your Soul to God
“To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul” (Psalm 25:1).
To Live Well Cause your Soul to Delight in the Lord Right Now!
“Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation” (Psalm 35:9).
When you’re Hurting Talk to your Soul and Pour it out to God
“I pour out my soul… Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him” (Psalm 42:4-5).
Moment-by-Moment Remind your Soul – your Innermost Being – to Praise the Lord
“Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name” (Psalm 103:1).
Your Soul is Thirsty – Soooooo Thirsty! – for God
“My soul thirsts for [the Lord] like a parched land” (Psalm 143:6; Psalm 63:2).
Your Soul Can be Lazy and Dull: It’s Up to you to Awaken it!
“Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn” (Psalm 57:8).
Knowledge is Good for the Soul
“Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul” (Proverbs 2:10).
Your Soul has Longings
“A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul” (Proverbs 13:19).
Jesus Christ Offers you Rest for your Soul – No One and Nothing Else Can!
“[Jesus said] take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29).
Lose your Life for Christ or you’ll Lose your Soul!
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:25-26).
Jesus’ Greatest Commandment Includes Loving God with All your Soul
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul [or prayer, (MSG)] and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).
Come to Christ and the Living Waters of the Spirit Flow from your Soul
“Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him’” (John 7:37-38).
S.O.S. (Lord, Save our Souls!)
“You are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:9).
Jesus Christ is the Shepherd of our Souls
“You have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25).