Unapproachable Light

I realized after writing the last entry that while I noted the connection between light as the basis for understanding the building blocks of the uni/multiverse and light as figurative language (albeit in varying senses) used of Christ in texts that tell of His role in creating and sustaining the universe, I didn't make clear (enough) why I think this is significant. What struck me at first is that light would be the key to understanding ultimate physical reality, and that Christ as the light of the world would be the one who gives similar fundamental understanding at a spiritual and moral level. But as I thought of it, I realized there are deeper parallels that I would hesitate to write were they not so conspicuous and fascinating in my view.

First, there's the obvious fact that the biblical creation account in Genesis starts with God saying, "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3). Regardless whatever difficulties there are with interpreting Genesis in light of modern science, it's interesting that light should be the first word spoken by God in creation, and so foundational to the discovery of the the laws of quantum mechanics that give us insight into so much of the universe.

Second, if we take seriously the words of Scripture that speak of Christ as the agent of divine creation, specifically that "all things were created . . . for him. And . . . in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:15-16), then the identification of Christ as light is not merely a metaphor that the apostles thought would be fitting, nor even something God found in His world and thought, "Oh, look what I've found; that would come in handy as an illustration!". Instead, God created light in the first place to reveal something of Himself, and the possibility that light and its unpredictable properties would be a window into the nature of ultimate reality correlates beautifully to the New Testament presentation of Jesus Christ in His creating and sustaining work as the "radiance of the glory of God" (Heb 1:3), the "image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15), and the divine word (Gk. logos) whose "life was the light of men" (Jn 1:5). In other words, just as God spoke into existence physical light in such a way that it would give us insight into the cosmos, so He eternally spoke Jesus the Son of God and light of the world to give us insight into the ultimate reality of the living God.

Aside: The idea that any element or property of the natural world was created by God to communicate Himself with humanity may seem naively anthropocentric to a secular or naturalistic worldview, but could it be that though naturalism doesn't claim such a man-centered view, it inevitably functions with man at the pinnacle of a natural world that operates in ways understandable to our minds? Are the efforts of scientists to discover the nature of ultimate reality and the scope of the cosmos more compatible with humanity as made in the image of God with a mind like His, designed to know Him and truth about His world, or with humanity as the latest dominant species on an insignificant planet, with our primary purpose to pass on our genes, as Dawkins says? Which version of reality would we expect to yield such intellectual behavior? Do naturalistic biology and cosmology adequately explain their own existence? And if our perceptions and mental capacities are merely adaptations that enable us to survive on this planet, should we have a great deal of confidence that our speculations about the far reaches of space and time are all that reliable?

Third, and this is where it really gets interesting, light at the quantum level behaves like God in His character as the light of the world of humanity. Perhaps the most perplexing discovery of the double slit experiment is that in seeking to observe the path of photons through the slits (scroll down to the second section, entitled "role of the observer"), the photons mysteriously no longer behave as they would when not subjected to such observation. This blows my mind. In just the same way, Christ the light does not (primarily) present Himself to us for our examination, but rather demands to examine us. That's how light works. At any level, light resists scrutiny: we do not understand and appreciate the sun by staring at it, but by basking in its glow and seeing the world it illumines. The only way we're able to study it is by indirection, with shields and filters on telescopes and cameras, all of which owe their existence to the energy it gives. C.S. Lewis said,

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

How much disbelief in and confusion over God and His word and ways is owing to a wrong approach to Him as God? Instead of submitting to Him as the Creator, Redeemer, and Judge of His world, we seek to put Him in the dock, save Him from aspects of His self-revelation we deem unacceptable, and then (re-)create Him in our own image that's PC for the 21st century. We ask why He doesn't do anything about poverty, suffering, and injustice in the world, while He is actually asking us the same question all along (Thanks, Renee). We like to point out the hypocrisy and abuses in the history of the church (and in the present day), but don't like to think about our own meanness to the people around us, nor how we'd probably be right at home in a group of hypocrites, because we judge others with the very moral standards we reject. Instead, we ought to say with David, the man "after God's own heart" (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22),

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts! [3]

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting! [4] (Psalm 139:1-3, 23-24)

As I said in the last post, I'm not well-read in cosmology or quantum theory, or any field of science for that matter, so last night I picked up two books: Introducing Quantum Theory: A Graphic Guide and Brian Greene's highly respected The Elegant Universe. I'm eager to read them both (though well aware of how easily my interests get re-directed), curious to learn, and at this point expectant to see more ways this marvelous world reveals him "who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see" (1 Tim 6:16).

Even today as I read the first book, in a section describing experiments by Max Planck and friends dealing with electromagnetic waves, I looked up to see this:

I'll buy a waffle for anyone who can figure out what made that happen.

That's pretty good timing, and reminded me of what God has said of rainbows in His word, most familiarly to Noah after the flood:

I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. (Genesis 9:13-16)

Fascinating, that God, whose creation began with light, should then make the sign of His covenant with that creation the range of light (or electromagnetic radiation) that is visible to human eyes. In this He was condescending to us, since He can surely see it all, a thought which gives fresh meaning to Psalm 139:12:

even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

Beams of truth are bursting forth to my eyes, but it's well past time when my eyes should be shut. How about a U2 song on this theme to leave you with? Yeah!