MATTHEW 28:16-20
ALL REPUTABLE PHYSICISTS
SUPPORT THE BIG BANG THEORY, WHICH SAYS THAT THE UNIVERSE BEGAN AT A
CERTAIN MOMENT, BEFORE WHICH THERE WAS NOTHING, NO TIME, NO SPACE, NO
MATTER. BUT WHAT BOTHERS THEM ABOUT THIS THEORY IS THE FACT THAT
THERE ARE CERTAIN NUMBERS, WHICH ARE CALLED FUNDAMENTAL CONSTANTS,
WHICH SEEM TOTALLY ARBITRARY; AND IF YOU CHANGED THEM BY JUST A
LITTLE BIT, YOU CAN SHOW THAT YOU WOULD NOT HAVE THE UNIVERSE WE KNOW
OF, AND WE WOULDN'T BE AROUND TO WORRY ABOUT THAT. THIS BOTHERS
PEOPLE WHO HATE TO SEE THE HAND OF GOD INVOLVED IN ANYTHING.
NEWSWEEK JUST RECENTLY RAN AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE “MULTIVERSE”
THEORY. THIS THEORY SAYS THAT IF YOU CHANGE THE VALUES OF THE
FUNDAMENTAL CONSTANTS AND PLUG THEM INTO THE EQUATIONS WHICH DESCRIBE
THE PROPERTIES OF THE UNIVERSE, YOU CAN COME UP WITH DIFFERENT
POSSIBLE UNIVERSES. IN FACT, YOU CAN COME UP WITH AT LEAST ONE
FOLLOWED BY 500 ZERO'S WORTH OF DIFFERENT POSSIBILITIES. (THE NUMBER
OF ATOMS IN THE UNIVERSE WE LIVE IN IS ESTIMATED TO BE BETWEEN 1
FOLLOWED BY 78 TO 1 FOLLOWED BY 80; A BILLION IS 1 FOLLOWED BY NINE
ZEROS.) THE MULITIVERSE THEORY SAYS THAT ALL THESE UNIVERSES EXIST,
SO IT IS NOT AT ALL SURPRISING THAT OUT OF THAT INCREDIBLE NUMBER,
THERE WOULD BE AT LEAST ONE LIKE OURS. OF COURSE THERE IS NO WAY AT
ALL TO PROVE THIS THEORY, SINCE BY DEFINITION WE CANNOT EVER DETECT
ONE OF THESE OTHER UNIVERSES, BUT MORE AND MORE PHYSICISTS LIKE IT
BECAUSE YOU DON'T NEED A FIRST CAUSE, A PRIME MOVER – AS STEPHEN
HAWKING SAID, WE DON'T NEED GOD ANYMORE.
WELL, WE CHRISTIANS HAVE
AN EVEN BETTER THEORY, AND OURS IS EVEN MORE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND.
IT IS THE TRINITY. AND UNLIKE THE MULTIVERSE THEORY, THERE IS
EVIDENCE FOR THE TRINITY – NOT STRICTLY SPEAKING, SCIENTIFIC, BUT
LOGICAL AND DERIVED FROM SCRIPTURE AND REASON, AS WELL AS EXPERIENCE.
AND WE WILL NEVER KNOW WHETHER THE MULTIVERSE EXISTS OR NOT, BUT WE
WILL SOMEDAY EXPERIENCE THE TRINITY.
FIRST, WE BELIEVE IN GOD
THE FATHER, THE CAUSE OF EVERYTHING. THOMAS AQUINAS SAYS THAT HE IS
PURE ACT; THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY IN GOD, ONLY REALIZATION. IF THERE
ARE OTHER UNIVERSES, GOD THE FATHER HAS BEEN THERE, DONE THAT. WE
CANNOT USE WORDS TO DESCRIBE HIM; ALL WE CAN DO IS FEEL WHAT HAPPENS
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE STARS IN THE SKY, OR THE GRAND CANYON, OR A
MAGNIFICENT CATHEDRAL, OR A NEWBORN BABY – WHEN YOU FEEL AWE AND
WONDER, YOU ARE JUST BEGINNING TO SENSE GOD THE FATHER.
THE FATHER CREATES THE
UNIVERSE, OR MULTIVERSE, OR WHATEVER; NOTHING EXISTS UNLESS HE MAKES
IT TO EXIST. AND YET THE FATHER REALLY DOES ONLY ONE THING, HE
GENERATES THE SON. ONE THEOLOGIAN TALKED ABOUT THE “COSMIC
CHRIST”. HE HAD A DREAM THAT HE ROSE ABOVE THE EARTH AND THE SOLAR
SYSTEM AND FAR INTO OUTER SPACE UNTIL HE COULD SEE THE WHOLE
UNIVERSE, AND IT WAS THE FACE OF JESUS. SCRIPTURE TELLS US THAT ALL
THINGS WERE MADE THROUGH HIM. EVERYTHING THAT COMES INTO BEING IS
BECAUSE THE FATHER GENERATES THE SON. WE CAN NEVER KNOW THE FATHER.
BUT WE CAN KNOW THE SON, WHO BROKE INTO OUR WORLD AND TOOK ON OUR
HUMAN NATURE, AND TOLD THE APOSTLE PHILIP, “HE WHO HAS SEEN ME, HAS
SEEN THE FATHER”. THE FATHER POURED HIMSELF OUT IN THE GENERATION
OF THE SON, AND THE SON, WHO BECOMES ONE OF US, OFFERS HIMSELF TO THE
FATHER IN THE CRUCIFIXION, AND IN SO DOING, OFFERS ALL OF US, AND
INDEED, ALL OF THE UNIVERSE, TO THE FATHER. IN SOME MYSTERIOUS WAY,
HE ALLOWS US TO BE IN ALL WAYS, PART OF HIM, PART OF HIS BODY, TO
SUFFER HIS FATE, AND TO RISE WITH HIM FOREVER. THE SON, AFTER ALL,
HAS ONLY ONE PURPOSE, TO BRING ALL THAT EXISTS BACK INTO A NEW AND
PERFECT UNION WITH THE FATHER. AND FINALLY, THE FATHER AND THE SON
SEND FORTH THE SPIRIT. THE SPIRIT ALSO HAS ONLY ONE FUNCTION – TO
BRING ALL THE CREATURES OF GOD BACK TO THE SON. THE SPIRIT, LIKE THE
FATHER AND THE SON, IS A PERSON; SAINT PAUL TELLS US THAT THE SPIRIT
BLOWS WHERE HE WILLS. ONLY A PERSON CAN GO WHERE HE WANTS TO GO, CAN
BE SELF-DIRECTED.
IT ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE
THERE ARE THREE GODS; BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE; EACH PERSON IS GOD, EACH
PERSON IS EQUAL, EXCEPT IN TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP; AND EACH PERSON IS
ACTIVE WHERE THE OTHER PERSONS ARE ACTIVE. SAINT AUGUSTINE SUMMED IT
UP AS FOLLOWS: THE FATHER IS GOD, THE SON IS GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS
GOD; THE FATHER IS NOT THE SON OR THE HOLY SPIRIT; THE SON IS NOT
THE FATHER OR THE HOLY SPIRIT; THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT THE FATHER OR
THE SON. THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD.
ONCE A YEAR THE CHURCH
INVITES US TO THINK ABOUT THE TRINITY. I SPENT ALL WEEK TRYING TO DO
THIS, AND I STILL HAVE A HEADACHE, WHICH WASN'T HELPED BY THINKING
ABOUT THE MULTIVERSE. BUT THE TRINITY IS CENTRAL TO OUR CHRISTIAN
FAITH. CATHOLICS, PROTESTANTS, AND ORTHODOX CONSIDER THIS REVELATION
FUNDAMENTAL, AND LIKEWISE, MUSLIMS AND JEWS SEE THE TRINITY AND
ACCUSE CHRISTIANS OF FLIRTING WITH PAGANISM.
BUT WE CAN THINK OF THE
TRINITY IN A SIMPLER MORE ACCESSIBLE WAY. THE FATHER IS GOD BEYOND
US, BEYOND ANYTHING WE CAN GRASP, WHO, BEING PURE LOVE, CHOOSES TO
CREATE ANDSUSTAIN US AND EVERYTHING THERE IS, AND GIVES US ALL THAT
WE NEED TO RETURN TO HIM. THE SON IS GOD AMONG US, WHO WALKED AND
TALKED AND LIVED AND DIED AND CONTINUES TO DWELL AMONG HIS PEOPLE IN
HIS WORD AND IN THE EUCHARIST, AND IN OUR FELLOW CHRISTIANS. AND THE
SPIRIT IS GOD WITHIN US, WHO PROMPTS US TO RECOGNIZE THE PRESENCE OF
THE SON, AND IN RECOGNIZING HIM, DRAWING NEARER TO THE FATHER. AND
THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD.
WHEN ABRAHAM WAS VERY
OLD, THREE STRANGERS CAME TO HIM, AND HE INVITED THEM TO REST AND
HAVE SUPPER. WHILE THAT WAS GOING ON, THEY TOLD HIM THAT HIS WIFE
SARAH WOULD BEAR A CHILD. THE CHURCH FATHERS AND MANY OTHER
THEOLOGIANS HAVE SEEN THESE THREE STRANGERS AS REPRESENTING THE
TRINITY, AND THERE IS A RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ICON WHICH SHOWS THIS EVENT.
NOTICE THAT ALL OF THE
INDIVIDUALS HAVE BLUE IN THEIR CLOTHING. THIS IS THE COLOR OF
DIVINITY. NOTICE THAT THE CLOTHING OF THE FATHER IS ALMOST
TRANSPARENT; THE FATHER CANNOT BE GRASPED, HE IS BEYOND OUR MENTAL
ABILITIES. NOTICE THAT THE SON IS VERY CLEARLY DRAWN, AND IS WEARING
EARTH COLORSAS WELL AS THE DIVINE BLUE; HE IS HUMAN AND DIVINE. AND
NOTICE THAT THE SPIRIT WEARS GREEN, BECAUSE HE IS LIFE-GIVING. THERE
IS A HOUSE ABOVE THE FATHER; BECAUSE JESUS TOLD US THAT IN HIS
FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS; THERE IS A TREE ABOVE THE SON, THE
TREE OF THE CROSS. THE SON POINTS TO THE CHALICE, WHICH CONTAIN HIS
BLOOD. ABOVE THE SPIRIT IS A MOUNTAIN, REPRESENTING HOLINESS,
PURITY, DISTANCE FROM WHAT DRAGS US DOWN.
AND THE SON AND THE
SPIRIT GAZE UPON THE FATHER, WHO SITS AT REST.
AND THERE IS A FOURTH
PLACE IN THIS ICON. IT IS FOR YOU, BECAUSE SOMEDAY, GOD WILLING, YOU
AND I WILL BE TAKEN UP INTO THIS TRINITY.
