The triune nature of God is a difficult concept for many to understand--both for the believer and the unbeliever. When it comes to creation, it's even more of a mystery. This post is something of a theory in progress, but I want to put it out there for the sake of posterity and hopefully to get some feedback on it. I want to begin by putting forward what the Bible says about how God created the heavens and the earth (read: the universe, both visible and invisible realities), followed by an illustration that I have personally not seen published, followed at last by a metaphorical application cohering with a relatively new theory in Physics that improves on Einstein's general theory of relativity. First:
What the Bible says
What the Bible says
Logos and rhema: In Hebrews 11:3, "word" is not logos, as in John, but the Greek word, rhema. Logos, while technically meaning 'word' is pregnant with symbolic meaning drawn from Greek philosophy. It can mean a range of things from "the reason/meaning of, or that which upholds, the universe" to "the living expression/manifestation," but it is also used to refer to plain speech (context matters). Rhema, on the other hand, is used primarily to indicate words in a conversation or written document and so should be interpreted in more of a plain or literal manner, without symbolic overtones. It's also worth noting that Psalm 33:6's "word" (Heb. dabar) was translated into Greek as logos centuries before Jesus walked the earth, that is c. 285-246 BC, thereby supporting John's use logos in the first chapter of his gospel as a reference to the cause of creation.
Illustration
Illustration
These verses are by no means an exhaustive list, but they are, at present, sufficient to establish (biblically) that all things were created by God's word. But what does this mean? How did the word of God create all things through the Son and Spirit? It's metaphorical in the sense that it anthropomorphizes God's creative work by drawing an analogy with human speech. God does not have "vocal cords" nor does he require air and atmosphere to create, well, air and atmosphere, as well as all other matter and spacetime. Let's start by considering what it means to speak in the human sense. When a person speaks, three things are necessary: intellect to form thoughts into words and flesh to express words via the power of breath. Without intellect, flesh and breath could only produce meaningless, chaotic sounds. Without breath, the intellect and flesh could not effectively communicate or radiate words beyond itself--the words could not be expressed. Without the flesh, air/breath could not be manipulated into sound waves--so again, the words could not be expressed.
Now the Trinity is often, in Scripture, connected by analogy with these three concepts: the Father with God's intellect, the Son with the flesh (i.e., as the incarnation of God and the manifestation of Truth), and the Holy Spirit with the breath (i.e., breath of God). In Scripture, the Father is usually the person of the Trinity associated with being the planner of creation, the designer, and the one who commands the Son and Spirit, just as the mind of man "commands" the flesh and breath to produce its words. The Son is without question associated with the flesh, the living expression, the manifestation of God. In Hebrew the word ruach means "breath, wind, or spirit" which we translate one way or another according to its context. The Holy Spirit, while prominent in the New Testament, only shows up in two places in the Old Testament (Psalm 51:11 and Isaiah 63:10-11; in both places (three instances) the word ruach was used.
Putting it all together, then, we can more clearly see the distinct roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in producing the word that created all things. The person of the Father is associated with being the Law-giver, that is the one who established the physical laws by which the universe functions. The Son and Spirit put the conceived words into action, that is they "do the work" of expressing, which is creating.
In addition to the symbolic correlation I made of the Son as "the flesh" producing the Word of Creation, He is also the expressed Word, itself. That is, the Son of God is both the one who expresses the Word and the expressed Word (read: God incarnate). If this seems paradoxical, it kind of is. But such paradoxes are common in the Bible. Take the work of atonement, for example. In the Old Testament, the priest sacrificed a lamb to atone for sin. In the New Testament, we find that Christ Jesus is both the high priest who makes the sacrifice and the lamb who is sacrificed. Similarly, the Son of God is the Word of Creation and (by analogy in the illustration) the flesh that brings forth the Word. Now, if you're not confused yet, just wait...
Theory of Application to Unified Physics
Theory of Application to Unified Physics
Let me say from the start that I am not a physicist nor do I have a deep understanding of the Unified Physics theory that I am now referencing. What I can say is that I hold a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering that included a few basic courses in Physics, I've continued to read books on cosmology and physics for the past 15 years, and I have gone through the free, online course (modules 3 & 4) from Resonance Academy (see link below) that details Nassim Haramein's theory for Unified Physics which I highly recommend for those who enjoy theoretical physics and cosmology. The purpose of this section is not to teach you about the theory, but to extract specific concepts that relate to our discussion and correlate them with the above illustration. Given my limited understanding of the subject, I cannot say whether this theory is true or not, but I am amazed at how well it lines up with the Bible when seen through the above illustration. With that said, let's dive in!
The proton, along with other physical and cosmic phenomena, has three main parts: a singularity at its center, an event horizon or outer 'edge', and the space(-mass) in between. The singularity of a proton is the center point in spacetime that causes the space-mass (a.k.a., aether) around it to orbit the singularity like water circling down a drain. Space-mass, quantized by Planck Spherical Units, or PSUs, that are farther from the singularity orbit the singularity at greater and greater speeds until a threshold is reached (mass approaching the speed of light) which becomes the event horizon of the proton. The event horizon is the visible manifestation of the proton. In the formation and existence of the proton, three things are needed: physical laws (e.g., speed of light, correlation of gravity with mass and its speed), space-mass, and motion (that is, space-mass changing position/orientation over time). By the way, the "empty space" of the universe, a.k.a. the aether, has a real mass/energy component to it, and this is what orbits the singularity. When these PSUs are in motion or spinning, they gain imaginary mass that, when added to its resting mass, results in an apparent mass, and this is the mass we can measure.
Now, the connection that I see between the trinitarian illustration of the Word of Creation and Unified Physics is this: space-mass is as the "flesh" of the universe; the temporal motions of the aether are as the breath of the universe, and the God-established laws by which event horizons are formed--particularly regarding the proton--are what give rise to matter. The source of these three elements giving rise to matter cannot be accounted for by science. Science cannot tell us where mass, or space-mass as such, originated (the best theory science can offer is that "mass is eternal"). Science cannot tell us what set the universe into motion nor can science tell us how the law(s) which govern our universe were established to be what they are. These are, in fact, the work of God. As Hebrews 11:3 says, "...what is seen was not made out of the things that are visible."
Disclaimer: Let me be clear, this is NOT a form of pantheism, nor would I support anyone who would try and twist these illustrations into that mold. The universe is not, itself, God. It was made by God. I still have work to do in clarifying my thoughts on the matter (no pun intended) and even more work regarding the analogy between our current understanding of physics and the tripartite interpretation of the Word of God in creating the universe, but I will admit to some room for discussion on a panentheistic understanding of the universe--
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