May, 2007. The Physics of Christianity. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-51424-7 , Frank J. Tipler, professor of mathematical physics, University of Tulane, New Orleans, LA
In the book of Daniel, (Dan 12:4), the Biblical prophet refers to the “end of days” as a future time when “many will run to and fro”, and “knowledge will increase”. As a recent sequel to his 1994 book, “The Physics of Immortality”, Dr. Tipler offers another thought provoking extension to his earlier reasoning in “The Physics of Christianity”, where today’s well known and established laws of modern physics meet many of the time honored assertions of Christian theology.
The author presents a credible set of ideas that are simply new to theology. For the skeptics, many will run “to and fro”, between the basic assertions of Tipler and Dawkins, for example, who in his latest book “The God Delusion”, asserts that the concept of God is very non-scientific and damaging to society. But Tipler is a well established man of science, and rather conservative as a scientist, who stays clear of trendy theories that have no experimental facts supporting them, such as inflation cosmology and superstring theory (as promoted by Brian Greene, for example, in “The Elegant Universe”).
Tipler begins with the three commonly accepted areas of physics, Quantum Mechanics, General Relativity, and the Standard Model of particle physics that have been around with a vast degree of experimental support for over 30 years. It is on the basis of these well confirmed physical theories that Tipler proceeds with his arguments, and cites these as the only experimentally proven Theory of Everything, which we already have. He then heavily applies the “Many-Worlds” interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, and extends the Cosmology of General Relativity into the “Physics of the Far Future”. Curiously, Tipler discovers many physical analogs to the time-honored biblical concepts of God, the resurrection of the dead, and the miracles surrounding Jesus as events reflecting back from the far future to our past and present ages. According to the author, these new insights into theology emerge as a serious branch of modern scientific study, as Physics, not just imaginative speculation.
In his 1994 book, “The Physics of Immortality”, Tipler, includes a subheading entitled, “Why I Am Not a Christian”, where he cites St. Paul who states that the physical resurrection of the body of Christ is the central physical truth of Christianity (1Cor 15:12-26). Without the physical resurrection, Christianity is meaningless. There, Dr. Tipler weighs the evidence and concludes that the resurrection was most likely a dream or vision that grew in the storytelling among the Apostles and the early Christians. In his latest book, however, Dr. Tipler rethinks his earlier stance on the Resurrection, and other traditional miracles of the New Testament, and scientifically distills the natural from the supernatural, with haunting persuasion.
Tipler’s overall point, however, is that anything we believe, whether in science or religion, must be real in the sense that physics must encompass all of reality, including theology. Here, he agrees with St. Paul and disagrees with other less traditional theologies that tend to explain Biblical miracles, even the Resurrection of Jesus, as figurative, not actual events.
The discovery of real infinities, or Singularities, in the equations of Physics, was once an embarrassment to physicists until the overwhelming evidence surrounding the creation of our universe began adding up in the late 1960s. The Big Bang, proceeding from the Singularity of creation, is not an entity before space and time, but an entity without space and time, revealed directly in the mathematics and now observational astrophysics. Tipler argues that the reluctance of some physicists to accept infinities, as they show up in the equations, is part of a built in bias that stems from the fact that most scientists are atheists. The better assumption is to accept these singularities as real, and proceed from there, instead of playing a “Whack-a-Mole” game with new theories that attempt to knock down the infinities.
Beyond the Big Bang Singularity, Tipler asserts that here are two additional hyper-existential Singularities that must logically exist. In “The Physics of Immortality”, Tipler (and others) cite that our universe must return to a final Singularity (a Big Crunch) at the end of time. The difference will be the presence and influence of intelligent forces in the far future assisting and assuring the process. Assuming that intelligence does participate, the future Singularity will be a highly organized, spiritual essence, comprised of infinite information processing capabilities. Virtual simulations of any and all past events for beings who have once lived will take on characteristics that will be personal, compassionate, and a living reward for those of us choosing life to the end as resurrected beings. In other words, a living force will take over physical forces and become the Reality of all things into the end time Singularity. Citing Hawking, Tipler claims that the Original and Final Singularities are one and the same. The Alpha and Omega points become characteristic of the very God of Judeo-Christian tradition as described in the Bible.
But there is yet a third logical Singularity, as Tipler carries the idea into his sequel. Revisiting the Many Worlds interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, alongside our universe are an infinite number of potential parallel universes having the same Alpha and Omega endpoints. As we imagine an infinite progression of potential universes there is an ever-present third Singularity running “alongside” our timeline, that follows all universes from the Alpha to the Omega points in hyper-existence. Here, Dr. Tipler completes a logical Trinity of Singularities, all hyper-existential, distinct, yet all the same.
It is mathematical reasoning and the scientific method that separates pure imagination from reality. All imagined thought does not fit into mathematics, and all mathematical ideas do not fit into physics. This is why Tipler and other scientists look at experimentally proven concepts as the only things worth considering real. Yet, Quantum Mechanics, provably real, requires an imaginative process that must fit the facts that lead to the Many Worlds interpretation. Spanning thousands of years, the Bible and the Church curiously address similar concepts – the spiritual world(s), the origins and endings of all things, the purpose and progression of intelligent life, the means for life to survive, the end of human existence, good, evil, and love, and the hopeful fulfillment of a resurrection in the future. Do Tipler’s three Singularities of modern physics now provide new insight to the events and theological arguments of Biblical teaching?. The fact that he is able to argue the central tenets of theology at all in terms of physics is indeed a wonderful achievement. His effort at least defines the forefront of this unifying endeavor. Hopefully, much will follow from both physics and theology as a result of his work, if only theologians and scientists choose to keep up with the intellectual challenge Tipler so presents.
There are many other detailed fascinations of the book. Tipler’s treatment of the latest Shroud of Turin evidence, for example, is impressive. I had personally written off the Shroud as a real stretch of credulity, but was impressed with many new facts and arguments surrounding its authenticity as portrayed by the author. Other plausible arguments for the Star of Bethlehem, the Transfiguration of Christ, and other miracles fall into line as Dr. Tipler makes his arguments. Some lead to experimental ideas that could further advance or refute his theories. But Tipler’s treatment of the Resurrection of Christ is stunning. Ironically, it takes a good deal of faith in physics for a non-scientist to accept a “natural” explanation of the resurrection, but even more for a scientist who may not like singularities. (It is my personal belief that those who abhor religion equate belief with some kind of constraint on their personal freedom, when, in fact, it is exactly the opposite).
With additional insight coming from the very essence of modern science, has Tipler offered something new to the ideas of belief, goodness, hope, and destiny? I believe so. Yet, in the world today, seduced by more and more incomprehensible technology, even the very best of us demand more than blind faith from our belief systems. We evermore stand with the Apostle Thomas (John 20:24-31), as we demand more and more proof from what our adversaries call mindless superstition. Or, as Jesus asserted, is it the meek who really understand? Or can we, by trusting the inner child of our senses, simply believe without seeing? That is a different kind of experiment. And, perhaps one day, some 200 billion years in the future, at the Omega point, those of us who yet hunger and thirst for truth will stand with St. Thomas in the presence of All Reality, and cry aloud, “My Lord and My God!”.
