Once upon a time, long, long ago there was a God, and nothing else. Then God created the Universe. If you accept that much, it seems to me that Pantheism is the most logical belief system to explain the rest of the story.
The first question that occurs to me is �Why would God create a Universe anyway?� Imagine being all alone in a huge void. It must have been awfully lonely, not to mention boring. I believe God created the Universe to make Its� existence more interesting. I use �Its�� not for political correctness, but rather for accuracy. Before the Beginning there was no male or female, no he or she. (And, if one of God�s motivations for creating the Universe was boredom, the invention of sex sure solved that problem in a hurry!)
A second, and even more interesting question is �How was it done?� If at some point nothing existed but God, then at that point God had nothing to make a Universe from but Itself. I believe that fact alone makes Pantheism a logical explanation.
Before the Universe was created, I believe that God existed as a Singularity with a consciousness, in a great void. (A singularity is an infinitely small, infinitely dense point. Consciousness is an awareness of your own being.) Everything in a singularity is at the quantum level. There is neither matter nor space in a singularity. There probably is, however, a quantum field within a singularity. In quantum theory, the Copenhagen Interpretation says that if a consciousness attempts to observe a quantum field that field will collapse. I suspect that is exactly what the consciousness of God did to initiate the formation of the Universe. It consciously observed a quantum field within Itself. In theology this original event is known as �Creation� in science it is known as the �Big Bang�. Everything that exists today, the galaxies, the stars, the planets, the plants, the animals, you and I and our consciousness are a part of that original Singularity that was and is God.
String theorists believe that in that original moment of creation as many as 11 dimensions were formed. Most are too small for our senses to observe. We are aware only of the dimensions of space, matter, and motion, and the dimension of energy. In String Theory the additional dimensions are necessary for the Universe to function as described by Quantum
Mechanics. These additional dimensions must also be a part of God.
The dimension of space, matter, and motion is that dimension we observe through our senses. It is the world around us, and the planets, the stars and the galaxies. Time is often referred to as a dimension, but it is really just a measure of relative motion as distance is a measure of space, and inertia a measure of matter.
The dimension of Energy is a single unit of something, which completely fills the dimension in which it exists. There is no space, matter (i.e., pieces) and therefore no relative motion in this dimension. (See my article �The Special Theory of Relativity� in the January �04 issue of The Mensa Bulletin for an expanded discussion of this point.) As a single unit this dimension could resolve the problem of the non-locality observed in quantum theory, as well as the non-locality (Omnipresence) attributed to God. I suspect it is also the source of our individual consciousness, and the consciousness of God.
These two dimensions, Space, Matter, and Motion and Energy most likely interact at a very high frequency (about 10 to the power of 43, times per second) giving the impression of co-existence. Both these dimensions originated from the singularity that was God, and are therefore parts of God.
The eventual fate of the Universe is also the fate of God. The Universe is currently expanding. Depending on the total amount of matter it contains, it will:
A � continue to expand and eventually just dissipate;
B � continue to expand until equilibrium is reached between the force of expansion and the force of gravity;
C � slowly stop expanding until the force of gravity overcomes that of expansion and the Universe contracts to a singularity.
I doubt that �A� will happen. I can�t believe that God would use Creation to commit suicide. If we reach equilibrium, �B�, the Universe will remain very much the way it is forever. If �C� occurs then the cycle could just start over again. In fact we may now be well into the fifth, tenth, or even billionth cycle, it makes no difference, it�s still exciting.
The final, and to me the most important question, is �What is the purpose of our being�. If we are all apart of the Whole that we call God doesn�t it just make good sense to help each other enjoy our individual lives while we have them. To hurt another is to hurt the Whole, and to hurt the Whole is to hurt ourselves. What we know as the �Golden Rule� is a primary tenet of every major religion in the history of man. It is, I believe, our purpose for being.
When death brings an end to an individual consciousness, it should not be a sad thing. It is simply a return to the Whole (God) and the awareness of all consciousness that will come with that return. If, by following the Golden Rule, we brought happiness to others, and thus the Whole, we will share in the awareness of that happiness. When we return to the Whole we will also share in the awareness of the happiness that all others have brought to the Whole.
Click here to return to Home Page