Science Behind Bars?

Are scientists today placing themselves willingly behind bars and into intellectual jail cells? We may not be able to experience higher dimensions, but with the discovery by physicists that we do, in fact, live in a world made up of more than the three spatial dimensions we directly experience along with the dimension of time, shouldn't we begin to examine our data against the backdrop of the existence of these higher dimensions. We may not be able to step into them, for they are beyond us, but can we, through careful examination of the laws that seem to govern dimensionality, begin to make reasonable determinations?

Modern physicists would agree that there are 11 known dimensions...the four mentioned above (three spatial dimensions and the dimension of time) which we know and experience directly and seven more that are spatial. So, there are 11 accepted dimensions, yet scientists, generally will not infer anything scientifically beyond our own four dimensional experience. Ironically, this sounds a lot like a three dimensional jail cell with four walls locked up for all eternity. How, then, can we break out of the prison we've enclosed ourselves in if all we want to do is examine and study the world around us under the four dimensional precepts we have always known? We must begin to look at what is beyond, not with our imaginations or what we might be able to "dream up," but by observing, through the natural behavior of what we already know, and applying it to what we don't yet understand.

Now, there are definitely those philosophical scientists who have begun to go out on a limb with string theory and multiverses, but it must be posed that many of them are just getting carried away by their imaginations. Yes, they have ideas...they seem to have a lot of ideas, but where are they getting them from? Overactive imaginations? They are willing to see how there is more to the universe and the world around us than meets the eye. They are willing to accept any and every possibility they can think up as true...except the one, very straight forward possiblity that has existed for thousands and thousands of years: that of a Creator God.

In 1884, Edwin A. Abbott wrote and published a book on dimensions called "Flatland." In this book a square, whose name happens to be "A. Square," lives in a plane with other two dimensional shapes and comes into contact with an object from a higher dimension (a sphere) who comes as a visitor into the square's world. A. Square along with the other inhabitants of his world viewed each other from a side perspective within the plane so they appeared to each other as lines. They were able to interpret the shape of any particular other shape by the behavior of the line. The square in the story sees the "newcomer," the sphere, as a circle with supernatural abilities. As the sphere moves in and out of the plane of experience of the square, he exhibits many traits that appear miraculous. Initially, the sphere appears as a point (the first intersection of sphere with plane) and then changes to a circle which then increases in size until it reaches a maximum size at its circumference and then decreases until it is once more a point and again vanishes (this is how A. Square observed the action of the sphere as it moved into his plane from above and proceeded to continue through it until it was again beyond the plane.) So, this sphere is able to appear in the middle of a room as a point, become a circle of varying sizes and then disappear, operating completely outside the limits of reality that A. Square and others in his world are confined to.

 

From this story and the examination of the dimensions we know and experience, we can infer that an object of n dimensions can be revealed to a lesser, or (n - 1) dimension, as a normal participant in that dimension. So, a sphere, of 3 dimensions, can be perceieved in a two dimensional world as a normal, everyday occupant while still maintaining the properties of a sphere. In addition, it can exhibit higher powers in that world just as the sphere in Abbott's story did. These are actions that are only possible for an object or being of a higher dimension.

There is much to be said about a Creationist's viewpoint of an all powerful Creator God here. The Bible's claims no longer seem ludicrous or impossible. We can see that if God were to come and exist in our world and live as one of us, He would (or could if He chose to) appear to us as an everyday, normal occupant of our world would appear. In doing this, He would not be reducing His qualities of omniscience, omnipresence or omnipotence. He would simply be choosing how much of Himself He would reveal at any given moment. Every time He performed a miracle or cast out a demon, He was transcending our known dimensions and revealing Himself to us in a higher way. His resurrection from the dead was proving that He is not bound by the limits of our world and our dimensions as we are. If God did in fact create all that we know, see and experience, then what He created He also encompasses, understands fully, and is able to reveal to us as much as He chooses or desires to reveal.

Here are some verses in which God demonstrates to us that we are limited in our knowledge of Him and that He exists in higher dimensions:

1 Corinthians 13:12 says, "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

This idea is confirmed in the study of dimensions through dimensional analogy. "Dimensional analogy is the study of how (n − 1) dimensions relate to n dimensions, and then inferring how n dimensions would relate to (n + 1) dimensions."¹ Scientists use the process of "perspective projection" in which four dimensional objects are mathematically projected into our three dimensions. One example of this is the tesseract:

"...two-dimensional objects are bounded by one-dimensional boundaries: a square is bounded by four edges. Three-dimensional objects are bounded by two-dimensional surfaces: a cube is bounded by 6 square faces. By applying dimensional analogy, one may infer that a four-dimensional cube, known as a tesseract, is bounded by three-dimensional volumes. And indeed, this is the case: mathematics shows that the tesseract is bounded by 8 cubes. Knowing this is key to understanding how to interpret a three-dimensional projection of the tesseract. The boundaries of the tesseract project to volumes in the image, not merely two-dimensional surfaces."²

2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "So all of us, with faces unveiled, see as in a mirror the glory of the Lord; and we are being changed into his very image, from one degree of glory to the next, by ADONAI the Spirit."

This verse does not say that all will see the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, this verse is speaking of those who believe. So, those who place their faith in God, will see with faces unveiled and it can be inferred that those who do not believe will see with faces that are veiled. The unveiling is an act of God by which God chooses to reveal Himself to us in a higher way. Still, for now, we are seeing "as in a mirror." We see only a reflection, a shadow of God's fullness. We are, however, being changed from "one degree of glory to the next" and as it said in the first verse, will one day, "know fully just as we are fully known." We all know that it is difficult to see a mirror reflection when our eyes are covered with a veil. What does this word, "unveiled" mean in the original greek? The Greek word for "unveiled" is anakalupto and is made up of two parts:

- the prefix, ana, is used in the sense of reversal.
- the suffix, kalupto, means to keep secret, hidden; "covered over" (concealed)

So, this word, "anakalupto," demonstrates that when we place our faith in God the cover is removed, the veil is lifted and we are able to see the glory of the Lord...as in a mirror, and are being changed into His image from one degree of glory to the next.

For now, while we are unable to see fully the dimensions that we live in, we can seek God and He will take us one step further into our understanding by revealing to us the deep and hidden things, removing the cover from our eyes. The newest parts of the Bible are nearly 2,000 years old yet we are just today beginning to understand the implications of what has been hidden there for centuries. The Bible is profound wisdom demonstrating hidden truth waiting for the time when it could be understood and revealed fully. We would be wise to take God's Word into consideration when examining the world and universe we call home.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:9