ADDENDA - Essay and Letters

Thesis of this essay: Because God is Love, Creation is God’s Gift. The Gift is God’s Word given away to Creation. It is thanks to this Gift that Creation is capable of becoming itself.

Faith and Science:

“Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth…” ²
The methods of the natural sciences aim towards the goal to rationally investigate the origin of the world. Science does that by integrating newly gained results into ever improving models of how nature brings forth new existence.
The priest and cosmologist George Lemaître (1894-1966) and the astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) contributed tho this model in an astonishing way. They independently uncovered the evidence that the universe had a beginning in an original explosion and is expanding. The question is how does the process work, how does novelty come into existence? The answer is that it is synthesis that brings forth novelty. The world becomes increasingly complex because each synthesis brings forth novelty by unifying that, which has already previously brought into existence (Teilhard de Chardin: “The Phenomenon of Man” 1959). Syntheses at the level of physics and chemistry are possible if there are favorable constellation in the environment. Each creative, synthetic step must happen in a local area of a vaster environment where there is local energy as well as the “materials” that can be united into a new entity. In the chaotic dynamic generated by the original explosion some of the energy froze into the first particles of matter. Turbulence, movement, dynamic processes, crisis, are the dynamic setup for new things to happen; as Stuart Kauffman writes: “Morphogenesis happens at the edge of chaos.” ³

¹ Encyclical Letter “DEUS CARITAS EST” Pope Benedict XVI, Rome, Vatican 25 December 2005.
² Encyclical letter Fides et Ratio, Pope John Paul II, 14 September 1998.
³ Stuart A. Kauffman: “The Origins of Order: self-organization and selection in evolution” e.g., p. 263.

Cosmogenesis:

About four billion years ago, thanks to the presence of water, chemical syntheses on early Earth brought forth RNA (see youtube: the origin of life). In contrast to units at the (lower) level of physics and chemistry this more complicated (higher) molecule contains a chemical sequence that allow it to replicate itself.
With this capability, there is a spectacular new dimension emerging: self-reproducing entities can evolve! As the RNA molecules reproduce themselves, errors may happen in the enzymatic reproduction machinery. Therefore, some new RNA molecules might not make it into machinery. Therefore, some new RNA molecules might not make it into the next generation, some will remain the same, some will be able to replicate more efficinety but others will change. Some of these changes will enhance the RNA reproductive output which in turn will also change the environment in which they reproduce. Over time, change will happen again in the RAN molecules and the environment.
With the emergence of self-replicating units a new natural law emerges with them: the law of evolution by variation and natural selection- Darwin’s law. This is a spectacular example of how new natural laws emerge together with the emergence of new, increasingly complex units. However, this is not the only example. As life becomes increasingly complex through the just mentioned Darwinian process again new laws also emerge. For example, laws that apply to the interactions between individuals of higher animals. Higher here refers the their increasingly complex behaviors as compared to the behavior of “lower” (earlier) organisms. This process is of course related to the increasingly complex nervous system and the expansions of the capacity of their also evolving brain. How evolution increases brain complexity and with it consciousness and intelligence is a matter of current research. Scientists discovered that there is just one general process of how everything in our universe, including us, came and still comes into existence. There is no reasonable doubt that humans are an offshoot of the general, evolutionary process. ⁵
How might it be possible to integrate this perspective from of modern science into an updated Christian theology of Nature?

⁵ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W5hOJaFjxU

The World, God’s Gift:

In this author’s view, Plato had it right when he writes: "Let me tell you then why the Creator made this World of generation. He was good, and the good can never have any jealousy of anything. And being free from jealousy, he desired that all things should be as like himself as they could be.” ⁶ As I see it, this understanding is very close if not identical to the fundamental revelation of Christianity that God is Love.

⁶ Plato, Thimaeus Plato, Thimaeus http://toddtarantino.com/hum/timaeus.html

Biblical Ontology:

Creation is in time, yet God is eternal. Given this major difference, how could Creation be like God "as it could be?" Christianity has learnt that God eternal is Triune, that God IS existence ⁷ as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Furthermore, from Genesis, the first chapter of Holy Scripture, we also know that Creation is through the Word of God: God speaks, and the World becomes. ⁸

How?

Through the Word that God speaks out, away from God. God gives His Word away; it departs from God into that which is no-thing. Yet, because it is given away to that which “is” nothing, no strings attached, by the grace of God nothing becomes something, the creative center of Creation (theologically speaking) of the Universe, of Nature (in science language).

⁷ CCC 212.
⁸ Gn 1: 1-26.

God can be God in that which is not God:

There is the difficulty, however, of how the Word of God that IS God can become the creative center of Creation, of that which is not God? For our logic it is impossible that something can be that which it is not. However, God's "logic" of incarnation surpasses our logic. God proves that He can be God in that which is not God when he becomes a human being in Jesus Christ. Yet, humans are for sure not God but in the Christmas event God proves that he can be God in that which is not God. Furthermore, in the sacrament of the Eucharist there is another prove that what is impossible for us is possible for God. For us, bread is bread, and wine is wine, yet in the sacrament of the Eucharist, bread becomes the body- and wine the blood of Christ; God can be God in that which is not God!
The prologue to John's gospel takes up the revelation in Genesis that Creation is through God’s Word, through Christ, who is the Word of God. "In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him, nothing came to be" (Jn 1:1-3). There is confirmation in multiple epistles of Saint Paul and also in the Nicene: “We believe in Jesus Christ…. through whom all things were made.” ⁹
There are three events, Christmas, the Eucharist, and Creation that all are occurrences of God's logic of incarnation, examples that God can be God in that which is not God. Such an “understanding” would not object that Nature is capable of constructing itself; the contingency of the natural process would already be part of the providential “plan” of God.
For contingency is not an obstacle to providence. We can see this most clearly in the In the passion of Christ. The disciples, Peter, Pilate, the Sanhedrin, Herod, the High Priest, all participants act freely, Yet thorough their free actions the saving plan of God comes exactly into reality-even the cock cries at exactly the right time.

⁹ CCC 187.

Darwins Law:

¹² https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W5hOJaFjxU

Fides Quaerens Intellectum; Faith seeking understanding

Pope John Paul II writes: “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth… ¹⁰ In a believable theology of Nature, therefore, the truth from science must be recognized and integrated. Why is this necessary? Because the theology of Nature must be based on the Christian philosophy of Nature, and it must be science-based; because science is the reasonable approach to find the truth that science provides. “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.” ¹¹
This essay proposes a way to integrate the fundamental discovery of modern science, namely that Nature is capable of constructing itself, into an updated Christian theology of Nature.
The attempt to do that is anchored in the Prologue to John’s gospel that: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing came to be.” ¹²
This introduction to John’s gospel is difficult to “understand” because it violates our human logic. According to our reasoning, “something cannot be that which it is not!” Yet, Christian ontology states that the Word of God that is God is also the ontological creative source of Creation, of that which is essentially not God.

The beginning of Saint John’s gospel invites the Christian Faith to accept that God’s Word is God, the ontological, creative source of all Creation, yet of that which is not God: “For “all things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing came to be.” ¹³

Also paradoxical for us, the conclusion is that God can be God in that which is not God.

¹⁰ Encyclical letter Fides et Ratio, 14. September 1998.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Prologue to the gospel of St. John: 1, 1-3 see also; Rm 11,36; Hebr 1,2; Col 1,15; 1 Cor 8,6, and Nicene Creed.
¹³ Ibid.

God’s logic of incarnation: Christmas, Holy Eucharist, and Creation

Christianity believes that Christ, the Word of God, that is God, is also fully human. Therefore, in the Christmas event, God proves that he can be God incarnate in a human being, in that which certainly is not God.
God’s logic of incarnation is also at the center of the holy Eucharist; it is another example that God can be God in that which is not God. Bread is not flesh, and wine is not blood, yet in this sacrament, bread is the body of Christ and the wine His blood. God proves in Creation and also in the Holy Eucharist that he can be God in that which is essentially not God.
God’s logic of incarnation may provide the key to the Christian “understanding” why Nature is capable of becoming itself; it is because God can be God in that which is not God but Creation, the World, Nature, the Universe, all of this which is essentially not God.

The ontological architecture of Creation

Science found that our world came into existence from an original explosion. Some of the energy of that big bang froze into the primary constitutes of matter. They fused “instantaneously” into the first atoms, Hydrogen, Helium, and some Lithium. At roughly the same time this happened, there was also a tremendous expansion that scattered these atoms into emerging space; this first material did not expand into an already existing space instead, the expansion created space. ¹⁴ The expansion happened at the speed of light, which randomly distributed the forming matter into the emerging space, out of denser areas of matter the first galaxies. The areas within the galaxies that by chance were denser than their surroundings collapsed into the first stars. Stars are in a dynamic equilibrium between gravitational collaps and the centrifugal forces generated in their nuclear furnaces. Hydrogen burning resulted in new atoms, e.g., three helium atoms into carbon, or four heliums into oxygen. ¹⁵ As stars run out of burning hydrogen, the stars may collapse and then explode. The explosion spreads the stellar contend into interstellar space. Such clouds contain the new atoms that were synthesized within the stars that exploded. Cloud of interstellar clouds. Such clouds may form planetary systems. ¹⁶
Unser solar system emerged in this way. As our planet formed it became a gravitational attraction for planetesimals let over from interstellar accretions. There were intense bombardments of the Earth that further enriched the Earth with matters from space. The import of water was one critical element for the synthesis of the molecules of life. With the presence of water, tremendous steps towards complexity became possible.

About four billion years ago, chemical syntheses on early Earth brought forth RNA. In contrast to units at the level of physics and chemistry, this more complicated molecule contains a chemical sequence that allows it to replicate itself. ¹⁷

¹⁴ https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=speed+of+inflationary+expansion&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
¹⁵ https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=origin+of+atoms+in+the+stars&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
¹⁶ https://www.space.com/35526-solar-system-formation.html
¹⁷ https://www.pmfias.com/origin-evolution-life-earth-biological-evolution/

Darwin’s law

With this capability, there is a spectacular new dimension emerging: self-reproducing entities can evolve! As the RNA molecules reproduce themselves, errors may happen in the enzymatic reproduction machinery. Therefore, some new RNA molecules might not make it into the next generation; some will remain the same, some will be able to replicate more efficiently, but others will change. Some of these changes will enhance the RNA reproductive output, which will also change the environment in which they reproduce.

As life becomes increasingly complex through the just mentioned Darwinian process new laws of Nature emerge together with the complexification of life, laws that apply to the interactions between individuals of higher animals. Higher here refers to their increasingly complex behaviors as compared to the conduct of “lower” (earlier) organisms. This process is related to the emergence of increasingly complex nervous systems, e.g. of evolving brains. How evolution increases brain complexity, consciousness and intelligence are a matters of current research.

There is no reasonable doubt that humans are an offshoot of this general evolutionary process. ¹⁸

Scientists discovered that there is one general process of how our Universe came- and still comes into existence; it is through the historical sequence of syntheses. Humans are a part of this general process. However, what sets humanity apart from the rest of Creation is that we are capable of discovering from where Creation is coming from; Why? Because we can discover the creative source within ourselves!

¹⁸ https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=human+evolution&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Trinitarian traces.

Are there imprints, watermarks, of the trinitarian Word of God in Creation? Is there an analogy between God's eternal “existence” and the existence in time of Creation?
The answer is “yes” because the philosophers of old already knew that all created existence must be “One” to exist.
For example, Plotinus (205-270AD) writes: "It is in virtue of unity that beings are beings. This is equally true of things whose existence is primal and of all that are in any degree to be numbered among beings. What could exist at all except as one thing? Deprived of unity, a thing ceases to be what it is called: No army unless as a unity: a chorus, a flock, must be one thing. Even house and ship demand unity, one house, one ship; unity gone, neither remains thus even continuous magnitudes could not exist without an inherent unity; break them apart, and their very being is altered in the measure of the breach of unity. ¹⁹
There is an analogy of being between the “Being” of God and the being of Creation; God is eternal “Existence” as one in the difference of three Persons; whereas created existence must become in time, through the history of sequential unification of already previously integrated parts. How can this fact be harmonized with the biblical notion that God created man in His image?

¹⁹ Plotinus: Ninth Ennead. Mackenna, S., & Dillon, J. M. (1991). The enneads. London, England: Penguin.

Man, the image of God.

God speaks, and Creation becomes. The Word of God is spoken out, away from God into that which is not God. Therefore, the Word is given away to Creation and becomes the creative source out of which Creation is capable of becoming itself. Since man sprung up from within Creation, the Word of God is also the creative source that brought forth us self-conscious human beings. Therefore, we can uncover the Word of God in the depth of ourselves: Tu autem eras interior intimo meo et superior summo meo. (You are within me deeper than I can reach and way beyond me).” In other words: In the midst of ourselves, there is the Word of God. Why? Because we, like all of Creation, are anchored in the creative root, which is the Word of God in the total otherness of Creation. The light of God’s Word is the center of our being, our heart's center.
“Why?”
”Because God created man in His image.”

Rudolf Brun, TCU
The importance of humanity in Creation, its place in the universe has a long and painful history. This history has two separate roots, one is anchored in theology, the other in science. Within the context of Christianity, the special place of humanity is assured by God’s final Word in the sequence of creation:
“God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them (Gn1: 27).” ¹

The Babylonian/Egyptian geocentric planetary Ptolemaic system and the Christian view of man’s place in the universe were in perfect harmony.

With the new world-views brought about by artists and scientists in the Renaissance, a paradigm change occurred. The most dramatic one was the transition from the Ptolemaic Earth-centered understanding of the world to the

Copernican heliocentric planetary system; mankind was no longer at the center of the universe.

In the sixteen hundreds, Dutch optometrists perfected the ancient art of lens making and also discovered how to construct telescopes. These instruments were important for commerce because they allowed detecting ships coming back from far away places much earlier than by naked eyes. Dutch-made telescopes also came to the commercial hub of Venice where Galileo used them to study our planetary system ² . His confirmation of the Ptolomaeic heliocentric system got him in trouble with the theologians of the Church who maintained that mankind was the purpose of Creation and therefore had to be at the center of the universe.

Pope John Paul II said the theologians who condemned Galileo did not recognize the formal distinction between the Bible and its interpretation. “This led them unduly to transpose into the realm of the doctrine of the faith, a question which in fact pertained to scientific investigation. At a ceremony in Rome, before the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Pope John Paul II officially declared that Galileo was right(Nov 7, 1992) ³
However, the problem between Church and Science is still smoldering. There is an attempt to diminish the conflict by declaring that the Galileo disaster needs to be understood as “Part history, part science fiction, that (the) Galileo story is less a legend than a myth. Such a revisionist blurring of what happened is alarming especially as its authors are on the staff of the Vatican Observatory. Why is it alarming? Because the conflict between science and Christianity cannot be solved by reducing it to “less a legend than a myth” but by following Joh Paul II’s insight that “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves” ⁴
Pursuing the reasoning of science astronomers learned, especially also thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, that our position in the Universe is positively not in the “middle of creation” as the Christian theologians of the fifteen and sixteen hundreds wanted it to be.
“Why?”
“Because the universe has no center” ⁵
“How so?”
Scientists discovered that the Universe emerged from a tremendously powerful explosion of a tiny “fireball.” It expanded with a speed greater than the speed of light. As the expanding original plasma cooled, some of it crystallized into the first “particles” of “matter.” The distribution of these primary entities of energy and first particles produced an original pattern of energy and matter. This pattern became the seed for the construction from which the fundamental architecture of the universe emerged.
The primary set-up of the universe emerged as a consequence of natural laws. Yet, these primary laws emerged themselves from within the history of nature, not by supernatural interventions.
So far, a rough sketch of the current model put together by cosmologists. The lesson for theologians asking themselves where the position of mankind in the Universe might be getting a clear answer from astronomy: It is certainly not in the center of the cosmos because there is no center of the universe. It might be useful to search for the position of mankind in Creation from a theological perspective. From this point of view, it is clear that all of Creation is rooted in the Word of God, “All things came to be through him (the Word of God) and without him, nothing came to be” (Jn1:3). It follows that all of Creation emerges from this common creative root. Not only galaxies, black holes, stars, solar systems, mountains, rocks, and pebbles, but also creepy crawlies plants animals including us emerged from this unique creative source. This source brought forth all of creation namely that which is essentially not God. Yet this source of all creation is the Word of God that IS God. How can this rationally be understood? Our logic refuses to accept that “something can be that, which it is not.” Yet, from within a Christian context, there must be the conclusion that God can be God in that which is not God. Why? Because Christ, the Word of God became man that which is certainly not God; the Christmas event is proof that God is capable of becoming that which is not God!
So from a theological perspective, what is mankind’s position in creation? The difference between the consciousness of animals and human beings is that humans are self-conscious. This makes it possible for us to scrutinize ourselves to investigate our heart and soul to search for our origin within ourselves. There, we’ll find that our existence is not a doing of ourselves but received. We’ll realize that we exist thanks to a gift, the gift of being that we share with all Creation. What then is the special position of mankind in creation? It is the place from which to recognize that all of creation is anchored in the gift of created existence. This gift is the Word of God that IS God yet in the absolute otherness of creation, of that which is essentially not God but the Word of God “made flesh” (Jn 1:3). Thanks to our capacity to search for the origin of ourselves we can find the Word of God in (the total difference of created existence) within us. There we can share the Augustinian experience “that God is nearer to us than our innermost being”. ⁹ This discovery may nudge us to respond as a proxy for all of Creation with a thank you to the Creator for the gift of existence received. That may be why “Creation waits with eager expectation for the revelation of the children of God” (Rm 8:19).

¹ The New American Bible, Catholic Bible Press, p.3
² http://copernicus.torun.pl/en/science/astronomy/5/
³ https://www.loc.gov/collections/finding-our-place-in-the-cosmos-withcarlsagan/articles-and-essays/modeling-the-cosmos/galileo-and-the-telescope
⁴ https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jpii_enc_14091998_fides-et-ratio.html
⁵ http://www.baskent.edu.tr/ tkaracay/etudio/agora/news/Galileo.html
⁶ Guy Consolmagno and Christopher M. Graney: “What the story of Galileo gets wrong about the church and science.” September 18, 2020: https:// www.americamagazine.org/2020/09/18.
⁷ https://www.livescience.com/62547-what-is-center-of-universe.html
⁸ Rudolf B. Brun: “Strict Naturalisme, and Christianity: Attempt at Drafting an Updated Theology of Nature.” ZYGON, Vol,42, no 3 (September 2007).
⁹ https://catholicexchange.com/why-god-is-nearer-to-us-than-our-innermostbeing/