To Infinity... And Beyond!

The title of this post, as most of us know, is that endearing line from the bumbling Buzz Lightyear from the movie Toy Story. I know he's just a toy in an animated feature, so he can be made to say anything. Even things that are completely outrageous!

Can we actually reach infinity? What is beyond infinity? Isn't it just more infinity? How does one go beyond that?

Of course, it's all just comedic hyperbole. No one can go to infinity and beyond. Not even Buzz Lightyear.

This brings me to the subject of complexity, which to me is baffling, but not as baffling as infinity. I can deal with complexity in the sense that I can study complex objects or issues. I have no idea how to deal with infinity, except just to call it "endless endlessness".

In previous posts I've been lauding the findings of science. There have been incredible advances in discovery and practical application. These are wonderful and have made our lives more...complex.

And that's one beef I have against science. Of all the wonderful things that have been done, there have also been a lot of frivolous and unnecessary things that have flooded our lives. Today we have gizmos and gadgets that are entertaining and can do spectacular things and some great work, like the computer I'm typing on (for instance). But they have made us busier than ever and have brought complexity to our lives. We are now expected to do more and more tasks with increasing speed. Hold on to your hats, folks! Our lives are going to get even more complex!!

Christians have argued in times past that complexity is proof of the existence of God. Atheists have rebutted by saying science is figuring things out and it won't be long before God will run out of things to do. Christians come back at this by putting forth the theory of the "God of the gaps"-- the "in between" of each and every discovery that scientists haven't quite gotten around to yet or can't quite wrap their minds around. And the arguments volley back and forth.

In my mind, the existence of God is something that cannot be proven by empirical data. As I've mentioned in previous posts, the Scriptures never attempt to prove God's existence. It is assumed and works from that assumption. Given that, it might be time to put away the noble but entirely irrelevant attempts of proving God's existence, Ray Comfort's banana notwithstanding.

I'm ready to start speaking in terms of infinity, something that scientists will never get to the end of. Under each discovery more things are ready to be discovered... and it will never end. The number of discoveries possible are endless, infinite! Scientists can discover many things, but it will never discover everything. Of course, this doesn't prove God's existence. But such existence is heavily implied.

For Christians, the proof of God's existence is not only found in creation, but in the revelation of Christ. In Christ the Ultimate Infinite (whatever that might mean to you) is contained in the finite, and the very nature of infinity is revealed. We can't perform experiments to verify it or to watch it work. We're dealing with infinity, after all. All we have is the witness of the Scriptures. The infinite God took on finite form in Jesus to dwell among us so that our finiteness can be swallowed up in the Infinite's ultimate love and mercy. And Jesus revealed that the Ultimate Infinite is, by nature, pure and unadulterated grace. That's the claim.

Really, it's the only way the Infinite can be revealed to us in a way we can comprehend. Christ is the way we connect with Infinity. If we can believe in the existence of infinity, then it isn't a far stretch to believe also in God. And in Christ, this infinite is touchable.