DOES EINSTEIN'S THEORY OF RELATIVITY POINT TO GOD?
SOURCES
Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity was published in two parts (Special Relativity and General Relativity) over a period of ten years. Refer to the sources below for further reading on Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity, which was published in 1905:
Elizabeth Howell. Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity. Space.com, March 30, 2017. https://www.space.com/36273-theory-special-relativity.html
Special Relativity. Wikipedia, April 18, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity
Consequences of Special Relativity. Boundless Physics, April 18, 2019. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-physics/chapter/consequences-of-special-relativity/
Implications of Special Relativity. Boundless Physics, April 18, 2019. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-physics/chapter/implications-of-special-relativity/
Refer to the sources below for further reading on Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, which was published in 1915:
Nola Taylor Redd. Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. Space.com, November 7, 2017. https://www.space.com/17661-theory-general-relativity.html
General Relativity. Wikipedia, April 18, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_relativity
Refer to the source below for further reading on Einstein’s equation, E=mc², and the atomic bomb:
From E=mc² to the Atomic Bomb. Einstein Online, 2017. http://www.einstein-online.info/spotlights/atombombe.html
The following sources support the statement: “The Bible says, ‘God is Light’ and repeatedly uses the word ‘light’ to describe God, who, like the speed of light, is also unchanging.”
1 John 1:5 (New American Standard Version below, bold emphasis added)
“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”
Psalm 27:1 (New American Standard Version below, bold emphasis added)
“The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the defense of my life;
Whom shall I dread?”
John 8:12 (New American Standard Version below, bold emphasis added)
“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.’”
The following sources support the statement: “According to the Bible, God is all-present, existing everywhere at once, which sounds very similar to having an infinite mass.”
Psalm 139:10 (New Living Translation below)
“I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.”
Jeremiah 23:24 (English Standard Version below)
“Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.”
The following sources support the statement: “God is also described as being all-powerful, which is very similar to possessing infinite energy.”
Psalm 147:5 (New Living Translation below)
“How great is our Lord! His power is absolute!
His understanding is beyond comprehension!”
Matthew 19:26 (New International Version below)
“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”
Luke 1:37 (English Standard Version below)
“For nothing will be impossible with God.”
The following sources support the statement: “The Bible says God is responsible for creating space and time.”
Genesis 1:1 (New International Version below)
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
God created everything in the physical world. Science has proven that space and time are inextricably linked. Thus, “in the beginning” God created time.
The following sources support the statement: “He is eternal, having no beginning and no end. He is not bound by time at all.”
Psalm 102:12 (New American Standard Version below)
“But You, O Lord, abide forever,
And Your name to all generations.”
Job 36:26 (New American Standard Version below)
“Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him;
The number of His years is unsearchable.”
Hebrews 13:8 (New American Standard Version below)
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Revelation 1:8 (New Living Translation below)
“’I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,’ says the Lord God. ‘I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.’”
Albert Einstein was quoted saying, “The more I study science, the more I believe in God.” in the following source:
The Wall Street Journal, Dec 24, 1997, article by Jim Holt, “Science Resurrects God.”
DOES EINSTEIN'S THEORY OF RELATIVITY POINT TO GOD?
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
In a recent video, Has Science Proven There is No God, we reviewed the most amazing scientific discoveries of the last 100 years and concluded that none of these remarkable findings disprove the existence of God.
In this video, I’d like to explore Einstein’s Theory of Relativity in depth and see if we can uncover any fundamental concepts that point directly to God.
Einstein’s theory of relativity completely altered our understanding of physics. You’ve probably seen Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2, which means “Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.”
The speed of light squared is a really big number, so Einstein determined that an enormous amount of energy could be unlocked from a very small amount of matter. And he was right. Splitting an atom creates a huge explosion in a process called nuclear fission, which led to the invention of the atomic bomb that ended World War II. It is also used in nuclear power plants to create energy today.
The Theory of Relativity is based on the simple idea that light, and specifically the speed of light, is the only “constant” in the universe. Everything else is relative.
To illustrate, imagine for a moment you and I are in a moving vehicle traveling at a constant speed, and I throw a ball to you at 50 mph (~80 km/h). Relative to us, the ball would be traveling 50 mph.
But if the vehicle is traveling 50 mph and we throw the ball to someone outside the vehicle in the same direction, relative to them, the ball would be traveling 100 mph, the speed of the vehicle plus the speed of force behind the ball.
Not so with the speed of light. If we are in a glass spaceship traveling half the speed of light and we shine a flashlight forward, the light will travel at the speed of light no matter what. Unlike the ball, it will not travel at the speed of light plus the speed of the spaceship.
According to Einstein’s theory, the speed of light is the same for all observers, regardless of the speed of the source. This has astonishing implications—including altering time itself.
In an attempt to explain this incredible concept, imagine we are traveling at the speed of light in a spaceship that is 10 light years wide. If we shine a flashlight towards the other side of the spaceship, it will take 10 years for the light to reach it.
But to someone outside the spaceship, they would see the light travel diagonally and cover a considerably longer distance to reach the other side.
Speed equals distance over time. If the speed of light is the same for all observers, but they observed the light cover a greater distance, then the amount of time it took for the same light to reach the other side of the spaceship had to be different for them. Thus, even time is relative.
As you can see, the theory of relativity has astonishing implications, and we haven’t even begun to cover them all.
But I wonder if Einstein’s theory has any fundamental concepts that point to God?
The Theory of Relativity says the speed of light is the only “constant” value in the universe. Even space and time can change depending on our frame of reference.
The Bible says, “God is Light” and repeatedly uses the word “light” to describe God, who, like the speed of light, is also unchanging.
According to Relativity, the speed of light is the maximum speed any known object can travel, and if traveling at the speed of light, an object’s mass would increase infinitely, as would the energy required to move it.
According to the Bible, God is all-present, existing everywhere at once, which sounds very similar to having an infinite mass.
God is also described as being all-powerful, which is very similar to possessing infinite energy.
Finally, according to Relativity, if traveling at the speed of light, in addition to having an infinite mass and requiring infinite energy, time would stop. That’s right, if you traveled at the speed of light, time would literally decrease to zero.
The Bible says God is responsible for creating space and time and that He is eternal, having no beginning and no end. He is not bound by time at all.
I’m not suggesting that traveling at the speed of light explains all of God’s characteristics or that He is even bound by the laws of physics He created, but I do find these parallels remarkably interesting. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Einstein did too… though he was not known as being a religious man, he was quoted saying, “The more I study science, the more I believe in God.”
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