The Age to Come
Will there be mathematics in the Age to Come?
Such a question has never intruded into the doctrinal discussions in any systematic theology that I have researched. It may appear a question that is akin to trying to count the number of angels that could sit on the point of a needle to many and, given the tone of intolerance to any talk about God amongst mathematicians today, it is not likely to become a talking point for any peer-reviewed journals. Despite such a lack of apparent need, I have spent a great deal of energy considering the matter because it is essential to the philosophy of Mathematics and is a legitimate concern for developing a Christian view of Mathematics.
Obviously the answer must be speculative, but I suggest that the simple answer is "Yes."
There are several reasons for this claim.
In the Age to Come, man does not rise to omniscience, but remains a creature with creaturely limitations. The development of mathematical understanding will still continue for there will always be frontiers of learning still to conquer. Perhaps the mathematical skills to name, explore and manipulate the codification of the essential parts used in metabolism, maintenance and reproduction of organisms will be found; perhaps the forces and trajectories of stellar objects will be understood and modified; perhaps the conceptualizing of community infrastructure and resources that allows totally sustainable worlds to be created. All of these possibilities sound fearsome, producing great anxiety and terror; if such knowledge were available now to the self-serving of godlessness, the outcomes would be tragic. It is only within the framework of a kingdom ruled by the one who died for sinners that such stupendous feats would be used appropriately.
Such a question has never intruded into the doctrinal discussions in any systematic theology that I have researched. It may appear a question that is akin to trying to count the number of angels that could sit on the point of a needle to many and, given the tone of intolerance to any talk about God amongst mathematicians today, it is not likely to become a talking point for any peer-reviewed journals. Despite such a lack of apparent need, I have spent a great deal of energy considering the matter because it is essential to the philosophy of Mathematics and is a legitimate concern for developing a Christian view of Mathematics.
Obviously the answer must be speculative, but I suggest that the simple answer is "Yes."
There are several reasons for this claim.
- God is Sovereign
The God of whom I speak is He who parted the Red Sea to deliver the children of Abraham from Egypt and He who came to earth as baby Jesus, was crucified, died and was buried, but rose again from the dead. This same God delivered many writings that testify to Him: 66 books by 40 authors over the span of more than two thousand years. The basis for all discussion about all subjects is God who has made Himself known to man and is now present, through His Spirit, in the life of the believer. - God is the source of order and design in the universe
The sheer magnitude the universe from every atom to every galaxy is due to one omnipotent Being. The exquisite design found in both the inanimate sphere and the animate is due to one omniscient Being. All that we take for granted in having sight, hearing, movement, taste and touch is evidence of intelligence far beyond our comprehension and far beyond the probabilities of chaos. - God set at least five dimensions: Length Breadth, Height, Time and Consciousness. There may be more, of course, because frail humanity has yet to discover more. In the beginning God created the heavens and earth. This claim gives us the first four dimensions of Length, Breadth, Height and Time; God fashioned man out of the dust of the earth and breathed life into him, thus the establishment of the fifth dimension.
- God made man to rule over the created order. By this activity, the created order would function as it was meant to. In spite of man's fall from grace through disobedience of the first parents, the command to rule was never revoked. It is with the mandate of such rule that God endowed His creature, man, to build mathematical knowledge and then accomplish tasks based on this knowledge.
- God will still be sovereign,
- The creation will still have order and design.
- There will still be dimensions of length, width and height. Though time will be different in a way that it is impossible to speculate given the scant knowledge, it is reasonable to assume that there will still be change in the Age to Come, hence time will remain a dimension. I am less sure about consciousness because of the vast difference it will be for the new humanity to be without sin. Based on the knowledge that the risen Lord has a real body, matter and spirit will still be present, perfectly united in the redeemed. Matter, of course, will now be imperishable, no longer subject to decay, but this does not mean that matter will no longer exist. The new earth will last forever making the Christian's hope vastly different to the Moslem expectation of Paradise and the Hindu's quest for Nirvana. I see no evidence in the Scriptures to suggest anything contrary to the claim that the incorruptible state will still be a realm where thoughts occur and concepts can be named.
- Man's mandate to rule over creation will remain, but with the redemption there will be no curse on work done, nor pain in child-birth.
In the Age to Come, man does not rise to omniscience, but remains a creature with creaturely limitations. The development of mathematical understanding will still continue for there will always be frontiers of learning still to conquer. Perhaps the mathematical skills to name, explore and manipulate the codification of the essential parts used in metabolism, maintenance and reproduction of organisms will be found; perhaps the forces and trajectories of stellar objects will be understood and modified; perhaps the conceptualizing of community infrastructure and resources that allows totally sustainable worlds to be created. All of these possibilities sound fearsome, producing great anxiety and terror; if such knowledge were available now to the self-serving of godlessness, the outcomes would be tragic. It is only within the framework of a kingdom ruled by the one who died for sinners that such stupendous feats would be used appropriately.