The Spirituality of String Theory

String Theory or its close cousin M-theory, with their ten or eleven dimensions, is a universe beyond our comprehension.  Cosmologists are still struggling with its workings and what it means for our existence.  The origin of String Theory was in trying to describe what happened before the Big Bang. Cosmology and theology are drawing ever closer together as both sides seek to answer such basic theological-cosmological questions as:

• Where did we come from?
• Where are we going?
• Are there other worlds like ours?
• Why is there something rather than nothing?

Perhaps the most theological question raised by cosmology today is:

Is there a design for the universe, or is it simply the result of random chances raised to the billion-billion-billion-billionth power in some cosmic roll of the dice?

There are scientists of all stripes on both sides of this divide.  Both sides can make elegant and impassioned arguments to support their positions.

The old paradigm of science vs. religion basically required that you had to choose one side or the other.  Either you could check the weather forecast or pray for rain.  Either you could believe that everything happens by the uncaring forces of random chance.  Or, you could believe in divine providence.

In the old “normal-space” view of the universe, we were bound by the three dimensions of space plus one of time.  We lived in a series of boxes divided by walls, floors and ceilings representing height, width and depth.  Anything that did not fit into such three-dimensional boxes was simply not part of the normal-space universe and could be ignored.

But the three dimensions of normal-space could never capture all that was happening. For example, Chinese acupuncture seems to have no medical connection to our physiology.  Perhaps a better way of stating that is that western medicine cannot make that connection.  And yet acupuncture seems to be providing health, strength and vitality to its adherents.  The skeptic could say that any benefit derived from acupuncture could be purely delusional, caused by wishful thinking or caused by the placebo effect.  But let’s not be hasty.

Acupuncture involves the flow of a special energy called “qi “, which travels along meridians of the body. But these supposed meridians appear on any western anatomy charts.  The literal translation of qi is wind, breath or gas but is often translated as life force.  The equivalent word in New Testament Greek is pneuma, which means air or breath but is usually translated as spirit.

Visualizing String Theory requires the ability to think in paradox, where two seemingly contradictory ideas can be held together with a sense of deeper harmony.  Paradoxical thinking requires a more expansive view of the universe than does our ordinary normal-space existence with its notion of certainty.  Perhaps there is some efficacy to acupuncture, even if western medicine cannot understand it.  This is neither to support nor deny acupuncture, but only to suggest that there is more going on in the universe than we can comprehend with our limited, normal-space thinking.

Perhaps the extra dimensions in String Theory give us the space to allow for dimensions of existence that we have previously thought of as magical, mystical, spiritual or religious.  And, here is a radical thought.  Perhaps String Theory not only allows for the mystical, but perhaps even requires it.

Energy conduits enter our homes to provide radio signals, electricity, clean water, natural gas, telephone service, Internet access, and a host of other connections to the outside world.  These special conduits or channels enormously affect the normal-space boxes in which we live, and provide a host of special powers that would have been seen as miraculous even a few hundred years ago.  This analogy may help us to explore the extra dimensions of String Theory.  Perhaps one of the String Theory extra dimensions is a channel for qi, a force that we cannot access until we understand it.

As a Christian, and more specifically a Calvinist, I have always found the universe to be a sacred place filled with divine logos.  “Logo” is Greek for “word” in standard New Testament usage.  But it means more than just the spoken word.  It also means order, pattern, or design. When we speak of divine logos, we are speaking about the divine order that pervades all things. It covers the birth of the universe, the mating habits of tsetse flies, the DNA molecule, the Van Allen radiation belts, the formation of the planets, and the life cycles of stars.

To perceive the divine logos in all things is to live in a spiritual dimension.  And now, String Theory may allow such a metaphysical statement to be incorporated into an expanded view of the universe. Perhaps there is actually in the physical universe a place beyond normal-space where spirit dwells.