Primary Scripture

Relativity & Religion

The dance of reason and faith. The advances of the physical sciences are astounding and intimidating to most of us. Yet we who are called to be teachers, whether as parents or ministers, owe it to our own authenticity and to those who come after us not to be fearful of new learning, even if it is complex, but rather to do our very best to understand it and to reconcile it with the cumulus of all prior learning ("science" in its philosophical, root meaning). To do less, in the least, is not to be good examples to children; at worst, it is to breach trust. St. John tells us, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The Word, as metaphor for God, tells us that above all else God communicates. God communicates in and through creation, which is the First Scripture, and in the written words expressing human consciousness, the Second Scripture.  Through communication and consciousness, we come to a self-awareness of our divine/ human calling to conscience: love’s rationality.

When communication is transparently truthful, faith in the Word is secured. When this security is reached, human hope dares to be openly trustful of future transformations yet to be wrought by the Word. When this openness arises, consciousness can grasp the meaning of good and evil, know the difference, and freely choose the rational option of the greater good: the option of love. Personal commitment to the good, that which serves greater well-being, is the motive of love and of service in "priesthood" — to which all are called. Nature is the paradigm and wisdom (i.e., text and content) upon which authentic religion advances. The quantum-electric universe is our present-day insight into the Creator’s working of the Word. The theological truism has it that "grace supposes nature," and we might add that nature supposes grace. Either way, grace is effectively qualified by our understanding, or misunderstanding, of natural working. Mistakenly premised religion is destined to be found undeserving of belief. This is the present predicament confronting the fixations of Christian theology.

"Religious" communication is no less obligated than "scientific" communication to develop and use a vocabulary that is contemporary and accurate if it would teach "truth." All "relativity" is rooted in the essential substantiation of all matter, that is, in its transformative, quantum-electric materiality. This term shouldn’t be intimidating to us, even if it is a description of elemental atomic substance. The quantum-electric atom is the substance of every molecule--the energy and symmetry of all life. Atoms of all elements have two main components, the nucleus and electrons. The "gravity" attraction of the nucleus limits the freedom of electrons. (A molecule is an assembly of one or more atoms; for example, a molecule of water is made up of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms.)

All communication is quantum-electric. The potential for communication is a function of the electron fields of atoms and molecules. The sustaining synergy of the quantum-electric universe is energy-in-common that is "spiritually" informative. No matter how complex a molecule might be (even the human body), its word/ work is quantum-electric. The "work" (nature or structure) is body whose "word" agency (nurture or energy) is soul.

In the language of Sacrament, the body is the "sign" and the word is "grace" – the inspiration and expression of soul. In celebrating ritual Sacrament, except we also associate the natural sign with its nurtural grace, we fragment and misconstrue the holistic character (natural/ supernatural) of Universal Sacrament. If there is anything in nature that is prior to and even more universal to life than water, it is the cosmic ocean of subatomic energy operative in the whole universe. Without the subatomic, baptismal water doesn’t exist. Electricity, which is of universal importance to human living, is the controlled channeling of electrons into all manner of usages.

Conscience valuates judgment in terms of consequences to common well-being. Christian theology’s crisis today might be stated as a crisis of credibility; so long as theological extrapolations in matters of nature and Earth/ human relationships conflict with human experience, the credibility of theology is at issue. Therefore, until the universal, transformational paradigm replaces the static/ centrist paradigm of Christian theology, theological credibility will continue to be discredited. Historically cultured staticism and dualism, dogmatized in practice, are now imprinted factors in the sacrilege of Nature.

A deeper insight into the "scripture" of the universe informs respectful relationship; thus, the case for replacing in religion its static-centrist worldview with the transformational. Until this quantum leap in theology is made, the dead-end conundrum frustrating religious conscience and civility will yet remain.