The Edge of Reason and Beyond

Is there a limit to the mind and what it can imagine? Is there anything beyond the conscious and subconscious levels of the mind? Quantum theory is very strange. It says that an object like a particle or an atom that adheres to quantum rules doesn’t have a reality that can be pinned down until it is measured (Schrodinger’s thought experiment). What does ‘Quantum Tunnelling’ with regards to quantum biology’s explanation for the molecular pathway of enzyme functionality in some biochemical reactions, have in common with the biography of John Nash (Mathematician), depicted in the infamous film ‘The Beautiful Mind’. The journey to the edge of reason and beyond, leads to the question: What is divinity?

• Immanence and transcendence: Immanence definition, the state of being inherent or exclusively existing within something. The doctrine or theory of immanence holds that the divine encompasses or is manifested in the material world. It is held by some philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence. Immanence, in philosophy and theology, a term applied, in contradistinction to “transcendence,” to the fact or condition of being entirely within something (from Latin immanere, “to dwell in, remain”). While transcendence can be defined as existence or experience beyond the normal or physical level. Transcendence is the act of rising above something to a superior state. … Transcendence comes from the Latin prefix trans-, meaning “beyond,” and the word scandare, meaning “to climb.” When you achieve transcendence, you have gone beyond ordinary limitations.
• The incomprehensibility of God means that he is not able to be fully known. Isaiah 40:28 says, “his understanding no one can fathom”. Louis Berkhof states that “the consensus of opinion” through most of church history has been that God is the “Incomprehensible One”. Berkhof, however, argues that, “in so far as God reveals Himself in His attributes, we also have some knowledge of His Divine Being, though even so our knowledge is subject to human limitations.” Deuteronomy 29:29;
• The infinity of God includes both his eternity and his immensity. Isaiah 40:28 says that “Yahweh is the everlasting God,” while Solomon acknowledges in 1 Kings 8:27 that “the heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you”. Infinity permeates all other attributes of God: his goodness, love, power, etc. are all considered to be infinite.
• Many theologians see mystery [Deut.29:29]as God’s primary attribute because he only reveals certain knowledge to the human race. Karl Barth said, “God is ultimate mystery.” Karl Rahner views “God” as “mystery” and theology as “the ‘science’ of mystery.” Nikolai Berdyaev deems “inexplicable Mystery” as God’s “most profound definition.” Ian Ramsey defines God as “permanent mystery,” Acts 17:23; For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So, you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
• The omnipotence of God refers to Him being “all powerful”. This is often conveyed with the phrase “Almighty”, as in the Old Testament title “God Almighty” (the conventional translation of the Hebrew title El Shaddai) and the title “God the Father Almighty” in the Apostles’ Creed. Jesus says in Matthew 19:26, “with God all things are possible”. C. S. Lewis clarifies this concept: “His Omnipotence means power to do all that is intrinsically possible, not to do the intrinsically impossible. You may attribute miracles to him, but not nonsense. This is no limit to his power.”

• The omnipresence of God refers to him being present everywhere. Berkhof distinguishes between God’s immensity and his omnipresence, saying that the former “points to the fact that God transcends all space and is not subject to its limitations,” emphasising his transcendence, while the latter denotes that God “fills every part of space with His entire Being,” emphasising his immanence. In Psalm 139, David says, “If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (Psalm 139:8, NIV).
• The oneness, or unity of God refers to his being one and only. This means that Christianity is monotheistic, although the doctrine of the Trinity says that God is three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Athanasian Creed says, “we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity.” The most notable biblical affirmation of the unity of God is found in Deuteronomy 6:4. The statement, known as the Shema Yisrael, after its first two words in Hebrew, says “Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one.” In the New Testament, Jesus upholds the oneness of God by quoting these words in Mark 12:29. The Apostle Paul also affirms the oneness of God in verses like Ephesians 4:6. The oneness of God is also related to his simplicity.
• The sovereignty of God is related to his omnipotence, providence, and kingship, yet it also encompasses his freedom, and is in keeping with his goodness, righteousness, holiness, and impeccability. It refers to God being in complete control as he directs all things — no person, organization, government, or any other force can stop God from executing his purpose. This attribute has been particularly emphasized in Calvinism. The Calvinist writer A. W. Pink appeals to Isaiah 46:10 (“My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please”) and argues, “Subject to none, influenced by none, absolutely independent; God does as He pleases, only as He pleases always as He pleases.” Other Christian writers contend that the sovereign God desires to be influenced by prayer and that he “can and will change His mind when His people pray.”
• God’s transcendence means that he is outside space and time, and therefore eternal and unable to be changed by forces within the universe. It is thus closely related to God’s immutability and is contrasted with his immanence. A significant verse which balances God’s transcendence, and his immanence is Isaiah 57:15: For this is what the high and exalted One says — he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Mathew 5:3;
• The veracity of God means his truth-telling. Titus 1:2 refers to “God, who does not lie.” Among evangelicals, God’s veracity is often regarded as the basis of the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. Greg Bahnsen says, Only with an inerrant autograph can we avoid attributing error to the God of truth. An error in the original would be attributable to God Himself, because He, in the pages of Scripture, takes responsibility for the very words of the biblical authors. Errors in copies, however, are the sole responsibility of the scribes involved, in which case God’s veracity is not impugned.
• Moses praises the wrath of God in Exodus 15:7. Later in Deuteronomy 9, after the incident of The Golden Calf, Moses describes how: “I feared the furious anger of the LORD, which turned him against you, would drive him to destroy you. But again he listened to me.” (9:19). In Psalm 69:24, the psalmist begs God to “consume” his enemies “with your burning anger”. In the New Testament, Jesus says in John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Wayne Grudem suggests that “if God loves all that is right and good, and all that conforms to his moral character, then it should not be surprising that he would hate everything that is opposed to his moral character.”
• Furthermore, an apparent contradiction is also observable in the text, 1 Corinthians 3:9; For we are co-workers in God’s service; compared with the text in Acts 17:24-25; “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live-in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands. In the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul was stating or implying that certain chosen men are God’s servant, while in the book of Acts, he was also saying that God is not served by men. This may appear to be a contradiction. However, the Holy Spirit do consider some chosen men to be His servants, but He does make a technical distinction between men and angels (whom are indeed His servants). Probably the reason for the distinction is for the chosen men, not to think too highly of themselves. In summary the apparently contradictory concepts are conflated into one, as exemplified in Revelations 19:10; At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.” Here, the angel of the Lord states categorically that certain men of God are regarded as ‘servants’ of God or have conferred unto them, the status of ‘servants of God’.
• The establishment and location of the kingdom of God is an issue that has puzzled people for millennia. This was addressed by Jesus Christ in Luke 17:20-21; Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” The Holy Spirit confirmed this through Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
• The message of the cross consists of two elements, which are power and wisdom. This message was a mystery that existed before the dawn of time and was finally revealed to the chosen ones when and after the Work was done. According to Paul, this mystery existed before the dawn of time, see Ephesians 1:4-5; For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. This mystery that existed before the dawn of time, the power and wisdom of God is entirely different from the wisdom of men and is not understood by men. This was testified to, by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:6-8; We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
• The message of the cross: Wisdom is defined as the soundness of an action or decision regarding the application of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. While power can be defined as the ability or capacity to do something (work) or act in a particular way. Thus, the power of God, that was demonstrated in the creation of the perceived universe (experience and knowledge), was applied with good judgement in redeeming man from sin, unrighteousness, and unholiness (sanctification or made holy through the blood of Christ) – This is the Wisdom of God.
• Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. . But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
• Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness [Genesis 15:6; Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Romans 4:3-8; What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.” Psalm 32:1-2; Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. Psalm 103:12; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.]
• In John 14:26, Jesus Christ refers to the Advocate, the Holy Spirit being sent by the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. At the same time, in the same teaching further on in chapter 16, Jesu Christ declared that the Advocate will speak only what the Advocate hears from Him and that He, Jesus Christ would send the Advocate: John 16:13-15; But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” While in the gospel of Luke, chapter 1 verse 35, The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Indicating that the Holy Spirit (Power of the Most High {God the Father})is the “Father” of Jesus Christ. God as the Father, God as the Son, and God as the Holy Spirit. All these individual declarations is summed up together in Isaiah 9:6; For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
• The name of God [Jehovah/Messiah/Emmanuel/Christ], John 17:11; Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. This implies that God as the Father and God as the Son are both the same (see Isaiah 9:6).
• John 12:41, states that; Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him. What Apostle John said here was documented by prophet Isaiah, when recounting his commissioning event in Isaiah 6:1-10; of which verses 3 and 5 states; “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” And, “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” John 12:45; The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.
• Double jeopardy: This is to avoid double jeopardy. In John 12:31, Jesus Christ was talking about the judgement of Believers, all have sinned, and sacrifice (payment, consequences which is death), must be made. And only a Lamb without defect (One without sin), whom is God Himself can be offered as a one-time sacrifice for all who believe for all time. This therefore results in Salvation. He continued in verses 47-48, and He then implied that non-believers would face their own judgement on the last day, when they do not have access to Intercession or the Atoning Sacrifice. This explains the text in Romans 8:1-2; Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,  because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. John 5:24; “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
• Mathew 23:8; “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. John 13:13-14; “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher…” Mathew 23:9; And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.  John 13:33; “My children, I will be with you only a little longer.”
• Luke 1:35; “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” This tells us that the Holy Spirit is the “Father” of Jesus Christ. God the Father is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is in Jesus Christ. Therefore this statement of Jesus Christ can be understood as: I [Holy Spirit] am in the Father [Holy Spirit], and that the Father [Holy Spirit]is in me [Holy Spirit].
• John 15:16; You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
• Love can be defined as a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties. It can also according to psychology, be defined as a force of nature. However much we may want to, we cannot command, demand, or take away love, any more than we can command the moon and the stars and the wind and the rain to come and go. On the basis of the psychological definition, man cannot command a force of nature, therefore, it is only an entity other than man, the creator of nature that can control or command a force of nature such as love, the moon and the stars and the wind and the rain to come and go. God is the creator of nature, and when Jesus Christ gave His command in John 15:12; My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. He is commanding a force of nature. Proof of His deity.
• Quantum tunnelling – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc9Xk99gCr4

Quantum tunnelling in quantum biology is an attempt to explain the biochemical process of enzyme facilitating molecular breakdown and or combination of subatomic particles, atoms and molecules, of complex compounds at subatomic level. Currently the attempt is at the edge of reason, arriving at the point beyond, scientists have suggested that particles, atoms, and molecules become invisible at the barrier (edge of reason),or creep underneath the barrier in a wave-form, or Schrodinger’s principle of multiverse. Alternatively, here is an idea, divinity at work.

• The Beautiful Mind – Film

The narrative of the film differs considerably from the events of Nash’s life, as filmmakers made choices for the sense of the story. The film has been criticized for this aspect, but the filmmakers said they never intended a literal representation of his life.

One difficulty was the portrayal of his mental illness and trying to find a visual film language for this. As a matter of fact, Nash never had visual hallucinations: Charles Herman (the “roommate”), Marcee Herman and William Parcher (the Defense agent) are a scriptwriter’s invention. Sylvia Nasar said that the filmmakers “invented a narrative that, while far from a literal telling, is true to the spirit of Nash’s story”. Nash spent his years between Princeton and MIT as a consultant for the RAND Corporation in California, but in the film he is portrayed as having worked for the Department of Defense at the Pentagon instead. His handlers, both from faculty and administration, had to introduce him to assistants and strangers. The PBS documentary A Brilliant Madness tried to portray his life more accurately.

Few of the characters in the film, besides John and Alicia Nash, correspond directly to actual people. The discussion of the Nash equilibrium was criticized as over-simplified. In the film, Nash has schizophrenic hallucinations while he is in graduate school, but in his life he did not have this experience until some years later. No mention is made of Nash’s homosexual experiences at RAND, which are noted in the biography, though both Nash and his wife deny this occurred. Nash fathered a son, John David Stier (born June 19, 1953), by Eleanor Agnes Stier (1921–2005), a nurse whom he abandoned when she told him of her pregnancy. The film did not include Alicia’s divorce of John in 1963. It was not until after Nash won the Nobel Memorial Prize in 1994 that they renewed their relationship. Beginning in 1970, Alicia allowed him to live with her as a boarder. They remarried in 2001.

Nash is shown to join Wheeler Laboratory at MIT, but there is no such lab. Instead, he was appointed as C. L. E. Moore instructor at MIT, and later as a professor. The film furthermore does not touch on the revolutionary work of John Nash in differential geometry and partial differential equations, such as the Nash embedding theorem or his proof of Hilbert’s nineteenth problem, work which he did in his time at MIT and for which he was given the Abel Prize in 2015. The so-called pen ceremony tradition at Princeton shown in the film is completely fictitious. The film has Nash saying in 1994: “I take the newer medications”, but in fact, he did not take any medication from 1970 onwards, something highlighted in Nasar’s biography. Howard later stated that they added the line of dialogue because they worried that the film would be criticized for suggesting that all people with schizophrenia can overcome their illness without medication. In addition, Nash never gave an acceptance speech for his Nobel prize.

Beyond the edge of reason are two possible scenarios, which are; insanity, and divinity. Even the state that is defined as insanity has divinity embedded within it, as it is, in all known states of matter, and possibly antimatter (Quantum theory) or the unknown (Dark/Black hole ).