Here's a mathematical theorem
I've been studying for several years now, and it may apply directly
to what ex-WCG members are learning.
Kurt Godel, if you haven't read
about him, was a close friend of Einstein. Both taught at Princeton.
Here is what Godel's theorem says
in layman's terms:
In any consistent axiomatic
system, there exists undecidable propositions. Not only are there
undecidable's, but there are an infinity of undecidable's.
So what does this have to do with
thee truth of God?
Basically, the implications of
Godel's theorem is that there is no possible way to put all truth in
one package. Not just in mathematics, but in logic, law, or even
religion, if it attempts to formalize its truths.
What it means, basically, is that
if God is the sum of all truth, then there can be no "One True
Church" to represent Him. No matter how hard we try to refine
the truths to completely represent God, we will end up with constant
splintering and speciation of ideas about God, assuming that God is
truth.
In "computerese", we
might say that there are no algorithms or decision procedures by
which we may proceed from "here" to "God".
But let's assume it is possible.
Suppose we can create a knowledge of God such that all truth about
God can be put in one complete, consistent package.
If it can be put into language,
it can be translated to algorithms. If translated to algorithms, then
it can be programmed. If it can be programmed, there is no reason in
the future that we couldn't create a robot Artificial Intelligence
that could be a better "son of God" than ourselves!
Obviously this is ridiculous, but
what is the difference between trying to create a robot son of God
according to human rules and dogma, and trying to build a church in
God's name, incorporating people into that church? Both would be
built on human rules and regulations, human laws, human concepts of
reason and logic and truth.
If the idea of building a robot
son of God is ridiculous, it is equally ridiculous to assume we can
build a church that completely represents God!
Dies the bible say anything about
this? Actually, Paul writes in Romans 8:7 that the carnal, natural
mind is enmity against God and cannot be subject to God's laws. If
true, this would have at least two results:
1.Nobody can claim authority in God's
name, since no mind can be subject to God
2. Any attempt to do so would result in
infinite splintering and speciation of ideas about God.
Today there are over 38,000
versions of Christianity, and look what happened to the WCG members
when they tried to decipher God's laws into a meaningful, complete
system!
In Matthew 5, Jesus said he came
to fulfill the law. But surely, if Romans 8:7 is true, and if Godel's
theorem is true, which it is, or it wouldn't be a theorem, then the
result of trying to keep God's law, even under Jesus, would produce
continual splintering of ideas, right up until even father would be
against son, mother against daughter, etc.
Apparently Jesus knew this,
because that's just what he said in Matthew 10:34-38!
If you think about it, it makes
good sense. People seek to organize, to control and direct human
behavior into one collective system, yet that is destructive. We are
told that the more we organize in one area, the greater the
disorganization in related areas. That is know as entropy, based on
the second law of thermodynamics.
God's purpose would not be to
make us collectivize, but to make us continually speciate and
separate, use our minds so we can intelligently adapt to change.
If there is to be a Kingdom of
God on earth, it would be composed of individuals who study and learn
to think for themselves.
Now, we seem to have a
mathematical theorem to back it up!
