David Cowles
Oct 15, 2022
Thirty years after the death of Jesus…St. Paul quoted an already ancient Christology…a TOE.
It all started with Einstein, of course: modern science’s search for a Theory of Everything (TOE). 100 years gone and still no joy! But thirty years after the death of Jesus, in a letter to the Christian community at Colossae in Asia Minor, St. Paul quoted an already ancient Christology that itself constitutes a complete Cosmology, a TOE (click on image for expanded view):
Not convinced? Not a problem! The search for ‘a better TOE’ goes on. However, the decision to reject Paul’s cosmology has consequences. It seems you must hold one (or more) of the following views:
(1) The Cosmology we’ve presented is not a TOE.
(2) The Cosmology we’ve presented is not consistent with Paul’s Christology.
(3) The TOE we’ve presented contains internal inconsistencies.
(4) The Cosmology we’ve presented is a valid and consistent TOE, but it is only one of many possible TOEs.
Can you come up with an objection to our thesis that does not fall under one of the objections listed above. If so, please let us know. If not, then I respond as follows.
(1) It is true that our Cosmology does not let you predict the outcome of next year’s Super Bowl; nor tell us why the sky is blue. But it does answer every question that matters: How is it that what is is? Why is it that what is (Dasein) what it is (Wassein)? What will what is come to be?
(2) If our ‘translation’ doesn’t work for you, suggest one that does. How do you understand the cosmological assumptions implicit in Paul’s Christology? Feel free to sketch out an alternative cosmology that is more consistent with Paul’s Christology.
(3) With all due respect, show me!
(4) Surprise: This objection may be valid…or not! Of course, there are indefinitely many possible TOEs, but will the others stand up to a deep structural analysis? Or will it turn out that any successful TOEs must be mappable onto Paul’s Christology?
David Cowles is the founder and editor-in-chief of Aletheia Today Magazine. He lives with his family in Massachusetts where he studies and writes about philosophy, science, theology, and scripture. He can be reached at david@aletheiatoday.com.
