Stewardship
The fourth dimension is an extremely complicated topic that is hard for us to fully comprehend. All of my group project members were somewhat intrigued by the ideas of the fourth dimension and enjoyed trying to imagine the unimaginable. We thought that we could relate this to how we view God because there are a lot of similarities between the subjects of mathematics and theology. Namely, we possess a base-level knowledge of God and His creation, but we do not fully understand. There is a mystery behind both topics that we can attempt to solve, yet nevertheless we cannot. We are only able to know what has been revealed to us — in other words, what we have seen or what has been proven.
This is where Scripture becomes the main source for understanding the mystery of God and how He operates, especially in relation to the fourth dimension and beyond. While Scripture may not state the mathematics behind the fourth dimension, we see inferences of God being interdimensional. Thus, we cannot see or comprehend the fourth dimension except for basic representations of four-dimensional objects. If we were to encounter a four-dimensional shape, it would astonish us by randomly appearing and disappearing. This is just one relation to Scripture, but there are many more. We will try to understand and explain what was revealed to us from God in Scripture. However, that which we cannot understand will remain a mystery. Even if God allowed us to fully experience the fourth dimension, we would be left speechless and without answers. Therefore, we must cling to Him instead of our own understanding.
Data Collection/Verses
As our group learned more about the fourth dimension, we began to discuss how the subject helps us understand God better. This got us thinking about the topic differently, so we asked ourselves, “Why does God give us so many opportunities for science?” We then remembered the answer: science helps us further understand God in a specific way. Since “math is the language of science,” we are able to use mathematical concepts in scientific inquiry.
As believers, we have no firmer a foundation for studying the fourth dimension than the Bible. In fact, there are many passages in the Bible that can be interpreted in four dimensions. In Genesis 5:24 and Hebrews 11:5, it is written that Enoch walked with God and then disappeared because God took him away. In John 8:59, Jesus twice escaped from a threatening crowd. In John 20:19–23; 26–29, Jesus entered the disciples’ room without a door. These occurrences seem impossible to us, but everything starts to make sense if we apply the fourth dimension: any entity able to move in a physical fourth dimension could also instantly transport to three-dimensional space. This concept is similar to a three-dimensional being’s power to appear and disappear from two-dimensional reality. William Anthony Granville, author of The Fourth Dimension and the Bible, explains that “a man (three-dimensional being) who has been translated from our space into a higher-dimensional space will remain invisible to earthly beings until he returns again to our space.”
Of course, we’re not saying that God only exists in four dimensions. God most likely exists in dimensions higher than four. We know that God is omnipotent and omnipresent, and we cannot understand Him with our knowledge of three dimensions. Therefore, it makes more sense to explain God by using the fourth dimension. We can try to imagine going into two dimensions. To the beings who live in two-dimensional space, we are creatures that cannot be imagined or touched. The same thing is true of God for us three-dimensional beings. We cannot see God in the higher dimensions, nor can we understand what the world looks like from God’s point of view. But it is possible to take a great step forward in our understanding of God by applying the fourth dimension of learning.
Results
When looking at the fourth dimension in light of the Bible, in light of what Jesus has done, and in light of God’s creation, there is a balance of things we can understand and things that have yet to be revealed. In 2 Peter 3:18, Peter writes, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever! Amen.” Here Peter is calling us to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. When we grow in the knowledge of Jesus more things are revealed to us, often things we do not yet understand such as the fourth dimension.
The disciples could not believe or understand seeing Jesus suddenly appear in a locked room. However, they recognized Jesus and trusted in Him instead of their eyesight. How He arrived there did not matter, it was more important for why he was there, and the message he needed to bring. The disciples set an example of understanding they were not going to understand, but that with being stretched and growing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ things that we do not understand can be revealed to us. This applies to the fourth dimension. There are things that have been revealed to us by God but there are elements currently that we cannot understand because of how the fourth dimensional space functions.
Tying It All Together
In closing, by trying to comprehend the incomprehensible, we come to understand the similarities between the fourth dimension and the Bible. We have base-level knowledge of God and His creation, but not full understanding. However, when we view Scripture as the main source of knowledge about God, we see a stronger connection between God and the fourth dimension. Since God is omnipresent and omniscient, it makes more sense to view Him as a higher-dimensional being who can appear and disappear from the third dimension. Several Bible passages from Genesis, Hebrews, and John support this view. In light of the Bible, we know that there is a balance of things we can and cannot know. Peter encourages us to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, which allows more things to be revealed to us. This includes the fourth dimension.