A Layman’s Cosmology: Speculation on the Origin of Existence and God

By Henry Christopher

Cosmology is the study of the origin, evolution and eventual fate of the universe. It is studied by both scientists and philosophers, can include scientific and non-scientific propositions, and may depend upon assumptions that cannot be tested.

Here, I offer a speculative layman’s cosmology which does not claim to present a scientifically verifiable conclusion on this subject. I adopt a more philosophical point of view. However, as much as possible, I believe we should seriously take into account leading scientific theories of the day.

Although the existence of God has neither been proven nor disproven, from a scientific point of view, my thoughts on existence stem from a layman’s logic, intuition and common sense which indicate that a Creator, rather than chance, is the origin not only of all things, but necessarily of all principles and orderliness of the world around us.

Not from randomness or chaos do the stars and planets in the sky stay put in their individual orbits day after day, year after year, but by the mathematical plan of a Creator. This is not just a belief, but a logical notion — a reasonable outcome of probability — that the chances are more likely the universe came about through the existence of a purposeful intellect than by some extraordinary accident.

This conclusion has been held by some of the most prominent astrophysicists, mathematicians and other scientists, including Fred Hoyle, Cambridge University astrophysicist, and Owen Gingerich, senior astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

Writing on this very point, Roger Penrose, Oxford University mathematical physicist, said,

“…the only alternative to the universe arising from chance is for it to have arisen deliberately. Deliberate action requires a conscious creator (read: God). And for those who are still tempted to conclude that our universe is just the result of a very extremely improbable accident, I explain in “Why God? Why not just plain luck?” why bare probability (chance), alone, can never cause anything… let alone the creation of a universe.”

Max Planck, originator of Quantum Theory, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1918 for his work, said,

“…All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.”

So, let’s start from the beginning. Where did the Creator come from?

The Origin of the Creator and the Universe

The ancient Greek philosopher Parmenides said something cannot come from nothing — a reasonable explanation for the layman of why “things” exist. It would seem reasonable to conclude that “something” always existed. We can call it Existence itself. If it always existed, Existence would be infinite — with no beginning and no end.

Most scientists say the universe began with the Big Bang some 13.8 billion years ago, and it has a constant amount of matter and energy, which neither increases nor decreases. They also say that the universe is expanding. However, in 1998, they discovered — much to their surprise — that it is expanding at an accelerating rate of speed.

Cosmologists have three basic theories about the shape of the universe and its ultimate fate: the Closed Universe, Open Universe and the Flat Universe.

In the Closed Universe theory, gravitation eventually stops the expansion of the universe, and it will implode on itself.  It was a popular theory until scientists discovered the universe was accelerating. The Open Universe theory postulates the universe will die by either overwhelming heat, or a “Big Freeze,” and the Flat Universe theory predicts the same fate as in the Open Universe.

A layman’s cosmology speculates the Creator initiated the Big Bang and will continue to provide the matter and energy to allow the universe to expand and grow infinitely.

Layman’s logic considers that if the universe had a beginning, but Existence itself is infinite without a beginning or end, the force to accelerate the expansion of the Universe could be coming from some source of energy in Existence.

What then could be the force that produced the Big Bang and how did it develop?

This line of thinking, of course, is usually not in the realm of most scientific inquiry. Scientists generally do not speak about forces outside the universe that caused its beginning, since they presently have no way of testing any theories concerning what existed — if anything — before the Big Bang. But it has always been of great interest to philosophy.

There is, however, more recently another avenue of cosmological-type thought — popular in science fiction and among some physicists — called the multiverse, or many different “parallel universes” where people may live. But it is considered by many scientists as pure speculation, and not a hypothesis that fits within the normal scientific method of inquiry, since it cannot be proven or disproven. It is interesting though, that multiverse proponents point to Isaac Newton’s book Opticks (1704) which they believe support the multiverse notion. Newton wrote:

“And since Space is divisible in infinitum, and Matter is not necessarily in all places, it may be also allow’d that God is able to create Particles of Matter of several Sizes and Figures, and in several Proportions to Space, and perhaps of different Densities and Forces, and thereby to vary the Laws of Nature, and make Worlds of several sorts in several Parts of the Universe. At least, I see nothing of Contradiction in all this.”

That statement could be supportive of the possibility of a spiritual world, where people go to live after they die on earth.

But what about the nature of Existence? Existence would have to have all the fundamental qualities necessary to later develop and produce all the variety and things in our universe.

Aristotle, in his Metaphysics, XII 6, determined that all substances are composed of inseparable form and matter, both primal and eternal, where the form is the thought that molds the matter into substances. He calls prime matter “pure potentiality” which is capable of taking on any form.

Later, the ancient Greek philosophers Leucippus and his student Democritus postulated — without the sophisticated mathematics and science of today — that all substances were made from tiny, invisible atoms — a word they coined.

We can see from evidence in the quantum physics analysis of the atom that the Greeks were on to something. The atom is composed of even smaller subatomic particles, which we will see have a consciousness and purposefulness about how they act. In this way, they could be described as the form, or cause, that molds primal matter into unique substances, as Aristotle envisioned.

Quantum mechanics says atoms are composed of a positive nucleus and negative electrons orbiting around the nucleus. Within the nucleus are subatomic particles — also with + and  – attributes — which carry messages and give instructions between the protons and neutron in the nucleus and between the nucleus and the electrons.

These subatomic particles could be thought of as the consciousness of the atoms, giving direction to the Prime Matter and Energy. Alison Wakelin of Widener University noted on this Blog:

“Even in the West, certainly since the early days of quantum physics and relativity, there has been a secondary track within science, based on the idea that matter itself is in some sense conscious, or at least has some kind of internal nature.”

We should consider the idea that Existence is composed of pre-Big Bang infinite Prime Matter and Prime Energy — the source of the matter and energy of the universe.

What characteristics, then, would be embedded in this Prime Matter and Energy? Scientists like to reduce things to common denominators — to the smallest particles that together still retain the essential characteristics of the whole. Let’s imagine that this Prime Matter and Energy are composed of Prime Particles and Prime Atoms, which are the origin of atoms in the physical Universe.

We can imagine then, that particles were the first eternally existent stuff, bound together to make atoms. At the same time, when these original particles interacted and the atom was created, we have matter and energy, time and space, internal and external, male and female, and of course a consciousness that informed the particles to interact.

So, were the particles just by themselves eternally existent, or were the particles interacting to became an atom eternally existent? That’s hard to fathom, but we might be to the point where the proverbial chicken and the egg have merged.

It would appear that Existence might be likened to a vast, endless sea of particles and atoms, with the potential, as Aristotle saw it, to be made into an infinite variety of substances. All that was wanting was a being with the mind to create.

Layman’s logic would furthermore suggest that interaction between the Prime Matter of + and – particles have to harmonize, and not be in conflict, otherwise they would destroy themselves and there would be no Existence. We might conclude, then, that the original particles harmonize and unite as a creative force, rather than a destructive force, which could be considered benevolent energy.

Quantum mechanics tells us that particles have the “mind” to unite into atoms, while atoms have the “mind” to unite into elements and molecules. Could it not be envisioned, then, that the Original Particles and Atoms of Existence would also begin to unite, and when they reached a certain critical mass, the combined consciousness of all those atoms could give birth to a being that became self-aware — a Creator that realized, “I am.” Since this Creator is composed of benevolent Prime Matter and Energy united together in a harmonious way, we can understand the religious concept that God is Love.

This Love consciousness could be understood as the internal character of God, while the Prime Matter and Energy could be understood as the external form of God. Thus, we might conclude that spirit did not come from matter, nor did matter come from spirit. They both are eternal in the Creator.

A layman’s cosmology could conclude that the Creator is Existence itself, composed of infinite Prime Matter and Energy, motivated by Love, and is the Love consciousness of Existence. The Creator, made up of fundamental + and – parts, has the attributes of time and space by virtue of the particles that interact and revolve around each other, and is also both masculine and feminine.

Thus, layman’s logic suggests the Creator, with an infinite amount of Prime Matter and Energy, used His/Her Consciousness, Intellect and Heart to create the physical Universe out of His/Her own being.

In the words of Rev. Sun Myung Moon,

“…and out of this one seed of love came God. Just as you began as one seed of love from your parents. This one small seed then multiplied. So God was made from one single love cell and from this came the entire universe.” (10/21/90)

We also naturally come to the opinion that the quantum atoms and particles of the universe are a mirror image of God on the physical plane.

The Divine Principle (DP) concurs with this trend of thought. In the DP explanation, God has dual characteristics of internal character and external form, and eternal energy that brings all substances into being which have the same nature and characteristics as the Creator:

“According to modern science, all particles that constitute atoms are made up of energy. For energy to form particles, it too must possess an internal nature which directs it to assume specific forms… Probing deeper still, we search for the Ultimate Cause which brought this energy, with its elements of internal nature and external form, into existence. This being would be the First Cause of all the myriad things in the universe.  …We call this First Cause of the universe God.”

DP goes on to say that particles actually “exist” for the purpose of forming atoms, which then form molecules, and eventually plants, animals and all things.

The quantum atom may be the link that connects God, the Spiritual Word and the physical Universe, in that it is the basic model and building block for God and the two worlds.

So, when the universe got its start through the Big Bang, as scientists explain, the acceleration of the expansion of the universe can be understood as an infinite, continuous supply of matter and energy being pumped into the universe by the Creator, making the universe ever-expanding, growing and eternal.

Therefore, the fear the universe will eventually run out of energy and implode on itself by the force of gravity, or that it will burn up or freeze, may be unfounded.

The Creator’s Concept and Development of the Five Senses

A layman’s cosmology can offer some possibilities on how God might have developed the basic concepts and foundation for creating things in the physical world.

After the Creator was born, S/he experienced the explosive power of Love, multiplying through the interaction of units of + and – in His/Her own being, which began to rotate and revolve around themselves. S/he experienced this and it was good.

God began to experiment with changing the speed of rotation and revolution of these units of Prime Matter, as well as the angles and direction of their movement. That created different “sensations” which He could experience, which made Him “feel” good.

The Creator began to classify various spectrums of sensations She was experiencing, until She had five different classes of sensations, each with its own spectrum or variations according to the different groupings of +, – units, and the speed, angle and direction of the forces which She manipulated.

God then was able to conceive of a fundamental form that would be able to incorporate these five classes of sensations as both transmitters and receptors of those sensations.

That essential form is the body of man and woman, who God needed in order to have a partner of love. The result would be the relationship of love between man and woman, which when they united, would become the ideal partner for God.

The transmitters and receptors of the five classes of sensations became the ears, eyes, nose, skin (for touch), and mouth (which houses the voice transmitter and taste receptors).

The Creator could now create infinite variations of the human body, in plants, fish, animals, insects, etc., to populate the world of His partner, man and woman — but first the Creator would have to create the spaces or places for people to exist in: the Physical World, where humankind would be born, and the Spiritual World, where they would go to live with the Creator eternally.

In a forthcoming article on this Blog, I will speculate on the Creator’s development of the earth since it was formed 4.5 billion years ago in preparation for the arrival of humankind.♦

Henry Christopher (UTS Class of 1980) is Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at UTS. He was a graphic artist at The Washington Times for 20 years. 

Image at top: An artist’s conception of the Big Bang.