#63: The Miracle of Mathematics
Hello thinker,
I often share some version of the following dialogue with non-believing friends when teaching students new to apologetics:
“Let’s imagine, just for the moment, that the God of
the Bible exists.” My friends usually say, “Ok”, knowing
they’re not granting me anything. “Now, if the God of
the Bible exists, he created this universe - this earth -
as the Bible says, right?” They may be a little suspicious
at this point but they usually allow me to continue. “Ok”,
they say again.
“So, if God created this world, wouldn’t you think his
fingerprints are all over it?” My increasingly suspicious
friends may no longer verbalize their agreement but
they usually don’t stop me or start arguing. And even if
they appear to want to question me, I quickly say, “Well,
they are! God’s fingerprints are everywhere!”
Now, I pause to let this sink in for a moment. If they don’t immediately ask me to give examples of his fingerprints, I know that’s what they’re thinking. So, I continue with a statement that typically surprises them: “Evidence of God can be seen in history, archeology, philosophy, worldviews, science, mathematics, etc!”
Most non-believers have not heard a Christian make such a (bold) claim. And, of course, it goes against what they believe.
At this point they’re either ready to argue or, more typically, they say something like, “Tell me, then, where is this evidence for God in ________?” (and they pick their favorite area among those I listed). Of course, knowing this is the question I’m likely to get, I must be prepared to respond. And the response better be more than, “Psalm 19 says, ‘the heavens declare the glory of God.’” While this is certainly true, it will not satisfy their curiosity.
But when I do respond more specifically (and, hopefully, respond well), they are usually amazed. Why? Because, again, they’ve seldom heard a Christian talk about his or her faith in terms of the “real world”; that is, in areas they understand; or, as we would say, in terms of General Revelation.
I then close this teaching dialogue with my students and tell them that this is an example of how to employ apologetics. It is being able to discuss our faith in terms of both the Bible as well as creation. Non-believers are often not impressed by explanations for faith based on Scripture (since they do not believe the Bible is credible). So, if we are able to talk about our faith in areas they do believe are real, they are often willing to do so. Of course, we must eventually return to Special Revelation but this pre-evangelistic approach may be fruitful, at least initially.
There is not space here to provide illustrations – evidence for God – in each of the topics I listed. But let me provide some information regarding one: mathematics. Could you engage in a positive conversation with a non-believer concerning evidence for God in mathematics?
The following is a short video (4:45 minutes) called, The (Un)Reasonableness of Mathematics. It was produced by the apologetics ministry, Reasonable Faith.
The video references a paper written by Eugene Wigner (1902-1995). [1] He was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist and mathematician who earned a Nobel prize. Wigner was raised a secular Jew but comments he made later in life indicate that he was neither a Jew nor any type of theist; most likely he was a naturalist. [2]
Wigner believed, though, that mathematics is a “miracle”; he said its existence cannot be explained. As a brilliant scientist he relied on math and only eventually came to question why it exists at all, and why it can be used to explain aspects of physical reality. He found this “baffling.”
The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of
mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics
is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor
deserve. We should be grateful for it and hope that it will
remain valid in future research and that it will extend, for
better or worse to our pleasure, even though perhaps also
to our bafflement, to wide branches of learning.
Wigner called mathematics a “gift.” If it’s a gift, there must be a gift giver. Does he suggest who this giver might be? No. The worldview of naturalism has no answer. Of course, the Biblical worldview does.
Wigner adds that “the enormous usefulness of mathematics in the natural sciences is something bordering on the mysterious and that there is no rational explanation for it.” Yes, a rational explanation does exist; if only he knew.
Non-believers – if they step back and deeply ponder the world around them – will sometimes ask such fundamental questions. If they don’t, we need to help them.
Christianity is true because it corresponds to reality. As Christians we should be prepared to talk about this. Many a non-believer will be amazed.
In Christ, Doug
1 Peter 3:15
Academic Director, Apologetics On Mission
[1] Wigner, Eugene (2014). “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences,” Communications in Pure and Applied Mathematics, Vol. 13, No. 1 (February 1960). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The entire paper is here: https://www.maths.ed.ac.uk/~v1ranick/papers/wigner.pdf