JACKSONVILLE, Florida -- God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
For centuries, people have argued passionately for either science or religion as the basis of our existence. But rarely for both.
A professor at Tulane University in New Orleans says he found God through his work; his work is science. His name is Frank Tipler.
"I became a Christian at roughly the age of 13 or 14 and joined the First Baptist Church in Alabama," and at age 16, he became an atheist. "I decided that there was a real problem with this God stuff, that there was no convincing argument available to prove the existence of God."
Years later, the physicist came to believe again after discovering what he says is rock solid, scientific proof that God exists. "I follow science; it's always what I've done throughout my entire life."
In this case, he followed it through what he calls the Cosmological Singularity Principle. "God is the cosmological singularity, out of which the universe sprang. God created the universe, he will guide the universe, and until finally the universe will recollapse into him. The final singularity which is the same as the initial singularity. The cosmological singularity at its fullest extent is, in fact, God."
It's serious math and science, quantum mechanics, Einstein's Relativity Principle, the laws of physics. In a more simple explanation, Dr. Tipler says the universe started over 13 billion years ago at one point, God the Father. Since then it's been expanding with that same point always there. God the Son, far into the future, in about a million, million, trillion years away, the universe will collapse to the one point, God the Holy Spirit. Tipler says the Bible backs up his math in the book of Exodus.
"Moses is standing in front of the burning bush. Moses is being spoken to by God. Moses asked God about his name," God answers, "I am that I am." But Tipler argues that, the more appropriate English translation is, "I shall be what I shall be." Proving, he suggests, that God is referring to himself both in the present and the future tenses. Proving God is and always will be a part of our universe.
In Florida, we live in a place referred to by many as the Bible Belt, and while Tipler claims to have found God through science, some folks we talked to here don't exactly agree with that theory.
"The ways in which people come to have religious faith are very, very, varied."
Dr. Michael Root is dean of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Columbia, SC. "I think it is important for Christians to say that the faith makes sense that in the end we expect faith and reason to agree with each other."
He's familiar with Dr. Tipler's work, but doubts most Christians will go along with it. "One difficulty is knowledge today is so specialized, someone like me can't follow the math."
However, he does see value in trying to find God in the equations, especially for someone with a strong scientific base. "There maybe somebody who, their major obstacle to their Christian faith is that it is simply incompatible with science. It could be that this particular scientists work will be a major step in that person coming to the faith."
Right now, Dr. Tipler focuses on winning over believers, in both religious circles and in the scientific community. He claims he found God through his work, through science. He says he's not sure about his legacy. "But I do know, and this I know for certain, that if the laws of physics that we know now, they are correct, and the singularity has to exist and has the essential properties of God."
WTLV First Coast News