Searching God Scientifically

Abstract Recent insights in natural sciences allow us to identify God and his intentions in our real world based on undisputed purely divine characteristic features. The result justifies the most important messages of all monotheistic world religions.

Introduction
In the long history of mankind humans of all cultures believed in Gods and Goddesses and their transcendent worlds. For all of them, Gods have been all-mighty supernatural beings, which in general are invisible like ghosts but also transformable into everything on earth.
According to actual monotheistic world religions God created the world in an extraordinary magic event within six days, speaking like a human person. This age old simplified story including the creation of Adam and Eve was very impressive for simple people of those times, which needed illustrative pictures to understand the message, that God is the omnipotent and omnipresent ruler not only of his celestial (transcendent) worlds but also of our real (immanent) world. His immanent personality is part of our reality and consequently, should be accessible to us. However, his transcendent personality is not accessible to us and thus, is only up to our powers of imagination.

Approaching God by Natural Sciences
Natural sciences refer exclusively to our real world. Consequently, when searching God scientifically, we can only find his immanent personality. In addition, searching something means to clearly know, what we are looking for. For example, a gold-digger, searching gold, knows that gold is a metal with very specific properties differentiating it definitely from all other metals. On the other side a natural scientist, searching God, knows that God is a supernatural being with very specific properties differentiating it definitely from all other terrestrial beings.
Five generally undisputed purely divine distinguishing marks[1] characterize God:
(1) He is omnipotent, meaning that he is able to do everything and to be everything.
(2) He is a transformable ghost or spirit, meaning that he is generally invisible but also transformable into visible forms.
(3) He is omnipresent, meaning that he is simultaneously present everywhere in the universe.
(4) He is immortal, meaning that he lives forever eternally.
(5) He is the ultimate intelligence, meaning that he is doing everything absolutely perfect.
All features (1) to (5) are purely divine and characterize God as supernatural being. No God would be a real God, if only one of these properties would be missing. His properties (2) to (5) are derived from his omnipotence (1), which represents his most important purely divine feature.
When searching God scientifically, we have to answer two very decisive questions. What in our real world shows all his purely divine properties? And what is his will? The second question refers to the most important feature of all living intelligent beings. Thus, searching God scientifically not only intends to identify, who or what is God, but also to understand his intensions.

What do we know scientifically about the origin of the universe?
Searching God has to start with this question, because God is described as the creator of the world. Cosmological research of the last few decades revealed that the whole universe was generated about 13.6 billion years ago out of a singularity.[2] It is not necessary to understand all details of this highly complex process, but it is important to realize that the basic elements of our universe are energy, space, time and information.[3] They all are invisible like God and nevertheless, they are real. You cannot see or grasp them. Thus, they all are of spiritual nature.
Energy is able to materialize according to Einstein’s famous formula E=mc². Everything is described scientifically in space and time. And finally information, hidden in natural laws, is communicated in all processes in atoms and life. It is implemented in the whole world with invisible forces according to the laws of physics, chemistry and biology etc.
Owing to successful scientific research of the last four centuries, the natural laws describing the world are well known to us.They contain the whole information controlling all processes in the world. Thus, information and processing of information is the key to everything in the universe.
According to stringent mathematical rules, the initial conditions and the unchangeable laws of nature determine all details of the development of all stars and planets as well as of life on earth. In addition, statistical probabilities are important components of the natural laws. They are responsible for billions of different solar systems as well as for a broad spectrum of plants and animals on earth developed evolutionary by chance during billions of years.
The religious statement God created the world, means that he is the origin of the universe and of life on earth. Described as Holy Ghost his personality is purely spiritual. Since the basic elements of the universe show all his purely divine characteristic features (1) to (5), they symbolize God in our real world. Consequently, the result of our search can be described as follows: The energy creating the universe is the physical part of God’s immanent personality and the information hidden in the laws of nature is the mental part of his personality. Together they are the origin of the universe and of our real world.
His most important feature is his omnipotence, given by the invisible forces implementing his will according to his divine laws of nature ruling the universe and life on earth. Everything is subjected to them. They are omnipresent everywhere and eternally. And finally, they represent the ultimate intelligence, because they have been able to generate intelligent life and the intelligence of mankind.

What do we know scientifically about the origin of life?
Genetic information is the base of life.[4] All our somatic cells originate from living predecessor cells and contain all information about our construction plans and the mechanisms of life. Thus, information processing, performed by a genetic spirit in the age old never ending cell-division processes, is the key to life. Because the information of our genes stays almost unchanged from generation to generation and because life of our cells has never been interrupted since billions of years, we are living repeatedly that long time as almost perfect copy of our ancestors in a billion years lasting evolution process without knowing it consciously.
According to religions God is the origin of life. Consequently, his spirit is the origin of the genetic spirit, responsible for our physical life. Natural sciences confirm that an ultimate spirit, showing all divine features of God is processing the information of the natural laws in nature. About 3.5 billion years ago, this spirit generated the genetic spirit, processing the genetic information in the first living cells. In multi-cellular systems the genetic spirit generated the primeval spirit, processing the communication of information between cells. In the first animals the primeval spirit generated the neuronal spirit, processing the communication of information along neuronal cells. This neuronal spirit generated the sub-consciousness in the brains of animals and then their consciousness and finally our thinking spirit.
Consequently, first the body of all living creatures has been developed genetically out of primitive single cells, then after billions of years first the human body and then the human spirit has been developed via the communication of information between neuronal cells. Thus, all spirits processing different kind of information lead back to the ultimate spirit processing the information hidden in the laws of nature since billions of years.
Evolution of life follows the same laws of nature, expressing a divine will to develop physical and mental life to more and more perfection. This will is communicated via the information contained in the laws of nature. Consequently God’s intension has been implemented perfectly in nature from the very beginning. Thus, nature was finally able to produce highly complex human life out of the first simple primeval cells. It proves the ultimate intelligence of the divine spirit.
In view of the gigantic universe with trillions of solar systems created out of a highly concentrated bundle of energy, showing all features of God, it is obvious that he is not a being of flesh and blood, but a ghost or spirit, not comparable at all with humans. Nevertheless, his spirit is still active with his laws of nature without any miracles in all atoms of the universe.
Even opposites like beautiful and ugly, small and big, bright and dark, good and evil, joy and harm etc. have been necessary in the evolution of life. Never forget: Life subsists on life. Only plants are able to live on inorganic materials using sunlight.
Nature is not God, but the omnipotent spirit of God is effective in nature with his laws of nature since billions of years and finally even in us. Like we implement our will during our life with our human forces also God implements his will according to his natural laws with his invisible divine forces during his eternal life. As confirmed scientifically, his will is implemented in the whole universe, clearly indicating, that his all-mighty spirit, the Holy Ghost, is an immortal living being, untiringly processing information and inspiring everything in nature. His spirit is the origin of the intelligence of all living beings, which collected and perfected information during billions of years in order to physically generate plants, animals and humans using genetic information and finally to generate mental life by sensory systems and information processing in the brains of animals and humans.
God’s eternal life is reflected in nature, whose actual living cells all lived without interruption since about 3.6 billion years, reproducing and improving complex life from generation to generation by information processing.
According to the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans the progress in sciences of the last decades finally allows us today to recognize the activity of God rationally in our world. This never has been possible before. Consequently, owing to recent scientific insights, it became finally possible to justify theology and the belief in God by natural sciences.
Detailed information concerning all arguments to bridge the gap between natural sciences, theology and philosophy is given in the books: “God and natural sciences” and “God recognizing and understanding him scientifically”, written by Hans Sixl and published by Wagner Verlag, Gelnhausen, Germany.

[1] Hans Sixl. Zur Definition Gottes. Tabula Rasa 72 (2/2012)
[2] Stephen Hawking and Leonhard Mlodinov. Der große Entwurf, Rowohld, Reinbeck 2012
[3] Hans Sixl. God and Natural Sciences. Wagner Verlag, Gelnhausen 2011
[4] Hans Sixl, Geist und Leben. Tabula Rasa 71 (1/2012)

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