|
According to Schroeder, the scientific results of our age lead science and theology to meet at a common truth. This is the truth of Creation. Science is now re-discovering this truth that divine religions have actually taught to humanity for millennia.
The Lawh-i Mahfuz (The Preserved Tablet)
So far, we have looked at science's conclusions about the universe and the origin of living things. The conclusion is that the entire universe and life itself were created using a blueprint of magnificent information that existed before.
This conclusion reached by modern science is strikingly in agreement with a secret that was laid out in the Qur'an some 14 centuries ago. In the Qur'an, a book sent to people as a guide, God announced that the Lawh-i Mahfuz (the Preserved Tablet) existed before the creation of the universe and that it furthermore explained all creation and events in the universe.
The Lawh-i Mahfuz was "guarded" (mahfuz) so the things written there were not changed or spoiled. In the Qur'an, this is called "Ommu al-Kitabi" (The Mother of the Book), "Kitabun Hafeethun" (All-Preserving Book), "Kitabin Maknoonin" (Well-Protected Book) or just the book. It is also called Kitabin min Qabli (The Book of Decrees) since it also tells of the events that humanity will face.
In many verses, God tells about the characteristics of the Lawh-i Mahfuz. First of all, there is nothing missing from this book:
The keys of the Unseen are in His possession. No one knows them but Him. He knows everything in the land and sea. No leaf falls without His knowing it. There is no seed in the darkness of the earth, and nothing moist or dry which is not in a Clear Book. (Qur'an, 6: 59)
One verse says that all life in the world is recorded in the Lawh-i Mahfuz:
There is no creature crawling on the earth or flying creature, flying on its wings, who are not communities just like yourselves --We have not omitted anything from the Book-- then they will be gathered to their Lord. (Qur'an, 6: 38)
In another verse, it is stated that "on earth and in the heavens," in the entire universe, all creatures and things, including the smallest speck, are known by God and recorded in the Lawh-i Mahfuz:
You do not engage in any matter or recite any of the Qur'an or do any action without Our witnessing you while you are occupied with it. Not even the smallest speck eludes your Lord, either on earth or in heaven. Nor is there anything smaller than that, or larger, which is not in a Clear Book. (Qur'an, 10: 61)
All information concerning humanity is in the Lawh-i Mahfuz, and this includes the genetic code of all people and their destinies:
Nonetheless they are amazed that a warner should have come to them from among themselves and those who disbelieve say, "What an extraordinary thing! When we are dead and turned to dust? That would be a most unlikely return!" We know exactly how the earth eats them away. We possess an all-preserving Book. (Qur'an, 50: 2-4)
The following verse states that God's words in the Lawh-i Mahfuz are endless, and this is explained through an example:
If all the trees on earth were pens and all the sea, with seven more seas besides, was ink God's words still would not run dry. God is Almighty, All-Wise. (Qur'an, 31: 27)
Conclusion
The facts that we explored in this article prove yet again that the findings of modern science confirm what religion teaches to people. The materialist dogmatism that has been imposed on science is in fact rejected by science itself.
The conclusions of modern science about information serve to objectively demonstrate who is right in a dispute that has been raging for thousands of years. This dispute has been waged between materialist thought and religion. Materialist thought claims that matter is without beginning and that nothing existed before matter. Religion, on the other hand, states that God existed before matter, and that matter is created and ruled by God's endless knowledge.
The fact that this truth, which has been taught by divine religions - like Judaism, Christianity and Islam - since the dawn of history, has been proved by the findings of science, is an indication of the impending post-atheist age. Humanity is getting closer to realizing that God truly exists and He is the "All-Knowing." Just as reminded to people in the following verse of the Holy Qur'an:
Do you not know that God knows everything in heaven and earth? That is in a Book. That is easy for God. (Qur'an, 22: 70)
__________________________________________
(1) George C. Williams. The Third Culture: Beyond the Scientific Revolution. (ed. John Brockman). New York, Simon & Schuster, 1995, pp. 42-43
(2) Stephen Meyer, "Why Can't Biological Information Originate Through a Materialistic Process", Unlocking the Mystery of Life, DVD, Produced by Illustra Media, 2002
(3) Phillip Johnson, The Wedge of Truth: Splitting the Foundations of Naturalism , Intervarsity Press, Illinois, 2000, p. 123
(4) Werner Gitt. In the Beginning Was Information. CLV, Bielefeld, Germany, pp. 107, 141
Gerald Schroeder, The Hidden Face of God, Touchstone, New York, 2001, p. xi
|
|
