The Cornerstone

A Christian Theory of Everything

By Sam Storms, PhD

Physicists and cosmologists are ever in search of what they call “a theory

of everything,” an all-encompassing theory that can account for everything

from the subatomic world of particle physics to the galactic expanse of supernovas

and black holes.

Brian Greene, professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University,

argues that for the first time in the history of physics we have a framework

with that capacity.   Scientists call it string theory.  The idea is that everything in

the universe at its most microscopic level consists of combinations of vibrating

strings. According to Greene, “string theory provides a single explanatory

framework capable of encompassing all forces and all matter.”

The problem isn’t that Greene and others have gone too far in making this

claim.  The problem is they haven’t gone nearly far enough!  Greene is clearly

drawn to this theory because strings make sense of every fundamental feature

of physical reality. But what makes sense of strings?  Why do they exist?

If they explain “all forces and all matter,” what explains them?  What accounts

for the shape they take and the functions they serve?

The answer is that everything exists for the glory of God. Everything

— from quarks to quasars, from butterflies to brain cells — was created

and is sustained so that you and I might delight in the display of divine

glory.   Only humans are fashioned in the image of God.  We are the only species

that establishes schools and conducts research and preserves archives

of information.  We alone have been granted remarkable capacities to reason

and reflect, deduce and conclude.  We alone can glorify God by rejoicing in

the beauty of his creative handiwork and relishing the splendor of his selfrevelation

in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

We’re touching here on the most profound question anyone could ever ask:

Why is there something rather than nothing?  The simple answer is that God

chose to create. This was certainly not from the anguish born of need, as if

creation might supply God what he lacked. God didn’t take inventory and

suddenly realize there was a shortage that only you and I could fill.  So what

prompted God to act?

The source of God’s creative energy was the joy of infinite and eternal

abundance! God chose to create from the endless and self-replenishing overflow

of delight in himself.

We must begin with the recognition that God delights infinitely in his own

eternal beauty. When God the Father gazes at the Son and sees a perfect reflection

of his own holiness, he is immeasurably happy. The Father rejoices in

the beauty of the Son and Spirit, and the Son revels in the beauty of the Spirit

and Father, and the Spirit delights in that of the Father and Son. God is his

own fan club! God created us out of this eternal community, this overflow of

mutual love, delight, and admiration, so that we might joyfully share in it, to

God’s eternal glory.

God doesn’t simply think about himself or talk to himself. He enjoys himself!

He celebrates with infinite and eternal intensity the beauty of who he is

as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we’ve been created to join the party!

To relish and rejoice in the beauty of God alone accounts for why we exist.

Enjoying God is the soul’s sole satisfaction, with which no rival pleasure can

hope to compete. Glorifying God by enjoying him forever. It’s the Christian

Theory of Everything.

Reprinted from “A Faith and Culture Devotional”, copyright 2008, Kelly Monroe Kullberg and Lael Arrington.  Mr. Storms article is adapted from his book One Thing: Developing a Passion for the Beauty of God.   Mr. Storms left Wheatonto found Enjoying God Ministries in Kansas City, Missouri; www.enjoyinggodministries.com