I recently corresponded with physicist
Dr. Sarah McGee via email. Dr. McGee received her
Ph.D. in Theoretical Quantum Physics and has just published
Heaven’s Reality Lifting the Quantum Veil. The
question I posed to her was “Would quantum mechanics be able
to show that the inside of something (say the New Jerusalem)
is larger on the inside than the outside.”
I had speculated on the possibility some
years ago (see my post from 2013 below). However, C.S.
Lewis beat me to the punch. In
The Last Battle, when the characters arrive at a
walled garden he wrote the following:
“The first thing which struck everyone
was that the place was far larger than it seemed from
outside.” Two pages later, Lewis wrote “I see
now. This garden is like the Stable. It is far
bigger inside than it was outside.”
Back to my correspondence with Dr.
McGee. Here is a little bit of her response to the
question I posed. “String theory can explain things
being bigger on the inside than the outside. String
theory is a different sub-discipline from quantum physics,
but they are closely related. String theory talks
about the higher dimensionality of all objects in the
universe.”
She went on to say that “higher
dimensions make lots of things possible.” Being bigger
on the inside than the outside is just one example.
Notice the size of the New Jerusalem when
the (presumable) external dimensions are given.
Revelation 21:15-17New King James
Version (NKJV)
15 And
he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city,
its gates, and its wall.
16 The city is laid out as a square; its
length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the
city with the reed: twelve
thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and
height are equal.
17 Then he measured its wall: one hundred
and forty-four cubits,
according to the measure of a man, that is, of an
angel.
Twelve thousand furlongs is one thousand,
five hundred miles. If that’s how big the New
Jerusalem is (height, length, width), then the
possibility remains that the inside is much, much
larger. God is the creator and He could have made it
any way He chose.
Here is what I wrote back in 2013.
Please make the mental correction and substitute string
theory for quantum physics as Dr. McGee pointed out to me.
Bruce Baber
(19 Apr 2013)
"Quantum Mansions?"
John
14:2
In
My Father’s house are many
mansions;
if
it were not so, I would have told you. I go
to prepare a place for you. NKJV
Strong’s
Result of search for "3438". 3438:
mone mon-ay' from 3306; a staying, i.e.
residence (the act or the place):--abode, mansion.
How
do you picture your heavenly mansion? Is it a great
big mansion with columns? Perhaps a castle, or would
it be a quaint New England cottage instead? Is it by
a lake, or on a mountaintop? With so many people
from different time periods, different backgrounds, ethnic
origins and diverse tastes how will everyone be
accommodated according to their individual preferences?
Well, Jesus can do anything.
The
late J. R. Church did a Prophecy in the News program on
how heaven might occupy a different dimension. It’s
an interesting theory and who knows… it might be
true.
Quite
a while ago I myself wondered not about heaven being in a
different dimension, but instead if each of our individual
heavenly homes might occupy a different dimension with the
access being through doorways in the New Jerusalem.
It’s a strange concept, but one that bears thinking about.
Picture
it this way. A Victorian era man from London dies
and goes to heaven. He enters the pearly gates and
sees all the glories of the New Jerusalem. Of course
he meets the Lord and is eventually given the grand
tour. After a while, he is shown a door. He is
told that it is the door to his very own home in
heaven. Now this Victorian era man has always
desired a home in heaven and he hoped it might reflect his
tastes. But, from the outside perhaps all he can see
is a blank door with no clue as to what lies beyond the
threshold. He steps through the door and instantly
finds himself in a different dimension! In this new
dimension, he walks down a cobblestone street until he
comes to a fine three-story Victorian house replete with
all the gingerbread styling of that period. In an instant
he knows it is his own home. Naturally the interior
is excessively ornamented and the furnishings are heavy
and elaborately decorated. We might even picture him
sitting in an overstuffed chair and puffing on a
pipe. (For illustration purposes I didn’t talk about
his function in heaven, such as his work and worship… and
we’ll leave his pipe smoking for a different day).
As
you can imagine, the Victorian gentleman finds himself
completely happy in his surroundings. He even has
neighbors, family and friends who happen to share similar
tastes. But, would you be as happy in these same
surroundings? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps our
mansions are explained and our tastes are accommodated by
the different dimensions accessed in the New Jerusalem.
I do not doubt a Coptic Christian who lived a
thousand years ago would have pictured a mansion quite
different from the one I would choose.
Here’s
another thought. If you live ten million years in
the same house, might it become a little boring? A
little cramped? Not if the inside of the
house is bigger than the outside! What if your
bookcase became the access to enter a huge library and
your smallish dining room became large enough to entertain
a hundred guests? Is that too farfetched? Not
if there are multiple dimensions and we have the ability
to cross them.
The
concept of different dimensions in heaven becomes easier
to swallow if we consider time as one of the
dimensions. At the Bema seat we will be given
rewards in consequence to our works. If a few
billion of us are waiting in line that would take a long,
long time. But if all two billion of us meet
one-on-one with Jesus in different dimensions of time what
would have taken a million years could be done in a mere
second.
God
loves diversity in His creation. The concept of
occupying and traversing different dimensions might be
completely wrong, but it does help explain a few things
and would be in keeping with God’s character, as far as I
can discern.
However,
one thing I can know for
sure… as
it is written "What no eye has seen, what no ear has
heard, and what no human mind has conceived" -- the things
God has prepared for those who love him— 1 Cor. 2:9
YBIC
Bruce
Baber