Infinity Is Not the Answer —
God is
The idea of infinity is something that the human race has never fully been able to comprehend. John Green argues that infinity is not a big number: “[i]t’s endlessness. Endlessness is a really strange idea in a universe that is defined by its endings.” Aristotle believes that “[s]omething is infinite if, taking it quantity by quantity, we can always take something outside.” On the other hand, David Levithan proposes the idea of there being two different infinities: “the one that stretches to the beginning but never touches-when you halve and halve and halve, infinitely-and then the one that spreads out into the endless, endless future, the endless, endless, distance. The set of infinities that is itself infinite.” Whether infinity is one singular, endless amount or multiple different concepts in the world, the human brain cannot fathom it.
Infinity can be related to space — space and the universe are infinite. When we look at the universe, we are unable to see an end to it. The furthest stars that we see in the sky are actually huge galaxies of stars, and those stars in the galaxies are more galaxies — and more galaxies within those galaxies. It’s never ending — it extends farther than anyone can see. John Green describes the universe as being “endless,” but this idea of “endlessness” is strange because the universe is “defined by its endings.” Just like endlessness, the idea of infinity is so strange. How can something like the universe stretch out into infinity? Infinity is something the human brain cannot imagine.
Yet, infinity in math is infinite, but still has an “end.” According to Aristotle, in math something “is infinite if, taking it quantity by quantity,” something can always be taken out. This is very true with many numbers, and there are many numbers in math that are infinite. There is also an infinite amount of numbers. There is never an end to numbers. We can count from 1 to 1 billion and still count beyond that. However, there are infinite numbers in between 1 and 2, but it “ends” with 2. How is that possible to have two types of infinities? One infinity that will never end, and another that is restricted between two numbers. As John Green describes it: “some infinities are bigger than other infinities.” This doesn’t make sense though.
Ultimately, God is the definition of infinity. Revelation 1:8 declares, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was, and who is to come. The Almighty.” God has always been there — there was never a time when God didn’t exist — and there will never be a time when He doesn’t exist. When David Levithan describes two different types of infinity, he is actually describing God: God “stretches to the beginning but never touches” — because there never was a beginning — and He “spreads out into the endless, endless future, the endless, endless, distance.” Not only is God infinite, but His love is infinite. God’s love has always been there, just as He has always been there. Solange Nicole states, “love is infinite. There is nothing finite about it’s presence, for love. Never. Dies.” God created this idea of infinity on earth, so we could come to recognize and understand God’s infinity. Yet, the human brain is still unable to fully understand infinity. Soon, all humans will know the full meaning of infinity. We will all either live for eternity with God or suffer for eternity in hell.
Infinity is everywhere, and every person experiences it in their life one way or another. I see and experience infinity all the time; especially, since I am a Christian and mathematics major. As a Christian, I believe that I will live forever with God in heaven because I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. My life will be infinite. Though, this type of infinite is different than God’s infiniteness. God has no beginning and no end; while I, on the other hand, have a clean beginning when I was born but no end. It is like a vector in math, with a starting point but no ending point. With being a mathematics major, I deal with infinity all the time. Not only is there infinity related to numbers, but there is also infinity related graphs. There are certain types of graphs that will extend into infinity because they never stop — that is why arrows are always drawn on the end of graphs. Those arrows show that a graph stretches to infinity, and you will never be able to reach the end of it. Personally, I see all types of infinity in my life. I see the infinity that is endless, the infinity that is restricted between two things, and the infinity that has no beginning and no end.
“The idea of infinity cannot be expressed in words or even described,” explains Andrei Tarkovsky. It is such a complicated thing to understand. Like space, infinity can be something “endless” that stretches out into the unknown. In math, infinity can be never ending like the amount of numbers, but yet has a start at 1 and an end at 2. Finally, the idea of infinity is also like God: it has no beginning and it has no end. The definition of infinity will never exceed the idea of something being infinite. This is because the human brain can’t understand it fully. It is something that is endless. On the other hand, it is something that can have an end. Yet, infinity can also have no beginning and no end. How is this possible? The human brain cannot comprehend this. How can the definitions of infinity contradict each other but still mean the same thing? In the end, I believe God captures the idea of infinity. God and His might and power are endless, just like the endlessness of space. Yet, He was able to cram that infinite power into flesh, just like the infinite amount of numbers between 1 and 2. God was present in the beginning — even before the beginning — and He will always be there till the end — even though there is no end; this is just like a number line stretching from negative infinity to positive infinity with no start and no end. Infinity is so complicated, but yet so simple; and it can be simplified into God with His endless power and existence.
