by Don Pino Silvestre *
We must be grateful to Giovanni Greco and Elvira Ponterio who signed the book Before the beginning .
Despite its brevity, this work it is very important because it intersects with different disciplines: astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, geography, anthropology, philosophy, mathematics, music, theology, faith and reason and faith and science themes. Above all, it is an invitation to an ever more intense dialogue between theology and sciences, to make scientific reason converge with the reason of faith, placing them at mutual service as Pope John Paul II suggests in the encyclical “Fide et Ratio”. I also see an invitation to an ecological spirituality, the one that Pope Francis points to as a Christian goal in the encyclical “Laudato Be”
This book arouses interest, amazement, wonder as one penetrates the great mystery of creation, explored by great scientists such as Einstein, Darwin, Galilei
The scientific theories on the birth of the first fundamental particles for the birth of the universe and on the origins of life are exposed with transport and passion.
The existence of a profound relationship emerges between man and the cosmos, the universe and the infinite galaxies. It is a relationship of harmony between God the creation, living beings and man: a harmonious relationship that we find in traditional African religions and especially in the Bible in the description of the earthly Paradise in the book of Genesis. With a current term we could say that we are all interconnected.
The order, harmony and wisdom that reign in the universe refer to a First Cause which for the authors is at times Aristotle’s Motionless Engine, at others the Wise Architect of Enlightenment Theism, but above all the Creator God of Christians.
The theory of the Big Bang (formulated for the first time by the Belgian Jesuit Georges Lamaitre) which would like an initial explosion of energy and light (set in place, however, by the Creator), of which a very small point (according to Roberto Grossatesta) would have given rise to the universe. However, for many, energy is of unknown origin. Gamma photons (also capable of creating matter) and rays of any type originate from the explosion: x, ultraviolet, infrared, radio waves, microwaves and vibrations that travel at the speed of light (300,000Km per second). Thanks to photons we can see the color of things. The question arises whether photons are the engine only of the physical world or also of the mental and spiritual one. Of course, photons are not graspable, they cannot be stopped until they meet other particles (electrons). The gamma photons have transformed into microwaves, the last stage of low-energy energy. All bodies absorb energy and re. emit (New Age crystal therapy). There are, however, electromagnetic fields that are harmful to our body. The matter around us is made up of very small particles called atoms. the 4 main elements useful for life are air, water, light, heat, each with its own particular quality.
The authors ask themselves the question whether we can speak of infinite energy and temperature: from the theological point of view no, because we would fall into pantheism only God is infinite not created realities
The authors also discard the evolutionary theory according to which the world originated by auto-genesis, randomly and suddenly, probably from nothing (Darwin). But how can a cosmos be born by chance that presents such an intelligent regularity, rhythms and systems so complex and sophisticated?
The authors therefore lean towards creationism: everything originates from a personal Creator God who makes all creatures partakers of his being. He is light and love that expands and communicates itself. In this we are very close to the Catholic conception.
Nothing seems to be left to chance, The Creator’s Love and Wisdom are reflected and observed even in natural phenomena: order, intelligence, beauty and harmony, genius. Everything seems to have a code and a law and manifests a mysterious goodness. Just as the Bible says (Gen 1: “And God saw that all was good”).
We admire the aesthetics in the flowers, in the plants, in the animals: it seems that everything was conceived by a stylist. Every living being has a special function in the ecosystem. There is an exchange of energy with the natural world. And then, the compatibility of nature with human beings cannot be a casual coincidence, it refers to a project of brilliant creativity and the awareness that everything is contingent and connected. It refers to a supreme cause, at the origin of everything. It is impossible that everything originates from nothing: nothing comes from nothing. And how could consciousness be formed out of nothing? We cannot fail to turn to the Bible which says man was created by God (Gn 1-2) with the infusion of the vital spirit (the Ruhah).
Religions speak of a sacred sound full of vitality, a vibration present in the ether capable of influencing matter and healing human beings.
The Catholic mystic Luisa Picarreta speaks of a vibrant Echo and actions of light, capable not only of creating, but also of keeping all things stable and alive. God is at the origin of the overwhelming energy that has thought and designed all things and forms of communication between living beings. We can imagine her as a wonderful mathematical mind. Connection with Jn 1 the prologue: the Creator Word and the wisdom of the Old Testament Creation as particles of the Logos spermatikos: everything is manifestation and participation of the love and light of God. The Logos-Word would be God’s ordering mind on chaos: ” Through him everything was created ”.
The structure of matter is a wonderful construction. Matter is made up of a large number of particles called atoms. Atom means invisible. In turn, the atoms are made up of protons, neutrons, electrons. Three atomic particles have generated the great variety of substances as from the combination of the seven musical notes, all music originates. Then there is the proton composed of even smaller particles which are called quarks. Weight is the force with which a body is attracted to the earth, or rather its center. On the moon, a person weighing 100 kg weighs 16.6 because the gravitational force is less.
Energy appears and disappears creating matter. A few seconds is enough and the light is transformed into matter.
Mathematics and geometry is beauty and harmony. The universe is a geometric ballet (shells, plants, flower petals (they have 3 or 5 or 13 or 21 petals, buds, the arrangement of the leaves on the branches. Fractal geometry (ferns, shells).
The laws of nature are isotropic and homogeneous, perfect and absolute. Galileo argues that the book of nature and the system of the universe can only be read by those who know the language in which they were written: the mathematical language, in numerical codes and mathematical symbols.
I like to link here what the book says about the mathematics, geometry and musicality with which the universe was created, what Cassiodorus states in his work on the Trinity. According to him, the Trinity uses geometry when it gives different species and rules to its creatures that even today it makes exist, when it regulates the movements of celestial bodies with its venerable power and makes mobile things run along certain lines and places those in a safe abode. fixed. Anything, in fact, well prepared and accomplished can be attributed to the properties of this discipline. Cassiodorus sees man as the perfect guardian and cultivator of creation, so desired by God’s initial project. He maintains that a greater knowledge of creation, revelation and the work of redemption can be achieved through scientific achievements and through cultural and “Profane” already possessed by the Greeks and Romans. In the work De music one can grasp Cassiodorus’ profound thought on respect for creation: in the universe everything is regulated by music because there is a harmony and an order in which the great wisdom and beauty of God is manifested, then pouring out into the world. In creation which is conceived as a garden, God has placed man as guardian with the commitment to take care of and improve him and to order all other creatures towards him. Man is at the center of everything as a representative of God, therefore some define the “De musica” “the primacy of man over the State” for the priority and centrality that Cassiodorus gives to man in this work. Cassiodorus grasps this presence of God in creation in the scenic beauty of Calabria, of which he makes a marvelous eulogy calling it “strip of Paradise” for the amazement and admiration it arouses. A strip of Paradise is also the place where he founded his monasteries for the richness of the waters, the variety of vegetation and fauna. There, in fact, he had built, as he mentioned, “bathrooms perfectly suited for the sick where very pleasant waters flow conveniently for both drinking and bathing”.
Continuing further, the authors speak of the 4 forces of nature: strong nuclear force, electromagnetic force, electroweak force, gravitational force; of electric charges and gravitational charges
The epochs of the universe can be reduced to three: baryogenesis, hadronic epoch, lepton epoch.
As the universe cools, the hydrogen contained by all celestial bodies is formed; the reaction with another atom of hydrogen H forms the molecule H2 and forms the diatomic molecule: the Oxygen O reacts with another atom of O and forms O2 we get to the water. And so on ammonia, nitrogen and nitrogen dioxide which has polluting characteristics.
All chemical elements are made up of atoms, iron, bauxite, aluminum, etc. listed in the periodic table. There are three laws governing chemical reactions: nothing is created, nothing is destroyed, everything is transformed; law of simple proportions; law of multiple proportions (p.45-46).
Energy is transformed into matter and quarks, atoms, molecules, galaxies, stars, planets, prebiotic organisms and finally man are created.
In the human brain atoms operate and thoughts are said to be electromagnetic impulses. In addition to the 5 senses we have a higher perception with intuition, empathy, love and sublimation of love We are body, mind and heart. We are spiritual beings (St. Thomas defined man “subtantia spiritualis”) and we are unable to connect this dimension with the physical world that fills and surrounds us: it opens us to the mystery. In Eastern religions we speak of the pineal gland as an element capable of perceiving invisible realities. One thing is certain that man is a mystery and we know only a small part of the faculties of our essence.
In this regard, I can add that the intercepting of theology in recent decades with the new sciences, especially with neurology, makes us talk about neurotheology today. From some researches, data are offered that there are neuro-manifestative traces of other worlds, of a religious world, or even a moral-theological one. There is a predisposition of a direct connection of the human brain with the divine and a proof of the existence of a psychic-spiritual or formal principle in the personal whole. Other data provided show that there are states of minimum consciousness that can reveal the presence of “other” masses almost of a virtual religion or the persistence of a decisum eticum that manifest themselves in neural electromagnetic impulses. In a word, the organic body shows neuroperceptions also of a spiritual order. This is also demonstrated by the history of religions. And perhaps, according to the texts on creation in the Bible, God could have transmitted these abilities as a participation of his Being with the three powers: intellect, memory and will (Maria Valtorta and Luisa Piccarreta) and therefore have given rise to the discovery of this mystery of reality. supernatural, creating, preserving and multiplying.
* Rector of the Church of the Mount of the Dead