ON GOD AND NATURE: Responding to a friend.

You write:

“Art is inherently an inhabitation of the Divine. It is out of the Logos that Creation and creativity themselves emerge. They are “of Him”, and therefore, a Divine imprint lingers in them.”

Thank you, Robert M. Robinson, for your uplifting comment!

What you write is deep truth, truth under the surface of scientific truth. However, what science uncovers must be respected because it is rational. 

Perhaps you'll agree that the universe comes into existence through sequential syntheses (Teilhard de Chardin). I think he is correct because the Logos is God, therefore eternal "existence " in the form of One in the diversity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Please let me explain:

Science discovered that the creative process of evolution works through the unification of parts that were themselves previously united. The sequence of syntheses brings forth novelties sequentially. The unification of parts brings forth new Gestalts with properties surprisingly different from the qualities of its parts, e.g., water from the gases hydrogen and oxygen, molecules from atoms, and life from the integration of pre-life molecules. Synthesis, the unification of parts into novelties, is creative! Science has found that Nature can become itself through the (undetermined!) sequence of syntheses. The process must build increasing complexity (despite catastrophes) because its parts are already complex united diversities. Syntheses unite already complex parts- each synthesis has no other possibility than to increase the complexity further. 

Sequential syntheses lead to the sequential emergence of novelties, from "mater" to life, from increasingly complex forms of life to mind. From there, conscious minds emerged in various higher animal's. Our self-conscious mind has its roots in the minds of our many distant human ancestors. The conclusion is that yes, matter is not mind and mind is not matter. What makes matter different from mind is the complexity level, the number of the creative events in their evolutionary (probabilistic!) history. 

Most likely, science will figure out the technology that might mimic the process that led to consciousness. However, what science cannot figure out is why synthesis is creative, why uniting parts into unity brings forth new existence. 

The phenomenon of emergence is not only the central mystery of how the evolutionary process works; it is also the mystery of the creative foundation of Art. Because, as alluded to above, our creative brain is an outcome of Nature; it is deeply anchored in the creative evolutionary process. Since we are a part of this process that brought forth Nature, "our creativity is the continuation of the creativity of Nature" (paraphrasing, e.g., Marc Chagall).  

If Science and Art cannot explain why uniting diversity into unity brings forth new existence, can Christian theology shine a light on this mystery?

You write: “Art is inherently an inhabitation of the Divine. It is out of the Logos that Creation and creativity themselves emerge. They are “of Him”, and therefore, a Divine imprint lingers in them.”

Wonderful!

From what you write, it is possible to shed some light on the mystery of creativity. From Christian revelation, we know that God is Triune, that God is "eternity," eternal "existence" as One in the difference of Three Persons. God is eternal "existence" as Unity in diversity. 

Christianity also knows that Creation is through God's Word: God speaks, and Creation becomes (Gn 1: 3-26). The Word that God speaks out-away from Him is also God, Jesus Christ. Therefore, God's Word is Triune because it is God, the Son of God. The prologue to the gospel of John states: "All things came to be through Him and without Him, nothing came to be (Jn 13-3). However, God's Word that is God, brings forth Creation, that which is essentially not God. However, there is an imprint of God's Triune Word in Creation. The ontological architecture of Creation emerges from uniting elements into emergent novelty. 

How can Creation do that?

Because God is Love, He gave away His Creative Word so that Creation may also come into existence. This Gift to Creation is the foundation of why Creation (Nature) has the creative power to construct itself. 

How so?

God's Triune Word leaves its watermark in all of Creation. 

Why? 

Because all of Creation has its roots in the universal creative center, which is Gods' Triune Word yet given away to Creation. 

In Art, God's watermark in Creation shines perhaps through the brightest way. Therefore, Art is a trustworthy guide towards theology.

Rudy

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