Sample Math Integration Paper
Faith Integration Project
To many, mathematics is a cut and dry, black and white subject. There is a right and wrong for solutions. What happens though when someone is able to step outside of these rules? There is only One that can do that, God. I may ask you, what is 1+1 and your answer, or course, is going to be 2. But what if God responded to that elementary question with the answer of 3? Would you question it? Or would you take His answer as-is because He is all knowing? I am going to explore through math whether or not we, as Christians, it is wrong to question God.
A bible verse that immediately comes to mind on the subject of the impossible is when Jesus feeds the five thousand.
13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew …show more content…
by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” 16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matthew 55:13-21 NIV)
These verses just go to show the great magnitude of our Creator. The disciples told Jesus “We have only five loaves of bread and the two fish”. Jesus then took those loaves of bread and fish and broke them and gave them to over five thousand people feeding all with plenty of leftovers. Now, if I were to ask you to feed five thousand with just five loaves of bread and two fish you would probably start to divide the loaves of bread and fish evenly resulting in mere crumbs for each person. Now what would you do if I told you that everyone needed to be satisfied? Impossible? To you and I yes. But this is where God is able to remove himself from the laws of mathematics. God creates more from less. Remember the 1+1=3? This is a prime example of how God is able to, if He wants, make that statement true.
Jesus said, “They do not need to go away.
You give them something to eat.” The disciples immediately responded, in question, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish.” Their justification for questioning Jesus was logical. If Lottie Nelson Dining hall were to send out their lunch menu email stating, “We are serving the entire campus with only two pizzas today” you and I would question the Lottie Dining crew as well. We would be leery of their claim since the laws of mathematics limit you and I. Our justification is innocent. As written, 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9 …show more content…
NIV)
There are countless other scenarios found throughout the bible when God shows examples of stepping outside the laws of mathematics.
Some examples include, when Jesus had instructed the fisherman to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. The nets became so heavy they could not lift them in the boat. This example shows how Jesus was able to produce countless amounts of fish from nothing. Another is the example of the flooding during the story of Noah and the ark. God flooded the earth for 40 days and nights. Flooding the earth would take a multitude amount of water that might seem impossible to create. The water had to come from somewhere, but where? The answer is apparent, God. Not only did God create all the water needed, but also, rid the water of the earth at the conclusion of the flood. Due to the knowledge that you and I have, it is simply logical for you and I to question the fact that these ideas may seem impossible because of the current laws of math that we are confined
to.
This manipulation of the rules of math leads to conclusion that God must have created it. After all, God created math, so God can manipulate it. Take a sunflower for example. In God’s work you can see how He has arranged the seeds in a mathematical formula ration called “The Golden Rule”. The irrational number was founded in 1200 and still only God knows the number in it’s entirety.
Almost all math has a right and wrong answer. Except when speaking about irrational numbers; there is no right answer. The numbers extend endlessly. Another example is the infamous number Pi. Today’s super computers have still not found a final solution to Pi and the farthest amount of decimal points that it has been taken out to is ten trillion digits (Yee). I doubt that we ever will find the end of Pi. As a Christian mathematician I can revel in the glory of these irrational numbers as proof that God, our Creator, exists.
In conclusion, the questioning of our Creator is something that we, as followers of Christ, may unintentionally do. We would never question Him purposefully, for that would be a sin. The questions that present themselves however, are due to the fact that we are not all knowing. Not being able to understand a concept in its entirety leads to confusion and questioning as we try to gain answers. “28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.” (Isaiah 40:28 NIV)
Works Cited
New International Version. (n.d.). BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 100 versions and 50 languages.. Retrieved May 13, 2014, from http://www.biblegateway.com/
Yee, A. (2013, February 23). . . Retrieved May 13, 2014, from http://www.numberworld.org
To many, mathematics is a cut and dry, black and white subject. There is a right and wrong for solutions. What happens though when someone is able to step outside of these rules? There is only One that can do that, God. I may ask you, what is 1+1 and your answer, or course, is going to be 2. But what if God responded to that elementary question with the answer of 3? Would you question it? Or would you take His answer as-is because He is all knowing? I am going to explore through math whether or not we, as Christians, it is wrong to question God.
A bible verse that immediately comes to mind on the subject of the impossible is when Jesus feeds the five thousand.
13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew …show more content…
by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” 16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matthew 55:13-21 NIV)
These verses just go to show the great magnitude of our Creator. The disciples told Jesus “We have only five loaves of bread and the two fish”. Jesus then took those loaves of bread and fish and broke them and gave them to over five thousand people feeding all with plenty of leftovers. Now, if I were to ask you to feed five thousand with just five loaves of bread and two fish you would probably start to divide the loaves of bread and fish evenly resulting in mere crumbs for each person. Now what would you do if I told you that everyone needed to be satisfied? Impossible? To you and I yes. But this is where God is able to remove himself from the laws of mathematics. God creates more from less. Remember the 1+1=3? This is a prime example of how God is able to, if He wants, make that statement true.
Jesus said, “They do not need to go away.
You give them something to eat.” The disciples immediately responded, in question, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish.” Their justification for questioning Jesus was logical. If Lottie Nelson Dining hall were to send out their lunch menu email stating, “We are serving the entire campus with only two pizzas today” you and I would question the Lottie Dining crew as well. We would be leery of their claim since the laws of mathematics limit you and I. Our justification is innocent. As written, 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9 …show more content…
NIV)
There are countless other scenarios found throughout the bible when God shows examples of stepping outside the laws of mathematics.
Some examples include, when Jesus had instructed the fisherman to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. The nets became so heavy they could not lift them in the boat. This example shows how Jesus was able to produce countless amounts of fish from nothing. Another is the example of the flooding during the story of Noah and the ark. God flooded the earth for 40 days and nights. Flooding the earth would take a multitude amount of water that might seem impossible to create. The water had to come from somewhere, but where? The answer is apparent, God. Not only did God create all the water needed, but also, rid the water of the earth at the conclusion of the flood. Due to the knowledge that you and I have, it is simply logical for you and I to question the fact that these ideas may seem impossible because of the current laws of math that we are confined
to.
This manipulation of the rules of math leads to conclusion that God must have created it. After all, God created math, so God can manipulate it. Take a sunflower for example. In God’s work you can see how He has arranged the seeds in a mathematical formula ration called “The Golden Rule”. The irrational number was founded in 1200 and still only God knows the number in it’s entirety.
Almost all math has a right and wrong answer. Except when speaking about irrational numbers; there is no right answer. The numbers extend endlessly. Another example is the infamous number Pi. Today’s super computers have still not found a final solution to Pi and the farthest amount of decimal points that it has been taken out to is ten trillion digits (Yee). I doubt that we ever will find the end of Pi. As a Christian mathematician I can revel in the glory of these irrational numbers as proof that God, our Creator, exists.
In conclusion, the questioning of our Creator is something that we, as followers of Christ, may unintentionally do. We would never question Him purposefully, for that would be a sin. The questions that present themselves however, are due to the fact that we are not all knowing. Not being able to understand a concept in its entirety leads to confusion and questioning as we try to gain answers. “28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.” (Isaiah 40:28 NIV)
Works Cited
New International Version. (n.d.). BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 100 versions and 50 languages.. Retrieved May 13, 2014, from http://www.biblegateway.com/
Yee, A. (2013, February 23). . . Retrieved May 13, 2014, from http://www.numberworld.org