Randal Rauser - What on Earth Do We Know about Heaven?: 20 Questions and Answers about Life After Death

L ike many people, when I see an equation, my eyes tend to glaze over. So it is a matter of some irony that when I sat down to write a book on heaven, I ended up basing it on an equation. But the reason is simple: despite the potential of equations alienating an audience, they also are a powerful way of summarizing very important truths.

Just consider what is arguably the most famous scientific equation of them all: E = mc. While Einsteins equation has become emblematic of erudite scientific complexity, the basic idea is actually as simple as it is amazing. The equation asserts that matter and energy, the two great kingdoms that compose everything in the universe, are not fundamentally different as common sense indicates. On the contrary, they are essentially linked. Indeed, energy is just matter in another form. Or to turn it around, matter is simply condensed energy. And under the right conditions, the one can be turned into the other.

This brings us to the one truth that most people connect to E = mc. It was the foundational discovery that made the atomic bomb possible, for an atomic bomb is simply a weapon that turns a small amount of unstable matter into enough energy to level cities. The influence of the equation, however, extends far beyond the conduct of warfare. One author explains the sweeping effect of E = mc on our world like this:

When the Eiffel Tower is lit at night, the electricity comes from a slower reenactment of the exploding ancient atoms that took place over Hiroshima.... In the smoke detectors screwed tight to the kitchen ceiling, theres usually a sample of radioactive americium inside. The detector gets enough power by sucking mass out of that americium and using it as energyin exact accord with the equationthat it can generate a smoke-sensitive charged beam, and keep on doing so for months or years on end.

The red-glowing exit signs in shopping malls and movie theaters depend directly on E = mc as well. These signs cant rely on ordinary light sources, because theyd fail if the electricity went out in a fire. Instead, radioactive tritium is sealed inside. The signs contain enough fragile tritium nuclei that mass is constantly lost, and usefully glowing energy sprays out instead.

Think about how amazing that is. A single equation has changed our world, from the Eiffel Tower to exit signs to atomic bombs. Heres the lesson: Great equations are not irrelevant to us. Indeed, they have the potential to transform the world. Not surprisingly, this is a double-edged sword. While understanding and applying great equations rightly has the power to transform the way we see reality, getting them wrong, or misapplying them, can wreak untold destruction.

More Amazing Than E = mc

As amazing as it is to think that matter can be transformed into energy, the equation at the heart of this book posits an even grander linkageone that makes E = mc look small by comparison. You see, this equation asserts the unity of heaven and earth:

H = ep

As you may have guessed, the H refers to heaven. As for ep , that refers to earth multiplied by perfection. So the core claim of the equation that forms the central thesis of this book is that heaven is earth multiplied by perfection .

As I said, this is much bigger than E = mc.

It also confounds the received wisdom of many Christians who have long assumed that heaven and earth are two separate kingdoms, much like the way people used to view energy and matter. According to the heavenly equation, thats fundamentally wrong. Just as Einsteins equation asserts that under the right conditions, matter can be transmuted into energy, so according to the heavenly equation, under the right conditionsconditions that God will realizeearth can be, indeed will be, transformed into heaven.