This is really interesting, but you're hinging your argument on the definition of a multiverse created by choices. But that may not be the case. It could be there are multiverses that were created separately from us and have nothing to do with us. They just exist alongside us.
This is a fair objection, yet it raises the question how the multiverse (if it exists) came to be. The multiverse being the result of human choices is one explanation, and it's one that lines up with the "popular science" understanding of the multiverse which consists of countless (so to speak) of universes. And let's be honest, a lot of the appeal in the theory (in real life, that is) is that it can be used as a crutch to explain away how our own universe became the way it is. The odds of the things that our universe has (Earth inhabitable, etc.) is so small that there's no way they can come about by chance.
Speaking of, I find it interesting that you said "created" because that implies God, and most proponents of the multiverse theory are atheists or secularists (at least from what I can tell) so they would probably object to the use of that word. Of course, I can easily imagine a multiverse that was created by God and existed among us. But that would raise another question. This time, why this was so.
Yeah, so definitely a lot of opened can of worms that digress from the original article. Lol.
I agree with you. The why God would do so isn't really relevant - after all, why did God choose to build our own singular universe? He did so because He wanted to.
I do like to play in a multiverse and you described it - different universes populated by different peoples but all under the authority of God. Just like what CS Lewis did with Narnia and the Wood Between the Worlds.
But since God Himself came to die in our universe and the Bible does say to die once, I would believe that the redemption purchased by Christ would apply to all of God's creation, including other universes if they had thus fallen into sin. So I again follows Lewis's example in my own worlds - humans from our reality being sent to the other universes by God to be emissaries.
But the secular version is hopeless, I agree. But then again, secularism is hopeless even with only 1 universe. After all, what does it matter if there is no heaven, no afterlife, no real free thought - that we are nothing but the change product of chemical reactions and our thoughts and actions are all the same thing? What does it really matter if someone martyrs themself to save others if everyone just dies in the end anyway and cease to exist?
There was a Christian movie that came out last year that touched on the concept of the multiverse as this article is describing it - where infinite number of alternate realities exist with alternate yous making different decisions. That was Angel Studios "Shift." It showed that even in a multiverse, your own individual decisions can still matter because YOU still matter as an individual, not just the sum of your various copies. You matter in the timeline that you exist in, and your decisions still matter because you can make a difference for good in your timeline. Doesn't matter what other timelines are out there, you were put in this one and your decisions still matter.
Still, the concept of multiple versions of myself all going to heaven is rather odd and uncomfortable too....
So in the end, I don't really believe in a multiverse especially the sort of one where all my choices spawn a new reality. I do believe God knows every outcome of every decision I could have made, but I believe that remains as potentials in God's mind, not realities brought into actuality and spinning off into a series of infinite universes.
> This is a fair objection, yet it raises the question how the multiverse (if it exists) came to be. The multiverse being the result of human choices is one explanation, and it's one that lines up with the "popular science" understanding of the multiverse which consists of countless (so to speak) of universes.
That popular science explanation is a rather bad attempt to explain the "quantum multiverse" concept, which in reality has little to do with choice.
Here's a decent explanation of how it actually works:
> A carbon-14 atom decays, or doesn't, and the universes split, and Jane and Jack get to make their decisions twice, separately. Perhaps the same, perhaps differently. Anyone jumping from world to world would probably start rating people according to how reliable they are. For good or for evil.
Michael Moorcock has basically built his career around creating weird characters and making them live interconnected lives in his own personal multiverse.
I think that the idea of an infinitely repeated cycle of suffering and death disturbs me more but I understand why you are existentially terrified by the multiverse.
The game Bioshock Infinite takes a hard look at the implications of a multiverse. You play as Booker, a detective given a case to 'bring us the girl and wipe away the debt'. What girl? What debt? Booker doesn't know. The trail quickly leads him to a floating city in the clouds, where his coming has been anticipated for years by the Prophet. Booker must rescue (kidnap?) the Prophet's daughter (is she really?). Seems straightforward until you meet the girl, who can open portals to other universes. ...and spoilers, Booker is the Prophet. At one point he was baptized and there was a universe split at that point. One Booker was baptized and became the Prophet, who plans to end the world. The other was not, and became a detective. But the only way to stop an infinite number of Prophets and an infinite number of Bookers ... Is to never have existed at all. So the end point of the multiverse is absolute nihilism. So it's not enough to say you would rather die than live in a multiverse. You should never exist at all.
I've been pondering the multivererse, not as a serious concept, but as a storytelling device for some time now. So far, my conclusion is, in order for it to work, the writer has to limit the number of worlds that exist. Otherwise, the story becomes meaningless. The worlds also need to be different; if the main character can just go to Earth two and enjoy the same life he had in Earth one, then nothing is at stake for him.
Nice article, Michael! I loved it. There are a bunch of ideas about parallel universes out there right now, some are based on quantum mechanics and cosmological models like eternal inflation. But all of these are just speculative theories. I don't think it'll be a problem for Christianity, though. God will always give us the answers we need at the right time, in the right universe :-)
I agree with this completely. I recently read a YA series that ended with the characters avoiding the fallout of the final battle by simply moving to another timeline where they could be with all the family and friends they had lost. It felt, to me, like a cop-out by the writer, unable to come up with a good way to end a series, so everyone gets a happy ending in another universe. Not so good!
But really, the concept of a multiverse does basically contradict God's plan for us. He knows what will happen if we make one choice or another, but he only allows one choice to be reality to teach us virtue and reliance on him. If we could just reach into another dimension and get our lost loved ones back again, then suffering has no purpose. Thanks for sharing this with us!
One example for me personally is the movie 'The Shift' which is a sci-fi take on the Book of Job but was utterly ruined by the "multiverse" element of the story (to keep spoilers to a minimum).
I don't think the multiverse concept contradicts God plan for us per say - God would treat each version of us as separate people because in reality, all those other versions would be different people just with the same face because all those decisions we make every single day molds our worldview and our experiences. This is why making a clone of me that looks exactly like me would not be me at all or think like me or act like me because it was not raised in the same circumstances nor made all the exact same decisions to come to where I am today. The only way it could be a copy is if somehow my memories were downloaded into it (see Bladerunner for instance).
But I do not believe in the multiverse as being actuality, though God could certainly do so if He wished. I do not think the concept is truly logical when one carries it out to its full extent (no matter what the folks of the Shift movie tried to tell us).
because after all, why, if there existed a reality where Adam and Eve did not sin, would God thus allow alternate realities to come into existence where they did Sin and He would have to send His son to die to redeem it?
This is really interesting, but you're hinging your argument on the definition of a multiverse created by choices. But that may not be the case. It could be there are multiverses that were created separately from us and have nothing to do with us. They just exist alongside us.
This is a fair objection, yet it raises the question how the multiverse (if it exists) came to be. The multiverse being the result of human choices is one explanation, and it's one that lines up with the "popular science" understanding of the multiverse which consists of countless (so to speak) of universes. And let's be honest, a lot of the appeal in the theory (in real life, that is) is that it can be used as a crutch to explain away how our own universe became the way it is. The odds of the things that our universe has (Earth inhabitable, etc.) is so small that there's no way they can come about by chance.
Speaking of, I find it interesting that you said "created" because that implies God, and most proponents of the multiverse theory are atheists or secularists (at least from what I can tell) so they would probably object to the use of that word. Of course, I can easily imagine a multiverse that was created by God and existed among us. But that would raise another question. This time, why this was so.
Yeah, so definitely a lot of opened can of worms that digress from the original article. Lol.
I am very much meaning to imply God. As far as why? Because He wanted to. LOL But, yeah, there's a lot of room for digression in this.
I agree with you. The why God would do so isn't really relevant - after all, why did God choose to build our own singular universe? He did so because He wanted to.
I do like to play in a multiverse and you described it - different universes populated by different peoples but all under the authority of God. Just like what CS Lewis did with Narnia and the Wood Between the Worlds.
But since God Himself came to die in our universe and the Bible does say to die once, I would believe that the redemption purchased by Christ would apply to all of God's creation, including other universes if they had thus fallen into sin. So I again follows Lewis's example in my own worlds - humans from our reality being sent to the other universes by God to be emissaries.
But the secular version is hopeless, I agree. But then again, secularism is hopeless even with only 1 universe. After all, what does it matter if there is no heaven, no afterlife, no real free thought - that we are nothing but the change product of chemical reactions and our thoughts and actions are all the same thing? What does it really matter if someone martyrs themself to save others if everyone just dies in the end anyway and cease to exist?
There was a Christian movie that came out last year that touched on the concept of the multiverse as this article is describing it - where infinite number of alternate realities exist with alternate yous making different decisions. That was Angel Studios "Shift." It showed that even in a multiverse, your own individual decisions can still matter because YOU still matter as an individual, not just the sum of your various copies. You matter in the timeline that you exist in, and your decisions still matter because you can make a difference for good in your timeline. Doesn't matter what other timelines are out there, you were put in this one and your decisions still matter.
Still, the concept of multiple versions of myself all going to heaven is rather odd and uncomfortable too....
So in the end, I don't really believe in a multiverse especially the sort of one where all my choices spawn a new reality. I do believe God knows every outcome of every decision I could have made, but I believe that remains as potentials in God's mind, not realities brought into actuality and spinning off into a series of infinite universes.
> This is a fair objection, yet it raises the question how the multiverse (if it exists) came to be. The multiverse being the result of human choices is one explanation, and it's one that lines up with the "popular science" understanding of the multiverse which consists of countless (so to speak) of universes.
That popular science explanation is a rather bad attempt to explain the "quantum multiverse" concept, which in reality has little to do with choice.
Here's a decent explanation of how it actually works:
https://marycatelli.livejournal.com/603992.html
> A carbon-14 atom decays, or doesn't, and the universes split, and Jane and Jack get to make their decisions twice, separately. Perhaps the same, perhaps differently. Anyone jumping from world to world would probably start rating people according to how reliable they are. For good or for evil.
Michael Moorcock has basically built his career around creating weird characters and making them live interconnected lives in his own personal multiverse.
I think that the idea of an infinitely repeated cycle of suffering and death disturbs me more but I understand why you are existentially terrified by the multiverse.
The game Bioshock Infinite takes a hard look at the implications of a multiverse. You play as Booker, a detective given a case to 'bring us the girl and wipe away the debt'. What girl? What debt? Booker doesn't know. The trail quickly leads him to a floating city in the clouds, where his coming has been anticipated for years by the Prophet. Booker must rescue (kidnap?) the Prophet's daughter (is she really?). Seems straightforward until you meet the girl, who can open portals to other universes. ...and spoilers, Booker is the Prophet. At one point he was baptized and there was a universe split at that point. One Booker was baptized and became the Prophet, who plans to end the world. The other was not, and became a detective. But the only way to stop an infinite number of Prophets and an infinite number of Bookers ... Is to never have existed at all. So the end point of the multiverse is absolute nihilism. So it's not enough to say you would rather die than live in a multiverse. You should never exist at all.
Interesting article.
I've been pondering the multivererse, not as a serious concept, but as a storytelling device for some time now. So far, my conclusion is, in order for it to work, the writer has to limit the number of worlds that exist. Otherwise, the story becomes meaningless. The worlds also need to be different; if the main character can just go to Earth two and enjoy the same life he had in Earth one, then nothing is at stake for him.
Nice article, Michael! I loved it. There are a bunch of ideas about parallel universes out there right now, some are based on quantum mechanics and cosmological models like eternal inflation. But all of these are just speculative theories. I don't think it'll be a problem for Christianity, though. God will always give us the answers we need at the right time, in the right universe :-)
I agree with this completely. I recently read a YA series that ended with the characters avoiding the fallout of the final battle by simply moving to another timeline where they could be with all the family and friends they had lost. It felt, to me, like a cop-out by the writer, unable to come up with a good way to end a series, so everyone gets a happy ending in another universe. Not so good!
But really, the concept of a multiverse does basically contradict God's plan for us. He knows what will happen if we make one choice or another, but he only allows one choice to be reality to teach us virtue and reliance on him. If we could just reach into another dimension and get our lost loved ones back again, then suffering has no purpose. Thanks for sharing this with us!
Thanks for the comment. I completely agree.
One example for me personally is the movie 'The Shift' which is a sci-fi take on the Book of Job but was utterly ruined by the "multiverse" element of the story (to keep spoilers to a minimum).
I don't think the multiverse concept contradicts God plan for us per say - God would treat each version of us as separate people because in reality, all those other versions would be different people just with the same face because all those decisions we make every single day molds our worldview and our experiences. This is why making a clone of me that looks exactly like me would not be me at all or think like me or act like me because it was not raised in the same circumstances nor made all the exact same decisions to come to where I am today. The only way it could be a copy is if somehow my memories were downloaded into it (see Bladerunner for instance).
But I do not believe in the multiverse as being actuality, though God could certainly do so if He wished. I do not think the concept is truly logical when one carries it out to its full extent (no matter what the folks of the Shift movie tried to tell us).
because after all, why, if there existed a reality where Adam and Eve did not sin, would God thus allow alternate realities to come into existence where they did Sin and He would have to send His son to die to redeem it?