Do The Numbers Add Up?

How does Christianity look to a mathematician? What should we do when the numbers just don’t seem to add up?

For Alaittan, a doctoral student in mathematics from Turkey, neither Christianity nor the Islam he grew up in provide the answers he would require to follow them. In fact, he says no religion, not even atheism, can provide the answers he is looking for. “Maybe someday we’ll figure out the answers” he said, but then later claimed he has given up his search.

So Alaittan just says he has no beliefs and makes no claims, not even for or against the existence of God. I guess technically he would be an agnostic – which is defined as “a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God.
Were it not for my personal experiences and faith as a Christian, I have often said I believe agnosticism to be a very humble and pragmatic position. Humble because, after all, one is claiming ignorance.

Or so I thought.

But as I look at the definition, I realize it’s nowhere near humble. It’s really not claiming ignorance. To claim that “nothing is known or can be known” about God is actually just as arrogant as the atheist claim that in all the universe, no God exists. What infinite knowledge the atheist must have to make that claim!

The same is true of the agnostic. While it might be humble to admit ignorance and our inability to find God by our own efforts, the arrogance comes in when one limits the possibility that God might reveal himself to us. “Nothing is known” about God? So agnostics know something millions of believers don’t know? “Nothing can be known”? Agnostics are able to determine limits on the power and abilities of the God they don’t believe in?

I found Alaittan to be in a very humble place when he told me he doesn’t have any beliefs about God. The problem comes in, I believe, when he went on to say he is done searching. To put it in mathematical terms, can the properties of a small subset of numbers be determined to give all the answers that exist for an infinite set of numbers? Should mathematicians stop searching for mathematical truth because they think nothing else can be known?

As a quick example, did you know that the largest known prime number was discovered in March of 2022? Why so recently? Because there is so much more mathematicians don’t yet know about math. Likewise, there is so much more we don’t know about God and His creation. Finite knowledge and ability vs. infinite knowledge and ability are the numbers that just don’t add up.

The Bible says that God “rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6) and “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near (Is 55:6). Now, while you still can, please don’t stop searching, Alaittan. There is so much more to know.