You’re Wrong About God

Here’s Why You’re Wrong About God

Whether you’re religious, atheistic, or somewhere in between, you are wrong about God unless you’ve made the connection between zero’s role as the foundational reference point in math and God’s role as the Creator of all in reality. Here is why: You began with a flawed concept of God.

Typically, we think of God as a Supreme Being or Higher Power that created everything in the universe. Whether or not you believe God exists, you’ve already accepted a contradiction from the outset of your consideration without even realizing it.

When we think of a Creator, we begin with something that acts and has agency. We don’t notice that our natural tendency to imagine what we can’t see and personify the powerful causes us to lump the Creator with what was created.

Think about it. The Creator would not be made of, dependent on, or limited by what was created. Whatever the Creator is, we know what the Creator is not: something that can be found within creation. It is easy to assume that such a sentiment leaves no room for understanding, but there is a simple mental exercise using common sense that can provide answers: Take away all that was created.

Logically Irrefutable Argument for God

What remains is God. Regardless of how the result of the exercise makes you feel, there is no logical way to argue against it. You can deny it. You can evade and deflect. You can inject uncertainty. You can even ignore it. What you cannot do is assert something we have reason to believe is true that can refute it. To deny that the finite universe has an origin that has no finite traits will lead to at least one contradiction, if not multiple.

Instead of trying to find excuses to avoid accepting it, you should be considering how it applies to what you are willing to believe about God. Evasive debate tactics cannot be used to determine what’s true. They can only confuse or mislead.

If you’re religious and honestly believe God is the Creator of all, there should be no pushback whatsoever. There can be no justification for including God with “the all” that was created, which is what you are doing every time you personify or imagine God. It doesn’t matter which book said what; a Creator with traits that fit the created is a contradiction. Regardless of your intentions, such an attempt to praise is inaccurate and misleading.

If, as an atheist, you reject the concept of God due to the lack of evidence for any supernatural being, logic-based monotheism doesn’t just agree with you. It points to the law of non-contradiction as an explanation. Of course, there is no evidence for something that cannot exist. Denying a flawed presentation of an idea doesn’t refute the idea itself.

Many atheists will say they make no claim. That may be true, but rejecting the idea of an Infinite Origin of the finite implies that things that can be measured have no beginning or end. Word games that confuse potential and actual infinity in order to conflate the indefinite with the infinite cannot defend a contradiction. Something infinite would have zero finite traits. It is impossible to have infinite finiteness.

If you are undecided because you believe we are too limited to fully comprehend God, you are right. We can’t know God the same way we know what we can witness. We can be as certain about what we know about God as we are about everything else, though. The reason for not knowing is that God has no finite attributes. We can be certain of what we know because our most objective way of describing reality has a placeholder for that which has no finite attributes at its foundation: zero.

Mathematical Support for God

It acts as evidence and is an example for an uncaused cause. If you are seeking empirical evidence that whatever can be measured must have a beginning that cannot be measured, just count or measure. Even though you begin with a first, the only way a first is possible is because there was previously none.

This can be repeatedly observed in all measurements. There can be no better confirmation than 100% of the empirical evidence we can gather. The existence of the finite is evidence of that which is not.

Because I introduce this easily overlooked connection between zero and God, some people will challenge me to continue in order to pretend as if I’m saying something new about zero. At the beginning of algebra, we are taught about absolute value. In the process, we learn that the value of every number is determined in relation to zero, equations must be balanced out to zero, and positive and negative are opposite perspectives of an absolute reality.

Any attempt to dismiss zero or math falls apart against basic critical thinking. No one is saying or implying that zero is real. If the things that are real are nouns, then numbers are the most objective adjectives used to describe them. Instead of a dictionary, zero is their glossary. It is unreasonable to believe the only number that doesn’t apply to something real is the one all others need for definition.

Even if you want to use history to argue that zero isn’t necessary to define all other numbers, it will fail. Whether or not you understand the concept of zero or have invented the sound or symbol for it, every measurement begins with none:

When you count with your fingers, you begin with a balled up fist, none. In order to use an abacus for counting, all the pegs are moved to one side, none. The edge of a ruler or measuring stick is none. If you want to use any object to illustrate the value of a number, you must start with none of that object.  

Of course, you can have no tangible example of absolute zero. The example for relative zero is the absence of something else. There is no demonstrable difference between zero apples and zero oranges. Because we need time, space, matter, and energy for both cognition and existence, there is no way to demonstrate their absence. That leaves us to trust logic where perception and imagination will not suffice.

I think that was supposed to be the essence of faith: believe the logic despite the inability to perceive or imagine. Somehow, it has become synonymous with believing in contradictions in order to imagine and personify God. The truth doesn’t require the suspension of your disbelief. Fantasy does.

Not the God You Expected

Some people may find it difficult to see the connection between my comparing God in reality to zero in math and the typical depictions of God. My goal is to explain the reality behind the myth and address the tendencies that made the myth possible. That doesn’t defend the myth or try to turn it into fact.

As the foundational reference point in math, zero is and does everything God is supposed to be and do in reality as the Creator of all, except those things linked to personification and imagination.

Zero is the starting point that has no beginning itself. It is present wherever there can be value, measurement, or computation. It is singular and has no opposite or equal. It is the only necessary value because all others depend on zero, while zero is independent of all others.

Even though you may fully understand the deeper importance of zero, if I attempted to describe the reality zero applies to without using zero itself, it would not make you think of zero. To hear about a Perfect Creator we can’t fit into our limited descriptions would conjure up images of a larger-than-life being that has superpowers that defy logic. Without a deeper understanding of zero, such imagery would be even more inevitable.

If the source material you use to argue for or against God begins with such an imaginative misconception, you are never really arguing about God. Any attempt to defend it will compound the contradictions so much that rejecting it will imply or make no claims about reality in the process. You may as well be fighting over famous fictional characters or ancient mythology.

The Benefits of Logic-Based Theology

Some people may find a more personable and relatable understanding of God more appealing, but the facts about God are much better than the fantastic fictions invented over the centuries. One of the greatest benefits is the approach to doubt or skepticism. Instead of holding on tightly to delusions when your faith gets tested, you can rely on critical thinking: God=Creator of all=All-All=Infinite Reality with Zero Finite Attributes.

When you start to think God is irrelevant because God isn’t actively intervening in our affairs, consider what we know about zero and apply it to reality. The same lesson that introduced zero as the foundational reference point for math, absolute value, can be used to clear up any confusion or contention that isn’t an attempt to defend personifying or imagining God.

Instead of getting comforted by the myth of a superpowered being intervening on your behalf, understanding the Absolute Origin created an absolute reality that you are able to perceive either positively or negatively. It shows you have the capacity to benefit from whatever happens, no matter how it appears on the surface. Death gives us the best example.

Death, Heaven, and Hell

Those who reject the ideas of Heaven and Hell assert that these are myths that were invented by people who fear death. While that could be true when it comes to Heaven, there is no way the idea of eternal torment after death could be used as a coping method. Such a belief would intensify the fear of death.

Heaven and Hell are born from understanding the Absolute has no opposite but can be perceived with either perspective. That means the Creator is also the Destroyer, and a reality consisting of none of the things you love or hate could be seen as torment or bliss. Even though there is no way to know for sure whether or not we will actually be aware of our end, rational conclusions based on what we know make this information useful and applicable. Let’s explore:

Without opposite or equal, the same Infinite Origin of the finite that was the beginning of measurable reality must also be the end. Just as we can find no clues within the universe that can explain creation, and it is impossible to imagine, the same must be true about the end. Its relevance comes from the fact that whatever it is within us that is aware must also make that return.

This belief doesn’t imply our souls can be active without our bodies after we die. It simply means death alone doesn’t bring about the end of our individual existence. Just as our bodies continue to exist after we die, so does the soul. The only way either can cease to exist in the literal sense is in a return to God.

While contemplating what that would be like if we were aware in the end, we see an eternal, unchanging reality that is neither positive nor negative. Those who see the lack of positivity will view the possibility of Hell with dread and hope for oblivion in death. Those who view it as a lack of negativity and see it as the only way to be permanently satisfied can use the promise of Heaven to get over the natural fear of death.

Whether we will be aware in the end or not, it is the ability to see Heaven in our return to God that can calibrate our view of life and help us emotionally apply absolute value to whatever happens. Whether you believe what I am saying or not, reality is what it is. If the only way to argue against me is to misinterpret me, you’re already admitting that I’m right. You owe it to yourself to act accordingly.

There’s no magic or mysticism involved here. There is no need for any blind acceptance. I’ve taken on the burden of proof. Logic is my guide, and math is my supporting evidence. In order to disagree, you will contradict yourself and what we already know. Explore the unseen constant at the foundation of math, and you will find God. Apply it to life, and you will find peace. God is to reality what zero is to math.