An idea I had about salvation and the "multiverse theory"

submitted by TaseAFeminist4Jesus from self.whatever

There's a divide in Christian thought between people who think God knows (and controls, I guess) every decision we make and people who think we have free will to make choices. Many Christian theorists find this important because it relates to the question of who goes to Heaven and why. The question is typically called "predestination."

Across campus, sort of, we hear about "multiverse theory." I am a layman when it comes to this topic, but if I had to summarize the theory I would suggest a thought exercise: Imagine every chance outcome in your life had its own universe where the outcome were different. Every time you rolled a one on a die, imagine that in some parallel reality you rolled a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6.

Multiverse theory is presented as something that permutes over chance events. What if it permuted over decisions? Perhaps we are all, in the multiverse, the sum of all the combinations of decisions we might have made (given what God made us) and their outcomes?

Maybe we all go to heaven as this integrated version of ourselves.

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[–][deleted]  (11 children)

[deleted]

    [–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (10 children)

    It was a time before Google translate, many mistakes were made and much was taken slightly too literally.

    [–][deleted]  (9 children)

    [deleted]

      [–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

      It is the primitive mentality that something more advanced must therefore be worshipped and adored, when in practice we have seen that when those on earth are given power, that power is abused and corrupts the powerful. If we were made in said god's image, it is likely we inherited the same unpleasant traits that are written about, namely jealousy, arrogance and rage.

      The question remains, what is more likely? That a celestial being created all existence just for a few illiterate primates in a desert? Or that we evolved naturally, and those who wrote the book were having hallucinations or delusions, or were merely conning their fellow citizens for personal gain as Mohamed did countless times.

      If there were any character worth worshipping from the book, it would be the snake for tempting that they seek truth and knowledge. This is an admirable trait.

      [–]DirewolfGhost 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

      The bible is like a watermelon. You eat the fruit, not the rind.

      [–][deleted]  (1 child)

      [deleted]

        [–]DirewolfGhost 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

        Some people even eat the green part and chew the seeds.

        [–]Vulptex 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

        There is something going on. Much of ancient Christianity believed in a demiurge or a deity that took over the physical world. This is the view of most of the New Testament authors, because they mention him a few times.

        [–]aureolin 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

        have you looked into Gnosticism or gnostic christianity?

        [–][deleted]  (1 child)

        [deleted]

          [–]aureolin 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

          i think they are distinctly separate. as i understand , it is a non literal interpretation of the bible. where christ consciousness is the ultimate evolution of the individual. something to strive for or model, rather than achieve. it incorporates Jung's theory of the shadow. stories in the bible are more allegorical and hold wisdom on how to thrive on this earth.

          honestly i've only dipped a toe. but it's been rewarding and helped make sense of some of my personal resistance to the literal perspective on the bible.

          [–]IridescentAnaconda 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_suicide_and_immortality

          [–]TaseAFeminist4Jesus[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

          Thank you. There are several ideas in your link that I'd promised myself I'd think about later.

          I don't think Multiverse Theory has to introduce the possibility of immortality. Even if I make the perfect decision every time, and always draw a royal flush in poker, I won't live forever. Time is undefeated.

          Tegmark's commentary about dying being a slow process therefore seems irrelevant to me. I could be wrong.

          [–]Vulptex 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

          There is no heaven. That's a deliberate mistranslation and both the Greek and Hebrew simply have "sky". And "The Kingdom of the Skies" is an invention by Matthew, changed from "The Kingdom of God" probably because it used The Name and some Pharisees didn't like that. There's even a warning against the "heaven" idea in Luke 17:20-21. Immediately followed by another warning against proclaiming the second coming is at hand, which is all Christians seem to be doing these days.

          There's even less of hell. The only "hell" is here.

          [–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

          There is no heaven for the bees or the ants. There is no heaven for dogs, and likewise, there is no heaven for man.

          It's okay though, we pass on our essense through our offspring. In them we can achieve everlasting life. Pass along our information and recreating it in a similar but different form.

          If this seems insufficient, consider you didn't have to have even this. Life is a gift, albeit a fleeting one.

          [–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

          I was under the impression that there was a distinct difference between the multiverse theory and the theory of parallel universes. Multiverses being different universes existing alongside eachother, which parallel universes almost 'overlapping' so to speak, or at least spiralling off from eachother as each possibly arises.

          What do you mean by 'what God made us'? Do you refer to the universe itself as god, or that a sentient creature or lifeform created us?

          The more I think of the potential existence of both the multiverse or the parallel universes, the less I can believe any existence of a higher power as the probability drops rapidly. It being more likely a delusion to cope with the inexplicable complexity of our consciousness in what is apparently a highly unpredictable environment.

          [–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

          Thankfully, Jesus was just some mushroom-hallucination of some schizophrenic congregation of "Jews" climbing down from a tree just in the century, they hallucinated this bullshit.

          "Heaven" and "Hell"... pathetic.... too fucking pathetically easy.

          Like this physicist bullshiter a few weeks ago wanting to "prove" the existence of god with a proof of contradiction using only axioms.

          I honestly love the US. There will never be so much hilarious stuff on "the" internet ever again, once US imploded. And then I'll be at least some kind of sad.

          [–]Vulptex 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

          That's what it looks like now, after centuries of scribes tampering and church fathers bending the narrative. You don't realize how deep the rabbit hole goes.

          [–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

          I only got so many shovels. Thats ok.

          I like my rabbitholes - that i "own" - more anyways.

          So np. Live long and prosper, digging happily.