Disclaimer: I am not a trained theologian, physicist, literary critic, psychologist, or computer scientist. I'm just a curious high school student who has much to learn. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at ikblog301@gmail.com. You can find the sermon in question here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHE1jXlTzqU.

Introduction Interdisciplinary thinking is something I highly value and advocate for. Recently, I was listening to Dr. Steve's sermon when I found myself analyzing and using theories/concepts from other fields in the sciences and arts to understand his sermon (which I found very complicated though great). I found it fascinating that these analogous concepts could help me process the scripture which led to me think: If God is the sole creator of all things, then do the sciences and arts, which are an attempt at seeking truth, not point to the only Truth--God? In this essay I hope to draw connection between the scripture and physics, literature, psychology, and machine learning/natural language processing to explore how the Sciences and Arts can help in understanding the Word.

Physics Einstein's theory of relativity changed our way of seeing the world. We went from Euclidian space to Minkowski space--3D to 4D. His theory of relativity revolutionized how and what we perceive: being able to see and work with black holes, stellar bodies, etc. Before Einstein, we could only explain the world with our understanding of Newton's laws of gravity, failing to grasp how the world truly (as far as we know) worked. Likewise, Heaven is another dimension in our reality, we just can't perceive it with our current understanding. However, our lack of understanding does not equate a lack of existence--spacetime did exist before Einstein, we just weren't privy to it.

Literature Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five has the Tralfamadorians, fictional creatures that kidnap the main character, Billy. Unlike humans, they perceive the world in 4 dimensions, simultaneously observing all points in the space-time continuum (three dimensions of space x,y,z and time). Due to this ability, death means nothing to them, and their typical response to hearing about death is "so it goes." Because they can see another realm that humans don't, their response to life and death is different as well. I'm not advocating for a fatalistic worldview like the Tralfamadorians, but what if our ability to perceive Heaven on Earth could change our worldview too? Instead of "This situation is so hard, when can I go to Heaven and rest with God?" it would be, "God is testing me with these trials and he is walking with me through this valley."

Psychology Linguistic influence in psychology is the idea that language impacts how people think, perceive the world, and behave. For example, a tribe that doesn't have the words to describe numbers greater than 2 ("one-two-many" system) would have trouble with matching or counting tasks that involved numbers beyond 2 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15319490/). Schemas are defined as mental frameworks that help people interpret and organize information, and they influence what we notice and how we interpret information. Without a schema or the language to describe abstract concepts like the Heavenly realm, perhaps we are unable to perceive it. Only by the Spirit are we introduced and able to see the workings of God in our reality. Just as expanding our language expands our ability to think, expanding our understanding of God may help us see God in our lives.

Machine Learning/Natural Language Processing In machine learning and natural language processing, "syntax" refers to the grammatical structure of a sentence, focusing on the arrangement of words and how they relate to each other according to grammatical rules, while "semantics" focuses on the meaning of words and phrases within a sentence, considering context and how words combine to convey meaning. Perhaps this could be used to explain why Nicodemus "the teacher of Israel" was unable to understand Jesus: "Jesus answered him, 'Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?'" (John 3:10). Nicodemus knew the law better than anyone, he could recite it backwards, yet he didn't understand it. He knew the syntax--what it said, but he didn't know the semantics--what it meant. And maybe we are susceptible to this too, we read the bible and go to church, but don't take the time to actually understand what it means. Without understanding, is our knowledge not just "dead knowledge"?

Spiritual "No one can enter the kingdom of God and experience this reality of Heaven breaking into Earth without experiencing a new birth through the Holy Spirit" -Dr. Steve. Indeed Heaven is around us: "And Elisha prayed, 'Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.' Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2 King 6:17). However, we are unable to perceive it on our own. It is only through the work of the Holy Spirit that "we become spiritually alive to the heavenly realities here on Earth." Jesus emphasizes this rebirth in John 3:3: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

This truth extends to believers through Paul's teaching: "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?" (1 Corinthians 6:19). Dr. Steve explains, "That is the meaning of the temple--where Heaven and Earth meet." Our body is a temple, where Heaven and Earth meet, and the Spirit that gives rebirth is within us. This means Heaven and Earth meet not in a distant place, but in our bodies, in our lives, in our reality. God is not in a distant realm waiting to meet us, but he is with us now.

Application This understanding transforms our daily walk with God. Many struggle with growing from being a "Sunday Christian" to an "Everyday Christian," questioning how to see, worship, and glorify Him in everyday life. I too have been working through this and the Psalms provide guidance: "I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being" (Psalm 146:2). I've adopted the concept of "breathing praise"--praising the Lord as naturally and vitally as we breathe. However, the challenge remains: how do we "breathe praise" when we still fall back into old sins, forget about God in our everyday lives, and neglect Him until Sunday? The answer lies in perceiving Heaven as a reality in our lives. Jesus taught us the Lord's Prayer: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). This prayer reflects the fundamental truth that "the kingdom of God is the in-breaking of the heavenly realm (God's rule) into the kingdoms of this world," making our daily lives the very place where Heaven and Earth intersect. We don't have to wait until Sunday or a retreat to encounter God, Heaven is around us.

Conclusion The Sciences and Art are often portrayed as juxtaposing truths to the Gospel, but I believe they can be used to help understand the Word. After all, was the universe and the Gospel not created by the same God? I find it easier to understand concepts by drawing on other fields with analogies, and I hope you found this useful or at least interesting. I want to leave you with this final thought: Perhaps by seeing Heaven in our plane of existence, we can see God in the mundane.