See and Share the Pilgrim Vision
Colossians — Christos Singularis
by Phillip A. Ross, coming in 2010
First Edition, 271 pages, forthcoming.
The publication of this book began early in the Twenty-First Century when Dr. Douglas Vickers suggested that Ross publish his work with Wipf & Stock, one of the early academic oriented publish on demand companies. The book on Colossians was originally titled Nothing But Christ—Another Look at Colossians (Wipf & Stock, Eugene, OR, 2001) on the first two chapters of Colossians. The present volume is a complete reworking of that manuscript and the completion of the study of Colossians.
From the Introduction:
The aloneness of the gospel has been a topic of confusion for eons. It was Martin Luther (1483 - 1546) who coined the term "grace alone" in response to the arguments by a corrupt church that relied upon non-biblical sources to define the biblical gospel. Luther's concern was to return to the original biblical sources in order to rediscover the original biblical teachings.
The Reformers proclaimed five Solas: Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone), Solus Christus (Christ Alone), Sola Gratia (Grace Alone), Sola Fide (Faith Alone) and Soli Deo Gloria (God's Glory Alone). The enemies of the Gospel have twisted these solas every which way, and have confused many people. However, the emphasis upon sola scriptura, for instance, does not mean that other books are off limits. And yet solas Christos (Christ alone) does mean that other mediators between man and God are not simply off limits, but that no other mediators actually exist. Each sola must be understood individually and holistically, within the context of Scripture.Singularity
Singularities are all the rage in the 21st Century. In mathematics a singularity is defined as "a point at which the derivative does not exist for a given function but every neighborhood of which contains points for which the derivative exists." It is the point at which math gets quirky, and normal analysis fails. It is the point on a graph which must exist mathematically, but cannot itself be computed. It can only be inferred from neighboring points.
If it sounds confusing, it is because it is. So, is it important? Yes or no, depending on what you believe about the creation of the universe. Another dictionary defines singularity as "a point of infinite density and infinitesimal volume, at which space and time become infinitely distorted according to the theory of General Relativity. According to the big bang theory, a gravitational singularity existed at the beginning of the universe." In other words, according to the Theory of Evolution, everything came from a singularity at the beginning of time, which means that this singularity takes the place of God regarding the creation of the universe in the sense that this singularity is the source of the universe in the same way that for Christians God is the source of the universe.
The insight that God may be like a singularity comes from the doctrine of the Trinity, which posits that God is One yet Three (or many, more than one). In this study of Colossians I have taken the doctrine of the Trinity seriously and have applied it broadly in my reading of the text. This means that I have assumed it to be true of God, and therefore true of people because we are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). We are not trinitarian in the same way that God is, but in a similar way, in the same way that the image of a thing is not identical to the thing, but is recognizably similar.
This assumption adds a depth and texture to the text that is not available apart from it. Why? Because if God's character is trinitarian, then the characters of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are also trinitarian. There is both unity and multiplicity, individuality and corporality, in the Godhead. The God of Scripture is both one and three—or many. God is also Son and Spirit. The Son is also Father and Spirit. The Spirit is also Father and Son. God's identity is, then, both individual and corporate at the same time and without any loss of identity regarding the whole or the individuals involved.
Many people find that the idea of the Trinity is impossible to understand or just a figment of imagination. Yet, those same people readily believe in black holes, even though there is no actual evidence for their existence. Black holes cannot be seen, they're black—dark. They are constructs of calculation or mathematical entities. They exist by implication of the surrounding space and neighboring objects. And yet scientists and astronomers swear that they are real.
Well, is it such a stretch to compare the reality and existence of God to the reality and existence of a singularity or black hole? Obviously, I don't think so. There are some interesting similarities, though the idea of such similarities does not suggest a plurality of Gods apart from the Trinity. No, the Trinity is absolutely unique and is probably related to the three dimensionality of space (length, width, height) and time (past, present future). Whether there is more than one time/space continuum is a matter of speculation. I'm not inclined to think so. And if there is, such an entity would not be accessible from any other time/space continuum. It would be like going from one black hole to another, which cannot be done because black holes only suck matter and light in. Nothing returns. The space/time continuum, like history, flows in only one direction. It is more likely that the space/time continuum in which we exist is a kind of singularity, or unified complexity.
Such speculation aside, the central characteristic of a singularity that is Godlike is its simultaneous oneness and manyness, its simplicity as a single entity and its complexity as the locus of several entities. Like the Godhead, a singularity is both simple and complex, both one and many. I am not going beyond this most basic comparison. It is simply a thought, not a full-blown thesis. But it's interesting, and it may be useful for the reconsideration the reality of God by mathematicians and scientists.
This book, however, is not about black holes or singularities. It is about Colossians. It doesn't hijack Colossians to justify the idea of God as a singularity. Rather, it suggests the complexity of God's singularity—the Solas Christos of God—as a way to understand the depth and texture of Paul's letter. This book is theology, not science. And yet, Scripture does suggest that theology and science are intimately related in that God is central to the world and everything in it.
