But this reality shouldn’t surprise us too much.
It’s not anything too radically new. After all, global life and even cosmic
life from their very beginning were infused with rich diversity and variety.
Whether you believe in the Big Bang Theory for the evolution of the universe or
the Creation model, diversity and variety are inherent within the picture of
origins.
In the Big Bang Cosmological Model, the massive
explosion that begins the expansion of the universe is filled with interactions
between high energy density, huge temperatures and pressures, and rapid expanding
and cooling. All of this produces a diverse and unique array of elemental
particles that continue to interact in violent collisions, ultimately creating
a predominance of matter over antimatter. Those elemental particles, clear back
at the presumable beginning of the universe, are stunningly diverse and yet
mysteriously similar. There’s a curious homogeneity to the cosmos in the midst
of opposite forces and reactions and vast diversity.
Among the most elemental particles (that were
the very beginnings of life immediately following the Big Bang) are the “fermions”
(comprised of 12 flavors of quarks, leptons, and neutrinos as well as 12
corresponding antiparticles) and the “bosons” (comprising gluons, photons, W
and Z bosons, and mesons of which there are 146 types). This just scratches the
surface of the amazing combinations of particles and forces that interact together
in stunning combinations to ultimately produce matter and the later evidences of
life.
The Creation Model suggests a stunning array of
diversity and variety. The biblical account in Genesis 1 and elsewhere
describes God bringing cosmic life into existence using a rich combination of
elements. The earth is formless, empty, and dark. The Spirit of God is hovering
over the surface. And God begins to create. First, light and darkness. Then, water
on earth and in the heavens: The firmament and atmosphere that wraps the globe in
a blanket of life-giving moisture. Then, dry ground that begins to sprout
vegetation of every kind, seed-bearing, fruit-giving plants that continue
recreating more of the same kind. Then, the sun, the moon, the stars. Then,
water creatures of every kind, birds of every kind – both that produce more of
themselves. Then, offspring-producing animals; “all sorts of livestock, small
animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And finally, human
beings–male and female–with the capability of reproducing generations to come
with their infinite varieties of temperament combinations, personalities, skin color,
intelligence, emotions, desires, fears, creativity, motion and commotion, and
staggering capabilities.
According to experts, there are about 400,000
plant species and somewhere from five to 50 million animal species. So however
you view the origin of life, the conclusion is inescapable that diversity and
variety are intrinsic to the very fabric and existence of the universe. So what
are some of the implications of this reality, especially for those who call themselves
religious and spiritual, who embrace a God who is either the Source of life or the
divine Energy in all life? What does this reality of life mean?
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