What is a wormhole? It could be compared to travel on the Internet, which allows us to move instantly from web site to web site at different locations on earth through linked computers on the World Wide Web (www). If wormhole is typed into a search engine that is connected to the Internet, a wide range of web sites containing papers and studies are available on the subject. Recent scientific research has eliminated the possibility of constructing a traversable wormhole to enable time travel; however, faster-than-light (FTL) travel using a traversable wormhole is theoretically possible and the subject of a number of papers. One web site, which discusses the possibility of FTL travel, is Traversable Wormholes .
An article at the site states in part: "Professor Kip Thorne, of the California Institute of Technology was stimulated, in the summer of 1985, to search for alternate wormhole solutions that would allow safe passage for interstellar travelers. His motivation was a request for help from his friend and colleague, Carl Sagan. Professor Sagan was writing a science fiction story." The name of the story was Contact, which was subsequently made into a motion picture. The problem posed was how to enable the heroine (Jody Foster) to cross a great interstellar distance between earth and the star Vega in a very short time. Professor Thorne provided a metric equation that had the property of having no horizons or excessive tidal forces to deal with during travel through the wormhole. The one limitation noted was the need for a negative energy density inside to hold open the throat of the wormhole. This necessary matter with negative energy densities, which would be repelled by gravity, has not been discovered or produced, and therefore, no wormhole can exist without it.
The purpose of this article is to use the concept of wormholes as a model for helping to understand events that have happened, are happening, and will happen in our existing universe. The wormhole model consists of a point of entry (beginning), the hole or tube (process), and destination (ending). Wormholes may be one-way or two-way. In the movie based on Contact, the wormhole was two-way. Wormholes may be: (1) imaginary (in science fiction books and movies), (2) the subject of scientific search (as in real black holes), or (3) spiritual (matter and/or energy). With regard to imaginary wormholes and associated equipment one example is described in The Time Machine written by H. G. Wells in 1895. The author refers to the time traveler positioned on the time machine and described how the machine swayed and vibrated during travel backward and forward through time.
Space ships on Star Trek movies routinely use wormholes to move from place to place in the universe. Researchers seek to determine whether black holes contain wormholes. Many of the major world religions offer spiritual "wormholes" to move from this earth to heaven; some require works, such as dying in battle, while others require belief. The only spiritual "wormhole," (two-way wormhole) supported by eyewitness accounts is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead after three days. In 1st Corinthians 15:3-8 Paul wrote, "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all seen by me also, as by one born out of due time." Also see Acts 2:14-36. Jesus is the first fruits from the dead; if Jesus as a man was able to die, visit the world of the dead, and return to life in an immortal body, then others may follow through this spiritual "wormhole." Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 15: 20-23: "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive."
Consider observeable events that have happened in the universe. Where did the universe, including earth and the life on it, come from? One scientific view is the Big Bang theory, which describes an expanding universe containing the stars, planets, moons, and other cosmic matter. Life on earth, including man, is attributed to evolution over millions of years. One religious view is the creation account, which is contained in Genesis 2:4-7. "This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground: but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."
What is currently happening in our universe based on the physical laws of time and space? The universe, regardless of how it was created, is expanding. As the universe expands, the earth continues to move around the Sun and the Sun within its galaxy (the Milky Way), which moves outwards in space.
What will happen to the universe and when will it happen? The current scientific view is that at some point in time the universe will be destroyed. One religious view is found in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. In Isaiah 65:17 it is written, "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind." In 2nd Peter 3:13 it is written, "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." When will this take place? In Luke 21:25-28 Christ said, "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring. Men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."
Why is mankind on earth? There are many secular views; some hold that we are evolving toward being Godlike. The Christian view is that we are to love, trust, obey, and worship/glorify God and have fellowship with Him as His children; however, this relationship was broken by the entry of sin into the world through Adam (the first man). Thus,
1. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
2. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life in Christ
Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
3. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)
Where is mankind going? The secular world believes that there is no life after death just as many did not believe that any travel to Vega took place in the movie Contact. The traveler said that they would have to accept what she had to say on faith, just as we must accept what Christ had to say on faith.
Jesus, as quoted in John 14:6 said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me." Jesus is the way or one-way spiritual "wormhole" from this dying universe and our perishable bodies to a new universe where we will have eternal life in an imperishable body. In Psalm 102:25 and 26 it is written: " Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure; yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed." With regard to our new bodies, Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 15:51-53, "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed - In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."
Reference is made to the new universe in Revelation 21:1-4 as follows, "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as bride adorned as for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be on more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
All can go through this spiritual "wormhole" in the "twinkling of an eye" to eternal life on a new earth in a new universe if they can, by faith, confess with their mouth that "Jesus is Lord" and believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). Where does faith to make such a confession come from? In Romans 10:17 it is written, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Why would God establish such a way to save us from death? The answer may be found in John 3:16 where it is written, "For God so loved the world that He have His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
Some might ask if there are other ways or why this way? Can an ant know the mind of man or can a man know the mind of God? In Isaiah 55:8 and 9 God speaking through Isaiah said, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts." When Job questions God's actions, He responds in Chapters 38 and 39 of Job. In Job 38:4 God begins, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding."
How can this creator (God) of our existing heaven and earth (universe) and of a future heaven and earth (universe) be defined? The word God is a symbol with a theological meaning. According to theologians, such as Paul Tillich, a symbol, such as /God/, opens up levels of reality which otherwise are hidden and cannot be grasped in any other way. For example, the symbol /God/ refers to two fundamental levels of reality: the immanent level (phenomenal world) and the transcendent level (divine ground, of which the phenomenal world is a manifestation).
The phenomenal world is that which is finite, changeable, and understandable; it is the environment man exists in. The divine ground is that which is infinite, changeless, and not understandable; it is that which has manifested the phenomenal world. In Revelation 21:6 and 7 God says of Himself to John: "And He said to me, 'It is done!' I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to all who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son." Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 2:9, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
The conclusion of Contact is contained in the final chapter of the book: "In the fabric of space and in the nature of matter, as in a great work of art, there is, written small, the artist's signature. Standing over humans, gods, and demons subsuming Caretakers and Tunnel builders, there is an intelligence that antedates the universe." In the final chapter of the book Carl Sagan included two quotations as follows:
Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. (1st Corinthians 15-51)
The universe seems to have been determined and ordered in accordance with number, by the forethought and the mind of the creator of all things; for the pattern was fixed, like a preliminary sketch, by the domination of number preexistant in the mind of the world-creating God. (Nicomachus of Gerasa Arithmetic I, 6 ca. A.D. 100)
With regard to religion or the "wormhole" to heaven, we cannot count on having been born into the one true religion. We must examine the scriptures of world religions, such as the book (Bible) of Christianity and the Qur'an of Islam to seek the truth. That is, that the Creator would open our eyes to the truth. As it is written in Romans 10:17 of the Bible, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word (scripture) of God."
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Edward H. Nichols
EdJoanNich@aol.com