Let me guess, the title confused you, right? Maybe it intrigued you? You probably are thinking, what on earth could the infamous math class teach me about my relationship with God??
I took Calculus 1 the fall semester of my junior year of high school at the University of Northwestern in St. Paul. During the class, my professor assigned a few essays on some curious topics which I definitely found annoying at first. I mean come on, why should I care about Christianity’s influence on the development of the area of study? Man, if the ancient church leaders would have succeeded in their demolition of the subject, I wouldn’t have to be here right now! However, the somewhat peculiar assignments in this class taught me a few things about who I am in Christ and my role as a Christian.
The first essay that I wrote illustrated what my spiritual journey would look like as a function on a graph. From the assignment, I was able to connect the ideas of rates of change that we had learned in class with my own spiritual conditions to create a visual of the Holy Spirit’s influence throughout my life. Through the writing process, I reflected on what gives me spiritual highs and what causes my spiritual conditions to decline. I recommend everyone makes a graph like this at some point for themselves.
During the writing process I noticed that God, on the other hand, cannot be graphed on an x,y coordinate grid. He is not bound by time nor are His conditions (love, faithfulness, etc.) defined. God’s character traits are greater than what can be illustrated on a graph. They cannot be measured using the mathematical concepts humans have created. God showed himself to me in a new way and gave me insight so that I could visualize His characteristics in a way that was meaningful to me as someone who loves to think deeply.
Another essay I had the privilege of writing was about Christianity’s influence on the development of calculus. I found that some early Christians believed that infinity and limits (a value you approach but never reach) could not be fully understood because of accepted religious concepts, which slowed the upbringing of calculus. Obviously, our human minds cannot grasp infinity, so anyone claiming that they can is heretical, right? As a challenge to this reasoning, the development of calculus essentially came from a desire to understand how the complex math could support the existence of human life and God. In conclusion, though we finite beings cannot understand all that infinity is, we can develop ways to use it to help us understand the world that the infinite God has created and continues to sustain.
From this research I learned how Christians such as Isaac Newton and Leonard Euler used their talents and curiosity to discover how math and science support their religious beliefs. They embraced their passions for learning and used it to bring glory to God. I am inspired by how these mathematicians did not use faith as a reason to avoid discovering scientific truth, but as a tool to help them understand it. We know that Christ holds all things together, so it makes sense that all things would display his intentional design.
Applying this to my life, I have learned to embrace the curiosity God has given me. I want my relationship with God to be another reason to seek Him in ways that seem off limits to me (haha, limits—see what I did there?). The Holy Spirit has put on my heart the idea of understanding, and how we can use our gifts to try to understand God, but if we have faith, we will one day know Him fully.
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"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12