{"id":4344,"date":"2024-12-12T14:41:48","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T12:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vb.vpba.edu.ua\/?p=4344"},"modified":"2025-02-13T11:25:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T09:25:12","slug":"mathematics-as-the-language-of-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vb.vpba.edu.ua\/uk\/mathematics-as-the-language-of-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"Mathematics as the Language of Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
Georgios D. Mouzakis<\/summary>\n

master of Theology, National and Capodistrian University of Athens (Athens, Greece)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

giorgos-m_99@hotmail.com<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Number DOI: http:\/\/doi.org\/10.33209\/2519-4348-2707-9627-2021-9-104<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VB. – \u2116 9, 2021. – P. 223-252<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interdisciplinary marriage of Mathematics with Theology offers a great insight into both inconceivable numerical truths (such as infinity) that God\u2019s personal relation helps us realise and God\u2019s unknown nature that is depicted schematically within His creation. As the philosopher, Plato has said \u201cGreat God is always using geometry\u201d wanting to depict the importance of geometry in the understanding of the Cosmos and to describe God\u2019s features. This phrase is used as a mnemonic for Pi number (3,14159) since the letters of each word give the aforementioned number (\u0391\u03b5\u03af=3 \u03bf=1 \u0398\u03b5\u03cc\u03c2=4 \u03bf=1 \u03bc\u03ad\u03b3\u03b1\u03c2=5 \u03b3\u03b5\u03c9\u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03c1\u03b5\u03af=9). Many ancient Greek philosophers share this idea such as Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Democritus, Thalis and others. This passion has passed to me spiritually rather than biologically and will be depicted in this paper despite the difficulties met during the research and the writing of this dissertation. More specifically, the access to the library was limited, not to say forbidden due to the pandemic and the lockdowns that followed. As a result, finding the right books, and the necessary information for my paper was challenging. However, the product seems satisfying and more changes are to come when the whole pandemic settles down. The main difficulty of this paper lies in the fact that the writer needs to be objective and equally distanced from either Science. There is a wide variety of mistakes that could occur. One could be the polarised support and preference of one Science over the other. Another one could be the alteration of mathematical facts in order to achieve an analogy between God and Mathematics. Last but not least, it could also be possible to \u201cdowngrade God to earth\u2019s level\u201d so one could easily define mathematics as something Divine or even God\u2019s language, leading to a pantheistic view of the Cosmos and the world, something that is not compatible with Orthodox Theology and its doctrines. In the introduction, I will try to smoothly induct you to the topic and give you a taste of this proposed interdisciplinary combination without, of course, depleting it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key words: <\/strong>Science, God, Mathematics, Orthodox Theology, Greek philosophers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bathrellos D., The Byzantine Christ (Person, Nature, and Will in the Christology of Saint Maximus the Confessor)<\/em>, Oxford Early Christian Studies, 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Begzos M., Contemporary Physics and Philosophy of Religion<\/em>, Athens 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dawkins R., The selfish gene<\/em>, Oxford University Press, 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florovsky G., Collected Works, vol. 9: The Byzantine Fathers of the Sixth to the Eighth Century<\/em>, 1987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

G\u00f6del K., Incompleteness theorem<\/em> (Translated by Yannis Vouliouris), Pub. Dromon, Athens 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harrison P., The Territories of Science and Religion<\/em>, University of Chicago Press, 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jastrow R., God and the Astronomers<\/em>, 1978.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kastanis N., About Byzantine and Post-Byzantine mathematical education of the 15th century, <\/em>2014. .[accessed the 16th<\/sup> of November 2020] <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kourempeles J., Theology and Religion in the meaning of finalisation and relativity<\/em>, 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kyriazopoulou Sp., Prolegomena in the question about God<\/em>, Gregory, Athens 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lewis C.S., Surprised by Joy, 1955.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matsoukas N., Cosmos, human, society, according to Saint Maximus the Confessor<\/em>, Pub. Gregory, Athens 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matsoukas N., Dogmatic and Symbolic Theology A\u2019<\/em>, Thessaloniki 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matsoukas N., History of Philosophy<\/em>, Pub. Kyriakides, 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreland J.P., Scaling the Secular City: A defense of Christianity<\/em>, Baker Academic, 1987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mura Roberta, Images of Mathematics Held by University Teachers of Mathematical Sciences<\/em>, 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Papadopoulos St., Patrology A\u2019<\/em>, Athens 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Papapetrou K., Accesses B\u2019 Matters of apologetic theology and philosophical review of our times<\/em>, Athens 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skouteris K., 39 Articles of the Anglican Church<\/em>, Athens 1982.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skouteris K., The Meaning of the Terms \u201cTheology\u201d, \u201cto Theologize\u201d and \u201cTheologian\u201d in the Teaching of the Greek Fathers up to and Including the Cappadocians<\/em>, Athens 1972.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stewart I., Does God play dice? The New Mathematics of Chaos<\/em>, Pub. Penguin Books Ltd., 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theodouris G., Divine and human wisdom according to the Patristic Tradition of the Orthodox Church<\/em>, Kyromanos, 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams R., Christ the Heart of Creation<\/em>, Bloomsbury, 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xexakis N., Orthodox Dogmatics<\/em>, Athens 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xionis N., About the Holy Spirit<\/em>, Pub. Ennoia, Athens 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yannaras Ch., Heidegger and Dionysius the Areopagite<\/em>, Domos, Athens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yannaras Ch., Stated and unstated: Linguistic boundaries of metaphysical realism<\/em>, Ikaros, Athens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zizioulas John (Metropolitan of Pergamon), F. Georges Florovsky: The ecumenical teacher<\/em>, magazine \u201cSynaxis\u201d, 64\/1997.[accessed the 21st<\/sup> of November 2020]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
View\/download PDF<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Number DOI: http:\/\/doi.org\/10.33209\/2519-4348-2707-9627-2021-9-104 VB. – \u2116 9, 2021. – P. 223-252 Summary The interdisciplinary marriage of Mathematics with Theology offers a great insight into both inconceivable numerical truths (such as infinity) that God\u2019s personal relation helps us realise and God\u2019s unknown nature that is depicted schematically within His creation. As the philosopher, Plato has said \u201cGreat God is always using geometry\u201d wanting to depict the importance of geometry in the understanding of the Cosmos and to describe God\u2019s features. This phrase is used as a mnemonic for Pi number (3,14159) since the letters of each word give the aforementioned number (\u0391\u03b5\u03af=3 \u03bf=1 \u0398\u03b5\u03cc\u03c2=4 \u03bf=1 \u03bc\u03ad\u03b3\u03b1\u03c2=5 \u03b3\u03b5\u03c9\u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03c1\u03b5\u03af=9). Many ancient Greek philosophers share this idea such as Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Democritus, Thalis and others. This passion has passed to me spiritually rather than biologically and will be depicted in this paper despite the difficulties met during the research and the writing of this dissertation. More specifically, the access to the library was limited, not to say forbidden due to the pandemic and the lockdowns that followed. As a result, finding the right books, and the necessary information for my paper was challenging. However, the product seems satisfying and more changes are to come when the whole pandemic settles down. The main difficulty of this paper lies in the fact that the writer needs to be objective and equally distanced from either Science. There is a wide variety of mistakes that could occur. One could be the polarised support and preference of one Science over the other. Another one could be the alteration of mathematical facts in order to achieve an analogy between God and Mathematics. Last but not least, it could also be possible to \u201cdowngrade God to earth\u2019s level\u201d so one could easily define mathematics as something Divine or even God\u2019s language, leading to a pantheistic view of the Cosmos and the world, something that is not compatible with Orthodox Theology and its doctrines. In the introduction, I will try to smoothly induct you to the topic and give you a taste of this proposed interdisciplinary combination without, of course, depleting it. Key words: Science, God, Mathematics, Orthodox Theology, Greek philosophers References: Bathrellos D., The Byzantine Christ (Person, Nature, and Will in the Christology of Saint Maximus the Confessor), Oxford Early Christian Studies, 2005. Begzos M., Contemporary Physics and Philosophy of Religion, Athens 2009. Dawkins R., The selfish gene, Oxford University Press, 1990. Florovsky G., Collected Works, vol. 9: The Byzantine Fathers of the Sixth to the Eighth Century, 1987. G\u00f6del K., Incompleteness theorem (Translated by Yannis Vouliouris), Pub. Dromon, Athens 2019. Harrison P., The Territories of Science and Religion, University of Chicago Press, 2015. Jastrow R., God and the Astronomers, 1978. Kastanis N., About Byzantine and Post-Byzantine mathematical education of the 15th century, 2014. .[accessed the 16th of November 2020]  Kourempeles J., Theology and Religion in the meaning of finalisation and relativity, 2014. Kyriazopoulou Sp., Prolegomena in the question about God, Gregory, Athens 2000. Lewis C.S., Surprised by Joy, 1955. Matsoukas N., Cosmos, human, society, according to Saint Maximus the Confessor, Pub. Gregory, Athens 1980. Matsoukas N., Dogmatic and Symbolic Theology A\u2019, Thessaloniki 2000. Matsoukas N., History of Philosophy, Pub. Kyriakides, 2016. Moreland J.P., Scaling the Secular City: A defense of Christianity, Baker Academic, 1987. Mura Roberta, Images of Mathematics Held by University Teachers of Mathematical Sciences, 1993. Papadopoulos St., Patrology A\u2019, Athens 1994. Papapetrou K., Accesses B\u2019 Matters of apologetic theology and philosophical review of our times, Athens 2018. Skouteris K., 39 Articles of the Anglican Church, Athens 1982. Skouteris K., The Meaning of the Terms \u201cTheology\u201d, \u201cto Theologize\u201d and \u201cTheologian\u201d in the Teaching of the Greek Fathers up to and Including the Cappadocians, Athens 1972. Stewart I., Does God play dice? The New Mathematics of Chaos, Pub. Penguin Books Ltd., 1997. Theodouris G., Divine and human wisdom according to the Patristic Tradition of the Orthodox Church, Kyromanos, 1998. Williams R., Christ the Heart of Creation, Bloomsbury, 2018. Xexakis N., Orthodox Dogmatics, Athens 2006. Xionis N., About the Holy Spirit, Pub. Ennoia, Athens 2018. Yannaras Ch., Heidegger and Dionysius the Areopagite, Domos, Athens. Yannaras Ch., Stated and unstated: Linguistic boundaries of metaphysical realism, Ikaros, Athens. Zizioulas John (Metropolitan of Pergamon), F. Georges Florovsky: The ecumenical teacher, magazine \u201cSynaxis\u201d, 64\/1997.[accessed the 21st of November 2020]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[296],"class_list":["post-4344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category--9-2021","tag-georgios-d-mouzakis","post-no-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vb.vpba.edu.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vb.vpba.edu.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vb.vpba.edu.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vb.vpba.edu.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vb.vpba.edu.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4344"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vb.vpba.edu.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5633,"href":"https:\/\/vb.vpba.edu.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4344\/revisions\/5633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vb.vpba.edu.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vb.vpba.edu.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vb.vpba.edu.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}