In the Beginning Was Information (20 page)

There is a striking example in the Bible of the way somebody comes to faith; this is depicted in Figure 28. All aspects of information are covered one after the other in such a way that they can easily be followed. This Ethiopian is a good example of someone finding Christ and salvation through Scripture.

Figure 28: God’s Word as sender; a seeking man as recipient. A special case of the general view in Figure 27 is shown here. The example of the minister of finance of Ethiopia provides a striking overview of the successive levels of information transfer (Acts 8:26–39). The message of the Bible reached him and touched him; he came to believe in Jesus Christ and thus received eternal life. This Ethiopian is a good example for us. The functions could be interchanged, so that man is the sender and God the recipient. Seen technologically, the information transmission system from man to God is the very best available one. Any and every message from the sender reaches the recipient without distortion or loss. No meanings are misunderstood, and the pragmatics and the apobetics are guaranteed by divine promises.

The parable of the sower:
Another easily understood example of the information levels is found in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13:3–23). In this parable, Jesus uses a common occurrence of everyday life to illustrate and explain aspects of the kingdom of God. At the semantic level, the information is complete and clear. The effect of God’s words (the seeds) results in four different kinds of conduct (pragmatics on the side of the recipient). The purpose intended by the sender (Jesus) is achieved in only one group of recipients (their apobetics).

14.2 Man as Sender — God as Recipient

The case where God is the sender and man the recipient is illustrated in Figures 26 (page 136) and 27 (page 144). The question arises whether these are the recipients of the information transmitted by man. That is exactly the case, as shown in Figure 29; not only is it conceivable, but it is God’s desire and purpose. We may approach God the Father or His Son, Jesus, with various conceptual goals in mind. The message is transmitted through prayer, and this transmission is vastly superior to any technological communications system:

– It is the surest connection possible, because nobody and no process can break this link. It is always and immediately operational.

– This "wireless telegraphy" cannot be blocked or shielded by anything. When the astronauts circled the moon, no radio contact with earth was possible when they were behind the moon on the far side, but we can pray anywhere; distance and separation is no obstacle. It does not matter whether one is 100 feet underground, 1,000 feet under the sea, or behind the moon. The message reaches the recipient with absolute certainty.

– Interference is encountered in all technological transmission systems, so that the original message may be distorted by external influences. Code symbols may be lost or changed, but prayer messages cannot at all be distorted; they reach the recipient unchanged.

Figure 29: Man as sender, God as recipient. Seen technologically, the information transmission system from man to God is the very best available one: Any and every message from the sender reaches the recipient without distortion or loss. No meanings are misunderstood, and the pragmatics and the apobetics are guaranteed by divine promises.

The information transmission system from man to God is thus the very best available one. A better communication link is found only in heaven when faith is replaced by direct communion. We now discuss the separate levels from God’s side.

1. Statistics:
The matter of statistics does not arise here.

2. Syntax:
At this level, there is no restriction of codes, because God understands all languages. No language poses any problems. Every conceivable method of expression may be used, even if it is only a deep sigh. He can even read unformulated thoughts.

3. Semantics:
The Psalmist said to God: "You perceive my thoughts from afar" (Ps. 139:2), so that comprehension is absolutely guaranteed. There can be no misunderstandings. Even if our verbal formulations are off the mark, our actual perceptions do reach God (1 Sam. 16:7: "The Lord looks at the heart"). There is a further positive aspect: The Holy Spirit compensates for the weaknesses and defects of the information sent by us: "The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Rom. 8:26).

4. Pragmatics:
God is described as a doer in the Bible: "I, the Lord, do all these things" (Isa. 45:7). It is clear from the creation account that His words immediately become deeds, and the Bible could have the subtitle "The Great Deeds of God." Jesus’ life on earth was a unique life of witnessing through deeds. He did not only preach with authority, He also acted at every conceivable opportunity: He healed those who were ill, He raised people from the dead, He forgave sins, He exorcised demons, He fed large crowds, and He controlled the weather. Eyewitnesses cried out in amazement, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" (Mark 4:41).

His greatest deed was the salvation He wrought on Calvary. This was already prophesied by God through Isaiah: "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6). Today, the power of forgiveness reaches out to all sinners. Nobody need be lost. We only have to turn to the One who has the required authority, Jesus Christ. He has never ever rejected anybody who prayed to Him in earnest. God always answers our prayers in the way that is best for us, because He knows the correct time much better than we, as well as the action which will benefit us most. There is one prayer which is always answered immediately; there is no delay and no alternative when a sinner prays for salvation. If you call on the name of Jesus for this purpose, you are immediately accepted (Rom. 10:13). There is no delay between call and answer, not even one millisecond: "Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear" (Isa. 65:24). When the one criminal on the cross next to the Son of God made the plea, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom," he was immediately given the unconditional and instantaneously effective promise: "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:42–43).

5. Apobetics:
In the "Our Father" prayer, God gives us goals which correspond to His purposes: "Your will be done" (Matt. 6:10). It is God’s will to bring everybody to the goal of salvation: He "wants all men to be saved" (1 Tim. 2:4). God identifies himself with our desired goals when they correspond to His Word. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) once said that although God does not fulfill all our wishes, He does fulfill all of His countless promises. There are about 1,260 direct promises in the Bible, and thousands of aids for our daily life situations (Ps. 50:15), but His main concern is our eternal life: "His eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Eph. 3:11). He has achieved His purpose for us when Jesus becomes Lord and Master of all areas of our life. Then we "are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone" (Eph. 2:19–20). Without Jesus, we will miss the purpose of our life, as the Bible warns emphatically (Col. 2:18; Heb. 2:1).

14.3 The Highest Packing Density of Information

The statistical density of information is discussed in the appendix, chapter A1. It is clear that the highest possible packing density is attained in the DNA molecules of living cells. It also makes sense to determine information density at the other levels of information. Without recourse to actual numerical calculations, we now discuss some estimates for the Bible:

1. The semantic density of information:
This can be defined as the plenitude of ideas or the "weight of the meanings" per sentence or per paragraph. The origin of man and of this world has been discussed in many scientific and popular publications. Nobody knows how many books have been written on these topics. However, most publications treat the subject from an evolutionary viewpoint, and nobody can provide genuine answers. Having said this, it is noteworthy that the Bible describes man’s origin completely in one single verse: "The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being" (Gen. 2:7). These few words comprise a remarkable information content, since they provide answers to many questions:

– Man did not develop through a chance process of evolution, but he was formed by a personal Creator.

– Contrary to all statements to this effect, man did not descend from some animal; he was created separately.

– One single man was created originally.

– Man does not consist of matter only, but he received a vital non-material component, a spirit, through God’s breath.

– He became a living being through the union of the material and the nonmaterial parts.

The saying "Truth does not require many words, but a lie cannot use enough words," now becomes meaningful. In spite of its semantic fullness, the verse quoted above requires amazingly few code symbols. No other description of man’s origin is so true and at the same time formulated so concisely. We may deduce that what we have here represents the highest possible semantic information density. Other passages in the Bible also exhibit superlative semantic densities (e.g., John 3:16 contains all the information necessary for man’s salvation).

2. The pragmatic density of information:
This can be measured in terms of the effect E produced by input I prompted by some transmitted information. It usually requires extremely strenuous efforts to be accorded one single line entry in the
Guinness Book of Records
[G13], for example. This kind of "fame" is very short-lived, since the record for eating fried sausages, for example, 96 pieces in 4 minutes and 29 seconds [G13], may soon be broken. Many human deeds only served selfish honor, and have long since been forgotten and become meaningless. The Bible directs our thoughts in an entirely different direction. Everything we do in the name of Jesus (Col. 3:17) is eternally meaningful (Matt. 10:42). Even a cup of cold water given to "a little one" will be rewarded (Matt. 10:42). Where on earth will you get such a stupendous reward for such a simple deed? Such results are only found in the Bible. Paul compares the acts of a Christian working in the name of Jesus, with an athlete. Athletes compete for "a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last for ever" (1 Cor. 9:25). We thus have another superlative, namely the highest possible pragmatic information density.

3. Apobetic information density:
This is a measure of the height of the purpose attained after information has been received. The following episode which occurred during the time of the Spartans describes various apobetic information densities.

Example: When there was famine in one of the regions ruled by the Spartans, the local residents dispatched an eloquent messenger to Sparta. He addressed them at length and — in his own opinion — convincingly, to ask for a gift of wheat. The Spartans, however, dismissed him, because they had forgotten his introduction and thus did not understand the conclusion. Another messenger was sent soon afterward. His modus operandi was quite different: He brought an empty bag which he opened for everybody to see, and said concisely: "This bag is empty, please put something in it." This messenger obtained the required wheat, but the Spartans commented that he was too verbose. It was obvious that the bag was empty and needed to be filled; he should use fewer words when he came again.

This episode illustrates that the first messenger did not attain his purpose in spite of the meaningful contents of his speech, while the second one was immediately successful with his concise but striking information input. We thus have two distinct densities of apobetic information, and the suggestion of the Spartans to the second speaker would have resulted in an even higher value.