Heller M, Woodin W.H. (eds.) Infinity. New research frontiers (CUP, 2011)(ISBN 1107003873)(O)(327s)_MAml_

212 infinity and the nostalgia of the starsour modern scientific understanding of the universe provides some resonances with thebiblical language that amplify our appreciation of the infinity of God.The evidence of a disproportion between our human nature and the cosmic realmwas vividly recognized. Hence, in the words of the prophet, the “height” of the universeis used to express the incommensurable depth of God’s vision compared to our own:“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, andmy thoughts than your thoughts.” 31 Our modern awareness of the size of the universeamplifies the power of this image and may consolidate an awareness of our humblecondition in front of the mystery of being.One is often reminded of the fragility and transience of human existence in the OldTestament. 32 There is a clear awareness that man is almost nothing in the universe:“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, whichyou have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that youcare for him?” Yet this apparently marginal creature shares something of the infinityof the creator: “Yet you made him little lower than God and crowned him with gloryand honor.” 33 Small as we are in the cosmic scene, each human being is a realizationof the self-awareness of the universe. We are given the “glory and honor” to be placedin a relation with everything that exists. Fleeting as he is, man was made able to graspand enjoy the panorama of creation, with its beauty and vertigo, and to search and hostthe meaning of all things.The God of the Bible is the creator of a purposeful universe. Every creature is partof a great design in which life and human existence have a central role. Interestingly,in the Jewish tradition we find hints of an intuition that the entire universe, not just theearth and its benign environment, is beneficial for life and our existence: “He stretchesout the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” 34 It is aremarkable anticipation of the modern discovery of deep anthropic interconnections innature, necessary for life to exist, not only in the direct local environment but also atan astronomical and fundamental level.A characteristic trait of the Jewish religious heritage is a clear distinction betweenCreator and creation. It has been pointed out (Hodgson 2002) that this notion, incorporatedin Christian theology and developed in medieval Western Europe, is probablya key intellectual prerequisite for the birth of modern science. God’s transcendent andyet caring infinity is often expressed making use of the comparison with the physicaluniverse, but always without confusion between the two. The Bible insists that mandoes not belong to any finite creature, but only to the Infinite who made them: “Whenyou look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars – all the heavenly array –do not be enticed into bowing down to them.” 35 In the book of Wisdom the confusionbetween the finite creature and the infinite Creator is pointed out as a sad mistake:“Surely vain are all men by nature, who are ignorant of God, and could not out of thegood things that are seen know him that is: neither by considering the works did they31 Isaiah 55:9.32 Genesis 3:19.33 Psalms 8:3–5.34 Isaiah 40:22.35 Deuteronomy 4:18.