In the Beginning was Information

6:10). It is God’s will to bring everybody to the goal of salvation:He “wants all men to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4). God identifieshimself with our desired goals when they correspond to his word.Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945) once said that although Goddoes not fulfil all our wishes, he does fulfil all of his countlesspromises. There are about 1,260 direct promises in the Bible, andthousands of aids for our daily life situations (Psalm 50:15), but hismain concern is our eternal life: “His eternal purpose which Heaccomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:11). He hasachieved his purpose for us when Jesus becomes Lord and Masterof all areas of our life. Then we “are no longer foreigners andaliens, but fellow-citizens with God’s people and members ofGod’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles andprophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians2:19-20). Without Jesus we will miss the purpose of our life,as the Bible warns emphatically (Colossians 2:18, Hebrews 2:1).14.3 The Highest Packing Density of InformationThe statistical density of information is discussed in the AppendixChapter A1. It is clear that the highest possible packing density isattained in the DNA molecules of living cells. It also makes senseto determine information density at the other levels of information.Without recourse to actual numerical calculations, we now discusssome estimates for the Bible:1. The semantic density of information: This can be defined asthe plenitude of ideas or the “weight of the meanings” per sentenceor per paragraph. The origin of man and of this world has been discussedin many scientific and popular publications. Nobody knowshow many books have been written on these topics. However, mostpublications treat the subject from an evolutionary viewpoint, andnobody can provide genuine answers. Having said this, it is noteworthythat the Bible describes man’s origin completely in one singleverse: “And the Lord God formed man from the dust of theground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and manbecame a living being” (Gen 2:7). These few words comprise aremarkable information content, since they provide answers tomany questions:155