How does mathematics manifest the justice and wisdom of God? In the last post we looked at some examples in the universe in general displaying divine justice. This time we focus specifically on math. So what are some examples where mathematics displays divine justice and  wisdom? 

Divine Justice

Mathematics is a creation of God that beautifully displays incredible precision before our eyes. It only makes sense to say that the Creator of Mathematics must be incredibly precise (and therefore just) in handling matters. 

Let’s look at a quick example of precision in mathematics. 

The size of the interval from 0 to 1 on the real number line, for instance, is uncountable, meaning it’s impossible to make a list including every single number between 0 and 1 even if the list is infinitely long. Yes that’s right, even if the list is infinitely long it is impossible to include every single number between 0 and 1! Though it may sound counterintuitive or even plainly absurd, this is one of the basic results in mathematics. It is a proven fact: the uncountability of real numbers. This, of course, translates to precision when dealing with real numbers. In theory, you can be so precise that even an infinite list of numbers cannot demonstrate your precision. This, in turn, points to justice. To best explain this, let’s see an example. 

Say for example that Parent A tries to motivate her kids to study by paying them a dollar for each hour of study. She only pays them in 1 dollar bills so they only get a dollar if they complete a whole hour. Parent B uses a similar system but is more precise about the time. She pays them in half a dollar bills for each half-hour. Parent C is even more precise. She pays them the exact equivalent for the amount of time they studied. 

Now, say that one child studies for 1 hour, another for 1.5 hours, and yet another for 1.75 hours. Parent A would give them all 1 dollar, while Parent B would give the first 1 dollar and the second and third ones 1.5 dollars. Finally, Parent C would give the first 1 dollar, the second 1.5 dollars, and the third one 1.75 dollars. Parent A ends up giving the same reward for different amounts of work. Parent B, while relatively more precise (and therefore more just), still ends up giving the same reward for the last two kids. Parent C is the most just because her scale is the most precise. The more precise and sensitive our scale is, the more we can value and appreciate the efforts of others. 

Basically, mathematics demonstrates the degree of precision that God has created, so it only makes sense to assume that God is very precise in handling matters. Why else would he create such a precision? Indeed, we see the precision of God everywhere in this universe where mathematics is applicable from chemistry to physics to biology and so on. More or less every field of science is based on math. Since precision and justice, for the most part, go hand in hand, we can say that mathematics demonstrates the greatness of Divine Justice.

Divine Wisdom

Everything in life has a reason and wisdom behind it. There is a reason why the earth rotates, why fish are given fish scales while polar bears are covered in fur, why lightnings strike the ground, and so on. Fields like physics, biology, chemistry among other fields serve to display this wisdom before our eyes, and in turn demonstrate the degree of wisdom Our Creator must have. 

Mathematics, or probability theory and statistics to be specific, takes this a step further. Not only do the mentioned natural phenomenon happen for a reason but even seemingly random and arbitrary events in our lives follow certain rules and patterns. The outcome in the flip of a coin or the rolling of a die, for instance, follows a certain pattern. 

The central limit theorem in statistics states that for any sufficiently large dataset, plotting the distribution on a graph gives the exact same “shape”, that of a bell curve. The larger the dataset, the more it resembles a bell curve. So, for instance if you plot the number of people who got the influenza the past year, the outcome you get in rolling a sufficiently large number of dice, or the average heights of ten year olds; you would get the shape of a bell curve on the graph. Isn’t it amazing that plotting out seemingly random and arbitrary events such as catching the flu, rolling dice, or the height of random ten year olds all form the same shape on a graph? In fact, insurance and business companies among others, use these types of statistical rules to determine how to maintain or increase their profits. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible for car insurance companies to estimate the number of future car accidents or business companies to determine what future customers will buy, and so on. This theorem along with the rest of probability and statistics demonstrates what a great level of wisdom Our Creator has. He has placed wisdom even behind randomness.