In our church, an integral part of the service involves the recitation of The Nicene Creed which begins, “We believe in one God, the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.”
This prayer outlines core doctrines, particularly concerning the nature of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. It was originally formulated at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., according to Google AI.
What I find remarkable in this passage is both the belief in the tangible and an overt act of faith. To believe in all things “visible” is to acknowledge and appreciate a world of reality – filled with what we know (or think we know) and what we have discovered through the path of civilization throughout history. Imagine what the world believed to be “visible” reality in 325 A.D.!
To acknowledge things “invisible” is to assert a premonition that there are many things we both literally can’t see or have not yet discovered how to harness and bring into our cognitive awareness of reality.
What really intrigues me is the realization that the invisible and unseen realities of our world and the universe have been there all along and are still there, open to discovery. The laws of physics are immutable; they exist a priori to our understanding or application of them. Science builds upon itself; layers of discovery or new insights reveal more of what was once invisible to us – sometimes this reveal is in very small increments and sometimes in cognitive insights that are true milestones in our understanding. Think of the impact (and later confirmation) of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity or Newton’s Laws of Thermodynamics and the definable and mathematically structured understanding of the law of gravity.
Gravity has always existed. It has been a consistent and unchanging force since the beginning of time. Our most ancient ancestors, when they dropped a stone, it fell to the earth. Mankind (in all our stages of evolution) has seen and experienced the visible reality of gravity while not understanding the unknown – or invisible – laws of gravity. As our intellect grew more refined, certain minds began to question why objects dropped always fell towards the earth. Many theories were advanced – based on rudimentary understanding of physics, based solely on religious dogma, etc. Many proved to be ludicrous, primitive, founded on false assumptions. But that’s OK, that’s how science works. Newton paved the way.
Do we thoroughly understand the laws of gravity and applications of these laws? Of course not. Because we have not yet discovered how to reverse or nullify the force of gravity. We have not yet applied the physics of anti-gravity. Our applications are infantile up to now. Imagine a time in the future when our descendants will snicker among themselves that our primitive culture lacked the insight to understand and apply the principles of anti-gravity. Principles, laws, that exist now – unseen – waiting to be discovered.
We build upon what we know, and we refine our understanding of “reality” upon the back of that accumulated knowledge. Our insight into things “unseen” has proliferated exponentially over the last several centuries.
We can have faith believing in all that is seen and unseen. But we also have faith that what is now unseen will one day switch into the former category. The truth is out there. It always has been. And our unrelenting quest to reveal it will always be one of the greatest hallmarks of our species.
Paul Kimball is retired and lives with his wife and two dogs in the beautiful mountains of Sautee Nacoochee.