Have you ever heard of dark matter and dark energy? If you hold to the Warfare Worldview—that sometime in the primordial cosmos there was an angelic rebellion against God—you might find this interesting.
Dark matter was first postulated due to the gravitational force of galaxies (or lack thereof) which couldn’t be explained by the visible mass of objects in any system. Therefore, it became clear that there is an invisible, ordering force holding space together. Hence, the term “dark” matter.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Paul, Ephesians 6:12 NIV
Astronomers and theoretical physicists state that both dark matter and dark energy once worked together, from the moment of the Big Bang to be precise, but dark energy began accelerating expansion and working against the ordering forces of dark matter around 5 billion years ago.
“…the expansion rate of the cosmos began speeding up about 5 billion to 6 billion years ago, like a roller coaster zooming down a track. That is when astronomers believe that dark energy’s repulsive force overtook gravity’s attractive grip.” Adam Riess, prof of physics & astronomy at Johns Hopkins University
In other words, dark energy is working to rip space apart and repel the unifying “gravitational” forces of dark matter. These are the scientific facts. And this blog post is my theological interpretation of those facts.
So, what I find most fascinating is how close this event—a war in the heavens—is to the formation of planet Earth, some 4.6 billion years ago.
Could this war between dark matter and dark energy be evidence of the spiritual war that eventually caused tohu wa bohu (chaos and destruction) upon the earth, impacting the evolution of life as we know it?
The early church father Athenagoras (ca.130-190AD) said that Satan was originally, “the spirit which is about matter who was created by God, just as the other angels were… and entrusted with the control of matter and the forms of matter” (see Greg Boyd’s Satan & the Problem of Evil, pg. 46-47).
This idea that Satan is the “spirit of matter” is most likely rooted in the NT teaching that the devil is “the ruler of the cosmos” (archon tou kosmou), having power over the physical and material world (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; Eph 2:2; 2 Cor 4:4)—a challenging worldview to a post-enlightenment audience.
Just as diabolos is from the root “to scatter and cast apart”… so it is with this “dark energy” that would currently appear to be, or is at least feared to be, the eventual demise of the cosmos.
“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
1 John 3:8b
We need only to embrace Christus Victor for a hopeful future where, in light of the resurrection, cosmic renewal is promised, therefore, inevitable.
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” Paul, Romans 8:18-21 NIV
I suppose that in the future (possibly after you and I are long gone!), scientists will observe dark energy losing its power, or turned in on itself in a way that can’t be fully explained, certainly not with the rhetoric of the rationalist.
Of course, this “dark” power is already losing its grip on the earth through a Kingdom revolution inaugurated by Christ. It’s no mystery to his church.
May the generation of Kingdom revolutionaries that are around to witness dark matter’s victory over the diabolical forces of dark energy be the first to say…
“We told you so.”
Yes. Come, Lord Jesus. Come.
Viva La Revolution!
D.D. Flowers, 2014.
The Centrality and Supremacy of Jesus Christ 
September 30th, 2014 at 6:04 am
Viva La Revolution!!!
September 30th, 2014 at 9:27 am
Not sure I can buy the old universe or old earth time lines, but I do think it this is a very interesting exploration of physics and theology. I have enjoyed reading various books on cosmology and theoretical physics. Like it or not, they touch on metaphysical issues… It is all God’s universe.
September 30th, 2014 at 2:39 pm
David,
It’s always kinda scary when Christians take a pop-science understanding of science and try to make something Biblical or spiritual out of their extremely surface-level understanding on a topic. I’m not trying to insult you – I’m simply explaining that it is somewhat evident that you saw something sciency and jumped on it as the “aha” Bible moment – sort of like what people do who are young earth creationists when they try to explain their understanding of how evolution works. I give you kudos for not being a YEC’er – but I would recommend being a bit slower to spin exotic scientific theories into a full on theology of the universe.
September 30th, 2014 at 2:44 pm
Thanks for reading, Elli. I fully expected a response like yours. You may be right, or it could be that you should be slower to exclude such a thing by throwing my observations in with the efforts of YECs. I’m open to being wrong about it. But it doesn’t sound like you are, based on your strong reaction to my post. I’m interested in where you see science and theology doesn’t support the idea. While I do want to be careful jumping to conclusions, I also don’t want to set science and theology against one another. Instead, I do expect to see a biblical/theological worldview made evident in the natural world. I admit that without reservation.
September 30th, 2014 at 3:43 pm
It takes more faith to believe in evolution than to believe in the God of the Scriptures.
September 30th, 2014 at 4:22 pm
Hey Sean, as I’m sure you’re aware… I don’t agree with that statement. 🙂
October 4th, 2014 at 11:49 am
Interesting ideas David.
You may have avoided criticism while still making your point if you had framed what you said about the science as an illustration of the Biblical and spiritual realities. The way you presented it could be taken as your definitive spiritual explanation of the science.
I recognise you acknowledge it may or may not be so and you are not sold on it but use as an illustration rather than explanation would probably be more realistic when dealing with ‘the mystery of evil’.
Tanks – I think I will follow you for a while
Rob
October 4th, 2014 at 12:49 pm
Thanks, Rob! Yes, that is largely the way I intended it, as an illustration, while humbly suggesting that it may actually be so. I appreciate your support, bro.
June 13th, 2015 at 8:57 pm
Yesterday, I was preparing my message based on Ge 1:3 and 2Cor 4:6. God commanded light to shine out of darkness. During the process of preparation, the term dark matter and dark energy came to my mind. I have heard about dark matter but have little knowledge about it. I refer to NASA scientific research write-up on this area. There is an extra-biblical explanation on the gap between Ge 1:1 and Ge 1:2. Dark matter may be the consequence of the event taking place during the gap period. Lucifer led one-third of the angels in heaven to vacant their positions. Could this create a spiritual void in heaven that lead them to leave the estate of God’s creation? Assuming one-third of the angels rebel against God, the percentage composition of dark matter is about 27% seems to fit into this. The earth was formless and void as described in Ge 1:2. The rebellion of Lucifer has led the universe into this chaotic state. I am glad to come across your article that combined scientific and biblical research.