e8

Last November, Garrett Lisi, a surfer, physicist and snowboard instructor, published a paper called "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything." In the paper, Mr. Lisi begins to show how everything we know about the world may be described by the relationships of a 248-pointed geometric object called an E8. Lisi says, "I think our universe is this beautiful shape."

Lisi's theory can't be tested until a new super-collider comes on line in Switzerland - hopefully next year. His theory looks promising. '08 might be the year of the E8, I think, and then we'll all be saying "Holy crap, that's it!" just like Lisi did when the idea finally came to him.

As a theologian, anything we say about the universe is a statement about God. Although God is greater than the universe, the universe is a direct expression of God's self. And if Lisi is right, the universe can be explained by relatively simple details. Everything that exists comes out of fairly straightforward interactions among a few basic particles. It's supremely simple and marvelously complex, all at once.

Whether Lisi is right, or the String Theorists are, the E8 confirms my faith in God. The universe has architecture and an architect. God is in the E8 and the creator of the E8. It seems that we live in a world of unfathomable richness and limitless design. Like the whole of God's universe, God is infinite variety springing from humble principles. Like the E8, God is simple, varied, deep, and complex.