Kurt Godel said, “Either mathematics is too big for the human mind or the human mind is more than a machine.”  I think he was right on both counts.

Godel was an Austrian-born logician and mathematician whose work primarily in the 1920’s and 1930’s revolutionized our understanding of mathematical knowledge.  He is perhaps most famous for his incompleteness theorems. 

Godel probably would roll over in his grave at my description, but he was essentially the first person to demonstrate that in order to prove anything about numbers—even something as simple as 2+2=4—we must start out by accepting certain, unprovable things about numbers as true right from the beginning.  No mathematical system can prove itself to be valid.

You might ask, so what?  Well, in addition to being hugely significant to the foundations of mathematics, Godel’s theorems are also a reminder of the limits of human reason and of the importance of revealed truth. 

Psalm 147:5 says “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.”  Ours, however, is not.  And that is why “The fear of the Lord”—not the mind of man—”is the beginning of knowledge.”

Sometimes, the most important thing knowledge can do for us is to show us how much we do not—and indeed cannot—know.  As Godel understood, the mysteries of math need not cause us to be infinitely frustrated.  They should cause us to wonder at the infinite, and to look forward to a day when, by God’s grace, our understanding may too be beyond measure.

Have a wonderful day!