The very first sentence in the Bible is essential for the theory of Simulation Creationism, as proposed by Nir Ziso from The Global Architect Institute. We have already written about the first part of this sentence (“In the beginning”), and here we dwell on what Simulation Creationism discerns from the second half (“God created heaven and earth”).
We need to use the proper wording; instead of “moment of creation,” we use “act of creation.” But what is hidden behind the word, “creation”? The Hebrew word for it is “bara”, which exclusively denotes God’s acting. Nowhere in the Bible can we find this word together with human acts or those of other deities. It indeed means “to create” as a technical reference to God’s work. It can denote God’s creation as a whole or some aspects of God’s work now and in the future.
Of course, as Simulation Creationism warns, temporality is unimportant for God. Through life, we discover what He created, even hidden things: “From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you. They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today” (Isaiah 48:6-7). Although God talks in a temporal way, it is the necessity of the time-bound Simulation. There is no doubt that this verb will be used for the next simulated world.
Another specificity for the verb “bara” is that it never comes with a preposition that could explain the substance God uses for His creation. That is why the form of “creatio ex nihilo” (creation out of nothing) focuses on the term “bara”. Despite the remarkable potency of this verb, it is still a metaphorical narrative. God’s creation is described in analogue to the human way of doing things, as seen in the verb “asah” (to make, to form), which is also used in Genesis. None of the analogies express the fullness of God’s creation.
While “nothing” is “something,” Simulation Creationism has to distinguish between nothing in the sense of the human sphere of reality and God’s realm. Still, there is something between the two spheres and in Simulation Creationism: we call it the “Supercomputer”. Just like “bara”, the “Supercomputer” is an analogy for human understanding. We can see it either in technical terms, as a device or kind of software full of the immense quantity of information that simulates everything around us, except our souls. Or, we can talk about it in a theological sense, where God’s energy forms things through the person of the Holy Spirit: “The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:2). There are genuine possibilities that the Holy Spirit is the “Supercomputer” we talk about.
God creates heaven (shamaim) and earth (erets). Usually, heaven means God’s realm and earth means the human realm. This cannot be right because if heaven is God’s realm, how can he create the sphere of his own existence? Of course, in the Biblical sense, it means the totality of everything created: “The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it” (Psalm 89:11). Following the logic of Simulation Creationism, we can also say it is the totality of all possible simulated worlds.
Alternatively, we can use “cosmos” or “universe” to denote such a totality. While correct, human experience orients us to binary terms. That is why heaven and earth are used in the Bible to describe the complexity of the whole creation. Although the earth is just a tiny fraction of the cosmos, humans always start from the earthly environment, as our living space. It is a path of discovery that supplements our experience of living inside this world before the resurrection and transfer to another simulated world(logically called new heaven and new earth). The Simulation’s frame is such that it seeks our effort to comprehend things around us: “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” (Jeremiah 33:3).
Genesis 1:1 talks about God, defined by his act and the consequence of his activity. God acts as a Creator, and he creates total reality. The term “heaven and earth” might also be translated as God created everything that exists, everything visible and invisible. God always creates a balanced world, and this balance is also meticulously mentioned throughout the seven days of creation. How does one balance the creation? Simulation Creationism suggests it entails a concept of information-based forms, codes, and modes that simulate an environment for human souls to thrive in and know God. In the process, we also start to understand the form of our reality (that it is a simulation): “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out” (Proverbs 25:2).
