"Did you know that more than one infinity exists—and some infinities are
larger than other infinities? But if something is infinite, then how can something else be more infinite?
These concepts are difficult for our finite mind to comprehend, but what’s fascinating about infinity is that it reflects the nature of God.
The Strangeness of Infinity
Infinity is the concept of an unlimited quantity. Something is infinite if it goes on forever, having no end. We tend to think of infinity as a really big number—but it is much more than that. ...we can at least imagine counting from one to one million, and then we would be done. That set of numbers has an end. But infinity does not.
For this reason, infinity has some strange and counterintuitive properties that finite numbers lack.
For example, imagine that you had one million pennies. Suppose that you removed one penny every second and gave it to someone else. Over time, your pile of pennies would shrink. After 11 days, 13 hours, 47 minutes, you would have no pennies left.
Now suppose that you had an infinite supply of pennies and gave one penny away every second. Not only could you continue to do this forever without running out of pennies, but your pile would be no smaller than when you started. This is one of the weird things about infinity—you can subtract any finite number from it and yet it remains the same.
By the same logic, you can add to infinity without changing it. Infinity plus one is exactly the same as infinity. Likewise, infinity plus one million is no larger than infinity. Even when we multiply infinity by a finite number, it remains unchanged. Thus, twice infinity is no larger than infinity. And yet, we can also prove that some infinities are genuinely larger than other infinities!
Those who have repented of sin and trusted in Christ for salvation will experience infinite time in God’s loving presence—eternity (John 3:16). Perhaps our fascination with the infinite is because God has set eternity in our hearts (He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:11)." ICR
These concepts are difficult for our finite mind to comprehend, but what’s fascinating about infinity is that it reflects the nature of God.
The Strangeness of Infinity
Infinity is the concept of an unlimited quantity. Something is infinite if it goes on forever, having no end. We tend to think of infinity as a really big number—but it is much more than that. ...we can at least imagine counting from one to one million, and then we would be done. That set of numbers has an end. But infinity does not.
For this reason, infinity has some strange and counterintuitive properties that finite numbers lack.
For example, imagine that you had one million pennies. Suppose that you removed one penny every second and gave it to someone else. Over time, your pile of pennies would shrink. After 11 days, 13 hours, 47 minutes, you would have no pennies left.
Now suppose that you had an infinite supply of pennies and gave one penny away every second. Not only could you continue to do this forever without running out of pennies, but your pile would be no smaller than when you started. This is one of the weird things about infinity—you can subtract any finite number from it and yet it remains the same.
By the same logic, you can add to infinity without changing it. Infinity plus one is exactly the same as infinity. Likewise, infinity plus one million is no larger than infinity. Even when we multiply infinity by a finite number, it remains unchanged. Thus, twice infinity is no larger than infinity. And yet, we can also prove that some infinities are genuinely larger than other infinities!
Those who have repented of sin and trusted in Christ for salvation will experience infinite time in God’s loving presence—eternity (John 3:16). Perhaps our fascination with the infinite is because God has set eternity in our hearts (He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:11)." ICR
