My recently published book “Truth & Science” was supposed to be titled “Light, Truth & Science.”  I wanted “light” in the title to recognize the role the Light of Christ plays in inspiring scientific discoveries.  But my publisher said that books with “light” in the title don’t sell well, so “light” was taken out.  (I guess too many LDS authors thought it would sound warm and fuzzy to put “light” in their titles, and many of those books did not sell well.)  

Anyway, should my publisher decide to publish an upcoming book of mine, he will have to put “light” in the title, not because I want it to sound warm and fuzzy, but because the book will be about the Light of Christ.  Perhaps he will want to change the title to the “Spirit of the Lord”, a poor choice given that this name is also used to describe the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost is not the Light of Christ. 

I am fascinated by the Light of Christ.  It is a divine medium that emanates from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space.  It is what allows God his omniscience, which is to know everything that is happening everywhere throughout all His creations.  It is also the source of God’s omnipresence – it enables His influence to be felt everywhere throughout all His creations. 

The scientific community has nothing that comes close to matching the awe-inspiring nature of the Light of Christ.  Take, for example, Einstein’s Relativity.  Relativity is a great theory, but since it limits the fastest speed that anything can travel to the speed of light, it cannot explain how God knows in an instant what is happening on earth.  Consider that if God’s throne were at the North Star, Polaris (now that’s relatively close), it would take about 430 earth-years for our prayers to reach Him, and another 430 earth-years for His reply to return.  That is 860 earth years to get an answer to our prayers!  If His throne were further away, as it most surely is, it would take much longer, even millions of years for our prayers to be heard and answered.   

Then there is quantum physics.  The quantum principle known as non-locality does a pretty good job, but still misses the mark.  According to quantum non-locality, two events at opposite ends of the universe can occur simultaneously.  We are not talking about coincidental occurrences here; we are talking about two events that are part of the same system or are “entangled” as it is sometimes called.  In other words, when one event occurs, another event occurs at the same time at the opposite side of the universe.  This principle has been demonstrated with sub-atomic particles.

Quantum non-locality (entanglement) seems to satisfy the instantaneous travel requirements of the Light of Christ, right?  Unfortunately the answer is no.  According to prominent physicists, quantum non-locality (entanglement) does not include the transfer of information and physical substance.  So it cannot account for the instantaneous communication of thoughts in prayer, nor can it account for how an angel can transport him or herself from heaven to earth in an instant. If visiting angels were restricted to the speed of light, I am afraid that Laman and Lemuel would have beaten Nephi to death several times over before the angel arrived.

My book will explore the communicating, life sustaining, world creating, law-governing, truth providing, righteous enticing, and conscience generating roles of the Light of the Lord.  It should be an interesting and challenging journey, but not nearly as challenging as getting my publisher to put “light” in the title.