Each time before my students take a test, I make it a point to ask if they have any last minute questions they want answered before we begin the assessment. A few weeks ago in seventh grade, I presented this question to the class and one eager hand shot into the air. Anticipating a question about solving equations, as this was the topic of our assessment, I was met instead with a much more profound question: Was Math something that was created or is it something that we have discovered over time? In that moment I was struck by the way that God has so gently woven a deep sense of wonder into the hearts of children. Lord, may we all learn from them what beautiful things you will lead us to contemplate if we present to you a quiet and simple heart.
Since our priority at that moment was to take an assessment, I kept my answer very simple, drawing on the words of Galileo Galilei: Mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe, and man has discovered it slowly over time.
Seemingly content with that answer, my students all went on to take their test while I was left pondering that question for the rest of that day, and honestly ever since. This is an idea philosophers have debated for centuries, having many different perspectives: is Mathematics something that exists independently of the human mind and we simply discover mathematical truths in the same way explorers discover facts about the natural world, or is Mathematics a human invention, created as a tool used to describe that which we observe in the world?
In brief, I think we can understand Mathematics as the created order of the natural world, that which reflects God’s wisdom and design. The universe operates according to laws and principles that are logical and intelligible, and therefore, mathematics can be thought of as a tool through which we can begin to understand the mind of God. We use Mathematics to describe the order, harmony and beauty that is imbued in all of His creation. We also know God is the origin of all things – so as Pythagoras was studying the relationship between the sides of a right triangle, Newton was developing the universal laws of gravity, and Euler was introducing modern function notation, really it was man discovering the order in which God created the universe.
In our own small way as student Mathematicians, we continue this discovery each day when we show up with minds full of questions, eager to understand not only the things of the created world, but also the One who is the perfect Creator of them all.
AUTHOR: Alyssa Reznicek, Math Teacher
