Creation and Glory

Creation reflects God's glory. But creation is finite and God is infinite: the reflection is lacking. "The divine goodness and the created order are incommensurable, and there cannot be any one created order, any one universe...proportionate in the full sense to the divine goodness" (Aquinas, as explained by Copleston).

Which gives an interesting tincture to physicists' speculation about the nature of the universe. At least one theory "implicitly assume[s] either that the universe is spatially infinite or that there are infinitely many universes," according to Stephen Hawking.

Multiple universes. I love the image--perhaps the Creator, overjoyed with one, decided two even better qualified to reflect His infinite glory. Though we shouldn't expect that even infinite creations could fully and completely reflect the infinite glory of the Timeless God--though infinite, no creation would ever be Eternal--a playful Christian imagination might easily allow for even the flightiest speculations of the physicists. Knotty--and entertaining--questions arise: what if sin didn't enter one of the universes? Does Christ's death apply across universes? Or would He have to Incarnate in each of them? What of different intelligent species? (Perhaps more on that later). On such an arcane subject, see the enormously entertaining speculative fiction by C.S. Lewis. Meantime, it is good to remember that far from always challenging and debunking, sometimes science can edify.