Information, a Fundamental Entity

John C. Lennox refers to information as a fundamental entity. Information and intelligence are fundamental to the existence of the universe and life. Lennox states that “Word” in the 4th Gospel is Logos. It is a word used by Stoic philosophers for the rational principle behind the universe. It was given additional meaning by Christians, who used it to describe the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. “Word” conveys notions of command, meaning, code and communication, thus it conveys information as well as the creative power needed to realize that which is specified by the information. The Word is therefore more fundamental than mass and energy. Mass and energy belong to the category of the created, but the Word does not. Lennox identifies a basic characteristic of information, that it is invisible and immaterial. Carriers of information may be material, but information itself is not material. Since information encodes on something physical the carriers of information are subject to the laws of physics, but information itself is not a physical entity.

Stan Lennard