Quantum Entanglement ~ Heaven and Earth

I love watching a flock of birds in motion.  It’s as if the mass is one giant organism, blobbing around above the buildings.  Sometimes I try to pick out just two as they move through the sky in perfect time with each other.  As one turns left, the other is already turning.  It’s hard to tell which of the birds is following the other one.  They are so in-tune with the air currents, it looks like they are moving at the same time.  But if we were to record a video of them and slow the frames enough, we’d be able to see a time gap in the movements of each individual.  Fascinatingly, some bodies in nature move at the exact same time and in the exact same way due to a behavior called quantum entanglement. 

Quantum entanglement sounds a bit like sci fi at first pass.  It’s a behavior that even Einstein was skeptical of, calling it “spooky action at a distance”(1).  Basically, two particles can be inextricably linked in such a way that the properties of one perfectly correlate to the properties of the other.  Imagine that you and I bring two basketballs into a basketball court.  I go to one side of the court, and you stand on the other side.  Now imagine that I spin my basketball on my finger, and your basketball immediately begins spinning.  This is a grotesquely over-simplified analogy, but, in a sense, there is a correlative ‘spin’ to each particle in a quantum entangled pair.  

Fascinatingly, larger objects can also display this behavior.  Today I learned that two diamonds have been successfully entangled(2).   These discoveries challenge our view of quantum entanglement as being restricted to the microscopic world.  As K.C. Lee describes this in his research paper writing, “Our intuition about the nature of the physical world is strongly conditioned by the experience that macroscopic solids move according to the rules of classical mechanics.  Quantum theory, however, asserts that superpositions and entanglement are possible even for large objects.  Therefore, exploration of the persistence of quantum correlations in the traditionally classical realm is important…”(3)   Important indeed.  As I considered what I’d read, I began thinking about quantum correlations in the classical realm, but also in the spiritual realm.  What if Heaven and Earth were inextricably linked?  The Lord brought Matthew 16 to my mind.

In Matthew 16v13, we see Jesus traveling into the district of Caesarea Philippi with His disciples.  They have just moved on from a tense encounter with the religious leaders of the region, who had demanded a sign from heaven so that Jesus might prove Himself.  Jesus had given no such sign, and here, as he walks along with His disciples, He asks them a question: “Who do you say that I am?”  It’s at this point that Peter pipes up and says, “You are the Christ.”  The Lord then says to him, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”(ESV)(4)   Many modern bible versions use a future tense like this one in their translations, suggesting that the binding or loosing in the heavens happens after you do your thing here on earth (NIV, NLT, BSB, and others use this tense).  

Other translations go for a slightly more spicy, future-perfect tense, such as the Berean Literal Bible, which reads: “I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you might bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you might loose on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens.”  (NASB, CSB and others use this form).  In this view, the binding/loosing in heaven happens before you do your thing here on earth, but the whole scene is in future tense.

Why do different bible versions use different tenses?  Well, the original Greek is difficult to translate.  If we were to analyze this tense in the framework of the English language, we might say that the past participle is in a passive relative clause.  Which is infinitely less fun than a Santa Claus.  So, it’s not as straightforward as some might think.  In the interlinear Bible we see the English counterpart reads, “And whatever you bind on earth shall occur, having been bound (δεδεμένον) in Heaven.  And whatever you may loose on the earth shall be, having been loosed (λελυμένον) in Heaven.” This is in the perfect continuous tense (also called the progressive tense).  It’s up to interpretation to determine whether the binding/loosing in heaven occurs at the same moment as the binding/loosing on earth, or before the binding/loosing on earth.  Also, notice that the commas are in a different place here, changing the form slightly.  While ancient Greek texts often used paragraphs, they did not have an equivalent to our usage of punctuation (even periods, which appear several centuries after these New Testament texts were written).

The reason I bring this up is not because I’m a former English teacher and a current nerd.  Those things are both true.  Yet translation is worth noting primarily because how we translate a form changes the meaning slightly.  To break it down once more, I have made a handy dandy chart:

Or perhaps you like diagrams!  Here’s one! 


Personally, I favor the progressive tense, where what is bound on earth is bound in Heaven at the same moment, and continually.  We are not puppeteers pulling the strings of heaven, but we have authority to access to an eternal bond that was restored.  There is a promise that has been revealed, is being revealed and will be revealed: the Messiah!  He is the Word, in perfect continuous tense, who split the veil in two to unite Heaven and Earth.  He bridged the gap where sin had wrenched apart what was once in harmony.

Reading this passage in the light of our understanding of quantum entanglement puts a new spin (no pun intended…) on binding and loosing.  There is much more gold to be mined out of this passage, but this particular aspect has captivated me recently.  Sometimes when the Lord asks me to do something, I hesitate.  Other times I flat out say ‘no’.  I wonder what it would look like if my spirit was so inextricably linked with the Lord, that when He spoke to me about His heart’s desire, I was already doing it.  What if Heaven was not so much brought down to earth as revealed on earth because of their linkage?  What would it feel like for my will to have the same properties as the Lord’s will?  I don’t view my connection to God as a begrudging submission.  I envision it as a pair of birds, flying through the air.  Our spirits are dancing diamonds that move in perfect time with our Heavenly Father.  

Lord, give me a quantum entanglement with You so that when You move, I move.  Amen.




  1. Einstein, A., Podolsky, B., & Rosen, N. (May 01, 1935). Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?. Physical Review, 47, 10, 777-780.

  2. Lee, K. C. (December 02, 2011). Entangling Macroscopic Diamonds at Room Temperature. Science New York Then Washington-, 334, 6060, 1253.

  3. Lee 1253

 4. I believe this statement is for all of us, not just Peter.  Some might argue this is eisegetical.  I believe my exegesis to be appropriate due to the fact that, two chapters later, in Matthew 18v18 Jesus says this statement again, but to all in attendance.  Thus, clearly this statement was not reserved solely for Peter.





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