A leading computer scientist believes one of the most controversial theories in modern science could actually strengthen Christianity rather than undermine it.
Rizwan Virk, who studied computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), argues that if humanity is one day proven to be living inside a computer simulation, it would not disprove the Bible but instead offer a modern explanation for many of its central teachings.
The simulation hypothesis proposes that what humans perceive as physical reality is actually an artificial world generated by an advanced intelligence, much like an immensely sophisticated video game.
‘The religions were trying to tell us that it’s some kind of simulation, and that the soul is the player of the game,’ Virk told the Daily Mail.
According to Virk, many of Christianity’s core beliefs fit naturally within that framework. He believes the soul exists outside the simulated world as the true ‘player,’ while the human body functions as its avatar.
In his view, the biblical Book of Life resembles a complete recording of every action taken inside the simulation, while the life review reported by many near-death experiencers mirrors replaying those recorded events after death.
Virk also compared the Genesis account of God creating the universe by speaking to the way modern AI systems generate virtual worlds through simple prompts.
‘So I think that it’s more likely we’re in a simulated world if Christianity is true, or even if any of the other religions are essentially true,’ he said.
A leading computer scientist believes one of the most controversial theories in modern science could actually strengthen Christianity rather than undermine it
The theory entered mainstream scientific debate in 2003 when Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom argued that if future civilizations become capable of creating simulations indistinguishable from reality, it becomes statistically plausible that humanity is already living inside one.
The concept has since attracted attention from figures including Elon Musk, who has argued that the odds that humanity exists in ‘base reality’ are extraordinarily small.
Unlike many advocates of the theory, however, Virk believes its implications are deeply spiritual rather than purely technological.
He compared reality to a multiplayer online role-playing game, where each person’s physical body functions as an avatar while the soul exists outside the simulation as the true player controlling it.
‘I think there’s a way for us to reinterpret what the Christian traditions, and the Jewish traditions… were telling us,’ he said.
‘That the body is the character, the avatar, and at the end of the game… You can review what’s been done in that game so far.’
According to Virk, many biblical concepts begin to make sense when viewed as metaphors describing a simulated universe.
He pointed to the Book of Life, in which every person’s deeds are recorded, as an example.
Rizwan Virk, who studied computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), argues that if humanity is one day proven to be living inside a computer simulation, it would not disprove the Bible but instead offer a modern explanation for many of its central teachings
While angels are traditionally described as documenting human actions, Virk suggested the imagery could instead represent a universe in which every event is automatically recorded, much like data stored on a computer server.
He argued this interpretation also aligns with thousands of reports from people who experienced near-death experiences and described undergoing a vivid ‘life review,’ in which they relived major events from their lives and sometimes experienced them from another person’s perspective.
‘The only way you could do that is if you’re recording everything, and you can replay it,’ Virk said.
He also believes the Genesis creation story can be understood in technological terms.
Rather than dismissing the biblical account as either literal history or pure metaphor, Virk proposed a middle ground in which God functions as the creator of an intelligent system.
‘In Genesis, it tells us that the Creator said, ‘Let there be light,” he explained.
‘If you look at how we create software today, you can create virtual worlds simply by speaking. They’re called prompts in AI now.’
He suggested the six days of creation need not represent six 24-hour periods, arguing that time outside a simulated universe could operate very differently from time experienced within it.
Far from contradicting Christianity, Virk argued that the simulation hypothesis actually reinforces the idea of intelligent design.
‘In a simulation, it requires an intelligent design,’ he said. ‘The simulation doesn’t just come from nowhere. It requires a creator.’
Virk’s conclusions extend beyond theology into modern physics.
He argued that recent developments increasingly suggest reality is built from information rather than physical matter.
He cited the work of physicist John Wheeler, who famously summarized the concept as ‘it from bit,’ the idea that physical reality ultimately emerges from information.
Virk also pointed to quantum mechanics, the observer effect and quantum entanglement as phenomena that he believes resemble the way computer simulations render virtual worlds only when necessary.
He likened this to modern video games, which conserve computing power by rendering only the parts of a digital world visible to the player instead of generating every object simultaneously.
Beyond physics, Virk believes religious experiences, remote viewing, out-of-body experiences and near-death experiences may represent moments when consciousness briefly looks beyond the simulated world.
‘I would say that all the religions started when a mystic peeked outside of the physical world,’ he said. ‘And then they came back in.’
He also suggested that biblical encounters with angels, Moses’ burning bush and revelations experienced by other religious figures could be understood as moments when information from outside the simulation entered human reality through symbols that people living thousands of years ago could understand.
While the simulation hypothesis remains highly speculative and has not been scientifically proven, it continues to generate debate among philosophers, physicists and theologians.
For Virk, however, the idea is less about replacing religion with technology than using technology to reinterpret ancient beliefs.
