Final answer:
Mathematics is precise and logical, capable of proving many claims within its domains but not designed to address theological questions. Mathematical history shows interplay with religious and philosophical thought, yet the nature of the divine remains beyond its scope.
Step-by-step explanation:
Mathematics is a science with vast and varied branches like arithmetic, geometry, algebra, and topology, where claims can often be proven true or false using mathematical logic and rules. These rigorous methods make mathematics a precise language that describes relationships in nature and forms the basis of scientific models in fields such as physics and astronomy. The history of mathematics, with its development alongside philosophy and religion in cultures such as ancient India, shows that mathematical concepts like zero and infinity have also been influenced by and have influenced religious and philosophical thought.
In terms of applying mathematics to understand the divine, claims about the existence of God or the nature of spirituality are not typically within the purview of mathematical proof. St. Anselm's proof for the existence of God, while structured like a mathematical argument, is not mathematical in nature but rather a philosophical one. Similarly, assigning numerical values to represent complex metaphysical concepts like 'God' or 'the Holy Spirit' as '0' or '1' oversimplifies and misinterprets both mathematics and theology.
Mathematics cannot prove or disprove everything because it operates within the confines of logical structures and can't apply to questions outside of those structures, such as most theological or metaphysical matters. Therefore, when we attempt to connect the precision of mathematics to broader existential questions, we step outside of what mathematics can definitively prove.