God Particles

By David Kitchingman in Articles

reflections on what the Higgs Boson discovery tells us about God

God Particles

Hi Jo

After recent events, I thought you might be interested in the following extracts from the early chapters of the Authorized Version of the New Testament of Physics:

And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from CERN (European Centre for Nuclear Research) that all the world of science should be taxed to pay billions of dollars for a Large Hadron Collider in order to find the God particle. And, behold, there came wise physicists from the east (and from west, north and south) to a city of Switzerland named Geneva that they might know with certainty of those things wherein they had been instructed.

And when the days of their experimentation according to the laws of physics were accomplished they brought the results to a temple of scientists to present them before the face of all people in the days of July 2012. And they said, "We have found, with a high degree of probability, the God particle, which is, being interpreted, the Higgs boson. The same was in the beginning (or at least a trillionth of a second thereafter), and without it was not any mass made that was made." And when the scientists saw the analysis of the petabytes of data they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

And there were in the same countries from which the scientists had come some herds of other people abiding in the same field of sub-atomic particle physics, keeping watch over their televisions by night. And when the glad tidings were noised abroad, they too all marveled at what was spoken and this thing which had come to pass.

Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet Higgs (and at least five other prophets) in the year 1964, saying, "Behold, an elusive particle shall be brought forth which is essential for the formation of the universe, explaining why matter has mass. And this shall be a sign unto you; when the particle has decayed after a millionth of a millionth of a second ye shall find traces of it wrapped in a detector, lying in the underground particle accelerator."

So what might we disCERN from these verses in the Science Bible? Lots, but here are just a couple of things:

1) Science differentiates between the predictable and the unpredictable.
When Professor Higgs (now 83 years of age) was interviewed shortly after the announcement on the 4th of July, he was asked what the discovery of the new particle he had predicted nearly 50 years ago would mean in practical terms. His reply was, "I have no idea". Despite his moment of stunning success, he wasn't about to pontificate (note the word) at the point where he was unsure. What an exemplary balancing of cleverness and openness!

Yet when science really marshals its resources it is capable of lifting the level of prophesy (in the foretelling sense of the word) to a plane beyond any other scriptural application of the term. Dr Ben Whale of the University of Otago has taken care to point out that the exact nature of the latest discovery has yet to be confirmed (Otago Daily Times, 7.7.12). But he went on to say that if the Higgs Boson had been found, that highlighted the "incredible" power of theoretical mathematics to describe and predict previously unknown parts of the real world, in a highly precise way.

That, I might add, should be a "Call to awe" for everyone. To think that, on the basis of a theoretical prediction, the scientific community built a tool which is the largest (27 km in circumference), the most complex, and the most expensive ever produced, capable of recreating conditions that have not existed in the universe since just after the Big Bang. For some of us it can also spur a "Call to worship" - and if it doesn't, then our worship will be much impoverished.

2) God-talk mixes the potent and the problematic.
Would I be writing all this quite like this if the predicted particle had not been named "the God particle"? Probably not. And would it have been named the God particle if a Nobel prizewinning physicist, Leon Lederman, who wrote a book about it in 1993, had had his way? Probably not. He wanted to call it the "god-damn particle" but his editor wouldn't let him. Higgs too is unhappy with the theistic nickname. "I find it embarrassing", he has said, "because though I'm not a believer myself, I think it is the kind of misuse of terminology which might offend some people." Most scientists agree, regarding it as simply false or at best hyperbole.

Not being a scientist, I can disagree. If any esoteric particle, with the exception of the photon, deserves such a romantic name, I think it's the Higgs boson, conjuring up, as it does, the thought of something coming from nothing. And I don't see why Christians should be upset in the least. Since when has our definition of God been definitive? Since when should we even have a definition? In this case, as any other for that matter, the usage is problematic, but we should welcome its potency as an invigoration of the language. Better that the term regain some currency on the street than be almost relegated to the confines of the sanctuary, as it is already in grave danger of being.

That said, I must take issue with some of our own glib use of the word God. To merely suggest that we are prone to misusing or undervaluing it will not suffice to show what I mean. I need to cite from an actual example. A recent church document included a comment that personally bothers my own respect for the word. It was along the following lines: "We are ensuring that [a certain administrative decision made by the church] is still fulfilling God's will [for a certain situation still pertaining within the church]" I hasten to add that I am not in the least calling into question the integrity of the particular decision in itself. Quite the contrary.

What I query is our presumption that we can fully declare decisions we have collectively taken (albeit carefully and prayerfully) as tantamount to the will of God. By all means seek to do it, but can we ever precisely claim to have done God's will? As science probes mystery within mystery, is there to be no effect on our construct of the Ancient of Days?

What it all comes down to is that whether the Higgs boson is a God particle or not, we will only ever know a particle of God.

David Kitchingman