The God Particle

My browsing of the news media today came up with this little story about something that has been nicknamed the “god particle”, properly named the Higg’s boson. I think “god particle” has more of a ring to it. It is a sub atomic particle that scientists in that rarefied world of particle physics have been spending the last several years and about 8 billion euros trying to prove it exists. Because, if it were to exist, then a lot of other sub atomic phenomena would fall into place like a jigsaw. It would appear from today’s news stories that they have pretty much arrived at that conclusion.

What interests me, though, and much of the other media I’ve been reading, as well, is the nickname that it has acquired along the way. Given originally by the American physicist in the title of his 1993 book “The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?”, it has been rejected as a misnomer by other scientists as being misleading in regard to the particle’s ultimate importance.

For me, the name appears at first, a contradiction in terms. How can you reduce the term “god” to that of a sub-atomic particle. On the other hand it also appears to me as strangely faith affirming.  For, if, for particle physicists the way things are and function in the universe, brings them to “believe” in the existence of a tiny object yet to be discovered, why not, by the same token, is it not reasonable for the average Joe, looking around at the design and purpose in this wonderful world of ours, to believe in the existence of an intelligent God who put it all together in the first place. Even though he can’t see or measure that God by the normal rules of scientific discovery.

I’ll let Alistar McGrath tell it better than I’m doing (article below). Suffice to say that I’m glad my faith is in a personal, all loving and communicating God who created and desires a relationship with me, and has communicate His plan and purpose for time and eternity in the Bible, than in some infinitesimal particle.  

www.telegraph.co.uk/science/8956938/Higgs-boson-the-particle-of-faith.html