Plainsong Farm
This morning brings news of the discovery of a subatomic particle that resembles the Higgs boson. I last studied physics in 1986, so I confess that I am not entirely clear on the magnitude of this discovery. As I read the New York Times article, these two sentences stood out:
Confirmation of the Higgs boson or something very like it would constitute a rendezvous with destiny for a generation of physicists who have believed in the boson for half a century without ever seeing it.
And it reaffirms a grand view of a universe ruled by simple and elegant and symmetrical laws, but in which everything interesting in it, such as ourselves, is due to flaws or breaks in that symmetry.
Point #1: A generation of physicists have believed in the boson for fifty years with no visual evidence. As a person of faith, I know something about how that feels. I didn’t realize that the disciplines of science made room for belief without evidence, but I’m not surprised. The human condition seems to require that we hold faith in that which is invisible: God, love, the Higgs boson.
Point #2: The idea that the universe coheres with elegance, but we human beings are a break in its symmetry, is a nice fit with Christianity. The Christian story teaches:
- An invisible Creator brought all things into being in a universe of beauty and order;
- Human beings, because we wanted to act as if we were God, through our own choice created disorder;
- Our Creator did not abandon us, but inspired people (prophets, sages) to teach a way to live in alignment with all creation;
- When we persisted in our poor choices, our Creator loved us so much that He took on human form to teach us personally;
- Flawed and broken people that we are, we killed Him. But, because He is Life itself, He rose from the dead.
- He now invites us to rise from the living death of an ordinary broken life, and become agents of grace in a world enslaved to sin and death.
Good religion tells the truth about life and provides a way for people to pass wisdom from generation to generation. For instance, the Christian story basically sums up these facts of life:
- Human beings like to pretend we have more wisdom and power than we really do
- We seem to be the only disharmonious and destructive element in an otherwise elegant and sustainable world
- We need a remedy for this situation which is greater than ourselves
Seems like the new physics reinforces these truths… maybe I should be paying closer attention!
7/5/12 UPDATE: This post, which I expected to fade quickly into obscurity, is showing up in search results for “Higgs boson Christianity” and the like. If you found this post through Google, welcome!
I’m noticing in the comments that there is a presupposition among some that the claims of religion and the claims of science are mutually exclusive. I think that’s a false opposition. If you’d like to read about the respectful co-existence of science and religion, I recommend this interview with the Rev. Dr. Rodney Holder, an astrophysicist and priest.
Worth sharing?
16 Responses to The Higgs Boson and Christian Theology
Good to meet you! I’m Nurya…
Praying Day by Day
Mission St. Clare's Daily Office - Online or Download
Any one of those scientists would have let go of their “belief” in the Higgs Boson if presented with independently verifiable proof it was incorrect.
The bible clearly teaches you to accept its wild, grandiose claims no matter what proof or evidence is presented, in fact, it claims quite clearly that any dissenting viewpoint is of the devil and will endanger one’s eternal soul.
I agree that scientists would abandon belief in the Higgs boson if presented with proof it was incorrect, and did not intend to claim otherwise.
However, I must insist that the Bible was not written and should not be used as a blunt instrument. It has been kept alive by communities quite willing to question it for two thousand (New Testament) to six thousand (Old Testament) years because it is useful for the vitality of human community from generation to generation. The Bible contains internal inconsistencies and multiple viewpoints. Faithful Christians continue to disagree about its meaning and impact, just as scientists continue to disagree as they search for truth, and they always have.
This is what the Bible says about itself: “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3)
Nurya – of course, science didn’t accept the Higgs Boson particle AT ALL until it was conclusively observed. It is now as good as conclusive, so it now has rightfully earned its place as a valid observation and an explanatory factor for the beginnings of the universe.
You’ve acted on Jesus’ coming as if it were real (e.g. praying to God as if he were there), but no such conclusive evidence exists, not even from the Bible. There’s a reason why religion-based behaviors are a prickly issue in the world: because no religion actually has the evidence. Science is accepted everywhere because it actually touts evidence that applies to all.
Thanks for the comment. What about the evidence of personal experience of the presence of God? I understand that a psychologist might dismiss that as emotion without consequence, but doesn’t that view reflect personal bias just as much as a religious view reflects personal bias? In other words, the practice of religion reflects life’s mysteries more than life’s certainties.
It is wonderful that science is accepted everywhere because it touts evidence that applies to all, and I am a fan of the scientific method. The problem is only that science is excellent at telling us how the world works, not so excellent at providing wisdom for our place in it. (Witness, for example, the development of nuclear weapons: a fine hour for science, but not a fine hour for humanity.) It is only through dialogue between science and religion (which starts with mutual respect) that humanity will be able to face the challenges of the 21st century.
Ahum, personal experience doesn’t count as evidence unless it can be quantified and repeated by other parties in a manner suited to the theory governing it. A personal revelation has zero value on its own.
Well, I understand that is the view of the scientific method. And it works very well for the purposes of science. But if Abraham had disregarded his call from God because he was the only one who received it, 6000 years of Western Civilization would not have occurred. We would have neither Judaism, Christianity, nor Islam. We would not have the 10 Commandments which are foundational for every western legal system. So once again I say: science and religion need to be in dialogue with one another. Science finds facts about existence. Religion shapes our human societal response to those facts.
Point #1 shows a misunderstanding of science and the scientific process. You say, “I didn’t realize that the disciplines of science made room for belief without evidence…” The Higgs boson was not something taken on blind faith. It was predicted based on a mountain of verifiable evidence called “The Standard Model of Particle Physics.” So, it is nothing like religion, which has no verifiable evidence except personal faith. You also say “The human condition seems to require that we hold faith in that which is invisible: God, love, the Higgs boson.” Again, you are wrong. Subatomic particles are invisible, but their existence can be detected in various ways by scientists who conduct research in the quantum world. They aren’t blindly putting their faith into something they hope exists. It might be good to ask yourself whether you have the integrity and courage to follow the truth wherever it will lead, if you ever conclude that religion is false and harmful to human progress.
Thanks for the comment. I do realize that there was a mathematical model in place. Precisely so! The Higgs boson was a working hypothesis which garnered the dedication of massive resources (people’s lives, their dedication, and their funds) because its existence was predicated, but not yet discovered. I disagree that Christianity requires “blindly putting… faith into something [you] hope exists.” The comments on this thread are helping me recognize that in many ways Christianity is also a working hypothesis to which people dedicate their lives and in the process discover its validity.
I was raised agnostic/atheist, spent many years as an atheist, and converted to Christianity as an adult at some personal cost. I did so because, I hope, I had the integrity and courage to follow the truth wherever it led. I am fairly confident that the same qualities will not be soon leading me in the opposite direction. However, I am confident that intolerance and disrespect of religion, a means of organizing human society since human society has existed, is harmful to human progress. I ask you to consider whether you may be misunderstanding religion and the religious process.
Scientists didn’t believe in the Higgs Bosun on faith. It was mathematically proven, but unobserved. Now it has been observed vindicating the mathematical proof.
You make an error when interpreting ‘not seeing it’ with ‘no evidence for it’. I have plenty of evidence for things I have never seen.
@Nurya: I totally agree that the Bible should be used and discussed amongst Christians for teaching, correction and training in righteousness. But the Bible does not have contradictions. How can all the books in the Bible be inspired by God and yet have internal inconsistencies or viewpoints?
The Bible is inspired by God, but recorded by human beings. This is why it can have internal inconsistencies or viewpoints. So, for example, the Gospel of Matthew records the first witnesses to the resurrection as Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. The Gospel of John only records one Mary as being present in the garden. The Gospel of Matthew records an earthquake at the time of the resurrection; no other gospel does. This is just one example of the Bible’s differences in recording. What’s the main point? The RESURRECTION! The rest is detail.
By the time these gospels were written down, many years after the event, there were different historical memories of the same events. The fact that the Bible itself preserves more than one version of Jesus’ life, death, and ministry indicates that the Christian tradition is okay with that. Christians who insist that the Bible does not have contradictions often are looking for a Bible which is internally consistent in order that it can function as the sole authority in their lives.
The idea that the Bible is the sole authority for Christians is relatively new in the faith, only about 500 years old. The Protestant Reformation, in rejecting the authority of the Roman Catholic Church, rejected tradition and the church hierarchy as authorities alongside Scripture. Prior to that, Scripture had been understood as a holy text which required the use of reason and tradition and a clergy hierarchy for interpretation. The Protestant Reformation brought the idea of “Sola Scriptura” (scripture alone). This works better in theory than it does in practice, because the Bible was recorded by many people over thousands of years and reflects that reality.
One of the reasons I am an Episcopalian is that our tradition teaches the authority of Scripture alongside both church tradition and reason. We recognize that Scripture contains all things necessary for salvation, and we also recognize that we need to apply our minds to discern it rightly.
Who ever believes there is ‘no physical evidence’ to support the existance of God, has evidently never undertaken any andvanced study on the topic of phrophecy.
The probabilty in which all the phrophecies came to be true (just of the first coming of Christ!), are far lower than any uncertainty in any physical proof we have of anything, yet it happened.
There is more physical proof for the existance of God than there is for anything else in. The maths speaks for itself.
the fact that the probability of the Higgs Boson has been possibly been discovered unanswered questions why is there a Higgs Boson and who is behind the Higgs Boson ? These are questions for theologians. I wish scientists accept there are some questions outside their remit but with some fundamental scientists will never admit this.
Hello.
I know there is already a scientific research concerning the Higgs field and orthodox Christian theology.
Research done recently by physicists and theologians in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and is going to be published in the coming months.
The further science knowledge about the physical universe and its complexity, the more my faith in a creator is solidified. Where those who seek explanation see amazing artifacts of the physical universe, I see genius. In terms of cell biology, one could use examples such as flagella motors, and other such obvious examples of physical engineering as evidence for a creator. I suppose one could look at it like this: Knowing that there is a company that manufactures automobiles under the brand name “Ferrari,” I am rather excited when I see one, but since I know Ferrari manufactures these cars, I am not surprised when I see one. However, imagine taking a leisurely stroll through the woods 1,000 years ago, and stumbling upon one of these fine pieces of machinery. Would the observer be remiss in assuming this machine had a creator?
As science cannot explain the absolute origin of all things we can only rely on one simple logical idea when attempting to unlock the mysteries of the unknown nature of the physical universe. What is, (even the Higgs boson) began… As the Christian religion defines God as the creator of all things; when science finds a “new thing” Christians will never see it as evidence against a creator. We will see it as one more operational component adding to the complexity of the greatest example of engineering genius.