Physicists have discovered what has been called the “God Particle.” It is essential, they say, to discovering the universe itself. It is said to be the cornerstone of our understanding of space, time, and matter. What is this God Particle?
It has taken dozens of years and billions of dollars to discover what is called the God Particle. It may be the greatest indicator ever of the existence of Higgs boson. Now, what is the Higgs boson you may ask? The Higgs boson is the subatomic particle that up to now, has been theoretical. This subatomic particle is thought to be the explanation for the formation of essential elements in the universe like protons, electrons, and neutrons. Fermilab theorist Joseph Lykken believes it might explain how the universe got here in the first place. But then we could ask anther question, how did the Higgs boson or God Particle get here? It certainly could not have created itself.
Rob Roser is the lead researcher at the Fermilab, an atom smasher in Chicago, and he said that particle physicists think they are extremely close to discovering this subatomic particle. Researchers are seeing “the footprints and the shadow of the object” without actually seeing it in the physical sense. What must be understood is that it has not conclusively settled the quest for the long sought after Higgs boson, but it’s about as close as they have ever been.
The God Particle
Physicists have said that the God Particle has all but been proven to exist. It’s like seeing a footprint in the sand without seeing the foot that left it. This subatomic particle, the so-called God Particle, is understood to be what gives all matter in the universe its size and its shape. Physicists are attempting to see why matter has mass and why such matter and mass combines with gravity to give it weightiness. It is like finding an answer to Newton’s discovery of gravity and seeing an object fall to confirm it, but the God Particle has not actually been seen by human eyes yet. It’s like someone saying that they can hear the echo but can’t find the source of it. Researchers are using the comparison of finding the footprints of a dinosaur and seeing its shadow but not seeing the dinosaur itself. That makes it as extremely close to a confirmation as you can get.
It is important to note that researchers are cautious and do not want to use the word “discovery” because seeing is believing and they can not show concrete evidence of this subatomic particle quite yet. The term God Particle is not being used by physicists but only by layman because it relates to the essential formation of elements that make up the universe and how they interact and interrelate with each other. Researchers will not say that the Higgs boson (or God Particle) is 100% proven and why physicists are refraining from calling it a true discovery. Scientists keep using the word “cautious” because establishing their findings as conclusive proof could still be tremendously difficult.
What is the Significance?
Physicists believe that this subatomic particle may explain why the universe is here in the first place, although they are not saying that it was the cause of the universe or the cause of matter itself. For example, we could see an infinite regression like: Where did matter come from? Did it come from subatomic particles? Then where did the subatomic particles come from? How did invisible subatomic particles create matter? What was the original cause of these subatomic particles? If someday scientists finally do say they have conclusively proven (or seen) the responsible subatomic particle (called the God Particle), this does not prove that the universe created itself or that it was self-caused or self-created because that is a self-contradictory term. If the universe had created itself, then it had to be, before it was, and thus must have been in a state of being already. Even invisible subatomic particles have to obey the Law of Causality…that is they could not have created themselves without a cause.
The Invisible Makes the Visible
God is spirit and spirit is invisible and I find it interesting that this subatomic particle has been called the God Particle which came from Nobel physicist Leon Lederman‘s 1993 book, The God Particle: If the Universe if the Answer, What is the Question? Physicists, not surprisingly, hate calling it the God Particle because it attributes the particle to the existence and cause of God. God as Creator, has already declared in His Word that “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6) because “he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” (Psalm 33:9).
God sees no controversy in this subatomic particle “footprint” because He has declared, “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him” (Col 1:16). As Paul wrote in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse.” Indeed, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3).
Christians already understand that “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge” (Psalm 19:1-2). Do we really believe that this is news to Christians that what exists at the subatomic level is unseen by human eyes? No, this is already recorded in the Word of God: “By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen” (Heb 11:3). Indeed, all particles are of God and the heaven and earth declare it, so that they are without excuse (Rom 1:20).
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