God said He created the universe. Science says the universe should not exist. And yet it does indeed exist. And you, the reader, along with me and those very scientists, are living proof that it does.
The article opens with –
The universe as we know it should not exist, scientists working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, have said.
The universe as we know it should not exist” And yet, it does.
After performing the most precise experiments on antiprotons that have ever been carried out, researchers have discovered a symmetry in nature that they say just shouldn’t be possible.
Next, we have a symmetry in nature that shouldn’t exist. And yet, it does.
One of the big questions about the universe is how the first matter formed after the Big Bang. Because particles and antiparticles annihilate one another when they come into contact, if there were exactly equal measures of both, the universe wouldn’t exist—at least not in the form we see it today. As such, there must be an imbalance between particles and antiparticles, even if it is only by the tiniest fraction.
There must be an imbalance between particles and antiparticles. Seems like we have a “requirement” here. And yet, …
But this is not the case. All experiments designed to find this asymmetry have come up blank. This is also true of the latest, which were recently carried out at CERN by an international team of researchers.
Like I said – and yet, that “requirement” isn’t present.
And the article continues –
“All of our observations find a complete symmetry between matter and antimatter, which is why the universe should not actually exist,” first author Christian Smorra, from Japan’s RIKEN institute, said in a statement.
Once again – the universe should not exist. And yet, it does.
The article concludes –
After finding no asymmetry between particles and antiparticles, the researchers will now work to develop even higher-precision measurements of protons and antiprotons to improve on the latest findings. “An asymmetry must exist here somewhere but we simply do not understand where the difference is. What is the source of the symmetry break?” Smorra said.
And so, since scientists know how the universe works, they will continue to work to find the imbalance that must exist. The asymmetry must be there – so they need to find the source of the break.
Why must asymmetry exist?
The last two sentences of the article are very interesting.
“An asymmetry must exist here somewhere but we simply do not understand where the difference is. What is the source of the symmetry break?”
There’s a belief that an asymmetry must exist – that there cannot be the same number of particles and antiparticles. That’s from the first sentence. But the second sentence – it asks what is the source of the asymmetry break.
Finding the source of the asymmetry break – that’s not exactly the same as saying the asymmetry exists. It could just as well be that something is preventing the particles and antiparticles from annihilating each other. Why must it be that there is an asymmetry?
Arrogance
How about arrogance as the answer to why there must be an asymmetry?
The very first line in this article is – God said He created the universe.
And yet, from everything that follows, one might get the impression that we – people – created the universe. These scientists are saying that something must exist in the universe or else the universe should not exist. That sounds like they know the way the universe should be. The way things must exist. The only way that can happen is if they created it. That’s arrogance. An incredible amount of arrogance.
Job
You may be familiar with the Biblical account of Job. He was far from arrogant. But even with Job, when he wanted to talk to God about what was happening to him – here’s the answer Job received –
The LORD Speaks – Job 38
Job 38:1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
Job 38:2 “Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?
Job 38:3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Job 38:5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
Job 38:6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
Job 38:7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?”
And that was just the beginning. It continued for many more verses.
Afterwards, the saga continues –
Job 40:1 The LORD said to Job:
Job 40:2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”
Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD:
Job 40:4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
Job 40:5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”
Job 40:6 Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm:
Job 40:7 “Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
Job 40:8 “Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?”
In that last verse – we get to the heart of the matter between Job and God – justice. If you don’t remember, Job wanted to talk to God about what was happening to him – the loss of his possessions as well as his sons and daughters. Who wouldn’t want to talk to God about that?
More than justice
While it would be easy, and convenient, to think this is a lesson only about justice – I submit there’s much more. Looking at the very long list of things that God gave Job in His response, I’d say there are quite a few things other than justice that might bring about a response from God along the lines of – who are you to question me?
Now, before we go any further, I want to skip to the end to show what the final word was from God.
Epilogue
Job 42:7 After the LORD had said these things to Job , he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
Job 42:10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
Job 42:12 The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
Job 42:16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so he died, old and full of years.
The thing here is that, as bad as God’s response to Job seems, it really wasn’t. In everything that happened, Job is the one who did and said the right things. While Job was losing everything, the Bible records –
Job 1:22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
So it’s possible to speak what’s on our minds. And it’s not like God doesn’t already know what we’re thinking. However, having said that, we also need to learn a lesson from what Job’s friends said. And what Job said.
And what is that lesson?
Job 2:9 His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
Job 2:10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
It’s about knowing our place. We feel what we feel. But that doesn’t mean we have the right to put ourselves above God. Job accepts that good and bad will both come. However, he also wants to talk to God about the bad. All the while, Job recognizes that God is above him.
As Job’s last words to God say –
Job 42:1 Then Job replied to the LORD:
Job 42:2 “I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
Job 42:3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
Job 42:4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
Job 42:5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
Job 42:6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
What about scientists?
There are scientists who believe in God. However, there are also those who don’t. From the words of this article, the impression (not necessarily the reality) of the situation is that the scientists are either placing themselves above God – or don’t believe in Him. As such, we’ll treat it that way – nothing personal – just the perception from what the article says, from their own words.
You may remember this passage that we looked at earlier –
Job 38:1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
Job 38:2 “Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?
Job 38:3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
You may also remember this extract from the article –
One of the big questions about the universe is how the first matter formed after the Big Bang. Because particles and antiparticles annihilate one another when they come into contact, if there were exactly equal measures of both, the universe wouldn’t exist—at least not in the form we see it today. As such, there must be an imbalance between particles and antiparticles, even if it is only by the tiniest fraction.
We’re talking about the same time period here – the beginning.
And, we have the scientists telling us what happened at the beginning. How matter was formed. The characteristics of that matter. How we have an impossible situation.
Can you picture it – God asking them –
Job 38:2 “Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?
Job 38:3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
The scientists make some very bold statements. Like they need to develop better tools to study what’s happening, because reality must be the way they say it is – that there’s an imbalance between particles and antiparticles. The possibility that maybe something else, under certain circumstances, prevents some particles and antiparticles from annihilating each other doesn’t appear to even be an option.
One can’t help but wonder – why not? Lot’s of things have been discovered that were initially not considered. Lots of things we thought we “knew” have turned out to not be true, and therefore were not “known”, And yet, scientists continue to claim knowledge that they don’t really have.
Arrogance revisited
There’s a word for that. A word that we looked at earlier. Arrogance.
The Bible talks about arrogance. Here are some instances.
Arrogance and pride
1Sa 2:3 “Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the LORD is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.
Earlier, I said we cannot know from the article whether these scientists believe in God. This is probably true for most scientists. They won’t all come out and mention God every time they speak. Even if they do indicate a belief in God, it may not get included in any quotes from them. And it’s not like most of them are famous enough to Google them and find out what, if any, religion they believe in. I tried it with this article, and found nothing on either person.
However, regardless of that, two potential issues remain. One is for the scientists and the other is for those of us who read their finding.
the scientists
No matter what actually gets quoted, what they truly feel about the relative position between them and God is important. It’s the difference between getting the response that Job got, and hearing something like what Jesus says to the unbelievers after death – ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
us
Anyone who reads what comes from science is potentially affected by it. Personally, I think that the more we learn, the more evidence there is that God must exist. But many go the opposite direction – insisting that God doesn’t exist and it’s up to us (them) to learn what does control everything.
The “god” of science
1Sa 15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king.”
It sounds very much like some scientists not only ignore the words of God – but they substitute science for God. In a very real sense, science becomes their “god” – a false god. Even if they don’t explicitly reject God – although some have – this kind of thought does mean they have rejected God.
The same is true for us, if / when we believe what science says over what God’s word says.
How all this arrogance and pride ends
Isa 2:17 The arrogance of man will be brought low
and the pride of men humbled;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
Isa 2:18 and the idols will totally disappear.
It’s not a good ending when we choose the “knowledge” of science over the wisdom of God. It’s like elevating those who should be the “students” over the One who very much wants to be the “teacher”. For me – I find all of this fascinating, and look very much forward to learning from God – who created me and everything else.
How God reacts to the arrogance and pride of followers of the false idol called science
To be sure, I’m not saying this applies to everyone who is interested in science – otherwise I’d have to include myself. I recognize the difference between me and God – between what I find fascinating in this life and what I hope to learn the truth about in the next life. My “god” is God – not science or any other idol / false god.
God’s Wrath Against Mankind
Ro 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Ro 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
It’s been a while since I’ve used this passage, but I feel it’s time to bring it up again. To me, it feels like we’ve grown so much since the days of the Bible. Going all the way back to the beginning, God has shown people what was necessary for us to know Him. As we learned more – keeping in mind that knowledge is from God – He has shown us more.
While explanations from thousands of years ago aren’t good enough for today – that doesn’t mean they were wrong. It means that’s what people of the time could process with the knowledge they had at that time. If God had explained things thousands of years ago – in terms of what we know today – the information would have been worthless to those people. It would have been worthless to us as well – because how is someone who understands nothing of what they heard supposed to record it for those who will come later? But none of this means what God told those people thousands of years ago was wrong.
knowledge from God versus corruption of knowledge from Satan
What we need to recognize is that knowledge comes from God – but Satan corrupts that knowledge. The thing is, Satan is like a one-trick pony. He keeps corrupting knowledge in the same way. Let’s see if you can get it –
Ge 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
Notice – God did not forbid Adam from eating from the tree of the knowledge – he was free to eat from any tree. However, God did say that Adam would surely die if he did eat from it. The Hebrew word translated as “die” was actually repeated – to let Adam know that this was something totally new and drastic.
Today, it’s common to say God told Adam and Eve to not eat from the tree – that it was forbidden. In fact – it appears that Eve wasn’t present – not even created yet! Further – this tree wasn’t forbidden – they were free to eat from any tree – but it did come with one huge warning about what would happen if Adam did eat from it.
Enter Satan –
Ge 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Ge 3:2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”
Ge 3:4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
In the beginning – Satan told Eve that eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (although he didn’t actually state the name of the tree) would make her like God.
If there’s any difference at all today, it’s along the line of something my father felt – since we had him in our lives, then we didn’t need God. Today, Satan’s words would be that we can take the place of God. It’s not being like God any more – it’s Satan telling us we can succeed where he failed – overthrowing God.
Conclusion
After all this – let’s be honest. Isn’t that exactly what’s happening here? While some (many?) will deny the existence of Satan and his band of fallen angel demons – this thought that we can be God / replace God – it’s got to come from somewhere.
If the number of people who claim to be Christians actually believe what the Bible says – including about the fall, Satan, the fallen Angels, Etc – then there should be a lot of people who have a concern about what I just wrote.
However, in an article on slate.com, we see the following chart that comes from a number of Gallup polls taken between 1982 and 2014.
Given that polls also show over 80% of Americans claim to be Christian – these numbers are shocking.
Even the top one – God or some other intelligent design was involved in the origin of humans.
If more than 80% of Americans are really Christian – then how is it that less than 70% of Americans believe that either God or some other force created humans?
That number should be way over 68%! It should be at least as high as the number of Christians. In fact, it should be higher, since Christians alone should drive that number over 80% – and then those who believe some some other force is involved should make it even higher than that.
And yet – it didn’t happen.
Should you happen to be one of those “missing” Christians who doesn’t believe God created us, may I recommend one of my recent articles to you. It’s titled The Problem of Inerrancy (in The Bible) – and it asks questions about what do we really believe when we think the Bible has errors / mistakes? Believing that God wasn’t involved in creating everything – including us – means we either believe the Bible has a mistake or is flat out wrong.
That reminds me of this – one more time –
Job 38:2 “Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?
Job 38:3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
However, unlike the conversation between Job and God – the one between you and God may not go quite so well. Of course – there is time to change, since if you’re reading this – you’re also still alive.
The full msn.com article is available here. [sorry, the article has been removed from msn.com]