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It made big news when, on July 4, 2012, scientists of the European nuclear research organization CERN announced with a 99.99 percent certainty that they had found the elusive Higgs boson, the last particle needed to confirm the theory of the Standard Model of particle physics.
"The discovery," says The Economist magazine, "puts the finishing flourish on the Standard Model, the best explanation to date for how the universe works-except in the domain of gravity, which is governed by the general theory of relativity" ("The Higgs Boson: Gotcha!" July 7, 2012, p. 71).
Of the 17 particles the theory predicted, 16 had been found. But it took decades and billions of dollars invested in the Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile circular tunnel on the border of Switzerland and France, to finally pin down this last particle-the Higgs boson.
What is also remarkable is the precision of the calculations behind the discovery. The constants of the universe, the very laws governing physics as we know it, can be stated in mathematical equations to the point where the approximate location and mass of the Higgs boson were found. Yet elation has given way to a reluctant admission-and thoughts of throwing out what's been found.
As The Economist explains: "One problem [with the Higgs discovery] is that, as it stands, the [Standard] model requires its 20 or so constants to be exactly what they are to an uncomfortable 32 decimal places . Insert different values and the upshot is nonsensical predictions, like phenomena occurring with a likelihood of more than 100%" (p. 72, emphasis added throughout).
It is mindboggling to contemplate this incredible degree of required cosmic fine-tuning. Why would scientists be "uncomfortable" with it? Because it logically leads to the best explanation of the facts-that an ultra-intelligent Mind engineered and orchestrated all of it!
In fact, most scientists today are evolutionists who won't allow the subject of God to enter the conversation. As Harvard biologist Richard Lewontin once admitted: "'We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism [rejection of the existence of anything divine or supernatural].
"It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori [presumptive] adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door" ("Billions and Billions of Demons," The New York Review, Jan. 9, 1997, p. 31).
Consequently, they have to come up with scenarios for which there is zero evidence, such as the multiverse theory. This bizarre idea envisions some type of cosmic factory spitting out a practically infinite number of randomly tuned universes to justify ours as one that just happens to have all the right properties-a universe with its governing constants calibrated to 32 decimal places! Does that sound reasonable or scientific? Of course not. It is clinging to blind faith against a Creator.
Notice how scientists are reacting to the "uncomfortable" implications of the Higgs discovery in terms of the universe's fine tuning. The Economist states: "Nature could, of course, turn out to be this fastidious. But physicists have learned to take the need for such fine-tuning, as the precision fiddling is known in the argot [special vocabulary], as a sign that something important is missing from their picture of the world. One way to look beyond the Standard Model is to question the Higgs's status as an elementary particle" (p. 72).
Yes, despite finding what they've long been looking for to verify the Standard Model, the proposal is made to pitch the Higgs boson and the Model. Why? Because, as with other findings of cosmic fine tuning, random chance is shown to be an impossible explanation- unacceptably allowing a "Divine Foot in the door."
As with other false religionists, modern scientists suppress the truth and deny reality. The Bible describes them this way:
"For God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made.
"As a result, people are without excuse. For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools . . ." (Romans 1:18-22, Holman Christian Standard Bible).
Thankfully, a few scientists have courageously faced the facts. For example, Robin Collins speaks openly about the fine-tuning of the earth this way:
"I like to use the analogy of astronauts landing on Mars and finding an enclosed biosphere, sort of like the domed structure that was built in Arizona a few years ago. At the control panel they find that all the dials for its environment are set just right for life. The oxygen ratio is perfect; the temperature is seventy degrees; the humidity is fifty percent; there's a system for replenishing the air; there are systems for producing food, generating energy, and disposing of wastes.
"Each dial has a huge range of possible settings, and you can see if you were to adjust one or more of them just a little bit, the environment would go out of whack and life would be impossible" (quoted by Lee Strobel, The Case for a Creator, 2004, p. 130).
Everything is just right for us to live comfortably on this planet, and the cosmic laws operating around us are also precisely set to make our lives physically possible.
This is clear evidence of the marvelous Designer who has set the whole system up with its amazingly finely-tuned physical laws-the Higgs boson appearing to be one of the needed particles to understand this carefully constructed cosmic jigsaw puzzle of physical properties.
All of this should be cause for great humility. As the young man Elihu challenged the patriarch Job in Job 37:16, "Do you know how the clouds are balanced, those wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?"
God has designed the great balance we see everywhere at every level. Let us all, in the words of verse 14, "stand still and consider the wondrous works of God."
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