Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider, fondly called the LHC, is the largest machine ever built.  November 8th, physicists around the world held their breath as their colleagues at the LHC accelerated some lead ions to a speed close to the speed of light and then smashed them together.  They then declared that they had witnessed a “Mini-Big Bang,” with recorded temperatures one million times hotter than the center of our sun.  They claim that this display was a recreation of what the universe must have looked like one nanosecond after the “Big Bang” that started it all.  The computer simulations of the event are dramatic, but it will take years to analyze all of the data and figure out what ,if anything, was really accomplished.  One of their stated goals is to discover the “Super Power”, the elusive “Higgs Boson” particle that holds the universe together.  

I have always been amazed at the logic behind the use of particle colliders.  Suppose that you wanted to learn how Ferraris were made, what would be the best way to do it?  I know.  Why not take a couple of nice new Ferraris and smash them together in a flat out head on collision and record the results using high speed photography.  Then, lets study all the parts that come flying off and make computer simulations based on what we observe.  If the results are not satisfactory, keep increasing the speed using rocket packs.  If we do this over and over again, eventually we will figure out how the Ferrari was made and why it goes so fast. We may even be able to postulate what the first Ferrari looked like.

On the other hand, wouldn’t it be better just to enjoy the Ferrari and make a trip to the plant and talk to the engineers who designed the car.  God created the universe.  No amount of atom smashing is going to reveal exactly how He did it.  Examining the unnatural wreckage of smashed sub-atomic particles will not lead to an accurate understanding of  the engineering that exists in creation.

Hebrews 1:3 states “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. “  (NIV)

Colossians 1:16,17 (NIV)

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, …. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.