Quantum Physics

In Romans 1:20, Paul emphasizes God’s personal attributes can be known through the observable qualities of the world around us, i.e., His creation. “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.”

But what about things that cannot be clearly seen, like subatomic particles? Newsweek science editor Sharon Begley summarized the seemingly bizarre results of some recent quantum physics experiments in the July 30, 2007 issue. When an individual particle of light is shot at a screen with two slits in it, the particle can pass through one slit or the other as you might expect, or through both slits at the same time. If one particle being in two places simultaneously wasn’t weird enough, somehow the act of observing the experiment alters whether the particle passed through one slit or two, depending on when the observation began. Begley summarized the results by quoting physicist Jeff Tollaksen: “It suggests that the universe has a destiny – a destiny that is out there and coming back to us from the future.”

The results of the experiments seem strange. But maybe God is dropping hints about His personal qualities to physicists and Newsweek readers using the light particle experiments. The Bible states “God is light” (1 John 1:5), and “Christ is all, and is in all” (Col. 3:11) without regard for size or time. The Bible is also pretty clear about the destiny of the universe, and it involves Jesus coming back to us because He is the one “who is, and who was, and who is to come” (Rev. 1:8).

God reveals His qualities in everything, from the tiniest bits of matter on the planet to His clearly seen creation. Big and small, invisible and visible, His fingerprints are all over everything, whether we look around with the naked eye or with an electron microscope, so we really will not have an excuse for not knowing Him.