Large Hypothetical Collider

We have celebrated Easter in the UK, indulging in roast lamb, chocolate eggs and family. We have been blessed with some sunny spring weather and everything feels well with the world. I am not however advocating it is the same everywhere. I know that my hometown of Morecambe, awoke to fog and an overcast sky. 

There are areas in the world, never far from our thoughts and prayers, where appalling atrocities are being played-out. Even as I type or you read, women are trafficked, immigration blights the hopes and ambition of many grovelling under the burden of organised crime, offering solutions without any questions asked, and at great risk to themselves. Literal interpretations of religious teachings are turning good, moderate people towards extreme interpretations of thought and action. Orphaned children lie on cardboard strips, sleeping in fear of being attacked in the night…

The list of man’s inhumanity to man, is long and exhaustive. If we dwelt on it for too long, we would become incapacitated by the grief of circumstance. This is why Easter is so important to the story of human endeavour, even to those who profess to have no faith. 2015 years ago, one man took on the inequity of all of mankind in one final act that put to rest, man’s rebellion against Gods justice. What does this actually mean? 

When a scientist proposes a theory or forms a hypothesis, they will conduct a range of experiments to collect data. The conditions to the experiment are controlled, in order that the findings can be corroborated as fact. “Within certain conditions, we would expect the same reaction to occur repeatedly.”  With the human experiment, it is our repetition of inhumane actions, producing injustice and inequality that is particular to people everywhere. Jesus paid for the consequences of our mistakes with his life and will continue to do so, for all who seek him for answers to life. 

Humanities continuing self-harm is the problem; Jesus is the solution.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is one such piece of scientific equipment, designed to search for solutions to our questions. Created to shoot photons through a controlled conduit, it is designed to measure the impact of the collision between photons being fired in opposite directions, and is a marvellous piece of technology. Repetition of the experiment, hopefully results in similar events, enabling scientists to corroborate their data to find meaningful answers to the origin question.

The LHC’s main purpose, veiled in the pursuit of science, is to look for evidence that there is nothing more to humanity than the actions and reactions of particle physics and the biochemistry necessary for life. Since its inception, it has consumed $13.25 billion (Forbes, 2012) to find the Higgs Boson alone and has an operating costs of $1 billion per year. There are spin off benefits to human technological endeavour, for those rich enough to capitalise on the LHC but for many in the world, who live in abject poverty, they will never benefit from any technological advancements that might enhance our modern lives. 

Of course, we can convince ourselves theoretically at least, of parallel dimensions that lower the odds of our universe being created for life as we know it or indeed, believe that our existence came from nothing because the alternative of a creator, is unpalatable. Scientist seem to transform themselves into prophetic messengers, proclaiming the truth of quantum mechanics. However, it takes the electrical energy of Grenoble, the city that neighbours CERN on the Swiss/French border, to power the protons to the speed of light necessary for colliding them, to produce the results the scientists hope for. Are we to believe that energy, far in excess of that needed to power CERN, created the elements of life from nothing? 

"It is often the case that in the pursuit of an ideal or theory that we hold to as truth, that we can become blinkered by the conditions to which we seek that truth, believing in our own rhetoric, rather than what is clear for all others to see."

In life, we exist together in community due to a set of absolutes, perhaps personified in the bill of human rights or maybe put more simply in tablets of stone, as seen in the Jewish ten commandments. In the bill of human rights, everyone has a right to believe in God, to worship in peaceful coexistence with his fellow man. A right to education, political freedom, sanitation, shelter, water, food. Nations and people groups can find common ground in these ideals that preserve our way of life. It is with horror then, when we read of the statements made by multinational companies, such as those who deprive local communities of fresh spring water for example, that water is not a human right, even though it essential for life.

Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck in an article defending his companies use of water in drought ridden areas, argued in the Guardian, Feb 2013 (http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/nestle-peter-brabeck-attitude-water-change-stewardship) for private business to manage and distribute the water supplies in a form of good stewardship of a dwindling resource. In the face of a growing population, he sees 98.5% of global water as being misused and wasted… In fact, his business’ use of 1.5% of the planets fresh water supply, is only a small fraction of what is available and wasted globally. He argues for an increased awareness for looking at water use globally, rather than focusing on local concerns. This will help humanity to focus on the bigger picture of water waste; removing the focus from Nestles own water bottling endeavours, in areas of the world where drought exists, in order to pay a continuing dividend to his shareholders.

This warped sense of philanthropic work is often from some sense of inner self-consciousness, driven perhaps from a sense of guilt or indeed, shame. The wealthy patrons of Victorian and Georgian Britain, had a similar sense of self-consciousness, building a great number or orphanages, schools, hospitals and mental health institutions, on the back of the profits they received from slavery and the exploits of a once great empire. 

I believe this to be the case because for each of us, there lies a sense of self-consciousness that goes far beyond the pursuit of scientific knowledge, religion or philanthropy. Science certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on absolute truth, although it likes to think so, whereas business and enterprise, cannot dictate to those with nothing, how the wealth generated in commerce should be distributed. Similarly, religious ritual flatters only the curiosity of man’s own esteem, rather than honour God with any meaningful benefits to society.

So we return again to the actions of one man, a Galilean living in the historical region of Palestine. There is so much history in this area of the world because of the traces of old allegiances between nations or those that still harbour hostility, which still affects the modern world today. Understanding ancient near eastern history can be fascinating, as it covers the fate of the Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Philistines, Canaanites, Arab, Babylonian, Mesopotamian and Egyptian peoples. Woven within this tapestry of nations are the Hebrew people, known as the Israelites. All of these Bronze Age civilisations survived under various vassal treaties made to the one dominant people group, namely the Assyrians, who rose up to conquer and subjugate peoples through taxation, enslavement and military domination.

When Jesus arrived on the scene, the Roman Empire was at its height. The empire was geographically connected via a variety of trade routes, to the whole Mediterranean region. It could access Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Israel. Superior military might, organisational prudence and supplies infrastructure, helped the Romans to rule with few contemporaries and they were ruthless. The purpose being, like the Assyrians before them, to control trade routes and maximise the creation of wealth. 

You can see a similarity here to the multinationals, who seize the assets of indigenous populations through their aggressive financial and political acquisition of utilities and these ancient empires. Culturally, the Roman and Hebrew peoples couldn’t be further apart. King Herod the Great, acted as a ruler to the civilian population in order that he could retain his status through navigating the societal idiosyncrasies the Hebrew’s exhibited, alongside the Jewish rulers, the high priest and the teachers of the law. This ensured a level of coexistence that was a cinder-pot waiting to be lit.

The Romans held the ultimate federal authority. As long as the taxes due to Caesar, for his governance and protection were paid, Pontius Pilate had the mandate to govern Judea from Jerusalem, as he saw fit. Within the grand history of the region, this delicately balanced life experience, was a commonly observed pattern attributed to occupying forces.

For the Jew however, they lived in hope for a King known in Hebrew as Messiah, who would abolish Roman rule and return Israel to the splendour of the nation ruled by King David and his son Solomon. It is believed that Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ disciples, belonged to a group of zealots who wanted to accelerate the process of ridding Israel of Roman rule. In Jesus, they found a man who spoke his mind, challenged the established order and appeared to be a political and religious activist, preparing for the arrival of a prophesied future kingdom, even if he hadn't got any military backing.

Coincidentally, the zealots’ actions led to the destruction of the 2^nd Temple in Jerusalem in AD70, fulfilling the prophecy of the man the Jewish leaders had put to death, for claiming to be the promised Messiah. But there was more to Jesus than what happened on that fateful night when he was betrayed, as can be seen here:

As Jesus was leaving the Temple that day, one of his disciples said, “Teacher, look at these magnificent buildings! Look at the impressive stones in the walls.” Jesus replied, “Yes, look at these great buildings. But they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!” Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives across the valley from the Temple. Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to him privately and asked him, “Tell us, when all this will happen? What sign will show us that these things are about to be fulfilled?”

Jesus replied, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. You will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in many parts of the world, as well as famines. But this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.” (Mark 13:1-8, NLT)

It should be appreciated that what Jesus prophesied, regarding the temple in Jerusalem, must also be true of the later predictions made of nations going to war against nation and the natural disasters that endanger human life. We often see images of drought in Africa or typhoons in Malaysia or earthquakes in Guatemala and hear people question why a loving and compassionate God would allow such things? 

The real answer to these types of questions is that for most in the west, we have free will to choose where we want to settle and there are those that cannot, such as those fleeing war or pushed off fertile farming land through corruption, who end up in these places of natural disaster. There is also the matter of how God chose to pass judgement on Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden, right at the start of civilisation. Adam and Eve were to work the land for their survival but as part of God’s judgment, it wasn’t just humanities ability to make the right ethical choices that was broken by Adam's sin, it was also the land on which we depended.

I was watching the Christopher Nolan movie ‘Interstellar’, and was taken by a line in the film about how we perceive what we feel was right, “love is the only constant” states Brand in response to pressure regarding the scientific choices that had to be made. To her Hollywood science fiction mind, gravity and time could change because of the effect of the black hole, distorting time and space. Her love for her partner drove her beyond reason, to a faith in something within her that was unchanging. Love is the one thing that humans are capable of perceiving, which transcends time and space. Jesus is that kind of love. 

Another quote I enjoyed from the film was by the sinister Dr. Mann: “Evolution has yet to transcend that simple barrier. We can care deeply - selflessly - about those we know, but that empathy rarely extends beyond our line of sight.” For Jesus, it was always about what was to come at the end of time. In the movie, humanity was destined to destruction due to overpopulation and it seemed all was hopeless, as global warming began to take hold. The saviour of the situation, Cooper, had the ability to look beyond his conscious reasoning, sacrificing himself for the good of humanity, whilst transcending beyond his own reality, into a state of infinite realities, where he could influence and direct his family’s survival. 

If you have ever studied the Bible, you might notice so many aspects of an omnipresent God within this multidimensional story. If we saw God as the main character in our lives, we can see that our own time line has an infinite number of possibilities, with God influencing our interactions and the circumstances we have to endure, to bring about our good. His is not merely the subtle alterations of gravity, as Cooper learned of, but a rebirth. God sent himself, in the form of his son Jesus, to reconcile the world to himself through an act of sacrifice.

In the movie, it appears that the science behind the survival of humanity was un-workable… the physicists needed to see beyond their reality to be certain that an alternative theory was possible. The same types of experiments are being conducted in CERN with the LHC, to see whether dark matter exists or whether parallel or multidimensional space could exist. The story line in the film, moved from science fiction into the metaphysical philosophy of causation and response, leading to actions that dictate the future. 

For Christians, we understand God to be the source of life; the guiding force behind humanity. Why? We have seen his son hanging on a cross. It was only when the central character of Interstellar, Cooper, was able to send telemetry data back through the black hole by sacrificing himself, that humanity was able to save itself. So too with Jesus. His death on the cross and resurrection to new life, shows the way in which we can all be saved. His sacrifice is enough to set us all free.

Jesus was born a man so that as a human, he could combat with earthly desire, want and need, whilst staying true to his divinity and calling. He conquered within himself, the desire to do his own ‘thing’ and instead, chose to follow the path his father laid out before him. We can see this path throughout history. I watched Ridley Scott’s ‘Exodus – Gods and kings’ and found it to be enjoyable, if rather Hollywood. They had got certain elements spot on. One scene, where they sacrifice a bird to examine it’s entrails for divine guidance, was true to pagan worship of deities. These practices were a mixture of naturalistic and metaphysical ritual where sacrifice to the gods, could result in victory.

What we do know is that the pagan priests and priestess’ would sacrifice animals, measure internal organs, splash blood around, burn effigies or animals, boil or burn babies and even engage in sexual practices with the temple priestess, all to elicit a positive response to whichever god they were placating. The usual rule of thumb was that victory meant you had done everything correctly, where failure was a result of offending one of more gods. The film shows this quite well, contrasting that with Yahweh, the Hebrew God. What is fascinating is that each plague inflicted on the Egyptians and Pharaoh, challenged each deity, from the god of the river Nile, through to fertility gods and even the Pharaoh himself, who was considered to be a demi-god.

Pagan prophecy shown in the movie, was built upon an almanac of tradition, superstition and symbolic ritual. Certain rituals and conditions had to be met for prophetic fortune to flourish, otherwise certain calamites would befall anyone who neglected to follow the path that led to success. These traditions were adhered to, often constraining decision making until certain conditions were exhibited through naturalism, sorcery or divination. Pagan prophets were largely in the employ of rich rulers like Pharaoh, whose status was enhanced by the number of practitioners they possessed. Being possessed is the key word in the ritual. Pagan prophets would employ a great many techniques to elicit a supernatural encounter, being taken-over by whatever substance they were trying to command.

Israelite prophets like that which Moses became, retained their humanity unlike pagan prophets, and were filled and inspired by the Spirit of God. These came in the form of visions or pictures impressed upon our imagination and through hearing the voice of God. This meant that the Hebrew God was relational, revealing his heart to the prophet and compelling them to exhort Gods decrees to his people. A prophet came in the form of an oracle, foretelling a current or present danger; a summons to listen; an accusation of misplaced loyalty; a declaration of intention and a summary judgement. Like the pagan prophets, these might be acted out by the prophet, in order to make a symbolic witness.

What we do see in conclusion to the plagues in Egypt is that God, Yahweh, protects his people through their sacrifice of an animal. The lamb’s blood symbolically cleansed each household because the lamb itself was pure. Jesus became the sacrificial lamb for all humanity because of his purity; his sinless life bore in his human body, the marks of all humanity. His death on the cross meant that the rebellious aims of humanity were also put to death in his purity, through the blood that he shed, the suffering he endured and the complete nature of his humiliation at the hands of civilised men. The religious leaders disowned and disrespected his teaching, saying he could only cast out demons and restore people to full health because Jesus got his power from the prince of demons (Matthew 12:24). 

In Pontius Pilate, we have a representative of military and political significance in a region of the world that was at the trading point for many nations. His initial indecisiveness about what to do with Jesus, makes Pilate send him to Herod the Great for judgement; the same king who tried to have him killed at his birth. Unable to pronounce the death penalty, Herod sends Jesus back to Pilate for summary judgement. Uncomfortable politically in his role as governor, he takes on the religious rulers in a political tussle over prisoner parole, which opens the door to allow the public to determine, Jesus’ fate. We know that the temple guard had considerable influence over the people congregating in the courtyard, calling for Jesus’ crucifixion.

Jesus was killed at the Passover festival, a time when the Jews remembered their history, where God saved the people from oppression in Egypt. Unlike Moses, who saved a nation, Jesus sets all of humanity free, through his selfless act. Hebrew prophecy encompassed forth-tellers who proclaimed how we ought to act and how we should honour God in our day-to-day lives and witness. There were also fore-tellers who proclaimed the future implications for the choices the Israelites made as a nation, and the consequences for not adhering to the covenant agreement that they made with God in response to his protection, to honour the poor, seek after justice, and be obedient to Yahweh. Jesus came to fulfill this role affirming who he was. Yet the temple authorities saw his teaching as rebellious. They saw Jesus undermining the power that they held in society, so plotted to kill him.

Both types of prophecy reveals God speaking through the one who was called to be his mouthpiece. Not only was Jesus able to speak prophetically, he healed the sick, helped the blind see, the deaf to hear, and the dead to rise from the grave. Prophecy was designed to encourage the people to remain true to God, as the prophet was seen as God’s mouthpiece, extolling the people of God to seek after righteousness, rather than selfish ambition. Jesus personified this in the life he lived and the justice and mercy of God he expressed in his teaching. God would also reward the fruit of man’s obedience to his law, namely through the blessing of the nation in finding rest from the advance of any enemy. Prophets called people back to God, especially when they have strayed away from what he willed for them, hence sending Jesus to us.

Cooper, in Interstellar, became more than himself, in order to save the things that he loved, his family. We are not to know whether he truly died in the black hole. We know that his oxygen was almost exhausted and that one hour of time for him became seven on earth. Without knowing all of the information, we join the dots to believe that he survived being sucked through the worm hole and exited on the same timeline he had been on, even if everyone else had aged considerably. 

The science behind CERN will be used to proselytize the physicists views on the true nature of the universe and the origins of life. The data gleaned from crashing the protons together will be considered proof enough, that their quest to find the truth to the 'origin' question has well and truly been laid to rest. No more superstitious talk of God and creator: we have learned all there is to know about life as we know it. Science fiction is a great outlet for anyone considering the origins of the universe and the nature of humanity. The one truth that Christians can know with a certainty that those at CERN can only speculate on, is that the answers to the ‘Why?’ questions, have been fully met in Jesus.

History shows that from Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, Moses… all these patriarchs point to Jesus. Jesus heals all of the ailments that Moses unleashed on the Egyptians, symbolising his authority to put straight, all that had gone before him. History reveals God’s story, worked out through men and women like you and I, made complete in Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus is prophet, priest and King. His life fulfilled many of the prophecies spoken about him, while he prophesied to all who had ears to hear, about his destiny and the future of humanity.

As priest, he stands before God, interceding on our behalf for mercy to all those who lay down their own lives at the cross and turn away from the sin within them. As King, Jesus has the authority to judge both those alive and those that have gone before us. We live in a time when people choose to follow their own desires, rather than that which God would wish for them, rejecting the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection, in favour of their own logic which serves their own need.

So don’t be like Pilate, brimming with authority yet indecisive, or like the chief priest and temple authorities, who felt that they knew all there was to know about God, yet missed the truth that stood before them. Or even like the scientist, who renounces any knowledge that cannot be tested, in favour of those experiments conducted within the confines of their own understanding. Jesus was a real person who existed in our own reality. Open your mind and your heart to the voice of God. Ask him to speak prophetically to you today. Speaking words of a love that invades all the darkness in our soul, transforming us in his glorious light. Pick up a Bible and read about his life in the gospel story – seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you (Matthew 7:7).

So what about the Large Hadron Collider? Will it find parallel realities or inter-dimensional time shifts? This is what the apostle Peter has to say:

But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment…

And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction. (2 Peter 3:3-16, NLT)

Time is not infinite; there is a beginning and there will be an end. Jesus said that he is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13). He holds the key to an eternal life, bound together in love. Reach out and claim what Jesus offers us from the cross today.