Year: 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

There was some exciting news last week. Scientists working at the leading edge of theoretical physics announced that they have discovered a subatomic particle that may be the elusive Higgs boson, often called the “god particle” in the popular press.

Scientists don’t like that name, as it implies that the discovery will answer some deep theological questions. It won’t, but it will help explain some important gaps in our scientific understanding. I find this fascinating, even though it can be hard to understand. The more we learn about the nature of the cosmos the stranger it seems to be. The physicist Freeman Dyson once said that the cosmos is not just stranger than we understand – it is stranger than we can understand.

However, the breakthroughs announced last week do seem to be opening up new levels of understanding. Scientists are naturally exuberant and the media is always hungry for sensational headlines. But if you read past the hype, it is clear that we have discovered something significant, even if we are not quite sure what it means. For example, Professor John Womersley, chief executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, told reporters at a briefing in London:

They have discovered a particle consistent with the Higgs boson. Scientists say it is a 5 sigma result, which means they are 99.999% sure they have found a new particle, yet they don’t know for sure what this all means.

For most of us, 99.999% is good enough, but until there is 100% certainty a careful scientist will remain cautious. Sadly, that does not stop others from feeding the atheistic agenda by suggesting that these advances in understanding are steadily chipping away at the need to believe in a Creator God. For example, Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist at Arizona State University wrote,

Far from suggesting any higher power, the discovery at CERN takes particle physics one step further toward answering the question: “Why is there something rather than nothing?” [It does this] by demonstrating the plausibility of the idea that everything we see could arise naturally from an initial state of no particles, and maybe no space, and maybe even no fixed laws — without supernatural shenanigans (cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com).

According to Krauss, the Higgs research “explains why we are here.” Sorry, but it does nothing of the kind. It is quite possible that this discovery will even deepen the mystery of the nature of the universe. This discovery, even if confirmed with 100% certainty, will certainly not be the end of physics research. For example, it probably won’t explain something as fundamental as gravity.

Physicist Lisa Randall is one of the clearer and more objective writers in this field today. She wrote,

We are poised on the edge of discovery. The biggest and most exciting experiments in particle physics and cosmology are under way and many of the world’s most talented physicists and astronomers are focused on their implications. What scientists find within the next decade could provide clues that will ultimately change our view of the fundamental makeup of matter or even of space itself—and just might provide a more comprehensive picture of the nature of reality (Knocking on Heaven’s Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World).

As has so often happened in the history of science, what may at first seem to be a conclusive experiment opens up new fields of experiment and discovery. Paul reminds us how the physical creation can show us something of God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature (Romans 1:20). Something – but not everything. That was a mistake Job made. He thought he had God all figured out, until God brought him down to earth and exposed his ignorance. “Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things?” he challenged him. “Do you have any idea how large this earth is? Do you know where Light comes from and where Darkness lives? Have you ever traveled to where snow is made, seen the vault where hail is stockpiled?” (Job 38:18-23 Message Bible).

Our understanding has advanced since then, and we might be tempted to sneer at Job’s ignorance. We do know now how large the earth is, and why we experience light and darkness. And the science of meteorology has long banished any mysteries about why it snows and hails. But the more we learn the more we find there is to learn. What the physicists are doing is fantastic, and good luck to them (providing they don’t make a “Higgs boson bomb”). But it is arrogant and foolish to suggest we have reached the end of the road of discovery and now have no need to believe in a Creator God. While this current experiment may help provide the answer as to why things in the universe have mass (weight, size and shape), it won’t answer the questions why things like the Higgs field and the Higgs boson particle exist in the first place and where they came from.

Thankfully, we don’t need a supercollider to understand the most important things we need to know about God – his unconditional love for us, and his determination to give us salvation and life with him for eternity. He showed us that in the most striking way – not with an obscure particle that needs trillion-dollar experiments to unwrap. He did it himself, coming to us in the simplest and most easily comprehensible way – as one of us, in person, face-to-face.

When, in Jesus, God the Son became human, his teachings “super collided” with the way we have chosen to live and those images or ideas of God that we have constructed for ourselves. Although at first rejected through his birth, life, death and resurrection, Jesus triumphed over all opposition, including death and evil itself, opening the way for us to understand who God is, who we are and why we are here.

With love in Christ’s service,

Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This week, Americans celebrate their national holiday, the 4th of July. On that day in 1776, a group of courageous men put their lives on the line by declaring independence from the British Empire. The Founding Fathers of the United States were men of remarkable vision, but even they could not have realized they were laying the foundation for what has become the most powerful, richest and arguably the most influential nation the world has ever seen. The United States is by any standards blessed. Never before have so many people experienced such a high standard of living and enjoyed so much freedom. I do not say that to boast. I am simply stating a fact.

The preamble to the Constitution of the United States says this: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Two and a half centuries later we still need to make progress towards that “more perfect union.” But let’s not join the doomsayers who seem to delight in pointing out anything and everything that is wrong about America, and then prophesy that we are about to be punished by an angry God, “in a few short years.” This is an unhealthy mindset based on a distorted understanding of the gospel. It also has the effect of undermining incentive to do what we can to make things better. What is the point if the nation is doomed?

Aren’t you thankful that our denomination has repudiated that approach? It does not mean we have to go to the other extreme and become Pollyannaish. We need not be blind to our nation’s faults. But as one of America’s greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln once said, “He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help.”

There is much to celebrate; much to be thankful for. (For one thing, Americans pay less for gas, and have among the lowest personal taxes of any other developed nation!) Let’s be grateful for the freedoms we have, and mindful of the price paid, in the past and today, to secure them. Although many of the Founding Fathers were not traditional Christians, they were God-fearing men, with a passionate belief in freedom. They did not get it all exactly right, but they set a course that has allowed America to develop as a nation with a deep commitment to liberty and justice. The gospel took root, and has continued to work its way through our culture – like yeast in the dough that does its work over time, sometimes unseen; often unappreciated. It is the yeast of freedom in Christ that led some to rise up against tyranny. Later others rose up against the terrible bondage of slavery. Today others rise up against sex trafficking, drugs, inner city poverty and other evils that still afflict us.

Those who are so addicted to preaching the Gospel of Gloom often quote the apostle Paul to reinforce their arguments. However, I wonder if Paul came back today, he might be pleasantly surprised. Not only at the astonishing technical progress – I have sometimes travelled farther in one day than he did in his lifetime. He would also see a society where widows and orphans have some support, slavery has been abolished, and women have rights and hold some of the most important positions in the government. These things would have been unimaginable when he wrote his epistles. Although such things are not the main thrust of the gospel, they are by-products of the Christian way of life. Perhaps Paul might actually be encouraged by the progress, although, of course, there is still a long way to go.

I am encouraged to see how many of our congregations are actively involved in community outreach programs and activities. They do this not just as a way “to get more people,” but because it is the right thing to do. Other congregations are generously supporting our summer camps and helping plant new churches both in this country and around the world. As the church of Jesus Christ who is Lord of all, we believe in the common good. So we can speak a word of hope to our government and to all society even while proclaiming that we live in a fallen world that needs the transforming grace of God.

Let us focus this 4th of July on our blessings, including the opportunities we have to serve God in a nation that at least tries to be “One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.”

With love in Christ’s service,

Joseph Tkach

P.S. NAE president Leith Anderson said it well: “Our generation is facing a long process of moral conflict, judicial disagreement and political haggling.” We see this with regard to several issues, including national debt, international trade and various social issues. One particularly controversial social issue is same-sex marriage. I am often asked what GCI teaches about this and related topics. I encourage people to read our statement at www.gci.org/aboutus/FAQ#homosexuality and two papers published by others:

1. NAE’s position paper at www.nae.net/resources/news/714-open-letter-on-marriage-and-religious-freedom.
2. Why We’re Gendered Beings…Theological Reflections on Sexual Identity, a paper by Gary Deddo posted at www.trinitystudycenter.com/topical/gender.php.

In some countries and in some states in the U.S., same-sex marriage has been legalized. GCI elders sometimes face this issue and they should know that GCI does not require them to perform any marriage when their conscience would prohibit them. However, in a few countries the laws do not give elders such freedom. Questions about specific situations can be addressed to the appropriate pastoral supervisor.