Over the past couple of weeks I've heard much in the news and read much on the Internet about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator complex, intended to collide opposing beams of protons with a whole lot of energy.

I know that all sounds very sciencey (if there is such a word). As Scientists and Physicists began to ramp up the machine a few weeks ago they encountered a problem that set the experiment back several months.

I watched ten to fifteen minutes of 60 Minutes on CBS last night and saw Steve Kroft interview one of the scientists, Bob Stanek, who is working on the LHC. I was intrigued by Stanek's answers to some of Kroft's questions. Stanek indicated that it's in humans' interest (instinct) to know everything, and that's a good reason to perform the LHC experiments.

Stanek went on to point out to Kroft that it was through scientific experimentation that we could now direct the photons of light into an apparatus that would allow us to film two people talking and then electronically send it into people's homes and their televisions. In a similar way, the LHC experiments might take something like THAT exponentially further; not just the possibility of controlling photons to produce a camera image, but controlling the other subatomic particles to produce something like human tele-transporting; similar to Scotty beaming up Captain Kirk on Star Trek.

All of this sounds rather fantastic, very sci-fi like. However, when we begin looking at what is motivating Scientists and Physicists, and everything that is behind the LHC, and we observe it through a set of spiritual lenses, it all doesn't seem so fantastic.  

The basic purpose of the LHC is to create an environment where two beams of subatomic particles called hadrons travel in opposite directions inside a circular (17 mile long) accelerator, gaining energy with each lap; when the two beams collide; Physicists believe it will supposedly recreate the conditions just after the Big Bang that created the Universe.

Keep in mind that the LHC is the largest machine in the world...and inside of it, theoretically speaking, is the emptiest space in the Solar System...except for maybe the collective brains of all the politicians in Washington. The LHC will be the hottest spot in the galaxy; more than  100,000 times hotter than the sun; yet at the same time it will be colder than outer space.

Scientists and Physicists hope to observe what is called the Higgs boson, a hypothetical particle predicted to exist?it's the only particle not yet observed by Scientists. And here's the BIG DEAL; the Higgs boson is known as "the God particle."

In essence Scientists and Physicists want to discover what and how our Universe was created, what holds it all together and what keeps it all going.

Rather than believing God created everything, holds all things together and keeps it all going, Scientists and Physicists want to prove that it isn't God doing all that, but the natural laws of science.

All of this is eerily similar to Babel of the Bible.

The Tower of Babel wasa structure spoken of in Genesis 11. It was an enormous tower meant to be the crowning achievement of the city of Babel (Babylon). Babel was a city that united humanity against God; everybody spoke a single language, and it was the first city to be built after the Noah's Flood.

The whole point of building the Tower of Babel was described as this; "let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." (Genesis 11:4) God's response was "But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.'" (Genesis 11:5)

The Tower of Babel wasn't built for the worship/praise of God, but was for the glory of man.

Similarly, the LHC was constructed, and is being launched, not for the worship of God, especially since most Scientists and Physicists don't acknowledge the existence of God, but for the glory of man. Man wants to see what man is capable of, in discovering something other than God as the reason for the existence of the Universe. In doing so, man can take credit for it, rather than God?and nothing will be impossible for them.

In the process of shaking their fists in the face of God, Scientists and Physicists want to understand how and why the Universe organized itself into what it did; and they believe they can do that by colliding two beams of protons together in hopes of recreating the conditions of what the universe was like nanoseconds after it began.

Collectively, there are 9000 Physicists from around the world working on the LHC; men and women from Europe, America, Israel, Syria, Canada and many other countries. This too sounds eerily similar to the construction of the Tower of Babel. These Scientists and Physicists hope by smashing pieces of matter together, the LHC might reveal forces that wrote the rules for everything, and answers the most basic of questions; why is the Universe as it is.

The Bible tells us the reason why the Universe is as it is?it's all to reflect the glory of God.

One scientist was quoted in National Geographic as saying, "We have intellectual curiosity; we need to understand the mechanisms of life and the universe." Another scientist, George Smoot was quoted as saying, "?every day I go to work I'm making a bet that the universe is simple, symmetric, and aesthetically pleasing?a universe that we humans, with our limited perspective, will someday understand." Which, to me, sounds a whole lot like Psalm 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

In a very sciencey way, the God particle (aka the Higgs boson) could be the field that encompasses all space; the God particle is what creates/produces mass. Earlier scientific research in similar areas has helped to produce our iPods and laptop computers.

Albert Einstein spent the last two decades of his life searching for a Unified Field Theory?Something that unites all the physical laws of the universe into One; general relativity that governs gravity and the large scale structure of the universe, and quantum theory that rules the subatomic world. This is what the Scientists and Physicists working on the LHC are hoping to achieve.

There are scientific opponents to the LHC theorizing everything from equipment malfunctions to the creation of miniature black holes that could theoretically swallow the Earth. Scientist and non-Scientist point to the fact that in March of 2007 a near calamity happened during a test of the LHC when a multi-ton magnet all but exploded. That event, in their opinion, coupled with other unpredictable elements and occurrences are reason enough not to continue to pursue experimenting with the LHC.

Of course the religious community has also produced its proponents and opponents to the LHC, making statements that humans shouldn't try and play God.

However, to the student of Scripture, we shouldn't be too worried about a miniature black hole developing and swallowing the Earth. We know that the Earth is going to end with something far more dramatic and traumatic. It will be a seven year process known as the Tribulation; when men really will find out what the Universe is made of; What holds it all together and What keeps it all going.