Bishop's letters: February 04 +Graham : How big is God

It is a great achievement to land a craft on Mars and take pictures of the planet's surface. Perhaps we will find that there has been life on the planet.

But let's put this in perspective. There are billions of stars; the universe is huge. This planet, Earth, is one tiny part of it.

How, then, do we react to this? Does it matter that we are so small and know so little about the whole scope of things? Does what happens on earth have any relation at all to what might be happening elsewhere?

One response is to say we simply don't know. Certainly, we don't want to commit ourselves to theories that we cannot prove. Perhaps we do better just getting on with caring for this planet and its future, without worrying about the others.

Is there anything in this huge universe that suggests that human beings could be important? Simply this: scientists know that for life to evolve as we know it required conditions in the universe so exact that the chances against it happening were billions of billions to one against. It is so unlikely as to make every scientist ponder the cause. Perhaps man was, after all, the intended goal. And, if so, in whose mind?

The apparent importance and goal of the creation of human beings is now called the anthropic principle by scientists - the principle that the universe seems to be fine-tuned so that human life would develop.

Perhaps modern day scientists are rediscovering what the Bible writers always believed: that we are to see the universe as God's creation and human beings, made in God's image, as the pinnacle of a magnificent work of God. His existence, says St. Paul, is obvious in what has been made. (Genesis 1 and Romans 1. v.20).

'I don't believe in God. I believe in science', a 16 year old said to me in one of our schools. It is strange how schools have caught this idea that science has disproved God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those scientists who study the universe are only too aware of how little they understand. Hawking, who has certainly thought long and hard about God, concludes his famous book, A Brief History of Time, with the words:

'if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone.. Then we shall all.. be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of reason - for then we would know the mind of God'.

If the universe is from God, God is clearly far greater than our comprehension. If we are moved to believe, then awe and wonder must go hand in hand with faith.

Graham Dow
Bishop of Carlisle