What is it made of?

As a curious person, I often ask the question, "What is that made of?" Today's blog will take us on a journey as we ask this question about plastic. One of the simplest forms of plastic is polyethylene. The chemical formula for this molecule is (C2H4)nH2. The type of polyethylene varies with the value of n.

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So, this plastic is made up of carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms. Carbon atoms are made of six neutrons, 6 protons, and 6 electrons while hydrogen atoms are made of one proton and one electron.

 

Neutrons are made of two "up" quarks and one "down" quark while protons are made of one "up" quark and two "down" quarks. Electrons are made of . . . well . . . electrons. At this point, we believe electrons to be indivisible quantum particles, just like "up," "down," and other types of quarks. On the other hand, another theory is that all of these elementary particles would be better modeled as vibrating strings. But we will save the discussion of that theory for another day.

Researchers at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Cern are discovering that quarks can interact and form intermediary groupings of two, three, and four quarks. Recently a particular particle containing four quarks was discovered by analyzing the products of multiple collisions in the LHC. So, the next time someone asks you the component parts of something, ask them how far down they would like to go. This universe continues to inspire awe in the one who created it.

If There Is No God

If there is no God, then all that exists is time and chance acting on matter. If this is true then the difference between your thoughts and mine correspond to the difference between shaking up a bottle of Mountain Dew and a bottle of Dr. Pepper. You simply fizz atheistically and I fizz theistically. This means that you do not hold to atheism because it is true , but rather because of a series of chemical reactions . . . . Morality, tragedy, and sorrow are equally evanescent. They are all empty sensations created by the chemical reactions of the brain, in turn created by too much pizza the night before. If there is no God, then all abstractions are chemical epiphenomena, like swamp gas over fetid water. This means that we have no reason for assigning truth and falsity to the chemical fizz we call reasoning or right and wrong to the irrational reaction we call morality. If no God, mankind is a set of bi-pedal carbon units of mostly water. And nothing else.
From a debate between Farrell Till and Douglas Wilson. See the transcript here. 

Resurrection Sunday

Resurrection Sunday or Easter Sunday is the most important day of the church calendar. It is the Sunday that sets all Sundays apart as a day to worship God. The first century Christians rejoiced that Jesus had risen from the dead on the first day of the week and celebrated his death, burial, and resurrection every Sunday after that. Every Easter Sunday they would proclaim this truth to one another with a traditional Easter greeting saying, "He is risen;" and answering with, "He is risen indeed!"

On the morning of the resurrection there were many who wished to dispute the resurrection so that they might justify the execution of Jesus and continue in their disregard for the man who is God in the flesh. Yet, no one, at that time, or in the centuries to follow, was able to produce his body. He is alive, alive, alive forevermore. In this culture that finds it so hard to believe in miracles it is important that we continue to proclaim the miracle of the resurrection. In a world that describes the awesome creation of the universe as a chance occurrence, we must speak another word. In a world that sees molecules, atoms, quarks, and Higgs Bosons but cannot see the miracle of how it all holds together in such a way that sustains life, consciousness, and free will, we must announce the miracle of life and the miracle of new life that flows out of the resurrection. Jesus is the new man, the first born of creation. We may follow after him into a new life, a new step in the development of humankind. He is risen! He is risen indeed!