Divine plan

Imagine looking up at the sky on a clear night. Picture millions of stars glittering in the darkness. And then picture a cluster of stars forming a ring the size of fifteen moons. If you had a powerful enough telescope, that is exactly what you would see.

Scientists have just discovered the Big Ring, a circle of galaxiesA system of gas and dust and billions of stars, held together by gravity. roughly nine billion light years away. Nearby is the Giant Arc, another cluster of galaxies about the same distance away. According to current models of physics, both structures should be impossible.

One of the most important ideas in astronomyThe study of everything beyond the Earth's atmosphere. is the cosmological principle. This states that matter is spread evenly across the universe. Zoom out far enough and none of the galaxies will gather into shapes. But the Big Ring and the Giant Arc join a small list of immense structures that defy this rule.  

The ring was identified by a PhDAn abbreviation for a Doctorate of Philosophy. Students study for several years and usually do their own extensive research to gain a PhD. student called Alexia Lopez, who also found the arc in 2021. As she explained: "The Big Ring and the Giant Arc, both individually and together, gives us a big cosmological mystery as we work to understand the universe and its development."¹

This is not the only mystery in the universe. Scientists are still trying to understand black holesA region of space where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape from it, including particles and radiation. , dark matter and dark energy. Another mystery is called the Fermi Paradox: given that it is likely there are other living things in the universe, why have we found no evidence of aliens?

Perhaps the biggest mystery is why there is something rather than nothing. Most scientists agree that our universe started with the Big BangThe moment the universe came into being. It is thought that this took place in a kind of explosion from a dimensionless singularity. 14 billion years ago. For some people, this is proof that God exists.

The Kalam cosmological argument is based on the theory that whatever begins to exist must have a cause. The universe began to exist, so it must have a cause, and that cause we can call God.

As the Nobel-prize winning astronomer George Smoot pointed out: "There is no doubt that a parallel exists between the Big Bang as an event and the Christian notion of creation from nothing."

But, according to quantum mechanics - one of the most cutting-edge and confusing areas of physics - it is possible for events to happen without a cause. Even if the universe did start with the Big Bang, that might have been a random energy fluctuation, rather than a divine creator.

As Lawrence Krauss, the physicist and popular science writer, argues: "The lack of understanding of something is not evidence for God."

It may be the case that science can neither prove nor disprove God. However, the astronomer Karin Oberg thinks that science has its own fundamental beliefs just like religion. After all, "The scientific project relies on there being order and intelligibility in the universe, which is not something that science can prove that there is."

So, all scientists share the idea that the universe makes sense and merits their efforts to understand. That may not be a proof of God, but it is a kind of faith.

Is it evidence for God?

Yes: The fact that the universe has a structure, order and beginning suggests that it was created. God is the best name we have for whatever was responsible.

No: The fact that physics cannot explain everything does not mean that God exists. In fact, unexplained mysteries are the best reason for scientific research.

Or... Science can reveal some of the wonders of the universe, but cannot tell us what they mean. How we interpret these mysteries depends on our own beliefs.