In the PBS television documentary "The Elegant Universe," the argument was made for the strangeness of the universe reality is a lot more mysterious than we ever imagined.
As science learns more and more about the way things operate at a sub-atomic level, the more we find that the old Newtonian idea of a perfectly rational and ordered reality is not how things really work. For example, according to Quantum physics a particle might be in two locations at the same time or might arrive at a destination before it departed from its previous location, etc. Now the implication of all of this to the Christmas Nativity event is this the virgin birth of Jesus Christ can't be ruled out as scientifically impossible any more by skeptics because of the direction modern science has taken.
According to quantum physics, the universe isn't some closed system that's locked into a naturalistic loop without any possibility of divine intervention. No. Now science is showing us that at a fundamental level, reality is very unpredictable and that we can't rule out anything from happening at any time.
How did God perform the miracle of the virgin birth? Under the old paradigm, skeptics, atheists and agnostics simply ruled it out as impossible according to the laws of science. But they can't do so anymore, not with quantum physics and new developments in sub-atomic science, because at this fundamental level of reality the laws of science, as we know them, seemingly don't apply. Working at the sub-atomic level, God Almighty could easily stir into the mix the recipe for a virgin birth without much disruption at all. Or he could simply stack the statistical odds of certain particles being in one place with a different value and the result, a virgin conception in the womb of Mary.
According to quantum physics when we examine things at the smallest level particles or energy can't actually be observed but only predicted based on statistical averages. Applying this to the virgin conception in Mary, Jesus' birth is not impossible, but only a very statistically rare event. But we already knew that, as everyone will agree.
So the next time someone gives you the old, "The virgin birth of Jesus is impossible" argument, tell them about quantum physics. With God all things are possible.
Jeff Short, pastor, is a resident of Jamestown.
