Light and the Omnipresence of God

Most people, when they hear the word light, think of the yellow glow from a lamp or the sun. That is visible light, and it is a startlingly small fraction of what physicists call the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) spectrum. The full spectrum spans seven categories: radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays. Visible light occupies a sliver of the spectrum so thin that, if the whole spectrum were a road trip from Los Angeles to New York, visible light would account for less than one inch of the journey.

All of these are light. All of them are everywhere. As you read this sentence, your body is being passed through, moment by moment, by radio waves from a radio station, microwaves from your neighbor’s WiFi, infrared from every warm object in the room, visible light from the screen or window, and ultraviolet from any sunlight in reach. The earth’s atmosphere mercifully filters out most X-rays and gamma rays, but they exist throughout the universe in vast quantities.

More remarkable still: light is not merely present everywhere; it is actively involved in everything. The branch of quantum physics called quantum electrodynamics (QED) has shown, with experiments accurate to twelve decimal places, that every chemical bond, every interaction of matter with matter, every firing synapse in your brain right now, is mediated by photons of electromagnetic energy. Light is what holds the brick wall together. Light is what holds your hand together. Light is what allows the words you are reading to be perceived. Light is the universal glue.

Quantum Electrodynamics, in One Paragraph

Every atom is a nucleus orbited by electrons. Electrons carry electromagnetic charge. When atoms bond — when two hydrogen atoms join an oxygen to make water, when sodium binds with chlorine to make salt — it is their electrons that do the joining, and the joining requires a constant exchange of photons (individual particles of light). Photons mediate the electromagnetic force. No photons, no bonds. No bonds, no matter. No matter, no universe. QED has been tested in millions of experiments. It is the most accurately verified theory in the history of science.

Active vs. Passive Omnipresence

Zetting draws a careful distinction. Passive omnipresence means something is present everywhere but not necessarily doing anything in any given place. Active omnipresence means it is present everywhere and is involved in every event occurring there. Light, as QED has shown, is actively omnipresent throughout the universe. The God of Psalm 139 is actively omnipresent throughout the universe. The physical universe has, as it were, a scaled model of the divine attribute hardwired into the way it works.

The Brick Wall, the Hand, and the Spoon

You cannot walk through a brick wall, but not for the reason most people assume. There is, in fact, enormous empty space inside every atom — if the nucleus were a golf ball, the nearest electron would orbit three miles away. What stops you is not the matter of the bricks; it is the electromagnetic force between your electrons and theirs. Light, in the form of exchanged photons, is what makes the wall solid. Light is what makes your hand solid. As you press your palms together, the resistance you feel is photon exchange. The whole world is, in this strict physical sense, held together by light. Compare Colossians 1:17 (in him all things hold together). And John 8:12 (I am the light of the world). The Logos who holds all things together is the Light who fills all things.