4 January 2026

Scientists can only explain what happens in the beginning after a fraction of a second has past. It is the tiniest of fractions. It is so small that in everyday life it would make no difference. But this tiny fraction of time makes a big difference now. Scientists do not know what happens in the beginning!

It is a mystery to them but not to us. For at the beginning of St. John's Gospel, we  read, ‘In the beginning was the Word …’ In that fraction of a second, so small that it would make no difference to our everyday lives, there was the Word. What does this mean? Two things.

Firstly, as the writer of Genesis has written, ‘And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.’ The Word is what was spoken by God to create the heavens and the earth. His Word has power. When God speaks, something happens.

Secondly, the Word also describes what lies at the heart of the universe. It is what gives purpose and meaning to all things and wisdom and understanding to those who strive to answer these unanswerable questions whether it be scientists, theologians, poets or musicians.

What is even more exciting is that the Word which existed before time began and was evident in the first fraction of a second has been equated with God. ‘In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.’

What was in the beginning and what puzzles scientists in their efforts to explain what happened in that first, tiny, fraction of a second is the reality of God, the Word, the principles which hold the universe together and the wisdom which reveals how it all coheres.