You may want to discuss this on a physics forum. I don’t think the findings of quantum physics imply what you think they do. The fluctuations appear to be related to whether a particle is existing as itself or, at some other point, as merely a wave in something larger which includes the apparatus that isolates and demonstrates its properties. What I’m saying basically is that it shows the workings of matter to be the opposite of what you are saying here. But, I’m not a physicist and have enough trouble keeping up to date in my area.
I used to have a cat. Now it lives with my fathers. When I first knew it, it was so small that I could held it in one of my palms. It changed everyday! But I recognized it and it recognized me. It developed certain habits, and it keeps those habits after some years. If I tell you that it is the same cat that I knew years ago, this is what I mean. When I see it again, it responds to my calling and does the same kind of things it did before. It is the same cat, though it has changed.
There’s a good book by Brian Cox, the British pop physicist (although I’d presume he’d baulk at the term): amazon.com/Quantum-Universe-Everything-that-happen-ebook/dp/B005PVLGIE
Nature is awesome, just as the Creator made it.
Why do you think the physical makeup of a relic is of any consequence to its use as a sacramental? It has no power in and of itself. Do any of those subatomic comings and goings have any impact on what a material object is?Well from what I understand about physics, subatomic particles come and go out of existence all the time. Who knows if they are the same particles or not. So I am basically wondering if Catholics are required to believe that relics always have the same atomic particles, because otherwise it is not really materially related to a saint
If it is not really the fingernail of the saint, why would it still be a relic?
How can the subatomic comings and goings change the fingernail into someone else’s fingernail? Or a non-fingernail?If it is not really the fingernail of the saint, why would it still be a relic?
Conservation laws still apply. If one proton is replaced with another proton with the same position, momentum, angular momentum, etc., no conservation law is violated, and furthermore no one can tell the difference. So some essence remains intact.Well from what I understand about physics, subatomic particles come and go out of existence all the time. Who knows if they are the same particles or not. So I am basically wondering if Catholics are required to believe that relics always have the same atomic particles, because otherwise it is not really materially related to a saint
Your understanding, which I believe is incorrect or at least incomplete, seems to be that the essence of a relic is in its particles. There is more to an object than its particles. Its structure, that is, the connections, forces, and interactions between particles, would be at least as important, and that remains unchanged even if the particles are replaced.
It would not matter if the particles are rearranged or changed. If we perceive that it is a relic, and we venerate that relic because of our faith, then God honors our perception for the sake of our faith. God can affect changes in material. The bread becomes the Body, the wine becomes the Blood. Jesus was alive, then He was dead, then He was alive. Everything changes. The only thing that remains the same is God.
) But there is no conflict between QM and Catholic spirituality. Relics may be filled with virtual particles which have fundamental uncertainty, but the essence of the Relics is there all the sameJohn Polkington has written a few books on the subject of physics. He is both a physicist and a priest, so he has a firm grasp on both theology and the physical sciences.
It is not evident that the comings and goings of the subatomic particles would actually result in the change that you are describing. What evidence is there the atoms are replaced in this process?