#64: Does Science Point to God?
Last month I shared a dialogue I have with non-believing friends. I won't repeat it hear (see footnote [1]) but I end it by stating that the "evidence of God can be seen in history, archeology, philosophy, worldviews, science, mathematics, etc." This list represents what we apologists call a cumulative case argument for the existence of God. Someone may not find any one of the arguments convincing, but the cumulative effect should cause someone to, at least, pause and consider the overall plausibility of theism. I also stated that I must be prepared to discuss any one of the topics in the list since I will likely be asked to do so.
This month I briefly discuss another one of the topics in my list: science. Since science is a broad area, I'll highlight one topic - cosmology - and an associated apologetic argument: the fine-tuning of the universe. This argument points to intelligence behind the cosmos; that is, an intellect that must reside outside of our universe. Of course, such a supernatural intelligence can be inferred to be God. This is just one example of much scientific evidence that suggests the existence of a Creator [2].
Our greatest physicists, including Galileo, Newton, Einstein, and Hawking, accurately described our universe in cosmological equations. You may recognize some of these from your school days: Newton's law of universal gravitation, the second law of thermodynamics, and general and special relativity (even if you don't remember many details about them!).
These equations all have what are called constants. Constants are numbers that, when calculated very, very precisely, make the equations accurate descriptors of the structure, motion, etc. of the cosmos. As we'll see in the short video below, if these numbers differ by just an infinitesimal amount, our universe does not exist as we know it (e.g., life is not possible), or at all. Like the non-believing scientist we discussed last month, this is amazingly "unreasonable", especially with respect to his non-biblical worldview. Why is it that we can formulate mathematical equations that describe our physical world so accurately? Is that just an accident?
For a definition and overview of the fine-tuning argument, watch this excellent video from the Reasonable Faith ministry (~6 minutes).
As I stated last month, the Biblical worldview is true because it corresponds to reality. We've looked at mathematics (last month) and science as evidence of God; next month we'll examine another topic on my dialogue list.
As Christians we can be very confident of our faith - not only in our hearts, but in our minds. There is a rational and evidential basis for Christianity. If we are familiar with it, we can use it in both discipleship and evangelism.
In Christ, Doug
Academic Director, Apologetics On Mission
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." Matthew 22:37
[1] "Let's imagine, just for a moment, that the God of the Bible exists." My non-believing friends usually say, "OK", knowing they're not granting me anything. "Now, if the God of the Bible exists, he created this universe - this earth - as the Bible says, right?" They may be a little suspicious at this point but they usually allow me to continue. "Ok", they say again. "So, if God created the world, wouldn't you think his fingerprints are all over it?" My increasingly suspicious friends may no longer verbalize their agreement but they usually don't stop me or start arguing. And even if they appear to want to question me, I quickly say, "Well they are! God's fingerprints are everywhere!"
[2] Other scientific arguments that point to the existence of God include the information basis for life and the standard cosmological model of the universe (the "Big Bang").