God's Way
Who is God?
The Scientific Perspective
This going to be a summary of the key points that show scientific evidence of God as the creator of the universe. See the Apologetics section for a more in-depth analysis of this topic.
Scientific Fact #1 – The universe had a definite beginning.
Science has figured out that the universe had a definite beginning, commonly referred to as the Big Bang. Let’s set aside the question of how long ago that happened and just focus on this scientific fact.
Scientific Fact #2 – The 1st Law of Thermodynamics.
The 1st law of thermodynamics states that if heat is recognized as a form of energy, then the total energy of a system plus its surroundings is conserved; in other words, the total energy of the universe remains constant. Although energy can be exchanged between system and surroundings, it can’t be created or destroyed.
Scientific Fact #3 – The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics.
The 2nd law of thermodynamics states that the order of any system is always decreasing, also known as entropy. Both of these laws have to be met for any process to function.
When looking at these three facts together, science knows that 1) all the energy that makes up this universe has existed eternally. Science also knows 2) the physical universe had a definite beginning. Science has proven that 3) the organization of the energy of the universe is moving from order to disorder.
Scientific Fact #4 – The Universe is fine tuned for life.
The universe reflects an intricate design that is perfect for life. There are a number of forces that are tuned exactly where they need to be to allow life to exist. Consider from a scientific perspective the following.
- If the strong nuclear force were slightly more powerful, then hydrogen would not exist, which is an essential element of life. If it was slightly weaker, then hydrogen would be the only element that existed.
- If the electromagnetic force were just slightly stronger or weaker, atomic bonds, and thus complex molecules, could not form.
- If the weak nuclear force were slightly different, then either there would not be enough helium to generate heavy elements in stars, or stars would burn out too quickly and supernova explosions could not scatter heavy elements across the universe.
- If the value of the gravitational constant were slightly larger, one consequence would be that stars would become too hot and burn out too quickly. If it were smaller, stars would never burn at all and heavy elements would not be produced.
These laws and constants of the universe are finely tuned and are an example of a highly specified complexity in nature. They are complex in that their values and settings are highly unlikely to be random or accidental. They are specified in such a way that they match the specific requirements needed for life.
The following gives you a sense of the degree of fine-tuning that must go into some of these values to yield a universe that can have life.
- Gravitational constant: 1 part in 10^34
- Electromagnetic force versus force of gravity: 1 part in 10^37
- Cosmological constant: 1 part in 10^120
- Mass density of universe: 1 part in 10^59
- Expansion rate of universe: 1 part in 10^55
- Initial entropy: 1 part in 10^ (10^123)
In science, when it comes to the probabilities of randomness being the cause, anything greater than 10^50 is considered “absurd”. Notice the last item in the list, the initial entropy of the universe? This shows an astonishing degree of fine-tuning and is what the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics is all about.
What this shows is an incredibly precise, purposeful care and planning that went into the design of the laws and constants of the universe, which speaks unmistakably to intelligent design.
A Nobel laureate in physics Charles Townes put it this way:
Intelligent design, as one sees it from a scientific point of view, seems to be quite real. This is a very special universe: it’s remarkable that it came out just this way. If the laws of physics weren’t just the way they are, we couldn’t be here at all. The sun couldn’t be there, the laws of gravity and nuclear laws and magnetic theory, quantum mechanics, and so on have to be just the way they are for us to be here.
All of this means that an eternal energy created the physical universe in a highly organized fashion at a specific time in the past. Doesn’t that sound like God to you? Science has clearly shown that evolution has no scientific foundation. Evolution cannot answer the question of how the universe started. The Big Bang in and of itself doesn’t answer the question of what caused the big bang. Evolution states something came from nothing, which violates the laws of thermodynamics. Science only supports the God hypothesis. See the Apologetics section for a more detailed analysis of this topic.
