By Krislyn Placide
Nature enthusiasts delight in the breathtaking expanse of a night sky, teeming with stars, away from artificial lights, with clear skies and no fog . . . far from the noises of city life. Some might call this a kind of “religious” experience.
We all tend to marvel at such miraculous artistry, which leads some of us to ponder the origins of life. How did the universe come into existence? What is the meaning and purpose of it all? Why are we here?
There are many worldviews that attempt to answer these questions, but they hold conflicting views. So, not all of them can be true. We can use the lens of science to analyze the two main camps of thought as to the origin of the universe: Naturalism and Intelligent Design (also known as Creationism).
Creationists and many scientists agree on the matter of whether the universe began to exist. In his essay, “The Beginning of Time,” Physicist Stephen Hawking wrote, “All the evidence seems to indicate that the universe has not existed forever, but that it had a beginning, about 15-billion years ago.” 1 (Though this question of how long the universe has existed is up for debate, that topic will not be addressed in this article.)
Being an atheist himself, Hawking explained why some preferred the steady-state theory in which the universe didn’t have a beginning but was rather eternal. “Many people were unhappy with the idea that the universe had a beginning, because it seemed to imply the existence of a supernatural being who created the universe,” he said. “They preferred to believe that the universe, and the human race, had existed forever.”
Nature enthusiasts delight in the breathtaking expanse of a night sky, teeming with stars, away from artificial lights, with clear skies and no fog . . . far from the noises of city life. Some might call this a kind of “religious” experience.
We all tend to marvel at such miraculous artistry, which leads some of us to ponder the origins of life. How did the universe come into existence? What is the meaning and purpose of it all? Why are we here?
There are many worldviews that attempt to answer these questions, but they hold conflicting views. So, not all of them can be true. We can use the lens of science to analyze the two main camps of thought as to the origin of the universe: Naturalism and Intelligent Design (also known as Creationism).
Creationists and many scientists agree on the matter of whether the universe began to exist. In his essay, “The Beginning of Time,” Physicist Stephen Hawking wrote, “All the evidence seems to indicate that the universe has not existed forever, but that it had a beginning, about 15-billion years ago.” 1 (Though this question of how long the universe has existed is up for debate, that topic will not be addressed in this article.)
Being an atheist himself, Hawking explained why some preferred the steady-state theory in which the universe didn’t have a beginning but was rather eternal. “Many people were unhappy with the idea that the universe had a beginning, because it seemed to imply the existence of a supernatural being who created the universe,” he said. “They preferred to believe that the universe, and the human race, had existed forever.”
A Perfectly Fine-Tuned Universe
This video, “The Fine Tuning of the Universe,” explains that these conditions are called the fundamental constants and quantities of the universe: https://youtu.be/EE76nwimuT0.
“Scientists have come to the shocking realization that each of these numbers has been carefully dialed to an astonishingly precise value, a value that falls within an exceedingly narrow life-permitting range,” it states. “If any of these numbers were altered within a hair’s breadth, no physical, interactive life of any kind could exist anywhere.”5
We see that the creation of the universe reflects intelligence. You don’t have to believe that intelligence created the universe, but if you open a textbook on calculus or physics, don’t you assume that an intelligent author created it? It seems highly probable that intelligence is behind all these “finely-tuned” properties necessary for life to exist in our universe.
The energy levels in the carbon atom, the rate of expansion of the universe, the ratio of the nuclear strong force to the electromagnetic strong force are exactly where they need to be for life to have emerged. Physicist Paul Davies noted that this is the same accuracy a marksman would need to hit a coin at the far side of the observable universe, 20 billion light years away! I wouldn’t bet on any marksman to achieve that level of accuracy, unless it was an all-powerful, all-knowing one.
Another physicist, Sir Roger Penrose, calculated that the creator’s aim had to be accurate to one-part-in-10 to the power of 10¹²³, a number for which there aren’t enough particles in the universe to write out numerically.6
So, what can we conclude? It’s far more logical that the universe was created by an intelligent, infinite being than to have spontaneously created itself.
Who is this Creator? Throughout the ages, many men have claimed to be god. But there is only one God who came to be a man and to show us the way. His name is Jesus Christ. There have been many religious leaders, but only one who rose from the dead. Pay attention to that religious leader.
Christianity invites us to know this Creator personally by hearing what he has to say in his Word, the Bible. If you want to know the one who sparked the miracle of existence—and very intentionally formed you in your mother’s womb—continue to seek the truth about God.
Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” We believe this to be the authoritative, reliable Word of God, and we are happy to point you to him.
Notes
- Stephen Hawking, “The Beginning of Time,” Stephen Hawking Academic Lectures, http://www.hawking.org.uk/the-beginning-of-time.html.
- William Lane Craig, “The Kalam Cosmological Argument,” Reasonable Faith, https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/popular-writings/existence-nature-of-god/the-kalam-cosmological-argument/.
- Paul Sutter, “What Triggered the Big Bang? It’s Complicated (Op-Ed),” Space.com, November 23, 2015, https://www.space.com/31192-what-triggered-the-big-bang.html.
- Ravi Zacharias, Beyond Opinion: Living the Faith We Defend (Thomas Nelson, 2010), 107.
- “The Fine Tuning of the Universe,” https://youtu.be/EE76nwimuT0.
- Zacharias, Beyond Opinion, 90.
Disclaimer: All views expressed by those associated with this ministry or on our platforms do not necessarily represent the opinions of Women in Apologetics, Inc. or its individual team members.