03 Dec Truth #3: There Are Four Questions Science Can’t Answer
There are four questions that science can’t answer that add to my conviction that God exists.
First, how did something come from nothing?
We dealt with that question two weeks ago, so I won’t go into detail on that question now, but I include it here, in part, because when you see all four unanswerable questions together in one place, it multiplies the impact.
The consensus among scientists is that before the “Big Bang”, there was nothing. The Bang happened, and now there was something. But explaining how something came from nothing is beyond the ability of science.
Someone has said, “Modern science is based on the principle: ‘Give us one free miracle and we’ll explain the rest.’ The free miracle is the appearance of all the mass and energy in the universe, and all the laws that govern it, in a single instance from nothing.”
That grand leap of faith, that strange impulse of science to attempt to build everything on nothing, without any evidence, convinces me that God is the best explanation for why there is something rather than nothing.
Second, how did life come from non-life?
Assuming the Big Bang is accurate, the bang only yielded matter and energy. But it doesn’t begin to answer the question of how you get life from non-life. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that there was any kind of a gradual process that produced life from non-life. Nor have all our subsequent scientific experiments yielded the first idea of how to produce life from non-life.
The best science can do is postulate that, given enough time, anything can happen, and so somehow something happened in the primordial sludge that produced life. Along with the belief that something came from nothing, science asks us for a second miracle, and takes a second grand leap of faith to propose that life came from non-life, in spite of the fact that there is no scientific evidence to explain it.
Third, how did consciousness come from non-consciousness?
Suppose we give science those two miracles: something came from nothing and life came from non-life. So, now we have life, but on a very primitive scale. Single-cell bacteria, perhaps. How did we get from bacteria to conscious thought?
John Hagelin, a renown quantum physicist has said, “There is a deep philosophical problem surrounding how you get consciousness out of a hunk of meat.” The hunk of meat, of course, is the brain. Pure secularists believe that reality consists of nothing but whirling molecules. They believe the brain is nothing but a mass of whirling molecules, and that, therefore, it is difficult to make the jump from whirling molecules to consciousness.
The problem is so profound that some secularists even go so far as to deny the reality of consciousness. Yet that position seems transparently preposterous. It takes a conscious person to deny consciousness.
It seems to align with what George Orwell once said: “There are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them.”
So, explaining how consciousness comes from non-consciousness is a third question science cannot answer, and a third miracle they want us to give them.
Fourth, how does transcendence come from non-transcendence?
By transcendence, we mean, rising above normal physical experience.
In this case, it means, if we give science three miracles…
- the miracle of something coming from nothing
- the miracle of life coming from non-life
- the miracle of consciousness coming from non-consciousness…
…science still has no explanation for how conscious animal life rose from mere instinct and biological pre-programming to a self-reflective human mind.
Even the lowest life forms have brains and central nervous systems. But how does something like that become like the mind of Mozart, or Leonardo da Vinci, or Shakespeare. How do we account for our moral and aesthetic sense, our search for meaning and purpose? How does it explain our appreciation for what is true, good and beautiful?
How does it explain humans’ longing to know who we are, why we are here, and where we are going? And more, how does that rise to give a concept of God? Of an afterlife? Or a concept of eternity?
Humans are different from animals. We think and aspire to things beyond animals. We are essentially different, with no gradual development to explain it. Humans are not merely a higher form of animals.
Conclusion
These are four questions science cannot answer.
In each case, they ask us for a miracle… something from nothing, life from non-life, consciousness from non-consciousness and transcendence from non-transcendence.
Science has no evidence to demonstrate how something came from nothing, how life came from non-life, how consciousness came from non-consciousness or how transcendence came from non-transcendence. They jump each hurdle by faith.
For me, it takes more faith to believe in the scientists’ explanation of reality than to believe in God.
In my estimation, God is the best explanation for
- why there is something rather than nothing: in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1)
- how life came from non-life: God created plants, animals, and humans (Genesis 1:20-27)
- how consciousness came from non-consciousness: God breathed into Adam the breath of life (Genesis 2:7)
- how transcendence came from non-transcendence: God created man in His image (Genesis 1:26-27)
These four questions that science cannot answer add to my conviction that God exists. I hope this helps strengthen your conviction as well. Also, if you’ll memorize these “talking points”, it can increase your confidence when discussing these issues with others.
Update: go here for Truth #4 in this series, “God Is Good In Spite of Rampant Evil”.
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