08 Feb Free Miracle #2: Order Came from Chaos – Part 1 of 2
Blog Series
Why Believe in God? ~ If You Reject God, You’ve Only Done Half the Job.
To review what we said in a blog post five weeks ago, ethnobotanist Terence McKenna, in a TED talk said, “Modern science is based on the principle: ‘Give us one free miracle and will explain the rest.’ The one free miracle is the appearance of all the mass and energy in the universe and all the laws that govern it in a single instant from nothing.”
A nervous ripple of laughter spread throughout the audience when he said that, because it seemed transparently true to the audience, though they knew they were not supposed to believe it.
But in reality, it is far worse than that. Modern science is not asking for one free miracle. They are asking for five:
- Something came from nothing.
- Order came from chaos.
- Life came from non-life.
- Consciousness came from non-consciousness.
- Transcendence came from consciousness.
Last week, we finished looking at the first free miracle they ask for, that something came from nothing. This week, we begin looking at free miracle #2 that they ask for, that order came from chaos.
Free Miracle #2: Order came from chaos
The second free miracle modern science asks for is for order to come from chaos. According to the Big Bang theory, there was a “big bang”. It was a titanic, unimaginable cosmic explosion, and from it came the universe as we know it.
But, as we asked in an earlier blog: Have you ever set off a firecracker? Or seen a stick of dynamite explode? Or watched a television documentary showing bombs dropping? Did any “order” come out of the explosion? Did any design come out of the chaos? Of course not. It was utter destruction.
Yet, “miraculously”, the universe we see, post-Big Bang, has settled into a marvelous picture of order and apparent design. This is so remarkable that atheist scientists often admit that the order and apparent design of the universe is the most compelling evidence for the possibility of creation. They don’t admit to a creator, but they admit to the compelling nature of the order of the universe.
What is the “fine-tuned” argument for God?
In apologetic literature, the fine-tuned argument says that there are certain things about our universe and about our planet that seem to be so perfectly calibrated it is hard to chalk it up to coincidence.
In The Tailor-Made Universe, scientist P.C.W. Davies wrote, “Why does it all fit so well? It looks like someone made the universe. I don’t believe it was made, but it sure looks that way.”
Carl Sagan, an astronomer from an earlier generation, used to champion the idea that there were two criteria required for life on any given planet. One was having the right kind of sun, and the other was being the right distance from the sun. Given these two criteria, Sagan championed the probability of there being billions of other planets capable of life.
Now, with the accumulation of additional scientific knowledge, the criteria for supporting life on earth have shot up dramatically, causing the likelihood of life on other planets to drop precipitously.
Now, some scientists are quietly admitting that the likelihood of life on other planets seems almost zero. Or, being utterly committed to not allowing God into the equation, some are embracing fantastic and unsupportable theories like the existence of an infinity of universes so that, with a limitless number of options, we accidentally see life on earth in this universe, in spite of the odds against it.
Evidence for Earth’s fine tuning
Eric Metaxas, in his book Is Atheism Dead, mentions three criteria for life on earth that are recently understood.
- The size of the earth
We have learned that if the earth were even slightly larger or slightly smaller, life on earth could not exist. If the earth were any smaller, our magnetic field would be weaker than it is, and what scientists call “solar wind” would quickly strip almost everything from our atmosphere so that the earth would be lifeless. But, if the earth were any larger, our atmosphere would be so thick we couldn’t breathe.
- The size of nearby planets
Jupiter and Saturn, large nearby planets with massive gravitational pull, attract incoming meteors and asteroids to hit them, keeping them from hitting the earth. If it were not for those two planets just the right distance away, earth would be regularly pelted by meteors and asteroids of various sizes, making life on earth impossible.
- The size and proximity of the moon
We now know that if the moon were any larger or smaller or any closer or farther away, life on earth would not be possible. Our moon is extremely large compared to other moons in our solar system. As a result, it has enough gravity to create our ocean tides, which are crucial to the ecosystems of our coasts, which are themselves vital to the rest of life on the planet.
Conclusion
This is nowhere near the total amount of evidence for design related to our earth. It is just typical of the kind of evidence we have learned in the last few decades that augments our understanding of the uniqueness of life on earth.
While the evidence for the earth’s fine tuning is impressive, the evidence for the fine-tuning of the much larger universe is even more amazing – almost beyond comprehension. We will look at some of that evidence in next week’s blog. I look forward to seeing you then.
In case you’re new here
This blog post is part of a series titled “Why Believe in God? If You Reject God, You’ve Only Done Half the Job.”, introduced on January 5, 2022. As the series continues, each succeeding post will be added to and available in the blog archives at www.maxanders.com.
If you know anyone who you think might enjoy joining us in this study, please forward this blog to them and encourage them to go to my web site (www.maxanders.com) and sign up for the free video, “Master the Bible So Well That the Bible Masters You”, available there on the home page. This will put them on my regular mailing list and they’ll receive my weekly blogs on this subject.
I look forward to going through this faith-affirming journey with you.
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