26 Nov Truth #2: The Fine-tuned Universe Supports the Existence of God
Last week, I introduced the first and most powerful argument for the existence of God that stabilized my shaky faith as a newer Christian, which is the existence of the universe, simply put: God is the best explanation for why there is something rather than nothing.
This week, we’ll look at some additional, wonderfully affirming information that strengthens that argument and makes belief in God even more convincing.
The complexity of the universe
Another powerful argument for the existence of God is the “fine-tuning” argument, or the complexity of the universe. For scientists who do not believe in God, the information that comes closest to convincing them to believe is the “fine-tuning” of the universe. That is, the universe is so wonderfully put together that it appears to have a brilliant Mastermind behind it.
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.”
Scientist Francis Colllins writes, “There are 15 constants – the gravitational constant, various constants about the strong and weak nuclear force, etc. – that have precise values. If any one of those constants was off by even one part in a million, or in some cases, by one part in a million million, the universe could not have actually come to the point where we see it. Matter would not have been able to coalesce, there would have been no galaxy, stars, planets, or people.”
The existence of life
Not only is the universe inconceivably complex, but it is so fine-tuned that it supports life on earth. However, scientists who are not inclined to believe in God still look hard for an explanation for the universe that does not require God.
Astronomer Carl Sagan used to begin his well-known PBS series titled “Cosmos,” with the iconic statement, “The cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be.”
To further his opinion, in the mid-sixties Sagan declared that there were two necessary criteria for a planet to support life: The right kind of star, and a planet the right distance from that star. Given the roughly octillion planets in the universe (1 followed by 24 zeros) there should have been about a septillion planets (1 followed by 21 zeros) capable of supporting life.
Armed with such spectacular odds, scientists felt sure that there was other life “out there,” and if so, it would strengthen the evidence for a universe without God. They would be on a stronger footing explaining the existence of the universe as being the result of the Big Bang plus evolution. But a vast project called SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), in which enormous radio telescopes were pointed at the heavens in a search for signs of intelligence, produced nothing.
At the same time, additional scientific information has clarified that there are far more criteria needed to support life than Sagan postulated. Now his two criteria have expanded to hundreds.
Peter Schenkel wrote in a 2006 piece for Skeptical Inquirer, a magazine that affirms atheism: “In light of new findings and insights… We should quietly admit that the early estimates . . . may no longer be tenable.”
Today there are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life– every one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart. For example, without a massive planet like Jupiter nearby with vast gravitational pull to attract asteroids, Earth would have been pulverized long ago by a countless number of asteroids, making life on earth impossible.
Simply put, the odds in favor of life elsewhere in the universe are the virtual equivalent of zero, diminishing the likelihood of finding other life in the universe, strengthening the possibility that God created it.
Astrophysicist Robert Jastro wrote, “At present, there is no satisfactory answer to the question of the origin of life on earth. Perhaps the appearance of life on earth is a miracle. Scientists are reluctant to accept that view, but their choices are limited. Either life was created on earth by a being outside the grasp of scientific understanding, or it evolved on our planet spontaneously through chemical reactions in non-living matter lying on the surface of the planet. The first theory places the question of the origin of life beyond the reach of scientific inquiry. It is a statement of faith in the power of a supreme being not subject to the laws of science. The second theory is also an act of faith. The act of faith consists in assuming that the scientific view of origins is correct without having any evidence to support that belief.”
So, both the complexity of the universe and the existence of life on earth are based on such astonishing fine-tuning that to believe that they came about by chance rather than having been created by God, is to believe by faith in the statistically inconceivable.
Conclusion
Fred Hoyle, the astronomer who coined the term “big bang,” said that his atheism was “greatly shaken” by this unfolding information. One of the world’s most renowned theoretical physicists, Paul Davies, has said that “the appearance of design is overwhelming.” Even the late atheist Christopher Hitchens agreed that “without question the fine-tuning argument was the most powerful argument of the other side.” Oxford University professor of Mathematics Dr. John Lennox has said “the more we get to know about our universe, the more the hypothesis that there is a Creator . . . gains in credibility as the best explanation of why we are here.”
As a believer, it was not this information that convinced me of the existence of God. I was already convinced. But it has been thrilling for me to see my faith so wonderfully and powerfully substantiated by scientific information. The more we learn, the more overwhelmingly probable God becomes, even to those who don’t want to believe.
This information has deepened my faith, and I hope you find it wonderfully and powerfully thrilling, as well.
Update: go here for Truth #3 in this series, “There Are Four Questions Science Can’t Answer”.
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