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Summary Point

Why is God the best explanation for the design of the universe?

Subpoints

The attributes of the universe are so extremely finely-tuned for it to support life, that the best explanation is a divine architect – God.

  1. The universe and earth are finely-tuned for life to exist.

    • The universe is finely-tuned to exist and support life.

      • According to astrophysicist, Hugh Ross there are over 100 parameters in the universe, each with a very narrow value required for the universe to support life, which include fundamental items such as:1

        • Strong nuclear force: enables protons and neutrons to hold together in atoms.

        • Electromagnetic force: enables chemical bonding.

      • The probability of each item on this list of parameters occurring by chance is extremely small. Below are a couple examples:

        • Gravity: “If the gravitational force were altered by 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000001 percent, our sun would not exist…”2 (page 102) Per author’s correspondence with UCLA research physicist Jeffrey A. Zweerink, October 23, 2003.

    • The earth is finely-tuned for life to be able to exist.

      • According to astrophysicist, Hugh Ross there are almost 400 parameters, with a narrow value, required for a planet to support life.3 Below are a couple examples:

        • The level of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere (21%) is just right: If the level was 15% or less, humans and animals would not be able to breathe. If the level was 25% or higher, fires would occur much more easily.2 (page 98)

        • Rotation speed of the planet: The earth’s 24-hour period allows for life. If slower it would create uninhabitable temperature changes. If faster, it would create unbearable wind velocities.2 (page 105)

  2. The fine-tuning is due to random chance or a divine architect.

    • All causes in the universe are either due to random natural forces or an intelligent mind.

  3. It is statistically impossible for the parameters of earth and the universe to have occurred by chance.

    • Even if the estimated calculations below were to change in the future, the chances are extraordinary, so the overall point remains.

    • Astrophysicist, Hugh Ross calculates the probability of a planet supporting life by chance at 1 chance in 10^166 (that is 166 zeros!).4

      • This is the estimate for the 128 parameters for a planet supporting life cited above. It does not include the other 35 parameters for the universe cited above.

    • The estimated number of total planets in the universe is 10^22.4

    • Therefore, odds of one planet in the universe able to support life has a chance of 1 / 10^144.4

      • This is a number that is incomprehensible. Even if the estimates are off a bit, chance is not possible.

      • Anything over 1 / 10^50 is generally considered impossible by a mathematician to occur by chance.

  4. Therefore, the best explanation is a divine architect – God.

    • Since design requires intelligence, a divine architect is the best explanation - God.

    • J.P. Moreland quotes English physicist P.C.W. Davies, “It is hard to resist the impression that the present structure of the universe, apparently so sensitive to minor alterations in the numbers, has been rather carefully thought out…the seemingly miraculous concurrence of [these] numerical values must remain the most compelling evidence for cosmic design.”5

  • The atheist response (Multiverse) is unscientific and lacks evidence.

    • The Multiverse theory is that there are an infinite number of universes that exist, all with various parameters, and our universe happens to have just the right parameters to allow for life to exist.

    • The problem is there is ‘no evidence’ for this theory and it is unscientific, since it cannot be observed, tested or verified.

    • Per physicist P.C.W. Davies, “one may find it easier to believe in an infinite array of universes than in an infinite Deity, but such a belief must rest on faith rather than observation.”6

Links to external resources on this topic:

Anchor 1

Context:

  • The Teleological argument reasons that God is the best explanation for the apparent design in the universe. It comes from the Greek word ‘Telos’, which means purpose or goal. This argument of design in the world aligns with the following Bible verse: 

    • For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20 NIV)

  • There are a family of design arguments that argue for God’s existence. The fine-tuning argument reasons that the attributes required for the universe to allow for life to exist are extremely precise and best explained by a divine intelligence. As science continues to make discoveries, the number of parameters for a specific planet to support life has increased from 2 in 1966, to 8 by the end of the 1960s, 23 by the the end of the 1970s, 30 by the end of the 1980s, to a number currently over 120.7

Anchor 2

Sources (complete reference information provided on SOURCE PAGE):

  1. Ross, The Creator and the Cosmos (4th edition), pp.233-241.

  2. Geisler & Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith, pp.98-105.

  3. Ross, The Creator and the Cosmos (4th edition), pp.243-266.

  4. Ross, The Creator and the Cosmos (3rd edition), pp.195-198.

  5. Moreland, Scaling the Secular City, p.52 quotes P.C.W. Davies, God and the New Physics, p.189.

  6. Geisler & Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, p.111 quotes P.C.W. Davies who was quoted in Fred Heeren, Show Me God, vol.1 (Wheeling, Ill.: Daystar, 2000), p.239.

  7. Ross, The Creator and the Cosmos (3rd edition), p.187.

Copyright 2022, Jason M. Jolin

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