The Case for a Creator - Lee Strobel [80]
That was also the conclusion that dissolved Patrick Glynn’s atheism. The anthropic evidence, he said . . .
. . . does offer as strong an indication as reason and science alone could be expected to provide that God exists. . . . Ironically, the picture of the universe bequeathed to us by the most advanced twentieth-century science is closer in spirit to the vision presented in the Book of Genesis than anything offered by science since Copernicus. 56
So far, after the one-two punch of my interviews with Craig and Collins, the evidence was clearly pointing in that direction. In fact, my imagination was captivated by one particular implication.
In The Case for Christ, I described the historical evidence for the miracles of Jesus of Nazareth, especially his resurrection from the dead. The ability to supernaturally intervene in the normal affairs of the world, to momentarily suspend the natural functioning of the universe, is certainly powerful affirmation that he is the Son of God.
However, having heard about the meticulous fine-tuning of the laws of nature, I now realized that the everyday functioning of the universe is, in itself, a kind of ongoing miracle. The “coincidences” that allow the fundamental properties of matter to yield a habitable environment are so improbable, so far-fetched, so elegantly orchestrated, that they require a divine explanation.
In other words, the momentary abrogation of the laws of nature in a sudden, visible, and direct way—what we usually call a “miracle”—obviously points toward an all-powerful deity. Yet even if God doesn’t supernaturally intervene, the otherwise inexplicable fine-tuning of physics, operating day in and day out ever since creation, also seems to warrant the term “miraculous.”
And miracles are the province of God.
I was pondering this thought as Collins and I emerged from the building, taking deep breaths of the fragrant autumn air and basking in the sunshine. Looking up, I could see the blazing sun on one side of the blue sky and the faint moon on the other. My mind turned from the abstract world of physics to the planets and moons and stars and galaxies that populate the universe.
What other evidence of fine-tuning, I wondered, might be waiting in the cosmos? Could our very existence on a life-sustaining rock on the outskirts of the Milky Way tell us anything about the Creator who has thus far been so highly suggested by cosmology and physics?
I made my decision as I drove away from the campus: it was time to quiz an astronomer about what we can learn from the mystery and grandeur of the heavens.
For Further Evidence
More Resources on This Topic
Collins, Robin. “The Argument from Design and the Many-Worlds Hypothesis.” In Philosophy of Religion: A Reader and Guide, ed. William Lane Craig. New Brunswick, N. J.: Rutgers University Press, 2002.
——. “The Evidence for Fine-Tuning.” In God and Design: The Teleological Argument and Modern Science, ed. Neil Manson. New York: Routledge, 2003.
——. “A Scientific Argument for the Existence of God: The Fine-Tuning Design Argument.” In Reason for the Hope Within, ed. Michael J. Murray. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1999.
——. “The Teleological Argument.” In The Rationality of Theism, ed. Paul Copan and Paul Moser. New York: Routledge, 2003.
Dubay, Thomas. The Evidential Power of Beauty. San Francisco: Ignatius, 1999.
Leslie, John. Universes. New York: Routledge, 1989.
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THE EVIDENCE OF ASTRONOMY: THE PRIVILEGED PLANET
As we survey all the evidence, the thought insistently arises that some supernatural agency—or, rather, Agency—must be involved. Is it possible that suddenly, without intending to, we have stumbled upon scientific proof of the existence of a Supreme Being? Was it God who stepped in and so providentially crafted the cosmos for our benefit?
Astronomer