THE UNIVERSE DECLARES
Arguments for the Existence of God
THE CHRISTIAN Mission of Kerala published a booklet titled Nature and Science Speak about God. In this 28-page newspaper-sized book, scientific discoveries about the universe are mentioned to bring home the point that the existence of God is a fact that cannot be denied in any way.
The greatest evidence of God before us is His creation. Nature itself and our study of nature, both proclaim that there is one God who, in the infinity of His wisdom, has created and continues to sustain the universe.
Scorpions, fleas, and many other similar creatures of land and water combat and control their enemies by making use of their stings. At the tip of their sting is a very small aperture through which they inject a type of poison into their enemy’s body. If this aperture was at the very end of the sting, it would be closed when the sting was inserted into the body. Moreover, the sting would not efficiently pierce the skin of the target. That is the reason the aperture is always a bit slanted like the hole in the doctor’s syringe. This is to cite just one example of intelligent design.
Whatever object you see in nature manifests such design. The universe is not a random pile of garbage, but rather it exhibits tremendous purpose and discipline. Could this come about without a conscious plan?
Whatever object you see in nature manifests intelligent design. The universe is not a random pile of garbage, but rather it exhibits tremendous purpose and discipline. Could this happen without a conscious plan?
Termites build for themselves houses that are thousand times bigger than their size. If we try to build our homes in the same proportions, we will need to erect a mile-high wall. Termites can live in the wood and carve their homes inside. Studying their lives reveals many wonderful occurrences. To take just one example: Termites eat wood. After stone, wood is the most indigestible of all known materials, but it does not pose a problem for termites. They have specific jaws for the purpose, which not only serve as a saw and but also function as grinder.
However, no matter how much the wood is ground, it will still remain wood, and will only induce indigestion rather than satisfy the need for food in the stomach. What is it, then, that helps termites? There are many microorganisms in the intestines of the termite to facilitate this function. These microorganisms make certain alterations to the swallowed wood so that they can be digested and provide nourishment to the body. Who brings about this amazing arrangement?
Consider the structure of eggs. Each egg has seven different characteristics, all of which are so important that even if one of them is missing, the egg would not survive as an egg. The outer-shell made of limestone, the pores inside the shell that provide passage to the air, the thin membrane that surrounds the insides of the egg, the yolk and egg white forming the food of the hatching chicks inside the shell, the germ of the baby, the ligament that keeps the germ fixed in the right direction. Remove any one of these, and the egg will never become a nourishing place for the chicks. Is this aggregation of seven different things simply a coincidence?
“Coincidence” cannot explain the presence of these seven different things, which are found to be in precise and perfect condition. What is even more baffling is why are only these things accumulated in the egg by “coincidence”. Why not a leaf of a plant, some form of wood, a piece of stone, and thousands of such things that could have been contained inside, enter the shell? If any of such things were inside the shell, they would have destroyed the egg. The most perplexing thing is that when the chick is ready to get out of the egg, a small hard horn appears on its beak with which this ‘lump of flesh’ is able to break through the walls of its shell. After fulfilling its purpose, the horn falls off automatically a few days after the chick is born. How did such precision come about in the egg?
There are numerous things in the universe that would require an entire library just to name them, whereas in proportion, current human knowledge of the cosmos is minimal compared to the vastness of the universe. What we have yet to see, is much more than what we have seen.
Ponder upon your own existence. How wonderful the human body is! Look at the brain. A telephone exchange that connects all the men, women and children of the planet at every moment; that continuously exchanges messages with them. If you can conjure up such a telephone exchange, you have only estimated a tiny bit of the incredibly complex system of the brain.
There are about a hundred billion nerve cells inside your brain. There are very fine wires coming out of each nerve cell and they are spread all over the body. They are called nerve fibres and function to conduct information in the form of electrical impulses to other cells, muscles and glands in the body. A system of information transmission on these thin fibres runs at a speed of about hundred kilometres per hour.
Look at the heart, a small organ about the size of the fist. It weighs no more than 200 grams, but this little pump of the human body runs continuously day and night. It pumps 100,000 times a day and sends about six litres of blood to the entire body every minute. The heart has been endowed with extraordinary capability for achieving this amazing performance.
There are numerous things in the universe that would require an entire library just to list them. On the other hand, current human knowledge of the cosmos is miniscule compared to the vastness of the universe. What we have yet to see, is much more than what we have seen.
The term ‘law of nature’ simply expresses that things always come into existence under a certain principle and will always come into being in the same way. This does not indicate why something is happening?
Did this brilliant workmanship, this complete planning, and this perfect intelligence happen by chance? Of course, sometimes an incident does happen by chance. For example, a gust of wind sometimes blows up a pollen of a red rose and puts it on a white rose, resulting in a yellow flower. But this kind of coincidence can produce only partial and subtle changes. It can only account for this particular colour of the rose, not for the entire existence of the rose. Coincidence does not always explain why a particular type of system continues to be consistent. It does not explain why there is regularity and organization in our world. The process of “coincidence” will not keep repeating itself. It is not possible for coincidence to bring into existence today what transpired yesterday. Then why do all things always appear in the same form with total uniformity? Why are natural systems and laws so methodical, mathematical and regulated?
If some pieces of metal are tossed into the air, what are the probabilities that they would fall to the ground in the form of moulded typeface letter and upon falling, form some meaningful text on a page? If this cannot happen simply by chance, then why is it assumed that such a large world with such amazing features has come into being by chance? What academic argument could be put forth to prove a theory that could not be proven in a laboratory?
Another justification that materialist thinkers rely on is the term ‘the law of nature’. “Why do chicks come out of the hen’s egg in 21 days, whereas from the egg of the ostrich, the babies take 45 days to hatch?” There are a number of questions of this nature which are answered by the materialist simply as:
“It is a law of nature.” This does appear to be a justification, but in fact this answer only describes one incident. By using the words ‘law of nature’, we only acknowledge the order and function of the universe. These words do not explain why this discipline and performance is established in the first place. The term ‘law of nature’ simply expresses that things always come into existence under a certain principle and will always come into being in the same way. This does not indicate why something is happening? It does not state the cause of the incident, but only presents the picture of the event.
Science has furnished us with many new insights. But whatever it offers is only a detail of a few events. Science has no answer for why they are happening.
If you ask a doctor why the blood is red, he will reply that the blood contains minute red particles called red blood cells.
“True, but why are these particles red?”
“These particles contain a special substance called haemoglobin, which turns red when it absorbs oxygen in the lungs.”
“Okay, but where do the red blood cells carrying haemoglobin come from?”
“They are prepared in your spleen.”
“That’s wonderful, doctor, but tell me how is it that blood, red blood cells, spleen and thousands of other things are organized in such a coherent way and act so unitedly that I can breathe, run, speak, and live.”
“Ah! That is the law of nature.”
“What is it that you call law of nature?”
“When I say ‘nature’, I mean the interplay of blind physical and chemical forces.”
“But doctor, what causes these blind forces in nature to always act in a direction that leads them to a definite end? How do they organize their activities in such a way that a bird can fly, a fish can swim and a human being comes into existence with his unique abilities?”
“Don’t ask me, my friend. A doctor can only tell what is happening. He does not have the answer for the question: Why something is happening?”
This conversation aptly illustrates the reality of science. Indeed, science has furnished us with many new insights. But whatever it offers is only a detail of a few events. Science has no answer for why they are happening. How do the delicate organs of a fly work? Of course, science has told us a lot in this regard, but who is the one who thought that bees needed these delicate organs, and provided them with such fine skilfulness? To explain the order of the universe and its appropriateness, and to show why various kinds of blind forces act towards a particular end—what we need is something other than the presence of these powers. The description of a bed is not enough if we just throw a few words such as mattress, pillows and bedstead. A castle is the name given to a structure of millions of bricks and other things installed in their proper and ordered place. For any small organ of the human body to come into being, it is necessary that millions of atoms come together in a unique and special setting. Blind forces cannot always express this kind of purpose, they cannot create meaning and harmony within events.
The law of nature is a phenomenon of the universe. It is not a justification of the universe. It seeks justification for its own existence.
Science does not tell us how or why the laws of nature came into being, how or why they continue to exist or why they cause the Earth and the heavens to function with such unfailing precision that, simply by observing them, it was possible to establish immutable scientific laws.
The fact is that the law of nature is a phenomenon of the universe. It is not a justification of the universe. It seeks justification for its own existence. As Cecil Boyce Hamann says, ‘Nature does not explain, she is herself in need of an explanation.’
What this means is the existence of meaningfulness in something is clear evidence that there is a mind behind it. The germ of life (sperm cells) that is nourished in a male’s body is very similar to the other cells in the body, but it has a unique and remarkable feature very different from other cells. By attaching itself with a special egg cell of a female, it has the ability to bring into existence a completely new human being. How is it possible that two cells, each of which are raised in two completely different bodies, are capable of acting so amazingly together? Can this event be explained without acknowledging the involvement of a creative mind?
Acknowledging the existence of a creative mind in the universe is not like accepting a baseless tradition. In fact, many of the inevitable conclusions from the discoveries of science lead us to this belief. Numerous scientific facts compel us to accept the existence of a driving force behind the universe. Just like the sound from the radio compels us to recognize the presence of radio waves, even though we do not see them. When sugar is added to the glass of water, it will dissolve in such a way that it will not be visible to the eyes. But by tasting it with your tongue, you can detect the presence of sugar in water. Similarly, God is not visible to the eyes, but when we study the world of our surroundings, our instinct and intuition cry out that there is God here, without whom the universe could not exist.
The greatest evidence of God before us is His creation. Nature itself and our study of nature, both proclaim that there is one God who, in the infinity of His wisdom, has created and continues to sustain the universe.
The fact is that the stupendous increase of human knowledge has not distanced man from God, but has brought man closer to Him. To doubt God’s existence is merely to declare our ignorance. How definitive then are Pasteur’s words:
A smattering of science turns people away from God.
Much of it brings them back to Him.