Did
the universe, including man, come about simply by accident as most scientists
would have us believe? Paul Davies, a known atheist, notes: “A long list of
additional ‘lucky accidents’ and ‘coincidences’ has been compiled… impressive
evidence that life as we know it depends very sensitively on the form of the
laws of physics, and on some seemingly fortuitous accidents in the actual
values that nature has chosen for various particle masses, force strengths, and
so on…”14
Scientists
are awed and at the same time baffled by the incredible “natural” order and
amazing “accidental” precision of forces in the cosmos. The balance and harmony
of the laws of physics are so perfect, it is difficult to believe they all
happened by chance.
Four
fundamental forces.
Scientists
have identified the four fundamental forces at work in the universe.
1.
The strong nuclear force, which bonds the quarks that make up the protons and
neutrons in an atom, and holds those protons and neutrons together to form the
atomic nucleus in matter.
2.
The electromagnetic force that keeps electrons orbiting around the atomic
nucleus, and fastens together the molecules that make up all living organisms,
as well as the planets and the stars.
3.
Gravitation, the attraction between all forms of matter produced by their masses
(amounts of matter), keeping objects and organisms on the ground, and
regulating the motions of planets, stars, galaxies.
4.
The weak nuclear force that causes radioactive decay in atoms and generates nuclear
reactions that enable the Sun and the stars to produce light and heat.
Consider.
All matter is mostly space. Quantum particles such as protons, neutrons, and
electrons that form atoms are separated by vast distances. For instance, the
nucleus of a hydrogen atom is about 10-13 cm, while the radius of
its electron’s orbit is some 10-8 cm. If the nucleus were as big as a
pinhead, the electron would be a football field away!15 If any of
the four fundamental forces fails to function, or be altered even one small
fraction, all atomic components would fly apart and disintegrate. All matter
would cease to exist, and all energy would disappear without a trace.
Something must have brought these
forces into play. Or, should we say, Someone? Says Nehemiah, “You alone are the LORD; You have made
heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on
it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all” (Neh 9:6, NKJV).
The
“laws of heaven.”
The
laws of physics do not seem to have evolved. They appear to have been present
from the very beginning as matter formed almost instantly. Prof. Keith Ward of
King’s College, London
University
The
ancients knew that the universe has laws governing its existence and operation.
Job asks quizzically: “Do you know the laws
of the heavens? Can you set up [God's] dominion over the earth?” (Job 38:33,
NIV). If the universe has laws, there must have been a “lawgiver.” Albert
Einstein said, “Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science
becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe – a
spirit vastly superior to that of man.”17
Jeremiah
suggests who had set up the physical laws of the universe: “This is what the LORD says: `If I have not established my covenant
with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth,…" (Jer
33:25, NIV).
An
“intelligent designer.”
Wernher
von Braun, who was also the first director of the U.S. National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA), remarked: “One cannot be exposed to the law and
order of the universe without concluding that there must be purpose and design
behind it all. In the world around us, we can behold the obvious manifestation
of an ordered, structured plan or design…”18 He concluded: “The
better we understand the intricacies of the universe… the more (we) marvel at
the inherent design upon which it is based… the admission of a design…
ultimately raises the question of a Designer…”19
British
astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle marveled: “A common sense interpretation of the
facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with the physics, as well as
with the chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth
speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me
so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.”20
“Roger
Penrose, professor of mathematics at Oxford
University
Solomon
said God introduced wisdom, or intelligence, before the Creation. "I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I
possess knowledge and discretion… The LORD brought me forth as the first of his
works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the
beginning, before the world began” (Prov 8:12, 22-23, NIV). God had, even
before His very first creative act, set into motion the physical laws that would
govern all creation.
The
psalmist intones: “O LORD, how manifold
are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all…” (Ps 104:24; also 136:5; Prov
3:19 ;8:12,22-23; Jer 10:12,
51:15).
______________________
14Paul Davies, The Mind of God: The Scientific Basis for a
Rational World, 1992, pp. 199-200
15“Whence Our
‘Reality’?”, Personal Update,
December 2003, p. 3
16Keith Ward, God, Chance & Necessity, 1996, p. 17
17The Quotable Einstein, p. 152; quoted
in “The Beginning of the Universe,” Does
God Exist?, 2000, p. 12
18von Braun, op. cit.
19Ibid.
20Quoted by Fred
Heeren, Show Me God: What the Message
from Space Is Telling Us About God, 1997, frontispiece; cited in “Evidence
in Plain Sight,” Does God Exist?,
2000, p. 5
21Roger Penrose, The Emperor’s New Mind, 1991; cited by
Gerald Schroeder, The Science of God,
1997, p. 22
(Excerpted
from Chapter 1, Mysteries of Our Maker, THE
DEEP THINGS OF GOD: A Primer on the Secrets of Heaven and Earth by M.M.
Tauson, Amazon.com)
