Science and the Existence of God

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and Divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made.” (Romans 1:20)

On December 26, 2014, The Wall Street Journal ran an article called, “Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God,” by Eric Metaxas. The article tells of Carl Sagan’s original announcement in the 1960s that there were two important factors for a planet to support life: the right kind of star and a planet the right distance from that star. With this easily attainable goal in a universe as vast as ours, a project was organized with both public and private funds called “Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence” (SETI).

The enthusiasm to find life on other planets has diminished since then as scientists have discovered that there aren’t just two factors necessary for life on a planet: there are actually more than two hundred. The probability of life existing on any planet, including ours, turns out to be zero.

Metaxas writes:

As factors continued to be discovered, the number of possible planets (that could sustain life) hit zero... and kept going. In other words, the odds turned against any planet in the universe supporting life, including this one. Probability said that even we shouldn’t be here. Today, there are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life – every single one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart.

Theoretical physicist Paul Davies has said that “the appearance of design is overwhelming,” and Oxford professor Dr. John Lennox has said, “The more we get to know about our universe, the more the hypothesis that there is a Creator gains credibility as the best explanation of why we are here.”

God is speaking through creation about His own existence. It turns out that it takes more faith to believe that He doesn’t exist than to believe that He does. Let me give an analogy, first given by William Paley, to explain:

A man stumbles over a watch in the middle of a desert. Where did it come from? He didn’t see anyone leave it there, and no footprints were visible around it in any direction. There are no video tapes of what happened before the watch was left, and there is no scientific experiment that can be run to test why this watch appeared. Any explanation concerning the origin of this watch will have to be based on a theory, and then faith in that theory.

The man examines the watch more carefully. The metal band is elastic and can be stretched so that it fits snugly on the wrist. There is a plastic, clear covering that appears to be designed to protect the face of the watch. There are ordered numbers going around in a perfect circle and three hands pointing to different numbers. Hold it! One of them is moving – this object is ticking!

Here are two explanations available to our man: one is that the watch is the result of a designer who made it, and it has been left here by someone. The other is that over an immense period of time, the sand blew together in such a way to form the band, face, and plastic covering of the watch. In a freak accident, numbers were etched on the face, remarkably in order, and by some natural stimulus, it started ticking all by itself. The appearance of design is deceiving because it is the result of nothing more than time and chance.

In essence, these are the proposals the scientific community offers today, in varying forms. Both kinds of arguments take a kind of faith to believe because there is no way to go back in time and “prove” the origins of the universe once and for all. I submit, however, that one kind of theory is much easier to believe than the other. Our universe is so complicated and improbable, at so many levels, that the “designer” explanation seems by far the more obvious. Those stubbornly insisting on time and chance theories, perhaps, have other reasons to do so than sheer logic.

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Tom Flaherty is the lead pastor of City Church in Madison, WI, and has been a pastor for over 30 years. He has self-published theological books on various topics, including evolution, Calvinism, and annihilation. He and his wife, Alice, have four adult children and five grandchildren.