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6 Ways Science Reveals God’s Truth
Having a conversation regarding the intersection of faith and science with a rocket scientist, and corporate astronaut is remarkable. Dr. Leslie Wickman is more than a scientist--she’s a believer who explains science does reveal God, and how faith and science can coexist. We want to believe that there is something greater than ourselves, and that there is a bigger plan. Wickman affirms that modern science does reveal there is a bigger picture that starts with our vast universe.
4 Arguments
Here are the four arguments made regarding science and God. There is the cosmological argument which says there is a cause and effect. So there must have been a creator. The ontological argument says we have the idea in us there is a God, so God is the cause. The anthropological argument points to the universal absolute moral values because people experienced God, hence he exists. The teleological is the argument regarding order and design, so there had to be creator.
Big Bang
“When I look at what science tells us about the existence of God, What I’m looking for is what evidence we have that suggests that God is the best explanation,” Wickman said. “There has been a growing body of evidence accumulation for the big bang model of the universe, which basically says there was a beginning to all of this. At that beginning, space, matter, time came basically into existence.” In Genesis God created the heavens and the earth, and the big bang model tell us that in fact there was a beginning. "People of faith might cringe because it sounds naturalistic, but the reality the big bang model is God friendly.”
A Beginning
Astronomical discoveries show a vast universe that is beautifully woven Wickman wrote, and consistently points us to an orderly and consistent creator. Before the big bang model there was the steady state model that the universe always existed in the same state. Many scientists and philosophers were comfortable with this because it didn’t necessitate any explanation. “When evidence started mounting for the big bang, it made a lot of people uncomfortable in the sense now we have to deal with this beginning. Obviously, if there was a beginning there had to be a beginner or a cause for it.”
The Goldilocks Principle
Just look at the earth. The temperature, the water, and the vast lands, and how they are all interdependent on each other. The earth’s finely tuned characteristics as complex as it is, make the planet habitable for creation. The Goldilocks principle is the observation that something must fall into certain margins instead of extremes. The earth's distance from the sun, size, atmosphere, magnetic field, 24-hour rotation, and the axial tilt that gives us the four seasons are perfect. This is just a small list as it goes into the dozens of parameters that need to happen for the earth to be just right for us.
Order
Getting the earth so fine tuned explains a creator. “Some people have tried to count the probability of getting it just right is one chance in 10^250th power.” It’s like picking one atom from the entire universe, and statisticians say it is improbable, unless it’s rigged, Wickman explained. Meaning, it was designed by a creator and gain order. “The fact we have laws of the universe to study is remarkable.”
Intelligence Elsewhere
Wickman said she would be surprised if there was no life on other planets as God is a lot bigger than we could imagine. “I’d be a little surprised that we are the only intelligent beings created apart from heaven. It would be really arrogant of us to think that we're the only ones.” The universe is a really big place, and a possible multiverse is immeasurably bigger, so “I’m not threatened at all by the idea of a multiverse.” But there is always a period of an adjustment the faith community has, when there is a new discovery. Scientists once believed the earth was flat and at the center of everything. "The thought of the unknown scares people."
Think About All Of This,
Michael
