God-Gambler or Creator?
"THERE is no doubt that many scientists are opposed temperamentally to any form of metaphysical, let alone mystical arguments. They are scornful of the notion that there might exist a God, or even an impersonal creative principle . . . Personally I do not share their scorn." Thus states Paul Davies, professor of mathematical physics at the University of Adelaide, South Australia, in his book The Mind of God.
Davies also says: "A careful study suggests that the laws of the universe are remarkably felicitous for the emergence of richness and variety. In the case of living organisms, their existence seems to depend on a number of fortuitous coincidences that some scientists and philosophers have hailed as nothing short of astonishing."
He further states: "The scientific quest is a journey into the unknown. . . . But through it all runs the familiar thread of rationality and order. We shall see that this cosmic order is underpinned by definite mathematical laws that interweave each other to form a subtle and harmonious unity. The laws are possessed of an elegant simplicity."
Davies concludes by saying: "Just why Homo sapiens should carry the spark of rationality that provides the key to the universe, is a deep enigma. . . . I cannot believe that our existence in this universe is a mere quirk of fate, an accident of history, an incidental blip in the great cosmic drama. Our involvement is too intimate. . . . We are truly meant to be here." However, Davies does not come to the conclusion that there is a Designer, a God. But what conclusion do you reach? Was mankind meant to be here? If so, who meant for us to be here?
Keys to the "Enigma"
In the Bible the apostle Paul offers a clue to understanding what Davies calls "a deep enigma." Paul shows how God has revealed himself: "Because what may be known about God is manifest among them ["men who are suppressing the truth"], for God made it manifest to them. For his invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world's creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable." (Romans 1:18-20) Yes, the endless variety of life forms, their incredible complexity, their exquisite design, should lead a humble, reverent person to recognize that there is a supreme power, intelligence, or mind vastly superior to anything that man has ever known.-Psalm 8:3, 4.
Paul's further words regarding those who reject God give one pause for thought: "Although asserting they were wise, they became foolish . . . , even those who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and venerated and rendered sacred service to the creation rather than the One who created, who is blessed forever. Amen." (Romans 1:22, 25) Those who venerate "nature" and reject God are certainly not wise from Jehovah's viewpoint. Bogged down in the morass of conflicting evolutionary theories, they fail to recognize the Creator and the intricacy and design of his creation.
"Monstrous Series of Accidents"
Paul also wrote: "Without faith it is impossible to please him [God] well, for he that approaches God must believe that he is and that he becomes the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him." (Hebrews 11:6) Faith based on accurate knowledge, not credulity, can lead us to an understanding of why we exist. (Colossians 1:9, 10) Surely, credulity is involved when some scientists would have us believe that life exists because it is "as if we had won a million-dollar lottery a million times in a row."
British scientist Fred Hoyle theorized that nuclear reactions that led to the formation of two elements essential to life, carbon and oxygen, produced a balanced relative amount of these elements only because of a fortunate accident.
He gives another example: "If the combined masses of the proton and electron were suddenly to become a little more rather than a little less than the mass of the neutron, the effect would be devastating. . . . Throughout the Universe all the hydrogen atoms would immediately break down to form neutrons and neutrinos. Robbed of its nuclear fuel, the Sun would fade and collapse." The same would be true of the billions of other stars in the universe.
Hoyle concluded: "The list of . . . apparent accidents of a non-biological nature without which carbon-based and hence human life could not exist, is large and impressive." He says: "Such properties [essential to life] seem to run through the fabric of the natural world like a thread of happy accidents. But there are so many of these odd coincidences essential to life that some explanation seems required to account for them."-Italics ours.
He also stated: "The problem is to decide whether these apparently coincidental tunings are really accidental or not, and therefore whether or not life is accidental. No scientist likes to ask such a question, but it has to be asked for all that. Could it be that the tunings are intelligently deliberate?"
Paul Davies writes: "Hoyle was so impressed by this 'monstrous series of accidents,' he was prompted to comment that it was as if 'the laws of nuclear physics have been deliberately designed with regard to the consequences they produce inside the stars.'" Who or what is responsible for this "monstrous series of [fortunate] accidents"? Who or what produced this speck of a planet, teeming with an almost endless variety of millions of exquisitely formed plants and creatures?
The Bible's Answer
The psalmist wrote reverently some three thousand years ago: "How many your works are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made. The earth is full of your productions. As for this sea so great and wide, there there are moving things without number, living creatures, small as well as great."-Psalm 104:24, 25.
The apostle John said: "You are worthy, Jehovah, even our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created." (Revelation 4:11) Life is not the result of blind chance, of some cosmic lottery that happened to churn out winners for millions of life forms.
The simple truth is that God "created all things, and because of [his] will they existed and were created." Jesus Christ himself said to the Pharisees: "Did you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female?" Jesus knew the Creator! As Jehovah's Master Worker, he had been alongside Him during creation.-Matthew 19:4; Proverbs 8:22-31.
However, it requires faith and humility to perceive and accept this basic truth about the Creator. This faith is not blind credulity. It is based on tangible, visible evidence. Yes, "[God's] invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world's creation onward."-Romans 1:20.
With our present limited scientific knowledge, we cannot explain how God created. Therefore, we should acknowledge that at present we cannot know or understand everything about the origin of life. We are reminded of this when we read Jehovah's words: "The thoughts of you people are not my thoughts, nor are my ways your ways . . . For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."-Isaiah 55:8, 9.
The choice is yours: either credulous belief in blind and fortuitous evolution, the numberless gambles that supposedly paid off, or faith in the Purposer-Creator-Designer, Jehovah God. The inspired prophet rightly said: "Jehovah, the Creator of the extremities of the earth, is a God to time indefinite. He does not tire out or grow weary. There is no searching out of his understanding."-Isaiah 40:28.
So, what will you believe? Your decision will make a big difference in your future life prospects. If evolution were true, then death would mean total oblivion, in spite of the specious arguments of labyrinthine Catholic theology, which attempts to introduce the "soul" into evolution. Man has no immortal soul to soften the inevitable blow of mortality.-Genesis 2:7; Ezekiel 18:4, 20.
If we accept that the Bible is true and that the living God is the Creator, then there is the promise of the resurrection to eternal life, perfect life, on an earth restored to its original state of balance and harmony. (John 5:28, 29) Where will you put your faith? In the unbelievable gamble of Darwin's evolution theory? Or in the Creator, who has acted with purpose and continues to do so?
"THERE is no doubt that many scientists are opposed temperamentally to any form of metaphysical, let alone mystical arguments. They are scornful of the notion that there might exist a God, or even an impersonal creative principle . . . Personally I do not share their scorn." Thus states Paul Davies, professor of mathematical physics at the University of Adelaide, South Australia, in his book The Mind of God.
Davies also says: "A careful study suggests that the laws of the universe are remarkably felicitous for the emergence of richness and variety. In the case of living organisms, their existence seems to depend on a number of fortuitous coincidences that some scientists and philosophers have hailed as nothing short of astonishing."
He further states: "The scientific quest is a journey into the unknown. . . . But through it all runs the familiar thread of rationality and order. We shall see that this cosmic order is underpinned by definite mathematical laws that interweave each other to form a subtle and harmonious unity. The laws are possessed of an elegant simplicity."
Davies concludes by saying: "Just why Homo sapiens should carry the spark of rationality that provides the key to the universe, is a deep enigma. . . . I cannot believe that our existence in this universe is a mere quirk of fate, an accident of history, an incidental blip in the great cosmic drama. Our involvement is too intimate. . . . We are truly meant to be here." However, Davies does not come to the conclusion that there is a Designer, a God. But what conclusion do you reach? Was mankind meant to be here? If so, who meant for us to be here?
Keys to the "Enigma"
In the Bible the apostle Paul offers a clue to understanding what Davies calls "a deep enigma." Paul shows how God has revealed himself: "Because what may be known about God is manifest among them ["men who are suppressing the truth"], for God made it manifest to them. For his invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world's creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable." (Romans 1:18-20) Yes, the endless variety of life forms, their incredible complexity, their exquisite design, should lead a humble, reverent person to recognize that there is a supreme power, intelligence, or mind vastly superior to anything that man has ever known.-Psalm 8:3, 4.
Paul's further words regarding those who reject God give one pause for thought: "Although asserting they were wise, they became foolish . . . , even those who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and venerated and rendered sacred service to the creation rather than the One who created, who is blessed forever. Amen." (Romans 1:22, 25) Those who venerate "nature" and reject God are certainly not wise from Jehovah's viewpoint. Bogged down in the morass of conflicting evolutionary theories, they fail to recognize the Creator and the intricacy and design of his creation.
"Monstrous Series of Accidents"
Paul also wrote: "Without faith it is impossible to please him [God] well, for he that approaches God must believe that he is and that he becomes the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him." (Hebrews 11:6) Faith based on accurate knowledge, not credulity, can lead us to an understanding of why we exist. (Colossians 1:9, 10) Surely, credulity is involved when some scientists would have us believe that life exists because it is "as if we had won a million-dollar lottery a million times in a row."
British scientist Fred Hoyle theorized that nuclear reactions that led to the formation of two elements essential to life, carbon and oxygen, produced a balanced relative amount of these elements only because of a fortunate accident.
He gives another example: "If the combined masses of the proton and electron were suddenly to become a little more rather than a little less than the mass of the neutron, the effect would be devastating. . . . Throughout the Universe all the hydrogen atoms would immediately break down to form neutrons and neutrinos. Robbed of its nuclear fuel, the Sun would fade and collapse." The same would be true of the billions of other stars in the universe.
Hoyle concluded: "The list of . . . apparent accidents of a non-biological nature without which carbon-based and hence human life could not exist, is large and impressive." He says: "Such properties [essential to life] seem to run through the fabric of the natural world like a thread of happy accidents. But there are so many of these odd coincidences essential to life that some explanation seems required to account for them."-Italics ours.
He also stated: "The problem is to decide whether these apparently coincidental tunings are really accidental or not, and therefore whether or not life is accidental. No scientist likes to ask such a question, but it has to be asked for all that. Could it be that the tunings are intelligently deliberate?"
Paul Davies writes: "Hoyle was so impressed by this 'monstrous series of accidents,' he was prompted to comment that it was as if 'the laws of nuclear physics have been deliberately designed with regard to the consequences they produce inside the stars.'" Who or what is responsible for this "monstrous series of [fortunate] accidents"? Who or what produced this speck of a planet, teeming with an almost endless variety of millions of exquisitely formed plants and creatures?
The Bible's Answer
The psalmist wrote reverently some three thousand years ago: "How many your works are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made. The earth is full of your productions. As for this sea so great and wide, there there are moving things without number, living creatures, small as well as great."-Psalm 104:24, 25.
The apostle John said: "You are worthy, Jehovah, even our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created." (Revelation 4:11) Life is not the result of blind chance, of some cosmic lottery that happened to churn out winners for millions of life forms.
The simple truth is that God "created all things, and because of [his] will they existed and were created." Jesus Christ himself said to the Pharisees: "Did you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female?" Jesus knew the Creator! As Jehovah's Master Worker, he had been alongside Him during creation.-Matthew 19:4; Proverbs 8:22-31.
However, it requires faith and humility to perceive and accept this basic truth about the Creator. This faith is not blind credulity. It is based on tangible, visible evidence. Yes, "[God's] invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world's creation onward."-Romans 1:20.
With our present limited scientific knowledge, we cannot explain how God created. Therefore, we should acknowledge that at present we cannot know or understand everything about the origin of life. We are reminded of this when we read Jehovah's words: "The thoughts of you people are not my thoughts, nor are my ways your ways . . . For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."-Isaiah 55:8, 9.
The choice is yours: either credulous belief in blind and fortuitous evolution, the numberless gambles that supposedly paid off, or faith in the Purposer-Creator-Designer, Jehovah God. The inspired prophet rightly said: "Jehovah, the Creator of the extremities of the earth, is a God to time indefinite. He does not tire out or grow weary. There is no searching out of his understanding."-Isaiah 40:28.
So, what will you believe? Your decision will make a big difference in your future life prospects. If evolution were true, then death would mean total oblivion, in spite of the specious arguments of labyrinthine Catholic theology, which attempts to introduce the "soul" into evolution. Man has no immortal soul to soften the inevitable blow of mortality.-Genesis 2:7; Ezekiel 18:4, 20.
If we accept that the Bible is true and that the living God is the Creator, then there is the promise of the resurrection to eternal life, perfect life, on an earth restored to its original state of balance and harmony. (John 5:28, 29) Where will you put your faith? In the unbelievable gamble of Darwin's evolution theory? Or in the Creator, who has acted with purpose and continues to do so?
It's not important whether you know what my personal beliefs are. Look at the ideas and the arguments for them.
