As explained in my last column, our world is still divided between those who believe in the concept that our universe, and everything in it, was created by a supernatural entity; and, in the opinion of those who disagree, that someday the scientists will discover the evolutionary reason behind the creation of our universe.
So, in spite of the fact that scientists have been looking for most of the past century throughout the universe with the world’s strongest telescopes, they have discovered nothing that will challenge the existing evidence for a providential creation of the universe and everything in it.
We will begin this column with a description of the scientific data which supports the supernatural creation of the universe.
(1) The Elements Necessary for Life
The Elements Necessary for Life have very specific values that are finite and precise. For example, the carbon atom which has been identified as the key element for life was initially identified by scientists as either nonexistent or very rare. However, we now know that to form the carbon atom you first need to have a very precise level of a nuclear property called resonance. Physicist Steven Weinberg writes: Life as we know it would be impossible if any one of several physical quantities of the basic elements required for human life had slightly different values. The best known of these quantities is the energy of one of the excited states of the carbon12nucleus.
The process as described by Harvard’s chair of astronomy, Robert Kirshner (who was chair in 2004 when this information was obtained) is explained: “Amazingly enough, another helium nucleus collides with this short-lived target, leading to the formation of carbon. The process would seem about like crossing a stream by stepping fleetingly on a log. A delicate match between the energies of helium, the unstable beryllium and the resulting carbon provides a ready supply of carbon. Without this process we would not be here.
Princeton physicist, Freeman Dyson writes with reference to these “lucky accidents” in the atomic structures necessary for human life: “Without such accidents, water could not exist as liquid, chains of carbon atoms could not form complex organic molecules, and hydrogen atoms could not form breakable bridges between molecules.”
And physicist Richard Morris says: “How is it that common elements such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen happened to have just the kind of atomic structure that was needed to combine to make the molecules upon which life depends. It is almost as if the universe had been consciously designed.
(2) The Ratio of Proton to Electron Mass
This is another necessity that is needed for the formation of life. The exact specific relationship between protons and electrons measures that the protons are 1836 times heavier than electrons and, if it were any different the required molecules would not form, and there would be no chemistry and no life. And it was Stephen Hawing, the theoretical physicist who said: “The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life”
(3) The Relative Strength of Fundamental Forces
The relative strength of each of Nature’s Four Fundamental Forces (gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces) must be exactly as measured. If any one of them had a slightly different strength, we would have a universe in which life would be impossible.
(4) Protein Proximity for Life
All the proteins which are necessary for human life must be together at the same time to create human life. But scientists have determined that the likelihood of this happening by chance is so extremely unlikely that many scientists who supported this lucky coincident have now switched their concept of life’s origin to the panspermia theory which assumes that life really started somewhere else in the universe and was transported to earth on an asteroid or comet. Of course, this opens up another box of worms. All this rather than accepting the supernatural basis for life.
(5) The Conundrum of Universal Order
The conundrum of how the universe got into its very ordered state after the violence of the Big Bang explosion event has been a challenge for non-theistic scientists for many years. The fact is that our sovereign supernatural God created this ordered event despite the scientists attempting to thwart God’s intentions through proving that the universe was created by some yet undiscovered evolutionary process.
The foregoing examples of God’s interruptions in time to create the universe, out of nothing, are a few of hundreds of examples of the specific providential actions that our Creator God took to create not only our universe but also our humankind.
Next time we will list several formerly atheistic scientists who have converted to a belief in our Creator God despite the number of their cohorts who still hold out for some yet to be discovered evolutionary theory which will explain the creation of our universe.
T. Q. Manning is a new writer in the community
He has a BA from a large midwestern University. In addition, over the period of 1964 through 2006, he travelled throughout the US and many foreign countries. Along the way he learned to speak Spanish and French, though today he says his proficiency has declined. During his travels in addition to attending many churches and as well speaking with many church leaders, he also met and spoke with many business and government officials, including many people like you and me who sat next to him on planes, trains, buses, and cabs. His interest has always been to seek information from those he met relative to their thoughts about God, thus his title.
