Everything Has an Explanation for Its Existence
Looking at creation, it is self-evident there is a reason this is all 'here'. Everything that exists has an explanation for its existence. To give glory to God and credit Him as the sufficient (and necessary!) reason for the existence of the universe, some devoted materialists have resorted to trying to explain how the universe just "popped" into existence by itself: no reason needed!
To give the veneer of scientific reasoning to this conjecture, teams of philosophers, mathematicians and scientists who are willing to 'bend the rules' on the scientific method have gone back to the
drawing board to redesign the standard model for the Big Bang. Even so, with Hoyle's "Continuous Creation Model" and the "Oscillating Universe Model", which has already been largely discredited. Devoted materialists have had to struggle lately coming up with explanations for the existence of the universe without a Creator.
Continuous Creations and Oscillating Universe Theories
This post includes several short video clips from a series by Dr. Stephen Meyer entitled "True U - Does God Exist?: Building the Scientific Case", from Ligonier Ministries. He summarizes the current state of cosmology as the battle to introduce common sense into the scientific discussion rages on.
Dr. Stephen Meyer entitled "True U - Does God Exist?: Building the Scientific Case" © Ligonier Ministries Tyndale House Publishers, ISBN 9781589973398 Used by permission of Ligonier Ministries. All rights reserved.
To acquire the DVD and watch the full lessons, go to: Ligonier Ministries Store
Basic premise: stuff just keeps “popping into existence”.
Scientific evaluation of the theory: "background radiation" of the Big Bang was discovered rendering this theory dead.
Basic premise: universe is eternal, it just expands and contracts like an accordion; "sort of a circular reincarnation thing…”
Scientific evaluation of the theory: Hubble's red shift disproves this model -- the expansion of the universe expansion is
accelerating and not enough mass to pull us back has been discovered.
Sidebar discussion: Dark Matter
Note the search for dark matter while possibly real, is more adequately explained by the electrical /magnetic forces. There are a number of excellent videos on that specific subject I've copied links to here:
Given the detailed explanations of these videos that more effectively model behaviors actually observed in the universe, This author thinks it highly unlikely that enough "dark matter" will be discovered to resurrect the Oscillating Universe Model.
Revisiting Scientific Materialist's Assumptions
Are they interpreting the data obtained by the scientific method and making their conclusions based on …
A) evidence?
B) ideology?
Given the clear failure of alternative models to the "Big Bang", and no viable explanation for how "nothing" just happened to explode and generate all the complexity and "apparent" design (not to mention miraculous nature of life itself), there MUST be a Cause for all this. Let's examine the philosopher's dilemma:
Parmenides's Argument – why does anything exist at
all?
Ex nihilo nihil fit. (from nothing, nothing comes)
If ever there was a time when there was nothing, then there would still be nothing. And Science cannot explain why anything exists at all...
This shows that either the universe must be eternal, or
something else must be
eternal, otherwise there can be “no thing” because something cannot create
itself without violating the Law of Non-Contradiction, which is the basis for
all reasoning and logic. Something
cannot "not" exist, then create itself and then shazam! it
exists. That's like a magician pulling
a rabbit out of a hat with no magician and no hat...
The Universe does NOT HAVE to exist - it is contingent, and not necessary.
Therefore, the universe must have an explanation for its existence. This is called Contingency
Contingency Argument
This was first postulated in 1714 by Gottfried Leibniz, a German
mathematician:
1 - Everything that exists has an explanation for its existence
2 - If the universe has an explanation for its existence, that explanation
is God
3 - The universe exists
4 - (Therefore from 1 & 3) The universe has an explanation for its
existence
5 - (Therefore from 2 & 4) The explanation for the existence of the
universe is God
Premise 1 - simply states a rational "properly basic belief" that we all accept. Nothing is just "there" by no cause or reason and everyone practically speaking must accept this. All of the scientific method rests on this for causality and experimentation.
Premise 2 - put in the inverse: if God does not exist, then the universe has no explanation for its existence.
Premise 3 - This is the "Duh" premise. We won't address those who assume we are all a dream, or part of one person's consciousness as conversations about life, purpose, existence and meaning are moot.
4-Conclusion 1 - derives from 1 & 3 and logically follows.
5-Conclusion 2 - people don't "like" this conclusion, but it logically follows. Don't preach to me about how Materialists are "evidence and logic-based" in their thinking and then reject out of hand a logical argument because they don't like the conclusion (which is logically air tight - well formed and true).
Listen to Wisdom
Isaiah 55:5-11 Seek the Lord while He may be found; call to Him while He is near. Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts [higher] than your thoughts. For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.” HSCB
God's Word is a faithful representation of God's revealed will for our lives. Those who doubt the Scriptures (without any basis except that they don't "like" what the Scriptures say) doubt that God can "say what He means and mean what He says". Those who ignore God's wisdom are left with no answers to life's biggest questions:
- Where do I come from?
- Why am I here?
- What is the meaning of life?
- Where am I going after I die?
- Why is there evil in the world?
Remember that there
really aren't any "unbelievers". Just people who suppress the truth they already know.
Romans 1:18-20 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse HSCB
For more articles related to Christian Apologetics, see:
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DVD excerpts from purchased DVD, TrueU: Does God Exist? by Dr. Stephen Meyer. © Ligonier Ministries Tyndale House Publishers, ISBN 9781589973398 Used by permission of Ligonier Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture citations are from: Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) © 2009 Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville TN or New King James Version®. (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson
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