The Argument by Design
We've
seen that for the universe (or anything) to exist:
1. something must have existed eternally and by definition "outside" time and space2. that this Force/Cause is powerful enough to account for everything we see in the universe, and3. that everything in our spacetime manifold came from "nothing"; meaning "somewhere else" outside our universe.
We
also understand that everything we see exists conditionally; dependent upon
something else that existed before, which also was contingent upon something
existing before that...until you find something that exists
"necessarily".
We are here by Design
Here are five clips from the excellent video series by 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
What does "Fine Tuning" prove?
Fine tuning of the expansion of the universe is 1 part to one hundred
million billion billion billion billion ....And we are to accept this is just a lucky coincidence.
Additionally, the laws of nature don’t demand that the universal constants work out the
way they do. If they are off by any measurable amount; there is no life. Are we to believe this is just chance? Materialist Scientists (working from ideological assumptions) have attempted to explain this away with the "Weak Anthropic Principle" argument and a totally mathematically hypothetical "Many Worlds Hypothesis". Neither of these hypotheses are even vaguely scientific as they are simply untestable (and therefore cannot be disproven).
To the practical, rational observer, the universe is a “setup job”. Design patterns are everywhere. Atheists love to employ "Occam's razor" to difficult theological concepts, but when applied here, oh, that "cuts" uncomfortably close. All things being equal, the simplest answer is most likely the truth. Despite all the ad hoc theories and hypothetical arguments, Materialists cannot avoid what is obvious to a casual observer; our universe is simply too complex, too finely balanced, too statistically improbable to be explained away by "chance". There must be a Designer.
Fine Tuning (Teleological) Argument
1 - The universe is fine tuned for life due to either physical necessity, chance or design
2 - The universe is not fine-tuned for life due to physical necessity or chance
3
- The fine tuning of the universe for life must be due to design.
Scientifically speaking, how do you infer "Design"?
1. Highly improbable outcome (such as 1 part to one hundred
million billion billion billion billion)
2. The resulting outcome has a specific, recognizable pattern or function.
If you have both (#1) - very long odds of
something happening, and (#2) - a very specific
“recognizable” result, you can logically infer design. The presence of a predetermined language or code, for instance, within the highly specified structure of DNA molecules, with the specified functionality of correction, replication and production of proteins, etc. is a textbook case of inferred design. If the universe cannot be inferred to be designed, then an airplane, a photocopier or a flint arrow head cannot be inferred to have been designed.
The Ramifications of a "Designer"
It means we are creatures living in an environment that were all designed. We were given the capacity to communicate and then given the Scriptures in order to "view the owner's manual ourselves". We are His Crown of creation according to God:
Ephesians 2:10 For
we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
ahead of time so that we should walk in them. HCSB
1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are not like that, for you
have been chosen by God himself—you are priests of the King, you are holy and
pure, you are God’s very own—all this so that you may show to others how God
called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once
you were less than nothing; now you are God’s own. Once you knew very little of
God’s kindness; now your very lives have been changed by it. HCSB
- An infinitely powerful force caused the universe to exist from nothing
- This cause is not contingent on anything else to exist; while everything in the universe contingently exists
- The intricate and complex design everywhere infers an infinitely intelligent (omniscient) Creator
Even with all the evidence presented, some
people can't face the facts... To them I simply say, it's not an issue of the brain, it's an issue of the heart:
Psalm 14:1 The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.” HCSB
Romans 1:21 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. HCSB
For more articles related to Christian Apologetics, see:
Why Engage in Apologetics?
Is Something Right Because It's Legal?
Faith or Materialism: Which is More Rational?
The Contingency Argument for the Existence of God
The Axiological (Moral) Argument for the Existence of God
The Kalam Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God
The Failure of the Materialist Worldview
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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