Today I introduce to you one of the most powerful science presentations I have ever heard.
I listened to Hugh Ross give this presentation on a tape while I was driving down Interstate 88 in Chicago one night. As I listened, light bulbs were firing off in my head all over the place.
So what’s the big deal about this? Here’s what you’ll discover as you listen:
-The delicate balance of vast forces in the universe, necessary for life to exist
-Why planet earth is so extremely special in its ability to support life
-The very measurement of the entire universe in all its magnificence, made possible only within the last 15 years
-A fascinating place where science and theology come together in perfect agreement
Now there’s one more thing I want to tell you about this talk: It was recorded in 1994.
Now why would I give you something called “New Scientific Evidence” if it’s more than 15 years old?
Here’s why: Because unlike most things that old–with only a couple of exceptions, the information Hugh Ross shares here has been shown to be even *more* accurate today than it was back then.
One of the hallmarks of a successful scientific model is that it holds up for years and even decades, even while scholars debate it. I’ve been following Dr. Ross and his work, and virtually every fact he discusses here has been further strengthened and validated by all the physics and astronomy discoveries in the years since.
On this link you’ll find both the audio recording and the printed transcript. You can read it online, print it out, listen on your computer, burn it to a CD, or download this to your iPod. Go here now:
https://evo2.org/hugh-ross-origin-of-the-universe/
Enjoy.
Perry Marshall
Download The First 3 Chapters of Evolution 2.0 For Free, Here – https://evo2.org/evolution/Where Did Life And The Genetic Code Come From? Can The Answer Build Superior AI? The #1 Mystery In Science Now Has A $10 Million Prize. Learn More About It, Here – https://www.herox.com/evolution2.0
hi.My question is 100/. scientific,but requires a 100/. litterary explanation.What does the equation of the general relativity:E=mc² mean?very simply please.Thank you.
You can easily find answers to these kinds of questions with a Google search, Wikipedia etc.
dear perry…
what about holy qu’ran??
there a lot about existing a God and our universe…
and all is writen about 1400 years ago!!
today when scientis discovered the qu’ran, they discovered many thing that writen here is a real…
example, in qu’ran God said about a supernova explosion,it like a shinny rose when its explodes,,but when astronomy discovered, its is really real,just exactly like the qu’ran said..but this is written about 1400years ago when telescope not exist..who tell us about this??
of course God tell us..
Why does the universe keep stable if it is not mechanistic and despite the chaos of reasoning and actions that exists among its main inhabitants-man? or are we just insignificant?
Hi Perry. I would like to thank you for your efforts in answer to my broad enquiries about evolution. I do not seem to find too much on the subject specifically, in your emails and I assume it is perhaps slightly secondary in your field or focus., I am impressed with your weight of learning on origins. It was after viewing the film Creation ( about Charles Darwin) that I felt the impulse to key in the search. One or two of your opponents seem to assume that you are a Christian ( although I dont recollect any claim of that sort on your part) Anyway, may I say unreservedly that I, myself ,am and that your articles have in an unexpected manner perhaps shed further light into my enquiries.It was with great interest that Augustine was quoted alluding to Gods two books, as I have recently read an early 20th century volume entitled Gods Other Book( Admittedly a Sunday School type of book but impressive just the same) I was specially impressed with its suggestions and I would be happy to crystallise my varying thoughts about origins. My own experience is that, as a hopeless drug addict on the other side of the world from home I cried to “God” in my heart being only too poignantly aware of the majesty of the ceated universe that demonstrated His eternal wisdom and power.He answered my unspoken cries and saw fit to reveal Jesus the Son of God to me through a “chance” perusal of the Bible. (Revelation chapter 3 vs !-6 ) Now I am assured that come the day It will not be with reliance upon my knowledge of earthly things that I enter an eternity with the full acceptance and approval of God but by Jesus vicarious merits alone.You as a scientist will see , I think, that all this is ” the best fitting model of the truth ” I could quote so many very pertinent scripture verses that allude to the scientific discussion but I am not a scientist and I feel I may have said enough to perhaps satisfy the unreconciled anomalies of some. By the way , whatever I do I cannot get away from a belief in a personal Adam. It seems a given, given the scripture record. Otherwise ,too, how are we accountable. Thanks, Mick.
Mick, I am a Christian. Why I embrace Christianity as opposed to other views:
http://evo2.org/faq/#christian
I am very happy to learn that you are a Christian, Perry. I have listened to Dr Ross` lecture and I am happy to accept what he says. Thank you so much. Mick.
Hi Mick
If what Dr Ross says is true, that there was death of animals and even “souless” humans as he claims before Adam sinned the Bible is a pack of lies ,death and suffering are what God calls Very Good, and Jesus Christ died for nothing.
Where is there happiness in that?
Peace on you every one Today i want to alienate the attention of every one
Firstly I am Egyptian and my relegion is Islam, i am a (muslim)
I have evidences from the holy quran itself that proof the existence of god to people who arenot muslims.How?
From 14 century the quran talked about some cosmic information which wasnot known by anyone in the world that time
some little examples:
The Quran talked about the bigbang!
It also talked about the cosmic smoke, the earth 7 layers, the solar apex, the extension of the universe
If any one want to see this lines in my holy quran just tell me on my email or send a comment here
This means one thing, the god who created the universe and know every every thing in it talked about his little creation according to him
Dear :Mohamed El-Masry
The idea of the “Big Bang” was “known” by the Hindu’s more than 1000 years before Mohamed so that claim it originated in the Qu ran is refuted.
It was probably more ancient than that and was refuted by Christian scholars as earlier as the second century after Christ, hundreds of years before Mohamed was born.
The Qu ran provides nothing in the field of science that was not written long before it existed. If you choose to believe it does you may but I will be happy to reference the origin of all you can quote.
The Big Bang is an atheistic concept accepted by Christians who deny there own holy book. Imagine a Muslim who denied his?
Everyone thought that Islam (Submission) existed because of Muhammad. Islam has existed since Adam. The word Islam was first coined by Abraham.
Abraham: Original Messenger of Islam*
Quran[22:78] You shall strive for the cause of GOD as you should strive for His cause. He has chosen you and has placed no hardship on you in practicing your religion – the religion of your father Abraham. He is the one who named you “Submitters” originally. Thus, the messenger shall serve as a witness among you, and you shall serve as witnesses among the people. Therefore, you shall observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and hold fast to GOD; He is your Lord, the best Lord and the best Supporter.
*22:78 Although all messengers preached one and the same message, “Worship God alone,” Abraham was the first messenger to coin the terms “Submission” (Islam) and “Submitter” (Muslim) (2:128). What did Abraham contribute to Submission? We learn from 16:123 that all religious duties in Submission were revealed through Abraham.
Abraham lived several thousand years before Muhammad.
This is one of the numerous scientific proofs:
There are many references to the chemical characteristics of iron, in the Quran. Let us see first the verse which mentions the importance and characteristics of iron:
[57:25] ……. And we sent down the iron, wherein there is strength, and many benefits for the people. All this in order for GOD to distinguish those who would support Him and His messengers, on faith. GOD is Powerful, Almighty. .
The verb “anzal” in the Quran is usually used to describe the action of coming from above the earth. The verb “anzal” refers to the fact that a creation in the world has taken place following an event exterior to the earth. The temperature of the earth was not sufficient, at the beginning, for the formation of iron. Not only the earth, but even a middle sized sun like ours did not have the heat necessary for the formation of iron. That is why iron must have come to our planet from outer space, as well as to the entire solar system. The iron we have in our planet today must have come to our solar system from other suns which had higher temperatures favorable for the formation of iron. To allude to iron, the Quran uses the verb “anzal” to explain its origin is the space.
The Quran shows other mathematical miracles by pointing out the iron’s atomic number, which is 26, in different ways.
(Each Arabic letters has a value associated with it, called Gematrical value,. E.g, Alih =1, Ha=8, etc)
1. In the Quran, there is a mathematical value for every letter. The mathematical value for the word iron (hadid) is 26.
Ha = 8
Da = 4
Ya = 10
Da = 4
Total = 26
2. The verse which refers to iron is the 25th verse in the sura Hadid. If we count Basmalah as a numbered verse then that number is 26.
3. The name God mentioned in this verse for 26th time is in the 25th verse. The atomic number of an element is the main characteristic of that element and is determined by the number of its protons which are the building blocks of that element. Iron’s atomic number is 26 because of its 26 protons. The fact that from the beginning of the sura Iron (Hadid) till the end of the verse of that sura that alludes to iron, the word God is used 26 times.
The word Mathematical value of the word
Iron 26
Iron’s atomic number 26
How many times is the word “God” used from the beginning of the sura, till the end of 25th verse which is the only verse wherein 26 the properties of iron mentioned? 26
________________________________________
Iron’s Isotopes
________________________________________
As the iron’s atomic number is encoded in the sura that mentions iron, there is also a sign in that sura about the iron’s isotopes.
1. The word “el hadid” which means a particular iron has a mathematical value of 57. The article “el” corresponds to “the” in English. When the word hadid is used with the article “el”, referring to a specific iron, the mathematical value turns out to be 57.
Alif = 1
Lam = 30
Ha = 8
Da = 4
Ya = 10
Da = 4
Total = 57
2. The sura Iron (hadid) is the 57th sura of the Quran. And 57 is one of the isotopes of iron.
3. The sura Iron (hadid) is the 58th sura from the end of the Quran. That is another isotope of iron.
4. This sura has 29 numbered verses. This number becomes 30 when the unnumbered Basmalah is counted. This number is equal to the neutron numbers of two isotopes of iron, from the total of four. The frequency of the word God in this sura gives the neutron number of the other isotope.
The word Mathematical value of the word
The iron (el hadid) 57
One of iron’s isotopes 57
What is the sura number of the sura the Iron? 57
There are numerous mathematical proofs in the Quran. Over a hundred pages in all. Curious?
Check this out:
[54:1] The Hour has come closer, and the moon has split.*
*54:1 This important sign/prophecy came to pass in 1969 when humans landed on the moon and brought pieces of the moon to earth. At the same time, Gods mathematical Miracle of the Quran was being gradually unveiled. Traditional Muslims opposed it, since it exposed the fallacy of their practices
54:1 is the exact second in which the Lunar Lander separated from the Moon bringing moon rocks! You can verify this fact with NASA official records. http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/AS11/a11facts.htm
The Quran was revealed 1400 years ago!
The bible was given to Jesus by the same God that gave Muhammad the Quran. The same God that gave rise to all the major religions of the world. Humans are to be blamed for the distortion of the original scriptures. God has allowed this to happen.
oh! I am sorry my bother Jazli i didn’t see your comment?
If i saw it i would only complete with another examples but i didn’ read any comment
i expected that there wouldn’t be any to talk like us , but i read it after i wrote my first comment, sorry
and now some other examples
The Iron which descends from the sky(its first source was form sky)
The sun runs and don’t rotate
The earth size is decreasing from its terminals and thanks
again: want to know these lines in quran just ask me
Hi dear Perry
at first i need to thank you millions of times on your great work.
i agree with you on what you are saying about the evidences that God exists
but i believe that jesus is a prophet ,not the God and i have real reasons for that
i just believe in one true God the creator of every thing , not only because i am a muslim ,but because our book (Quran) told us about these new evidences of science more than 1000 years ago ..
i love you so much and i love your method of saying things as clear and as powerful as you do
thank you very much Perry
keep in touch
yours respectfully
Atef
Dear Atef:
You are the second Muslim to make the claim the Qu ran gave us these new evidences of science 1400 years ago and I have read the Qur an and many of the Hadiths and I am sorry to say that is simply a claim, it does not in any way do that.
I would like for you to be specific. In the Bible the fact that there are mountains and pathways in the sea , rules of sanitation, as well as where rain and wind come from and other facts that have only been rediscovered by science in the past 200 years are there and I will be happy to show you where. I do not mean to be argumentative but I think you are repeating what others have told you as what you said is not true at all.
Dear Mr. Perry,
Any information about our universe has always attracted me immensely and after accidently I saw a line that read, ”New scientific evidence for the existence of god…” I simply clicked on it and i was thrilled that atlast i have found someone who can not only answer questions related to religion but also about physics and especially about universe as well.
Let me introduce myself to you. I am Parag Sagar, a B.Sc, MBA degree holder and now a businessman. Right from my childhood god & his universe has always attracted me the most. I have read couple of holy books and have always tried to extract the juice out of it that has appealed me the most.
i have started reading about the topics you spoke about in your speeches.
I have lots & lots of questions & ihope that you will not be tired answering them.
After reading about the New scientific ….., in which you have mentioned that the universe is expanding and is not static or deaccelerating. It means that each and every celestial body will move from each other farther and farther. Now you have also stated that the time & building bolcks of life in universe are finite. My question is that if universe is expanding only then what would be the state of universe after say a quite long time?
How we can conclude that there is only a limited supply of the building blocks of life when we cannot determine the limits of the space?
We can measure possibly the time when the big bang happened but how can we prove that the matter is limited without knowing the boundaries of the universe?
Eagerly awaiting for your reply.
Parag Sagar
Parag,
The universe is expanding and eventually it will thin out and burn out.
We do know with somewhat reasonable certainty the limits of space and the boundaries of the universe.
hello perry, what do you think on the work of Carl Sagan? in his book about pseudo religion?
I think Sagan tried to find a way to separate science from religion and in that respect I think he made a mistake. I think that faith and reason are allies not enemies.
Dear Perry:
The Bible teaches us that faith is the evidence of things not seen .
Jesus Christ told Thomas those who had not seen and yet believed were more blessed.
Hugh Ross and his followers such as yourself only seem to have faith you can make an argument that all the prophets, all the apostles and ALL the church fathers and the vast majority of Hebrew scholars and historians Jesus Christ Himself were incapable of understanding what Moses taught. That takes faith!
Moses taught that all the animals ,all means ALL, the animals were created the exact same day Adam was and he [Adam} named them all that day.
The Bible tells us what a false teacher is and that we are to emulate the Bereans and gladly receive all teachings and then search the scriptures to see if they be true.
Seeing as Ross’s followers deny that Adam ever saw the dinosaurs, much less named them and that billions of creatures {including soulless humans} died before Adam sinned then what is the evidence of your faith? Ross is a man who does not have the personal integrity to admit , even to himself, that he denies the truth of scripture.
He considers the so called :dating” methods more reliable that the Bible’s chronology and presentsd great theologians like Bishop Usher
as fools and by default the great theologian Issac Newton as well.
I believe he , and you, have been brainwashed by the very atheist you claim to preach to. Of course science needs to find a naturalistic answer but you have bought the assumption. One can never understand truth without the word of God which teaches of the curse.
New Age Christianity denies the Global flood and therefore the effects of the curse as well. You disparage the character of the God I worship by claiming to worship Him as well while saying the Bible contains lies and that He is so inept he created pain and suffering because He could do no better. My God created a perfect universe and then cursed it for Adam’s sin.
It is humanist philosophy to believe you can explain the universe while denying the effects of the curse .
Exodus 20 8-11 is as clear as polished glass, God created the universe in 6 literal 24 hour periods , a work week like we experience today.
When you deny that you deny the God of the Bible and create your own god ,made in your image.
I have studied this for many years and in the last 250 years not one compromiser has ever tried to refute Exodus 20 8-11, they simply ignore it like you.
Forrest,
When you are ready to discuss “A Biblical Case for an Old Earth” we will then discuss every single question you wish to raise. Until then this conversation is over.
Hi Forrest,
Please, please if you can, read the works of people who have studied the original Hebrew and Greek used in the oldest manuscripts. For example the Greek word “pistos” is errantly translated as “faith,” because it should be translated as “trust and reliance” which is based upon certainty, rather than uncertainty that comes with the word faith. There’s a big difference.
With the creation account, you need to see if from God’s perspective, one who is eternal and outside of time as we know it and who’s trying to teach us something very specific and spiritual, and not man’s perspective looking back in time, though that does certainly add extra insight. Also, it’s clear that the word “day” or “yowm” in Hebrew doesn’t necessarily mean a 24 hour period but can easily be associated to an era or epoch. For example, “in Napoleon’s day” doesn’t refer to a specific 24 hour period in Napoleon’s day but to his era. Also, “in the day of the dinosaur” and this “day” lasted some 160 million years.
Besides David Snoke and Hugh Ross I also recommend Craig Winn (the Genesis section from his free online book Yada Yahweh) and the Science of God by the Jewish theologian and scientist Gerald Schroeder.
Perry,
First of all, I thank you profusely for all the information that you’ve enlightened me with!!! Does the series end with part five? I mean, I know there’s so much more to be said about this topic. I have been searching for ”true” scientific explanation on the origins of the Universe, personally I find “the Big Bang” theory (as a result of Chance) ludicrous. Building= builder, painting= painter, the complexities of Creation= Chance? Our so-called academia truly failed there! I agree though that the beginning of the Universe was no small event!!! Sorry, now for my question: how exactly is the so-called “age of the universe” determined?. How do people “know” how old the universe is? Is the expansion of the universe that big a factor in calculating its age, considering that we talk of the “known” universe, affirming the fact that its ends are not known? Is it possible that perhaps this expansion is irregular i.e. when a bomb explodes the shrapnel does not radiate in a perfect circle, I’m sure? If this is so, is it then totally impossible to determine how old the universe is?
Does the series end at part 5?
You might try http://www.evo2.org/atheists-riddle and http://www.coffeehousetheology.com
dear Takunda:
What you ask for is impossible, science can never say what happened at creation One cannot experiment on the past, it is a wonderful tool but creation is an historical event and cannot be tested. It will always be a religious question .
One can look at the effects and try and understand it but it is a story you either believe or not, not science.
Mr Marshall, to tell you the fact i belikeve more in science than what the bible expedites. Very oftenly the bible has failed to give imperical proof of it teachings. How truely can one trust i n this me being an african , i believe in what i see. what generic data do you have concerning these two relation ships ie the bible and science.
Secondly, what do you have to say about nibiru 2012.
I have nothing to say about 2012. See http://evo2.org/audio/newevidence.htm re: science and the Bible.
“Science” can only give empirical evidence [not proof} in the here and now.
Anything “science” has to say about creation is conjecture, story telling .
The best evidence of God is genetic information, information cannot arise from matter, it is the creation of intelligence. The intelligence that created genetic information was greater than the combined intelligence of every human who ever lived or will ever live.
In the beginning matter is nonsense, In the Beginning God is the most scientific statement ever made , and the most majestic.
I am going to tell a very true story about my childhood that happenedd to me when I was eleven years old.My family lived in a village named Mashokhel in the outskirt of Peshawar[Pakistan].It was round about 7:45 at evening in June.
My mother called me out of the street as I was busy with my friends playing a rural basesd game[PAT PATONEY].I gave up playing the game and rushed to my mother.She asked me to bring kerosine oil for lantern as load shedding is a common routine in typical Pakistani villages in summer.I went out from my home and bought some oil from a store.As I was returning home and opened the big old wooden gate of my house and entered the narrow path that led to my home.There was a very old tree in the way and my parents used to say that tree was older than his grand father.When I was passing nearby that tree I felt myself uneasy and started pissing as children do in the villages.Suddenly,I noticed a very bright light and when I looked at it I saw a young a gorgeous lady
behind that tree.It couldn,t be a human being because she had enlightened the whole area and her white dress was heavenly.She was smiling at me and her very sight made me dumb and immovable.But when she started coming towards me suddenly an unknown strength arose in my body and started running and when I looked behind I saw her white wings and flew and vanished
within notimes.I didn,t know how I managed to reach home.But my dear mother
hugged ma as I was dumb pale and cold as dead body.Since then I believe strongly that some more intelligent and super natural being exists in the world
and there are other billion live creatures which are vanished of our naked eyes.
We human beings have very limited wisdom,intelligence and power to feel super natural beings as well as supreme being as God.But I believe strongly that God really exists.
Alamzeb, thank you for your moving story.
I agree that something had to create the BIG BANG so on, and so on but then where did God come from. Under the same rules God had to be created from something too.
Did God have parents and if so where did they come from and if God did not have parents then who or what created God ?
You can’t apply your thinking to science then not apply it to religion.
Thats being a hypocrite
Who designed the designer? See
http://evo2.org/faq/#designer
and
Who made God? http://evo2.org/infotheoryqa.htm
Any view you embrace requires an uncaused cause.
Is the Big Bang the beginning of time?
http://evo2.org/faq/#time
Where did God come from ?
You must use the same rules to religion has you do with science.
What caused the BIG BANG ?
then
What caused or created God ?
If you believe God just is then that means a molecule or atom could just be too. Both must come from somewhere.
Who designed the designer? See
http://evo2.org/faq/#designer
and
Who made God? http://evo2.org/infotheoryqa.htm
Any view you embrace requires an uncaused cause.
Is the Big Bang the beginning of time?
http://evo2.org/faq/#time
STOP RE-WRITING THE BIBLE AND EDITING IT !
Is been changed by man so many times in my 49 years of life it lost its meaning.
Just like your rules the Bing Bang can’t just happen on its own that also applies to religion and God.
God can’t just be, there had to be something that created “IT”
Both science and religion are 100% wrong on how the Universe got started.
So how did the universe get started?
Genesis is like quantum mechanics in the sense that there can be many interpretations. Perry Marshall has offered us a bottom-up interpretation that makes Genesis consistent with Big Bang cosmology and evolution.
I would like to offer a top-down interpretation that makes Genesis consistent with Cosmic Evolution. The cornerstone of the Cosmic Evolution interpretation is that the phrase “Let there be light” is coincident with the Big Bang. If that is acceptable, then it follows that when Genesis says “In the beginning God made the heavens and earth”, that these were the initial conditions for the Big Bang.
The description of the state of the earth that immediately follows sounds to me like the description of a black hole. “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.” Experiments at Brookhaven that are near Big Bang conditions have found a ‘perfect liquid’ composed of quarks and gluons. So it is not unreasonable that the singularity of a black hole is a similar liquid. Also a black hole is thought to be the Cosmic Egg of Hinduism from which God gives birth to universes, which is consistent with ” the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters”.
So in this interpretation what is being described prior to the Big Bang is a galaxy of stars with a supermassive black hole in its core. This corresponds exactly to Smolin’s hypothesis of the Cosmic Evolution of Universes by means of Black Hole Creation. This interpretation answers the question of where the universe came from and how God could have always existed.
However, this interpretation is not exactly consistent with the remaining days of the evolution of life on earth in Genesis. To be exactly consistent we have to allow two days to be switched so that the sun is created prior to plants. Perhaps that is so we take the bible metaphorically rather than literally.
My interpretation is that the story starting with verse 2 is told from a terrestrial POV. therefore the story is told as things appear from the surface of the earth. Day 4 is when the atmosphere clears such that the sun and moon are visible. Modern cosmology is compatible with this view.
as one of the possibilities you said for the existance of life was due to aliens. Then you questioned “where are the aliens?”. In the same manner I ask you “where is god?”….
And as for the DNA-information part, the most possible as well as stupid answer i would give is – life came on earth due to the organic compund ( due to methane and sunlight). Now its been many billlion years since then (i guess). As we know when life came, only the fittest could survive. This must have led to change in the DNA, to evolve itself, to advance.
Let me tell you what i actually mean-
How was petrolrum or coal formed? It did not happen over night. It took millions of years.
Same way you cannot mutate or evolve a fruit fly over night or even in a few months. Life did not evolve itself in a few months or years. The mutation of the fruit fly was done through man, where as proper evolution was done by constant changes, due to survival of the fittest.
There is one more logic I came up with, but it ended up to take your side in the end 😛
The above might sound kiddish but what can i do i am one. :]
Ksheetij
Perry,
Thanks for an interesting treatise on the origin of the universe.
Give God his due, but we can not attribute to a supreme being everything that we do not know or understand. Certainly, our universe is a miraculous wonder! Many widely accepted theories are less important than star dust, the basic ingredient of life.
Ben Norwood
Ben,
I wholeheartedly agree – The following story is told in Stephen Hawking’s book “God Created The Integers.”
Isaac Newton’s Principia unified and simplified all of physical science as it was then known to man. But it still left many questions unanswered, perhaps even unanswerable by physical science. Shortly after its publication in 1687, the Reverend Richard Bentley, one of Newton’s earliest supporters and popularizers, presented the master with a question not considered in the Principia. Could the solar system, with the planets all revolving around the sun in the same direction in almost the same plane, be formed out of an initial uniform distribution of matter by the action of only natural causes or was it evidence of design?
Newton believed that his system could in no way explain these obvious regularities in the heavens. He replied that most definitely they could not result from the action of only natural causes. The cause “had to be no blind and fortuitous, but very skilled in Mechanics and Geometry.”
And so matters stood for nearly the entire eighteenth century until Pierre Simon de Laplace blazed his way across the firmament of French science.
In 1770, Laplace began a rapid outpouring of papers on a wide variety of topics in pure and applied mathematics, drawing wide attention to himself. The most important papers focused on outstanding problems in planetary theory. The orbits of the two largest planets Jupiter and Saturn sometimes lagged behind and sometimes aran ahead of their predicted position. Laplace sought to explain how the planets influenced each other in their orbits. This is a more difficult problem than the three-body problem which even today can only be solved by successive approximations. Laplace demonstrated that perturbations were not cumulative, as Newton feared, but periodic. God did not need to intervene to keep the Solar System from collapsing.
A scientist who ceases to search for a natural explanation and invokes a miracle is not doing his job.
This doesn’t inherently mean that miracles can’t or don’t exist. Some university’s definition of a scientist’s job cannot possibly prevent God from both existing and acting in the world. But science by its very nature always seeks a natural, systematic explanation – not an explanation that requires God to periodically interfere with, say, the orbits of planets.
The naturalistic bias of science is productive and healthy, and in fact, absolutely necessary. I am completely sympathetic to people who resist invoking miracles in science – because of this story of Newton and Laplace.
At the same time, even naturalism itself is rooted in theology. 3000 years ago in the apocryphal book Wisdom of Solomon, the Jewish king Solomon wrote, “Thou hast ordered all things in weight and number and measure.” From this, European monks and philosophers evolved the idea that God had ordered the universe according to a set of fixed discoverable laws and that the universe was capable of “running itself.”
Science was born out of this presupposition. The entire scientific method relies on this.
Thanks for the messages, Perry. I’ve learned a lot. I have another question for you, “Can DNA be produced in a laboratory?”
Hasn’t been so far. If it is, it will require a design…
Hi Perry,
I must say that I’ve been reading the stuff of this website since 2007 or so, and got to the Infidels forum to see what all the fuzz was all about. First of all, I agree with you that atheism is very much like a religion, and also agree with the fact that most of them really do not have any intention of looking for the truth, but rather to defend their points to death, sometimes blindly, in order to keep their beliefs intact, even in the face of good evidence.
You did use this very same argument in one of your responses to the hundreds of comments you get, so I really don’t remember which was. The problem is Perry, that you are ALSO in this game. You do not want to look for the truth. I must say that I think your theory about DNA being a code is pretty good, and I actually think your points are valid and airtight. I do think that you defeated most of the atheist arguments….but the fact is that you are a CHRISTIAN, so you are doing the exact same thing you are accusing atheists of. No matter what kind of evidence or suggestion an atheist could put to doubt your beliefs, you WON’T. Guess why? Because you have a solid, pretty unmovable opinion, just like those guys.
That’s why I’m an agnostic. I’m constantly looking for the truth (if there is something like that). The problem is that for every great argument that you make, there are 3 that can be made AGAINST the existence of God. There will really be no way to end this debate EVER. Well, maybe if God one day communicates with us in a non-symbolic way….
OK, so let’s hear those other arguments AGAINST the existence of God.
First of all, I would like you to know a little bit about me. I’m not your typical furious guy who is apparently angry with the world, like some of those you argued against at Infidels. I consider myself to be actually a calm guy, with a cool demeanor. Obviously, objectivity is rarely achieved when one speaks about oneself, but I’m trying my best to describe how I deal with debates. Even though I”m very passionate, I rarely get mad or angry. Talking about these topics actually fuel my life and entertain me, so I would never try to engage into something that could spike my hormones for the worse.
Because of sites like yours and some others, is that I’m NOT an atheist. I don’t discard the existence of God, even though I admit I incline towards his non-existence. However, there are many things that just don’t fit for me. I must admit that most of the arguments I am going to present here are simply off the top of my head (as I”m sure I could come up with many more later on). I also admit that many of these arguments are much more of a philosophical nature, rather than a scientific one, since trying to explain the non-belief in God through science can be virtually impossible. Since I haven’t had the time to surf through all of your site, I know these ones could very possibly have been made before, but if you are kind, you could give some answers. Anyway, here are some:
1-If God created DNA, and you believe in the classic view of design, then that ultimately and inevitably leads to the following question. Who designed God? I once read on a Christian booklet that if you watch a car, you would quickly come to the conclusion that the car didn’t make itself. It would seem absurd to think that the engine and all the complex things that a car is made of to make it start and run could possibly be arranged in such amazing order just by chance or “luck”. That seems like a pretty fair argument, until they tell you that God was NOT designed. If a superintelligence made everything, why did that Intelligence was always there?? Would it be more reasonable to think that a vastly more complex being like God was “always there”, but not a car? This leads to an infinite regress of causes. This in turn, implies that it is not that absurd to say that DNA “made itself” from evolution. This also perpetuates the enigma of the “how”. Atheists say the Big Bang came out of a singularity, but can not explain why energy, matter and time had to “exist” in the first place. They cannot answer where those forces came from, or why those forces always existed at one single point. It is just as perplexing to think why God was always there. Nothing had to be nowhere at no time in the first place. This is the “crazy inducing” enigma that NOBODY can even attempt to solve.
2-One of the atheists told you something that may be valid. He said that since you requested one example of a naturally ocurring code, he told you it was DNA. Since DNA is a code, and it is naturally ocurring, a guy can revert your argument and say that DNA is a prime example of a naturally ocurring code, and the ONLY one at that.
3- You said that snowflakes, tornadoes and hurricans are examples of PATTERNS. Why an omnipotent being like God would make forces that cause disastrous patterns like hurricanes and tornadoes?? Why earthquakes?? I can understand the old argument that disease , death and most of the world problems occur because ot men’s own fault, but NOT this. WHy make things that only serve to destroy things?
4- I am assuming that Christianity must be based on a holy book to know the purposes of God. That Holy Book is the Bible. If God gave us the Bible to be the prime example of his testimony, why would he make it so difficult to understand?? The Bible is often written in riddles. This has lead to a lot of interpretations, which in turn have caused the spreading of NUMEROUS protestant religions. Even if you tell me that the Bible is CLEAR and straightforward “when you read it with faith”, you know in your heart it isn’t for most of the people. Why would God deliver his message through such a dense work? Most people don’t like to read that much, except for the stuff they like. Why would he use that method and not speak himself loud and clear so everyone can hear him?
5-You may say that those who don’t like to read can always go to Church, or that most likely somebody has knocked the door of that person to offer speeches about God. What about all of the people in the world that haven’t received the Lord’s message yet?? Are they guilty for not having heard of God? Even when missionaries go to third world countries and marginated places to spread the Word, there are simply too many people who are NOT reached. How does God communicate with those people?
6-What can you tell me about all the different religions in the world. Which one is right? What right do I have to say that Buddhism is wrong? If you were born in India, you would most likely practice Hinduism. What would you be guilty of? If there is only ONE GOD, then I suppose he would firmly make clear which is the right path. Considering that there are so many religions, and other holy books, how could I possibly know the purposes and the wishes of that God?
7-Now, starting from the premise that the Bible is literal, clear and easy to read, let’s take a look. The Bible says God really planned men to be perfect, so they could live in peace and love. If he really wanted that, why did he put the “forbidden fruit” on that tree?? Many Christians put the blame on Satan disguised as a snake, because of the persuasion. But the truth is, if no forbidden fruit was ever put in that tree, men would not have sinned. What possible explanation could be made for that? That’s like saying, I want you to be my friend, but at the very start of that friendship, I deliberatly put obstacles to that friendship.
8-The Bible tells stories about Sea Separations, miracles, ardent bushes, plagues, dreams that tell the future, big floods and other extraordinary phenomena. Why does nothing of that happens today? Why did all of that extravaganza (Mana, rain of sulfur and fire, etc.). only happened at that time and not even a hint of that now?
That’s it for now….I would like to read your answers.
Take care.
I responded to this here: http://evo2.org/sitting-on-the-fence/.
I am not physicist and not doctor. So – why human life is not possible if the Earth rotates once every 20 hours or once every 28 hours? And why it can only happen at 24 hours?