“The Nature Of The Universe Itself Seems To Raise The ‘God’ Question.”

Stars above Arizona — A night sky over Arizona (Wikimedia Commons public domain)

What have the age and size of the observable universe, nuclear energy levels in beryllium and carbon, the remarkable properties of water and the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere have in common? All these things are essential to the existence of carbon-based life and are determined by subtle balances among the forces of nature.

These balances have led to a remarkable phenomenon of the last two decades in which many scientists in studying the origin of the universe cannot leave God alone. This is not just that many scientists are in fact believing Christians, it is that the nature of the universe itself seems to raise the “God” question.

Science seems to be raising questions which it itself is unable to answer. We have already seen the question of why is there a universe rather than nothing. Now we encounter the question of why is the universe the way it is. This does not mean that science will not be able to explain how the universe came from a Big Bang or how these balances in the universe come about. But that does not take away the question, ‘Why is the universe this way?’ (135)

David Wilkinson, God, Time and Stephen Hawking: An Exploration Into Origins (London: Monarch Books, 2001), 135.

Rev. Dr. David Wilkinson is a British Methodist theologian at the University of Durham. He earned a Ph.D. in systematic theology. But I should point out (especially to those who will reflexively dismiss him and his comments because he’s a theologian) that he also holds a doctorate in theoretical astrophysics and that he is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.

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This is, to use the technical, scientific term, really cool. Don’t miss the 4.5-minute video at the end:

“Most images of black holes are illustrations. Here’s what our telescopes actually capture. Soon, we may get to see one up close for the first time.”

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Slightly technical, but you can easily understand why scientists would be surprised and puzzled:

“Physicists Just Caught Particles Spinning Wildly in The ‘Wrong’ Direction: ‘What we observed was totally amazing.'”

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A bit more technical still, but the take-away is that Dr. Einstein is vindicated yet again:

“Trio of dead stars upholds a key part of Einstein’s theory of gravity: Celestial orbital dance conforms with physicists’ expectations for ultra dense objects”

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Finally, it seems that genuine science as practiced by genuine scientists, rather than being a closed dogma, is still open to fundamental revision:

“Revamped collider hunts for cracks in the fundamental theory of physics: Experiment smashes electrons into positrons to search for unseen particles and problems with overarching physics framework.”