|
|
The Norman Transcript
By Brianna Bailey,
Transcript Staff Writer Norman Transcript Web Site Link for entire
article: |
|
“Praise
in Worship” – July 20, 2006 The Norman Transcript By Pastor Chuck
Gafford Norman Transcript
Web Site link: |
|
Articles
on the Internet |
Scientific
Evidence for the Existence of God
Posted in Religion by skeptic on the June
24th, 2006 A scientific
approach to the existence of God appears to be impossible at the
onset. The existence of God defined as a Creator or Supreme Being
would on the surface seem to require pure “faith” and without considering
scientific evidence. Since no one was around when the initial event
occurred, no one is able to use the five senses to explain or document what
occurred. However, one current theory with a great deal of evidence
that can be analyzed, and one theory that has been proven mathematically
can be utilized for a scientific review of the beginning of the Universe. In the last half
a millennium, a chasm has been created between theology and science.
Nearly 400 years ago Galileo was tried and found guilty by the church for
breaking his pledge not to support Copernicus again. Copernicus was a
Polish astronomer and clergyman who proposed that the earth was not at the
center of the universe. Galileo was considered a heretic by the
Catholic Church for his efforts to show that the sun and not the earth is
the center of the universe. Galileo, as well Copernicus, believed
that the sun was the center of the universe (heliocentric) rather than the
earth (geocentric). Since the time of
Galileo, pure “science” and the Bible have been considered at odds and in
contradiction with each other with each requiring its own “faith”.
Recent developments in physics have led to new discoveries in how the
universe was created. Some of these discoveries have indicated that
science may not be in contradiction with a proper exegesis of the Genesis
account of the creation of the universe. In the first
verse of the Bible in Genesis 1:1, the word “created” in Hebrew means
“bara” which is translated to English as “created out of nothing”.
“The heavens and the earth” refers to the universe. The verse means
that in the beginning of time, God created the universe out of
nothing. In effect the creation of the universe through the Big Bang
theory confirms that Genesis 1:1 is correct that a Supreme Being or
creative force caused something to be created out of nothing. Most
astrophysicists agree that there had to be something outside of the
existing dimensions that created matter and energy out of nothing. The first point
of evidence has been named “The Big Bang” theory. A majority of
astrophysicists and cosmologists now believe in “The Big Bang” theory of
describing how the universe can into being. In confirming a Big Bang
theory, tests with particle accelerators have shown that something the
universe initially was created out of nothing in three spatial dimensions
that expanded to at least at least nine spatial dimensions and then went
back into fewer dimensions. In order for the universe to have been
created, it is reasonable to deduce that something or someone greater than
the created universe had to exist outside of the ten dimensions of space
and with at least two dimensions of time. This Being could then be
called “God” because it obviously required some type of creative force or
being to initiate this action. Stephen Hawking, although not believing
in a personal God, has inferred in his writings and lectures that some type
of creative being exists. Other contemporaries of Stephen Hawking
have also provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate the “Big Bang” theory
is the mechanism for how the universe was “created”. The space-time
theorem of general relativity (E=mc2) indicates that the
universe comprised of all mass and energy along with the dimensions of
space and time had its beginning beyond all known dimensions of space and
time. Certainly Albert Einstein also believed in a Supreme
Being, albeit he also did not believe in a personal God. Based
on recent discoveries since the late 1970s, physicists generally believe in
some type of Supreme Being or Creator but often do not believe in a “personal”
God. The mathematical odds of the universe being created
without an external being greater than the three dimensions of space and
one dimension of time is confirmed by modern science to be astronomical. The beauty and
symmetry of equations in physics discovered by Albert Einstein lead to the
belief in a Creator. In fact, the beauty and symmetry of many created
objects to be discussed in a later article indicate another proof in the
existence of a Supreme Being or God. A Supreme Being would then have
existed in at least 10 dimensions of space and have at least two or more
dimensions of time. A review of fractal geometry and the mathematical
elements found in created nature may reveal more about what type of Supreme
Being or Creator exists. Link at
NTSkeptics.org Web Site: |