The question of the existence of God is the most practical of the most fundamental questions. It has given rise to many theories in the scientific, philosophical and theological fields, just to name a few. In that respect, this article takes into account the approach of scientists with regard to the considerations made about the existence of the person of God. Hence, there is no need to expand on the different scientific theories that want God to be the object of their experimental study as to give the green light to His existence, but rather on the recent scientific discoveries admitting that the Universe has a beginning. Consequently, if it has a beginning, then it would be only befitting to assume that there is a superior mind behind all this well-ordered machinery that is the Universe, and to show that these incredible discoveries scientifically proven or not point to an undeniable, absolute and creative being who can only be God.
According to Georges Smoot, an astrophysicist and cosmologist who won the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics, we are not the result of a simple cosmic accident, nor the accidental result of a physical process in a Universe that crushes us completely [1]. In this case, if it is not a simple cosmic accident, where does the Universe come from?
In 1878, physicist Ludwig Boltzmann, father of static physics, to explain the origin of the Universe, discovered a mathematical formula S = k.lnΩ where he argued that everything in nature is mysteriously encrypted, calculated, ordered , even coded. In applying his formula to the whole Universe, it appeared that it is not eternal, but has a beginning. Yet, as for the scientists of Boltzmann's time, they considered the Universe as acquired and assumed it to be eternal. Conversely, in the 1920s, Belgian astrophysicist, Georges Lemaître, in a surprising discovery: an expanding Universe, concluded that the Universe had not always been stable and static because of the presentiment of the existence of the cosmic background radiation at the time of the birth of the Universe. In other words, Lemaitre conceives the beginning of the Universe (an initial explosion that will soon be called the Big Bang). In addition, physicists Audrey Mithani and Alexander Vilenkin, having evaluated in their research « Did the Universe have a beginning? », based on three scenarios which meant to prove an eternal universe, came to the conclusion that the Universe has a beginning.
Furthermore, no scientist is unaware that the universe is regulated by physical laws. In this sense, all scientists, without exception, admit that there are four fundamental forces that direct the Universe: the gravitational force, the electromagnetic force, the strong and weak nuclear forces. All that surrounds us could not exist without these four forces. They dictate all the laws of physics and govern the whole Universe. And from these forces arise figures whose apparent setting seems almost supernatural, because these constants take such precise values. On the contrary, the Universe itself, and nothing of all that exists, would have the slightest chance of existing. From this perspective, Stephen Hawking, theoretical physicist and cosmologist, in his book Brief History of Time, wrote: « The laws of science, as we know them at present, contain many fundamental numbers, like the size of the electric charge of the electron and the ratio of the masses of the proton and the electron. ... The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life [3]. »
Through this, the scientist means that, if everything is balanced so that life is possible, nothing has ever been a coincidence. Then, he went on to assert that If the rate of expansion one second after the Big Bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million millions, the Universe would have turned into fireball [4]. This precision, at the level of the Universe, is so extraordinary mathematically that it would be completely absurd to think that it comes from an accident. In addition, Einstein, well-versed in this field, had to say: « The idea that the order and the precision of the universe, in all its innumerable aspects, would be the result of a blind coincidence is as credible as it after the explosion of a printing press all the characters would fall on the ground in the order of a dictionary [5]. »
Again, it is a clear way for the latter to remove any assumption that chance could calculate the order that governs the Universe, and to assert that there is an intelligent cause behind all this. So, what once shocked scientists is now accepted: our Universe has not always existed, it was created at one point! Thus, the Universe must have a very powerful cause, capable of creating it. Physicist theorist Alexander Polyakov, in turn, asserted that : « We know that nature is described by the best of all possible mathematics, because God created it [7] ». And, this opinion was expressed by other scientists revealing that the Universe is the expression of the thought of God. So, Einstein said, « I want to know how God created the world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, this or that element. I want to know the thought of God; the rest is only details ». And Hawking, wondering about why the Universe exists in his Brief History of Time, said that if we find the answer to why, it will be the ultimate triumph of human reason - at that moment, we will know the thought of God.
For Freeman Dyson, colleague of James Peebles, who received the 2005 Crafoord Award for Astronomy, « the challenge is to read the mind of God [8] », to know why the Universe exists and how it was created. In this context, astrophysicist Hugh Ross defends the existence of a creator of the Universe that is above all physical dimensions in these terms: by definition, time is the dimension in which the cause-and-effect phenomenon takes place. No time, no cause and effect. If time’s beginning is concurrent with the beginning of the universe, as the space-time theorem says, then the cause of the universe must be some entity operating in a time dimension completely independent of and pre-existent to the time dimension of the cosmos ...It tells us that the Creator is transcendent, operating beyond the dimensional limits of the universe. It tells us that God is not the universe itself, nor is God contained within the Universe ». For many scientists, the highest calling of the scientific enterprise is to be dedicated to God's thoughts [10]. This also relates to Isaac Newton, the founder of classical physics, Louis Pasteur, the founder of microbiology, Nicolas Copernicus, the founder of heliocentric cosmology, etc.
Throughout the history of mankind, we have noticed that science has evolved a lot. However, it cannot set itself up as a master of its conclusions on the question of the existence of God. It can only reveal it by taking into account facts and recent scientific discoveries. Indeed, if scientists all agree that everything that comes into existence has a cause that is not just a coincidence, then the Universe has a cause... and the supernatural cause must be a being who has no cause, invariable, immaterial and outside of time. An author asserts that the Universe is not born in time but over time [11]. Similarly, Einstein argued that if there is an era before the creation of space, time and matter, an era before the big bang, it is no longer science but rather the metaphysical quest.
All of this only confirms the evidence that everything points to a creator – the Creator. Thus, one might ask who is at the origin of God? The principle is that everything that begins to exist must have a cause. Since God never began to exist, he needs no cause. He just never came into existence [12]. God is eternal. This is why many of the scientists are constantly trying to discover or know the thoughts of God, the creator, who has always been the origin of all things.
Rosemond SAINT-PAULIN
Secretary General of Standing 4 Christ Ministry
RZIM certified
References
[1] K. D. Georges Smoot, Les rides du temps : L’univers, trois cent mille ans après le Big Bang. Paris: coll. « Nouvelle bibliothèque scientifique », 1994.
[2] I. et G. BOGDANOV, Le Code secret de l’univers. Albin Michel, 2015.
[3] S. Hawking, “A brief History of Time,” Flammarion., Bantam Books, 1988, p. 1989.
[4] L. STROBEL, Plaidoyer pour la foi -, Vida. France: Présence Graphique-Monts, 2002.
[5] I. et G. BOGDANOV, La fin du hasard. Grasset & Fasquelle, 2013.
[6] I. et G. BOGDANOV, Le visage de Dieu. Grasset & Fasquelle, 2010.
[7] I. et G. BOGDANOV, Le visage de Dieu-. Grasset & Fasquelle, 2010.
[8] F. Dyson, Infinite in All Directions. New York: Harper & Row, 1988.
[9] L. STROBEL, Plaidoyer pour la foi, Vida. France: Présence Graphique-Monts, 2002.
[10] C. Ray, Faits scientifiques dans la Bible : 100 raisons de croire à l'origine surnaturelle de la Bible. 2001.
[11] I. et G. BOGDANOV, Le visage de Dieu. Grasset & Fasquelle, 2010.
[12] L. STROBEL, Plaidoyer pour la foi., Vida. France: Présence Graphique-Monts, 2002.
Comments