Does Science Support God? Examining New Evidence

“God is dead,” the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously declared in 1882. Not so fast, two acclaimed scientists respond in a compelling new book now available in the United States after posting impressive sales figures in Europe.

A Metro Voice Book Review

“God, The Science, The Evidence” by Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies has sold more than 400,000 copies worldwide. The book presents commentary and research drawn from hundreds of scientists and scholars, including 63 Nobel Prize winners, and presents what the authors describe as a “180-degree panorama” of the evidence.

For much of the 20th century, mainstream culture treated scientific progress as incompatible with belief in God. The authors argue that this narrative has been challenged by modern developments in cosmology, physics and biology, including the Big Bang, the fine-tuning debate and the information-rich complexity of DNA.

“Many people live with an unresolved tension between what they were taught about science and what they feel drawn to spiritually,” Bolloré said. “One of the great reliefs readers report is discovering that this conflict is not inevitable and may no longer be justified.”

The consensus before the 20^th century was that both time and space had no beginning and no end, so there was no need for a creator God. Recent scientific advances called this long-held assumption into question. “Never have so many spectacular scientific discoveries emerged in such a short period of time,” the book said. “These discoveries have overturned our view of the cosmos and forcefully put the question of the existence of a creator God back on the table.”

Don’t Miss “God Vs. Science.” A 1 Hour Seminar to be held at 12:15 at the Feb. 28 Midwest Christian College Expo. More info HERE.

If science confirms that time, space and matter had an absolute beginning, it becomes clearer that the universe proceeds from a cause that is not temporal, spatial or material. “The Big Bang forces us into a corner,” the authors said. “To put it bluntly, it brings us face to face with the idea of God. We dare to say that the picture painted by the Big Bang is remarkably consistent with the idea of the creation of the universe by God.”

The Big Bang challenged the materialistic foundations of atheistic regimes

The Big Bang challenged the materialistic foundations of atheistic regimes such as the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Scientists who refused to denounce their belief that the universe had an origin often were ostracized, sent to the gulag or even executed.

“The violent, dark story of the reception of the Big Bang theory and the weakness of recent alternative theories only serve to underscore the strength of the evidence of the expansion of the universe, its death and its beginning,” the book said. “Even today, scientists who identify as religious are at greater risk of encountering resistance and mistrust in the workplace that are scientists who profess no religious affiliation.”

The purely materialist position since has fallen into disfavor, and even strident atheists and agnostics grudgingly accept that the universe had a beginning. Unproved – and unprovable – multiverse theories are an attempt to explain how everything was created from nothing without a personal creator.

There are really only two possible explanations: a creator God or pure chance

“There are really only two possible explanations: a creator God or pure chance,” the authors said. “The probability that our universe arose as a result of chance alone has been estimated at least at 1 in 10⁶⁰ (which is 1 followed by 60 zeroes).”

Materialists also are at a loss to explain how life somehow emerged form a lifeless universe of matter and energy.

“Despite the amazing progress made over the last 50 years, the gap between inert and living matter seems to be widening endlessly, beyond anything we could have imagined,” the book said. “To date, no definite intermediate steps have been identified between the most complex inert matter and the least complicated life forms currently known.”

Once again, the odds against even the simplest forms of life beginning spontaneously are astronomical: “The numbers don’t lie, and they all point one way: pure chance is not a reasonable hypothesis for explaining the transition from inert matter to the first living being.”

Many people – even Christians – believe there is a tension between faith and science and that most scientists are atheist or at least agnostic. This may have been true a century ago but not in the 21^st century. The majority of American scientists believe in something, while a minority are atheists, the authors said.

In the science today, God is more alive than ever

“Those under age 34 are much more likely to claim some type or belief than older researchers,” the book said. “Nietzsche’s claim that God is dead, held by the scientists of the 19^th and 20^th centuries, has itself suffered a mortal wound. In the science today, God is more alive than ever.”

Finally, Bible itself points to the existence of God. There is no human explanation for how a small, uneducated group of people in ancient Israel could have obtained knowledge that was inaccessible to more sophisticated nations of their time and only recently confirmed by modern science.

“Most of the Bible’s claims about the nature and origin of the cosmos would remain unverifiable and inaccessible to human reason throughout antiquity and for many centuries thereafter,” the book said. “But over the last century or two, modern science has proved them true.”

The book is written from a Catholic perspective. Although Protestant readers may be uncomfortable about the reported appearance of the Virgin Mary in the skies above Fatima, Portugal,  in the early 20^th century being proof of the existence of God, it does show how miracles throughout history challenge the assumptions of materialism and atheists.

“God, The Science, The Evidence,” like all good science, is fact-based and extensively documented. Reading it will challenge the assumptions of pure materialists and help Christians understand that belief in God is entirely reasonable. “For believers, this book demonstrates that their convictions are based on solid rational foundations – even if others disagree,” the book said.

“God, The Science, The Evidence” is available from most major online retailers, including Amazon at Amazon.com : god the science the evidence.

–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice