Showing posts with label atheism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label atheism. Show all posts

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Hiding the Supernatural: The origin of matter



        The first law of thermodynamics states that energy and matter cannot be created or destroyed, it can only change its form. This physical law is one of the foundations of natural science. When there is a undisputed, universal physical law stating that matter cannot be created, how is it possible to explain that matter exists?  There are two possibilities – either matter has always been (it is eternal), or at one time matter did not exist and then began to exist.
        There are many theories for how our universe (matter) came to be. Most people in the world believe that the universe was created by a supernatural being (creationism). Some believe that the universe has always existed. Others believe that the universe began billions of years ago, completely apart from any supernatural intervention.

        The idea that the universe began completely apart from supernatural intervention is not consistent with the first law of thermodynamics. Anything that is of the physical world is subject to the physical laws of the world, and thus subject to the first law of thermodynamics. This law states that matter cannot be created or destroyed. Thus, in order for matter to be created, it must be created by something that is outside of physical laws and outside of the natural world (supernatural).

        The idea that the universe has always existed is actually consistent with the first law of thermodynamics. If matter is eternal, then it never was created. It always was.
        However, this theory does not sufficiently take into account the fact that for everthing that happens in the natural universe, there is a cause. In order for anything with mass to move, it must be moved by something other than itself. Because it is quite evident that there is motion in the natural world, there must have been something that moved first, enabling (e.g. causing) all other motion in the natural world. If there was not a "first mover," then this natural world could not be in motion, because everything natural that is moving is caused to be in motion by something else. This first mover must be outside of the laws of nature, because it has no natural cause for moving. In other words, this first mover must be supernatural.

        The idea that the universe was created by something supernatural is consistent with the first law of thermodynamics, because physical laws only apply to the natural world. If a being is spiritual and supernatural, then it does not belong to the natural world, and it is not restricted by physical laws. The first law of thermodynamics is strong evidence for the theory that the natural universe began from something supernatural (in other words, that the universe was created). I dare say that the first law of thermodynamics effectively proves creationism.

        All naturalistic, materialistic explanations of the origin of the universe merely hide the necessity of a supernatural creator, pretending to offer feasible alternatives to the logical, intuitive idea that the universe was created by a supernatural being. However, upon close analysis, there is no escaping from the truth that there is a creator who does not belong to this universe and is not bound by our physical laws.

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This post was heavily influenced by Thomas Aquinas's proof for the existence of God in his famous book, the Summa Theologica. You can read the book online by following this link. Once you've realized that the book is way to long to read in its entirety, you can read his relatively short proof for the existence of God by following this link.

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The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” – Psalm 14:1

Friday, May 13, 2011

Creation

Did this evolve or was it created?

       In April the atheistic organisation Centre For Inquiry Canada launched controversial bus ads in BC claiming there is no God. The catch-phrase of this anti-Christian organization is "Extraordinary Claims Demand Extraordinary Evidence". They say that the burden of proof is on believers of God to prove that He exists. They also say that a belief in a god is an "extraordinary claim" and that it requires "extraordinary evidence".
       I find this interesting, because it seems to me that the real extraordinary claim here is that life somehow originated from non-life (an occurrence which has never been observed) and that humans like you and me ultimately evolved from microscopic organisms over time – in short, the Theory of Macro-evolution, which most atheists adhere to. It makes much more sense that an intelligent designer made our beautiful universe than that random processes created everything we know.
       So my challenge to you is this: find the real evidence, and judge for yourself what is true. Are there intermediate links between species in the fossil record that show they evolved? No. Are there evolutionary trends in the DNA of different species? No. Have we seen instances of (primitive) life spontaneously generating from non-life? No. Macro-evolution claims to have the answer to how we got here, but because of the numerous holes in the thoery, it ends up merely creating more puzzling questions instead.
       On the other hand, does it seem that nature was created? Take a look at your eyes – the delicate yet complex system of sight we have that is better than any camera ever invented. Take a look at even single celled organisms! There is no such thing as a "simple life form." Single cells are like miniature cities with ways to get food, break it down into energy, get rid of the waste products, protect themselves from invasion, copy information (DNA), communicate with other cells, and perform other essential tasks. You can believe that these spontaneously generated through random processes with random components at an unknown time and place, or you can choose to believe what is strikingly apparent - that nature has been designed by an intelligent God.