In the same way, if the universe were one hundred miles closer to the sun, or even one hundred miles further away from the sun, the world would be completely non-existent today. This is because if our planet were one hundred miles closer to the sun, we would die of the extreme heat, that us, as humans cannot possibly endure. If our planet were one hundred miles further away from the sun, we would die of the extreme cold that us, as humans, and other animals cannot possibly tolerate.
Many people refuse to accept the above-mentioned facts to be ‘coincidences.’ They believe that the only possible explanation regarding all these ‘coincidences’ would be the existence of God
Many atheists and even some agnostics are in favour of the Big Bang theory. They believe that the occurrence of the Big Bang was just pure chance, and thus, there is no God.
There is a well known African proverb,’ No rain, no mushrooms, No God, No world.’ This saying denotes that for the existence of the world, God is a vital ingredient, without which the world would not exist, just like without water, it is impossible for mushroom to grow properly.
The Argument from Design
The argument from design is that there is such complex, fascinating patterns and design in the natural world, that it seems as if someone must have designed the world. Everything in this world, as well as the human body is so intricately designed that it seems rather unlikely for this to happen by mere chance.
Two famous people, namely Sir Isaac Newton and William Paley have firmly expressed their personal views over this matter:
Newton And The Thumb
Sir Isaac Newton, a founder of modern science, who lived in the seventeenth century is reported to have said, ‘In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of the existence of God.
This view is very interesting because it is amazing that every single human on this Earth has a different fingerprint. Hence, this means that the six billion people currently inhabiting the earth have a unique fingerprint.
However, as if that was not fascinating enough, the thing is, that ever since it has been recorded, everyone has had a different fingerprint. To even ponder over this fact is perplexing. It would be extremely difficult to calculate how many different types of fingerprints there have been ever since the beginning of time, and to speculate how many there will be in the future.
Paley And The Watch
Approximately one hundred years after Sir Isaac Newton voiced his opinion over the existence, or the non-existence of god, a philosopher William Paley used a watch to justify his belief in God.
William Paley compared the world to an eighteenth century watch, which was made with amazing architecture, and compared the watchmaker to God.
He explained that if he was ever walking across a street, and he found an eighteenth century watch simply lying there, he would presume that the watch belonged to someone, and due to its complex structure, was also made by someone for a purpose, in this specific case, to tell the time with. This is because from a watch with such intricate design, it is apparent that many different materials have been combined together to produce the watch, and even if one part of the watch failed to work, it would affect the working condition of the entire watch.
Hence, it is unreasonable to assume that the world was brought into existence through chance, that there is no God, and no purpose to life, because just like a watch, we do have a purpose, just not the same kind of purpose.
However, although some leading scholars and scientists of the seventeenth and eighteenth century did believe in God, many did no. For example, Nietzsche, a German philosopher, Epicurus, a Greek philosopher, and Charles Darwin, a scientist, were all strongly opposed to the idea of the existence of God.
The German philosopher Nietzsche was famous worldwide for saying ‘God is dead, signed Nietzsche.’ He believed that the world has no laws, no order, no purpose, and above all, no God.
He initiated the belief of Nihilism, which is to believe that there is neither any absolute truth in the world, nor is there any ultimate purpose to life.
Unfortunately for Nietzsche, his own words turned their back on him when he was on his deathbed. His sisters sold tickets to people to come and see her brother who was in terrible pain and helplessness and mock him, because the world ‘has no rules.’
Following the death of Nietzsche, an anonymous person wrote over Nietzsche’s notice with ‘Nietzsche is dead, signed God.’
The Greek philosopher Epicurus also did not believe in God simply due to his ‘Problem of evil’, which is as follows:
If God cannot stop evil in the world…then God is not all-powerful
If God can stop evil, but he chooses not to…then God is not good
If god can stop evil, and chooses to…then there would not be any evil. But there is. Why? Because God does not exist.
Many religious people have found it very hard to compete with this theory, due to the fact that there is not really much to say in defence, as illness, suffering and pain do exist in the world today.
The great scientist, Charles Darwin also did not believe in God, because the views of creation, and the actual creation in the bible contradicted the scientific theories of creation and evolution in the following ways:
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Time scale: According to the bible, the process of creation took only six consecutive days, whereas the process of the Big Bang and Evolution took millions of years.
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Status Of Humans: Evolution suggests that the human race has evolved from apes, thus belittling the human race, whereas the Bible dignifies the human race by saying that we were purposefully created last by God, after everything else had been brought into existence, so that everything would be prepared for us. It also describes the human race by being ‘very good.’
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Process: Darwin’s ‘natural selection’ was an unguided process, through the survival of the fittest, whereas the Bible shows that God was firmly in charge of the entire process of creation.
Religious Experiences
Miracles
A miracle is an event believed to have a supernatural cause. Even if people do not believe in such occurrences, they often use the word ‘miracle’ to describe an amazing thing, which seems to have violated a law of nature. Many people who are members of a religious faith believe that a miracle is when God decides to break a law of nature. Hence, miracles are performed by God.
For example, when John Rajah fell ill, specialists told him that he was suffering from colitis. Near the end of what doctors called his ‘life,’ he claims to have received a vision, which he believes was sent by God. In this vision, he said that he saw two tunnels of light. He chose a tunnel, and was brought back to life again.
Following this experience, he went to Alpha Classes, in which the priest who was conducting the service asked the sufferer of colitis to come forward. Surprised at the priest’s knowledge, he went forward, and the priest requested that the entire congregation pray for his recovery.
John was so convinced of the return of his perfect health once again, that he stopped taking his prescribed medicines, and converted to Christianity. Miraculously, when John awoke the next morning, he did not feel any pain, and there was no bleeding remaining on his body either.
Due to his amazing recovery, his sister, who is a doctor, was also persuaded to attend Alpha Classes, and soon afterwards, she also followed in her brother’s footsteps and accepted Christianity as her religion.
Although a theist would opine that the above incident was a miracle, an atheist, and even an agnostic may strongly disagree in regarding this as a miracle, due to the following reasons:
- The priest may have been informed of John’s critically ill condition by a close relative, friend, or physician prior to the Alpha class. For this reason, the priest did not have a manifestation from God informing him of the condition of the patient; but instead, he had received information from someone else.
- It has been scientifically proven that when a person has firm faith in something, it can be obtained, though it seems impossible. Thus, John Rajah must have had full conviction in recovery, and so in due course, he was cured of his illness, which otherwise could have cost him his life.
- In reality, John Rajah may not have been as seriously ill as he was thought to be, so as a matter of fact, his condition was not life threatening at all.
- John rajah may have been slightly ill, but by taking numerous forms of drugs as medicine, his condition may have deteriated. This is why he felt much better after he had stopped consuming the prescribed medicines.
Other types of Religious Experiences
At some time in our lives, most of us have experienced feelings of wonder and admiration at the beauty of nature. Other people can ‘feel’ the presence of God around them. This is classed as a numinous experience.
Many religious leaders have experienced God in places of great natural beauty and power. For example, the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) was in a desert cave when he received the first revelations from Allah. In the same way, Moses was on a mountaintop when the Ten Commandments were revealed to him.
Some people ‘experience’ God in their lives in quite a sudden and dramatic way, which usually results in a significant change in attitude and lifestyle.
At times, God ‘speaks’ to people through thoughts and visions. At other times, God shows guidance through a holy book.
For example, Kriss Akabusi, an athlete, converted to Christianity after reading the New Testament cover to cover. He said, “I made a decision to dedicate my life to Jesus Christ, something that I have never regretted since.”
Another example is of Cat Stevens. He was a successful pop star who gave up his career after converting to a religion of peace and obedience, namely Islam. His conversion came after his brother visited Jerusalem, and purchased a copy of the Holy Qur’aan in the English Language. Although his brother did not accept Islam, he knew that Cat Stevens would be interested in this religion, as he was looking for something to dedicate himself to, because although he was very wealthy, he did not feel peace and tranquillity. His brother gave him the Qur’aan, and immediately after reading it, he knew that it was time to alter his lifestyle. After entering the fold of Islam, he said, “A feeling of belonging ran through me. That day, I was a stream that had just found its’ ocean.
The above two experiences are known as conversion experiences.
No matter how persuading such experiences may seem to many people, Atheists claim that these experiences still do not prove that God exists.
Some atheists believe that the majority of the miracles mentioned in the bible did not really occur at all, but in order to emphasize the power and superiority of Jesus, such myths were passed down by the disciples of Jesus from generation to generation. Some even explain the incident of the splitting of the ocean in two as the result in the change of the direction of the wind. However, owing to the coincidence of such a thing to happen at such a specific time, not many people are taken in by this theory.
Near Death Experiences
Many people have claimed to have experienced a near death experience throughout their ‘lives.’ As yet, there is no proof as to whether near death experiences are scientifically possible or not, though the victims of near death experiences describe them with such intimate detail that they are very hard not to believe.
Conclusion
Having considered all the evidence and arguments for and against the existence of God, I have still not been persuaded enough to reconsider my firm belief in God. This is simply due to the fact that there is not enough evidence contradicting the belief of the existence of God to incline me to believe that the occurrence of the Big Bang was simply a coincidence. In fact, I do not believe that the Big Bang ever occurred. On the contrary, I believe that God created the entire universe in a period of 6 days.
I am in favour of the theories of both Sir Isaac Newton and William Paley, because they both make a lot more sense than the theories of Nietzsche and Charles Darwin. Although I do understand the logic in Epicurus’s ‘problem of evil,’ I am not in favour of it. This is due to the fact that I believe that God has sent us down to this world in order to determine our fate after death, i.e.- heaven or hell.
People who believe that the universe came into existence by chance, everything has such intricate designs by chance, every human has a unique fingerprint by chance, every animal has features which adapt to its’ habitat by chance, miracles occur by chance and near death experiences occur by chance, such people must believe in an awful lot of coincidence!
