A UNIVERSE FROM NOTHING

Chapter 7

In the previous chapter, we discussed: (1) evolution—the origin of the various species on earth; and (2) abiogenesis—the origin of life from nonliving matter. Now, we take one more step back to (3) the origin of nonliving matter.

The field of physics has made great strides in discovering the works of God. Physicists have shown that the universe does not operate by magic, but that it operates by precise laws—laws set in motion by a mind greater than humanity's. Physicists with an atheist's worldview accept that "nature may be cleverer than philosophers or theologians," but they refuse to accept the possibility that what they call "nature" may, in fact, be God or the force used by God. Pay attention to how many times atheists attribute intelligence and design to nature.

This self-induced blindness is what drives atheists to co-opt science for their own agenda.

An example of such co-opting of science are the conclusions reached by atheists in response to the recent theory that the universe was created from nothing. The basic theory is:

If you calculate the total matter of the universe, which is positive, and balance it against the total gravity of the universe, which is negative, the two will zero each other out. Therefore, the universe was created from zero or nothing.

This theory may be partially correct. Since I am not a physicist, I cannot state conclusively whether the total matter and gravity of the universe add up to zero. But I can challenge the conclusion that this proves the universe was made from nothing.

Look at it this way: If you were told that a certain chair was created from wood or a certain necklace was created from gold, would you automatically assume that there was no carpenter who fashioned the wood into the chair or no goldsmith who fashioned the gold into the necklace? Of course not! So, we should have no difficulty concluding that, if the universe was created from nothing, there is a God who was able to fashion it out of nothing!

It begs noting here that a God who is capable of fashioning a universe out of nothing would not exist within His creation. Such a God would have to exist outside of His created universe in another dimension or another reality that we have not yet discovered.

Dr. Lawrence M. Krauss, who wrote A Universe from Nothing,[^1] a book about how the universe was supposedly created from nothing, admitted as much when he wrote:

I have not addressed directly, however, the issue of what might have existed, if anything, before [the creation of space], what laws governed the creation, or, put more generally, I have not discussed what some may view as the question of First Cause.

Yet discussing First Cause is paramount in forming a conclusion that God does not exist. Some physicists propose that there was no First Cause, and that quantum physics allows for the possibility that the universe created itself spontaneously out of nothing.

But even if spontaneity is a possibility, that does not mean that intent was not the actual cause.

Let me illustrate.

Imagine being in a room. On the far wall hangs a target with the concentric rings and a bull's-eye in the center. And directly in the bull's-eye is a dart. Back against the opposite wall stands two people. One is a skilled championship archer; the other is a common layperson with a blindfold over his eyes. Which of the two do you think hit the bull's-eye?

While there might be a one in a billion chance that the blind dart thrower could hit the bull's-eye, that does not prevent the skilled archer from intentionally hitting the bull's-eye on the first try. Mere chance does not eliminate intent. Using, again, the principle of Occam's razor, under those circumstances, it is more reasonable to conclude that it was the skilled archer who hit the bull's-eye, not the blind chance seeker. Likewise, it is more reasonable that an intelligent mind created our universe than it is to assume it was created by blind chance.

In another attempt to explain 'a universe from nothing,' the renowned physicist Dr. Stephen Hawking presented a television show purporting to prove that the universe was created from nothing. In his example, he used the illustration of building a mound to conclude that the universe equals zero. He showed a young man who wanted to build a mound. The man dug a hole and piled the dirt upon itself to create the mound. When the project was complete, there was a hole and a mound equal to the capacity of the hole. Dr. Hawking stated that the hole was, in essence, the anti-mound. Thus, he concluded that since the mound plus the anti-mound equaled zero, the universe equals zero and therefore was created from nothing.

What Dr. Hawking failed to acknowledge was the intervention of the young man who had the intent and did the digging to create the mound. The mound did not appear spontaneously. No matter how long he would have waited, Dr. Hawking would never witness the dirt spontaneously flying out of the hole and settling in a neat pile alongside the hole. The equation therefore is not mound plus anti-mound equals zero.

The equation is mound plus anti-mound plus creator equals creator.

Dr. Hawking's own illustration demonstrates the existence and necessity for a Creator.

The Fact of the Universe's Existence

If there was ever a time when there was truly nothing, then nothing could ever exist. Nothing from nothing equals nothing. Even Dr. Krauss, who wrote the book A Universe from Nothing, had to admit as much. A perusal of the book reveals that in order for Dr. Krauss to articulate his theory that our universe arose from "nothing," he had to redefine the term nothing to mean "something."

Dr. Krauss acknowledges that potentials must have existed in order for the universe to exist. And since "potentials" are "something," he thus negates his own theory. But even if we adopt his definition and logic, the theory does not exclude the intervention of a super-intelligent personality who was the prime actor in generating or catalyzing a universe from the so-called nothingness of potentials.

The approach used by Dr. Krauss, and those like him, is a disingenuous method of dealing with the issue, but it is the only way one can arrive at such a faulty theory. Those with an atheist leaning go to great lengths, including promoting unreasonable conclusions, in order to avoid allowing a place for God. I am continually amazed at the mental gymnastics some so-called intellectuals are willing to engage in to justify the arrogant proposition that humanity is the highest intelligence in the universe.

But when all is said and done, there is one inescapable fact:

The universe does exist, matter does exist, and life does exist. Therefore, we must conclude that there is something that has always existed.

And that something had the ability to create a universe from potentials, to catalyze life from non-living matter, and to engineer the process of evolution so that humankind can experiment with our theories and postulates and eventually find Him whom religionists already accept by faith—the Great First Cause and Upholder of everything. You may know Him as God.

[^1]: Lawrence M. Krauss, A Universe from Nothing (Atria Books, 2013), 174.