During a break at a conference I attended I was reading an introductory book on cosmology. When I arrived at the author’s comments on Isaac Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation I just sat in awe. Like you, I’ve heard of the Law before but never really just sat back and let it soak in.
Newton’s law states:
The force of gravity acting between the earth and any other object is directly proportional to the mass of the earth, directly proportional to the mass of the object, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance which separates the centers of the earth and the object. (As you may know, gravity is one of the Four Fundamental Laws of Nature along with electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces.)
Translation: not only is the earth the perfect distance from the sun (sometimes referred to as the “Goldilocks Zone: not too hot; not too cold), but the moon is the perfect distance from the earth. Why is the moon’s distance to earth important? Because if the moon were farther away earth’s tides would be significantly weaker, days on Earth would be longer, and the Earth’s axial tilt could become less stable.
If I were not a Christian, cosmology and teleology are what would force me to strongly consider the existence of a Creator, or what the Bible calls God.
As I sat at that conference between sessions, trying to work out in my brain how the entire universe could be so precisely and exquisitely ordered by a universal law of gravity, I found myself feeling a sense of awe. I thought of Paul’s words to the Colossian believers:
“…in him (Christ) all things hold together.”
I’ve just begun reading former atheist, Lee Strobel’s, book, “Is God Real: Exploring the Ultimate Questions of Life.” At the beginning of his chapter on the cosmos, he quotes astrophysicist, C.J. Isham:
“Perhaps the best argument…that the Big Bang supports theism is the obvious unease with which it is greeted by some atheist physicists.”
I was told an agnostic friend, “What you do with Jesus is the most important decision you’ll ever make.”
They replied, “What would make that decision most important?”
I answered, “No decision carries with it greater risk than this single decision.”
“What do you mean?”, they asked.
Blaise Pascal, a 17th century French mathematician, physicist, inventor, and philosopher, is widely known for his “Pascal’s Wager.” It goes like this:
“If you (the non-believer) are right that there is no God, when we die we both lose nothing. But, if I (the Christian) am right, I gain everything and you lose everything.”
Even the atheist French philosopher, Albert Camus (ca-MOO), stated,
“I’d rather live as if God exists and die to find out he doesn’t, than live as if he doesn’t and die to find out he does.”
Is it possible the universe could have just happened by chance? As my professor, Mike Licona, said,
“Anything’s possible. But what an intelligent and honest observer must consider is, ‘What is most probable?’”
Honestly considering the overwhelming evidence for the existence of God, I would not recommend anyone wagering the Bible not being true. At minimum, the biblical worldview deserves careful and honest consideration.
Solus Christus, nw