02 The Laws of our Universe

The movie Groundhog Day is about a man re-living the same day over and over and over. Every time he wakes up it's Groundhog Day again, and people always say the same things and do the same things over and over.

Groundhog Day is obviously fiction. Things just don’t happen like that. The sun comes up every morning and it really is a brand new day. This is what we expect; it is a law of nature. We just take the laws of nature for granted.

It is the same with our machinery. When things go wrong, we look for a logical cause. We expect things to behave according to proven laws. Sometimes we think our computers are doing random things and they have minds of their own, but the experts always reassure us there is a sensible reason when our equipment fails.

We live in a universe governed by a particular set of laws. Should we expect this? Albert Einstein said “The most incomprehensible thing about our universe is that it is comprehensible”. In other words, it is beyond understanding that the universe is governed by fixed laws and equally baffling that our human minds can understand and apply these laws.

We could be living in a universe where random things like Groundhog Day happen all the time. But we aren’t. Where did the laws governing our Universe come from?

Could our Universe be the result of pure chance and a very large passage of time? Yes but this is such a remote possibility that we should look for a better explanation. The simplest and best conclusion is that there was a creative mind behind the universe.

Charles Darwin was not sure what he believed. He wrote in a letter to a young admirer, “… the impossibility of conceiving that this grand and wondrous universe, with our conscious selves, arose through chance, seems to me the chief argument for the existence of God; but whether this is an argument of real value, I have never been able to decide.”

Johannes Kepler was a brilliant early astronomer. Of his discoveries in astronomy, he said "I was merely thinking God's thoughts after him”. He was discovering the laws of the universe that God had designed.

There is no direct scientific evidence that can be used to prove either that God exists or that he doesn’t. An America study in 2009 indicated 51% of scientists believed in some form of deity or higher power. It is definitely not unscientific to believe in God.

I am very happy for feedback, comment on this blog, through the pages of the Riverine Grazier or catch me down the street and have a coffee and a chat.

Peter. 

01 Belief in God

This blog first appeared in the Riverine Grazier, Hay on 20 Sept 2017

Have you noticed how hard it is to get volunteers for community groups? Even in the six years I have lived in Hay, some groups have closed, some have got smaller. There are some that have started up, but all seem to struggle to attract members.

Community groups are very important in towns like Hay, they provide valuable support, they give people a reason to look forward to the day, they develop friendships, and they provide a positive outlet for people’s energy. You can probably think of other benefits.

Churches are one set of community groups that are struggling more than most. Some may say they have passed their use-by-date and it would be good to see them all close. More common is the view that “church is not my thing”, I have no need for that.

But I wonder if something important has been missed. In 2013, Mccrindle Research reported 43% of those surveyed said church was beneficial for themselves and 88% said they were beneficial for the community. Churches must have some community value.

Church attendance is linked to whether we believe in God, and that has declined.

In 1949, a Gallup Poll reported that 95 per cent of Australians believed in God.

In 2016, according to Mccrindle, more than half (55%) of the population believes in God, defined as the Creator of the universe, the Supreme Being.

If God really does exist, if God made the universe and he made you and me, then it is important to take his presence seriously. Over the next few weeks, I want to give you some strong evidence that God really does exist, and explore the consequences.

I am very happy for feedback, on this blog, through the Riverine Grazier or catch me down the street and have a coffee and a chat.

Peter.