THE EXISTENCE AND DISCOVERY OF GOD
The discovery of God is a personal matter for every human being. Every person naturally wants to know and recognize the Being who created him. Like many others, I have also been puzzled by this question. My birth and upbringing were in a religious environment. As a result, I began to believe in God in the traditional way. Later, after maturity, I decided to find reasons for my belief. To analyze this matter, I studied and read many books on all the relevant branches of knowledge. It is well-known that the subject of God belongs to three disciplines: philosophy, science, and religion. The following is a brief description of some of my experiences in relation to philosophy and science.
First, I sought an answer to my question in philosophy. During my study, I read the philosophy of René Descartes (1596-1650), a famous French philosopher. Descartes wished to prove the existence of man. He said, “I think, therefore I am.”
Although this formula of Descartes applies to human existence; it is also applicable to God’s existence. To this sentence, I concluded that the existence of man makes the existence of God understandable. This was my first philosophical argument for the existence of God. I said: I am; therefore God is.
A study of the history of philosophy reveals that almost all philosophers have acknowledged some form of superior being(s). Although they refrained from using the word ‘God’, they continued to acknowledge the existence of a being like God by using some other words. For example, the famous German philosopher Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) called this superior entity ‘world spirit’.
Together with philosophy, I decided to research this issue further through the scientific method. The method used in scientific studies is based on observation. However, there are two stages to this observational argument. So long as the study of science was confined to the macroworld, there was only one method of scientific argument, but when the study of science entered the microworld, a change took place. If at first, the observational argument was considered valid, now inferential argument became equally valid and regarded as true. In other words, the argument from observation to a conclusion was established in the scientific method of the past, the microworld necessitated accepting the principle of argument from inference to conclusion as a valid argument. Both methods can be described in technical terms as follows:
1. Observation, hypothesis, verification
2. Hypothesis, observation, verification
A simple example illustrates this point. For example, if you want to count apples, you say two apples plus two apples equal four apples. This is an example of observational reasoning. An example of the second argument is that of Newton (1643-1727) when he saw an apple falling from a tree. It was an observation. He began to wonder why the apple fell to the ground instead of going upward. This thought brought him to an inference, that earth has a force of gravity. He then examined the relevant data to confirm that his inference was valid.
I have read many books to understand scientific methodology. Human Knowledge is one of the books written by British philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970). In this book, the author states that there are two kinds of knowledge: knowledge of things and knowledge of truths.
Observational reasoning is useful in discovering things, but the existence of God is a matter of truth. Therefore, in this case, the only valid argument is the one that is called an inferential argument.
In 1965, I met a professor of philosophy. We discussed the existence of God. During the conversation, he asked me a question. He said, “What criterion do you have to prove the existence of God?” I replied, “The very same criterion that you have to prove anything else.”
Then I explained to him the inferential method of reasoning. I said that the matter of God’s existence is related to the subject of truth. I presented to him the idea that to prove the existence of God, he should use the same criterion used to prove the existence of other truths. With this approach, one would arrive at the conclusion that the existence of God is proved by the same standard of knowledge by which truths of similar nature are proven.
Scholars have acknowledged this fact. Bertrand Russell, for example, admits that theologians generally use a method to prove the existence of God which is called ‘argument from design’. According to Bertrand Russell, this method, by its very nature, is based on scientific logic. Therefore, this argument is as true in principle as any other scientific argument. The gist of this argument is:
Where there is design, there is a designer; and when the designer is proved, the existence of God is also proved.
The scientific study of objects began in 1609 when the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei (15641642) observed the stars through a telescope. This was followed by further advances in telescopic observation until the Palomar Observatory in California was established in 1949, which made it possible to easily observe the skies. This was followed by the invention of the electronic telescope, which was installed in 1990 at the Hubble Observatory in the United States.
These and other such studies revealed that the universe came into existence with the Big Bang about 13.8 billion years ago. The solar system was then formed some 4.6 billion years ago. Planet Earth was endowed with liquid water on its surface. Eventually, life and everything related to life came into existence.
To further study the Big Bang event, NASA sent a special satellite Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) into space in 1989 to investigate the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMB). The data collected by this spacecraft provided crucial evidence in support of the Big Bang Theory. Further research into the CMB led to the discovery of ripples in the very fabric of space-time―gravitational waves originally predicted by Einstein. These ripples were referred to by the scientific community as the “handwriting of God”. All of these and other observations in nature show that the universe is designed to follow a set of immutable laws.
Similarly, electromagnetic interactions are one of four known fundamental interactions in nature. These interactions are responsible for the existence of basic building blocks of matter and for the majority of physical phenomena in the world. Electromagnetic interactions are governed by the laws of classical electrodynamics represented so elegantly in mathematical equations by the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) that when the great Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906) saw them, he exclaimed:
Who was the God who wrote these signs?
This statement is not limited to electromagnetic interactions. Innumerable things spread over the vast expanse of the universe inspire the same awe. A serious person who studies the universe is bound to exclaim:
Who was the God who wrote all these signs?
When we study the universe scientifically, we find that the universe is a zero-defect universe. Countless galaxies, stars, and planets are in continuous motion in space, but unlike in our cities, there are no accidents in space. It is as if there is a large-scale accident-free traffic system in space. Likewise, here on earth, the forces of nature bring about many events every day. It is like a great industrial system operating at a zero-defect level. This unparalleled cosmic control and universal balance call out that there undoubtedly is an all-powerful and great God behind it.
Our universe displays intelligent design and planning. From the tiniest of particles to the colossal galactic systems, this plan manifests itself to us. This plan is undoubtedly proof that there is a great mind behind the universe. Such a belief is as scientific as the belief in the existence of X-rays on seeing the image produced by them.
Another fact understood from the observation of the things present in the universe is that there are exceptions along with uniformity. Exception goes against the common law.
A simple example of this fact in nature is that every person has five fingers in each of their hands. These fingers are the same in everyone, but not everyone has the same fingerprints. The mark of each one is different from the mark of the other. The presence of this exception is not possible without the deliberate intervention of a Superior Being.
Scientists estimate that there are about two trillion galaxies in the universe. Each galaxy contains about 200 billion stars. But the solar system with its star―the Sun―is an exceptional system so far found only in an exceptional galaxy called the Milky Way. In the universe, this exception cannot exist without the intentional intervention of a Powerful Being.
Exception means intervention, and when intervention is proved, an intervener is also proved. And here, an intervenor is only another name for God. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, of which our Solar System is only a tiny part is a unique example of this phenomenon. The Milky Way is a disc-shaped barred spiral galaxy, estimated to contain 100–400 billion stars. The Solar System is located within the disk, about 27,000 lightyears from the Galactic Centre, on the inner edge of one of the spiralshaped concentrations of gas and dust called the Orion Arm. The Galactic Centre is marked by a concentration of mass best explained as a supermassive black hole with an estimated mass of 4.1-4.5 million times the mass of the sun.
If our Solar System were any closer to the Galactic Centre, there would be no life or vegetation on our planet. But strangely enough, our Solar System is located at an ideal distance from and on one side of the galaxy. As a result, it is immune to the dangers of the central part of the galaxy. This exception is clear evidence of planned intervention, and a planned intervention is undoubtedly proof of the existence of God Almighty.
There are many planetary systems each with their own star in our Milky Way galaxy and many other systems in other galaxies. But the Solar System stands out as a cosmological anomaly. In the Solar System, planets are either small and rocky or large and gassy. Most other planetary systems do not fit into either category. Besides, other planetary orbits are very tight with planets orbiting extremely close to their stars. The rarity of Jupiter-like planets means planetary systems exactly like ours may not exist. This unique Solar System environment is responsible for the Earth and its features. This exception is not possible without acknowledging a Superior Intervenor behind it, who, through His special intervention, has placed this meaningful exception in space.
Another exceptionally unique aspect of our planet Earth is the existence of a life-support system. Without this life-support system, human life would not have been possible. This exceptional arrangement of the life-support system is further proof of the existence of God which no serious person can deny.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955), considered to be the greatest scientific mind of the twentieth century, studied the universe in detail. He found amazing meaning in every part of the universe. Seeing this, he said: The most incomprehensible fact about nature is that it is comprehensible.
His words can be rephrased thus: Without God, nature is totally incomprehensible, and with God, nature becomes totally comprehensible.
The universe is, of course, a meaningful universe. Scientists who study the universe in depth are much more familiar with the meaningfulness of the universe than others. Therefore, scientists have generally acknowledged it. Scientists avoid the word ‘God’ because of their specific temperament. But without taking a name, they are forced to admit this fact.
For example, Sir James Jeans (1877-1946), in his book The Mysterious Universe writes that the universe bears witness to a mathematical mind. The British astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle (1915-2001) acknowledged this fact by saying that ‘our universe is an intelligent universe’. British-American scientist Paul Davies (b. 1946) has admitted that there is a conscious being behind the universe and British scientist Sir Arthur Eddington (1882-1944) acknowledged this fact by saying that ‘the stuff of the world is mind-stuff’.
The existence of God is undoubtedly a proven event just like any other proven event. It is a fact that the existence of God is not just a matter of mysterious belief. The existence of God is as much a subject of academic knowledge as any other academic field. The question now is whether there is one God or several gods who are responsible for the creation and management of the universe. In other words, the question of belief in God is one of either polytheism or monotheism.
Isaac Newton is considered the founder of modern science. Before Newton, superstitions were prevalent in the world. At that time, it was understood that there were numerous gods. For example, sun god, moon god, rain god, etc. Newton was amongst the first to make a thorough scientific investigation of natural phenomena. He formulated the classical laws of motion and universal gravitation.
Studies in particle physics and quantum mechanics in the latter half of the 20th century led to the development of the Standard Model of particle physics and the four fundamental forces that describe every interaction in nature. These four forces are:
• Gravitational force
• Electromagnetic force
• Strong nuclear force
• Weak nuclear force
But the world that was discovered through the scientific study was so harmonious that it was unimaginable that many forces were controlling the universe. Therefore, the scientific mind was not satisfied with this multiplicity. In 1979, physicists Sheldon Glashow (b. 1932), Steven Weinberg (b. 1933), and Abdus Salam (1926-1996) won the Nobel Prize for unifying the electromagnetic force with the weak force to form the Electroweak force.
However, the scientific mind was not satisfied even with these three forces. Physicists are working to find a so-called Grand Unified Theory (GUT) that aims to unite the electroweak force with the strong force to define an electronuclear force and then unify gravity with this force to develop a Theory of Everything (TOE)―a theoretical framework that could explain the entire universe. There is speculation that in the very early universe when temperatures were very high, all the forces were unified into a single force and as the temperature dropped, the forces separated in a process called spontaneous symmetry breaking.
Current scientific models use two fundamental theoretical frameworks that together most closely resemble a TOE―general relativity and quantum mechanics. In pursuit of a goal to harmoniously integrate these two theories, quantum gravity has become an area of active research. One example and candidate for a TOE is the String Theory developed by many scientists, Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) being one of them. Stephen Hawking’s work has progressed the unification and reconciliation of gravitation and quantum physics into one final Theory of Everything.
The String Theory and other such candidates for a Theory of Everything seem to provide a scientific basis for belief in one God (Monotheism). It provides an academic foundation for a religious belief. Now, purely on the basis of science, it can be stated that there is a God of this universe, and that the concept of God is purely a scientific concept, and that this God is one.
