Saturday, December 10, 2016

Is there a God? (Part I)

Is there a God? For many people this is an easy answer of yes or no. With a background in math and science I have been agnostic most of life trying to find proof of a God (good luck with that happening, right?). Math and science, for most the part, have been at odds with the existence of God. After all, there were scientific explanations for everything to dismiss the existence of God: How the universe was created; how life formed and evolved; and the entire history and formation of our planet, Earth. But still, one could argue that all of the scientific explanations (if true) could all have been part of God’s plan. Hence, in my view, the revelation of evolution does not exclude the existence of a God.

Over the years I struggled with the topic of God and religion. Finally, I determined that my issues were not necessarily with God and faith, but with religion. I thought if God existed, God would not take kindly to the hundreds of different types of religions – especially when most wars are fought over their varying beliefs. Flawed religions kept me from trying to find answers of the existence of God for decades. Once I was able to set aside religion from the equation, I was able to move forward and give this question more thought.

Gazing into the sky and seeing the light from stars generated hundreds of years prior is truly amazing. How can something as astounding as our universe, with seemingly no beginning or ending, could have been created without the help of a higher being? It is hard to imagine. For life to form on Earth many things had to happen in a perfect chronological sequence for it to occur successfully. For instance, if the moon was smaller or larger or in a different orbit it could have made the formation of life much more difficult if not impossible. The Earth’s tides and even its axis of rotation would have been altered yielding vastly different weather and climate. The Earth orbits at the optimum distance from the sun to create the perfect temperature range to support life. The Earth’s atmosphere, and in particular the ozone layer, is perfectly designed to protect us from the harmful rays from the sun. Of course the Earth’s atmosphere is also composed of the perfect combination of oxygen and other elements to support life. The Earth’s magnetic field is perfectly designed to protect us from cosmic radiation. And the formation of water on Earth was essential for life (introduced through asteroid strikes). We can go on and on, but you get the picture. So what is the probability of all these things occurring exactly in the right chronological sequence to make Earth the perfect place for life? I do not know, but it is probably pretty slim to none. Some can see this as an intervention by God, others can say that there are billions of planets in the universe and that all these perfect things happening to one planet is not that farfetched in terms of probability.

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