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The Caused Evidence
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Testing Worldviews:
What was the Initial Cause of it all?
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For example, you approach a young lady, and attempt to flirt. The picture shows her response . . . To me, that is a warning sign you are not on solid ground, and need to re-evaluate your approach.
If you: (a) did not have many ready and thorough answers to support your beliefs, and (b) answers to the evidence opposing beliefs bring, or (c) are feeling defensive and making excuses for a & b, then your future is looking back at you like that uncomfortable-looking girl. You are not on a stable, reliable foundation.
This is what this study is all about, approaching the deep, most important and impactful questions about life, in order to make it easier for you to determine how best to approach life. And, below are very significant tests for your options of worldview belief foundations, upon which you will build your life.
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Common Questions Covered in this Study:
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5) What do we know about the cause of the universe?
6) How can you believe in anything supernatural, or in miracles?
7) Isn’t this just a “God-of-the-gaps” argument?
8) If God created the universe, then what created God?
9-10) Isn’t science against religion, and religion just blind faith?
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There Was a Beginning, So What’s Next?
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Premise 1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
Premise 2. If the universe began to exist, then it has a transcendent cause.
Premise 3. The universe began to exist.
Conclusion: Therefore, the universe has a transcendent cause.
This is a deductive argument, and this specific one is a version of the Cosmological Argument. In a deductive argument, if the premises are true, then the conclusion MUST be true. Premise one is common sense, and follows from the law of cause and effect. Premise two is simply based on the fact that the universe cannot create itself, so if it began to exist, then the cause must be something beyond itself (transcendent). Premise three was shown to be true in the previous section. Therefore, the universe has a transcendent cause.
The next logical step is: What was the cause of that beginning? Again, there are only two possibilities.
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Hypotheses (The Claims of Different Worldview Models)
Below is what different worldview models claimed before all the tests came in.
Agnostic Model – Agnostics either claim they do not know, or claim it is impossible to know what the cause of the universe is.
Atheist Model – There was no cause. The universe is eternal, and therefore needs no cause. This was accepted as fact by the scientific community, and was a primary belief of atheism. Once the beginning was proven, atheists now try many ideas of natural causes, which we will cover later.
Biblical Model – The cause (God) that led to creation is: outside of space, spiritual or immaterial (supernatural: not made of matter or energy of the universe), outside of time, eternal, an uncaused first cause, all-powerful, miracle-working, personal, and acted with a purpose.
Buddhism, Hinduism – Buddhists believe similar to atheists. Depending on the time period as Hindu beliefs change, Brahma, the creator, is part of the universe with no beginning, or in a cyclic universe born from a lotus in Vishnu’s navel, or hatched from a cosmic egg.
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Bottom-Line Answers about the Cause of the Universe
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Q5: What do we know about the Cause of the Universe?
A video from a science documentary (see here) explains the beginning well.
A5: The Cause of the Universe is:
Property 1) Outside of, or beyond anything in the Universe, nature, space, matter, energy, etc.
Property 2) Outside of, or beyond time.
Property 3) An uncaused, first cause.
Property 4) Has more power & ordering capability than the sum of all power and complexity in the entire Universe.
Property 5) Capable of acting outside of natural laws and limits.
Property 6) Capable of, or sufficient to explain, how all the discovered values necessary for our life to exist – have been found to exhibit the finest-tuned precision required for our life.
[fusion_highlight color=”#ffeb3b” rounded=”no” class=”” id=””]Realize – These properties match the biblical description of God given thousands of years earlier.[/fusion_highlight]Now, if all of the matter, energy, space, time, all natural and physical things of the Universe began after the blue-vertical line below, and exist on the right side of the picture, then what caused or brought those things into being from nothing, MUST be outside or beyond those things ([fusion_highlight color=”#ffeb3b” rounded=”no” class=”” id=””]properties 1 & 2 above[/fusion_highlight]). The cause cannot be natural as it brought about nature; material, as it brought all matter into being; subject to time, as it brought about time. If the cause were part of those things, then it too would need a cause.
Also, something outside of time, which itself did not have a beginning, is on the left side of the blue line, and therefore, does not require a cause, but can be an uncaused, first cause ([fusion_highlight color=”#ffeb3b” rounded=”no” class=”” id=””]point 3[/fusion_highlight]). Scientists and philosophers wrote of the need for an uncaused, first cause, but just used to think the uncaused, first cause was the Universe. Now the Universe, or anything in it, is not an option, as it all had a beginning – all natural stuff is on the right side of the blue line – and was caused.
([fusion_highlight color=”#ffeb3b” rounded=”no” class=”” id=””]Property 4[/fusion_highlight]) A cause needs to be greater in power and ordering capability than its effect, and the effect in this case is the sum of all power and order in the Universe. The 2nd law of thermodynamics, one of the best proven laws in all science, basically states that the Universe started with a certain amount of usable energy to do work over time, which is power, and a certain amount of order, and every moment both usable energy and order decrease (entropy always increases), which means both were highest at the beginning. The cause of the Universe must be greater than the Universe in both power, and the ability to produce order.
([fusion_highlight color=”#ffeb3b” rounded=”no” class=”” id=””]Property 5[/fusion_highlight]) The law of conservation of matter & energy states that matter/energy cannot be created, nor destroyed, yet all the matter and energy was created at the beginning, from nothing. That is miraculous, or outside natural limits of the Universe, and at least miraculously rare in our Universe.
([fusion_highlight color=”#ffeb3b” rounded=”no” class=”” id=””]Property 6[/fusion_highlight]) This topic will be covered in the FINE-TUNED evidence section.
While all competing beliefs, including atheism, agnosticism, and the general view of science were shown to be inaccurate in this fundamental issue, the Bible is accurate.
What does the timeless (eternal), beyond the natural universe (supernatural), all-powerful, miracle-working cause of the Universe sound like? Saying it sounds like God is not ad hoc, because this exact description of God was provided by the Bible thousands of years ago.
In addition to what the Bible claimed about the beginning of the Universe (covered in the previous article), the properties of the first cause given above were similarly provided thousands of years prior to modern science discovering the same. Predicting what will be discovered, particularly when going against all competing models (other religions and belief systems, including atheism, agnosticism and the general view of science), is a standard and strong support for the reliability of the model. Humanity alone is not capable of providing what the Bible provided, if this were not true, then we would have other comparable examples.
One cannot rationally walk past this point, unless other examples show the Bible is not entirely alone in this. Name a single book, or anything ever produced by humans, that matches the number, and level of clear, accurate predictions, given so far in advance of scientific recognition.
Furthermore, the next article will cover why a purposeful agent is the only cause in scientific and philosophical peer-reviewed literature that is a potential cause of the universe, as all the other options are shown to have fatal flaws, and no supportive evidence.
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Those Closest to the Discoveries Get It:
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- Robert Jastrow, founder of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies said: “…astronomical evidence leads to a biblical view of the origin of the world.… the essential element in the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis is the same.” (Jastrow, R. 1978. God and the Astronomers. New York, W.W. Norton, p. 116)
- Nobel Prize winners Penzias and Wilson add respectively: “The best data we have (concerning the Big Bang) are exactly what I would have predicted had I had nothing to go on but the five books of Moses, the Psalms and the Bible as a whole.” And, “Certainly there was something that set it all off…. I can’t think of a better theory of the origin of the universe to match Genesis.” (Penzias, Arno. New York Times on March 12, 1978; Robert Wilson in interview with Fred Heeren. 2000. Show Me God: What the Message from Space Is Telling Us About God, Day Star Publications, p. 157)
- “The world began abruptly in an act of creation. . . . That there are what I or anyone would call super-natural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact.” Astronomer Robert Jastrow, and echoed by astronomer, physicist, mathematician Sir Arthur Eddington, and others. (Robert Jastrow, as quoted by B. Durbin, “A Scientist Caught Between Two Faiths: Interview with Robert Jastrow,” Christianity Today, Vol. 26, 6 August 1982, p. 15; Eddington, Arthur. “The Expanding Universe,” Penguin: Harmondsworth, Middlesex UK, 1940, p.117)
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Q6: How can you believe in the supernatural, or miracles?
[fusion_highlight color=”#ffeb3b” rounded=”no” class=”” id=””]A6: Science has shown that the cause of the Universe is outside of, or beyond nature – that is what supernatural means – beyond the natural.
And the greatest miracle already occurred (the beginning), and is proven by science.[/fusion_highlight]
What is a miracle? Some event that violates natural laws and common experience. The entire Universe popped into existence from nothing, which violates the Law of Conservation of Matter/Energy, and is certainly miraculously unique. The whole Universe coming into existence from nothing – if a God has done that – then any other miracle, like Jonah, walking on water, or the virgin birth is simple in comparison. In addition, the evidence for Christ’s resurrection will be given later.
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Q7: This is just a “God of the gaps” argument.
A7: A “God of the gaps” argument is when people, for example, don’t understand what makes the sun go around the sky so they claim it is Ra in his chariot, or don’t understand the cycle of seasons or lightening, so in the absence of knowledge, they fill in the gap with a made-up story about a god.
That’s exactly what we don’t have here. This is not an argument from a lack of knowledge, [fusion_highlight color=”#ffeb3b” rounded=”no” class=”” id=””]we are arguing from what WE DO KNOW about the beginning and cause of the Universe[/fusion_highlight], and then using the same logical approach we use in every area of science and life – adductive reasoning, which is just determining the best explanation of the evidence. No god was made up to fit what modern science found, the Bible already made its claims thousands of years prior to the discoveries, as in a predictive scientific model. However, notice those, who reject God as the cause, have tried to fill in the cause with a natural explanation, which is “Nature of the gaps” thinking, as they have no evidence to go on.
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Q8: If God created the universe, what created God? Who designed the Designer?
A8a: God was not created, but instead is an eternal, uncaused, first cause.
The reason why these questions come to mind is because we think the cause of the Universe is comparable to the things in the Universe, which is a [fusion_highlight color=”#ffeb3b” rounded=”no” class=”” id=””]mistake in logic known as a category error[/fusion_highlight]. God (or whatever the cause of the Universe is) is in a different category than anything in the Universe. As noted in question 5, the Universe, and all natural things, had a beginning and are physical objects tied to and subject to the dimension of time. The cause of the Universe, on the other hand, didn’t have these properties, and if it did not have a beginning, then it is a candidate to be the necessary uncaused, first cause.
8b: Scientists and philosophers had no problem with an eternal, uncaused, first-cause, when they assumed it was the Universe itself.
8c: The argument we make for a cause of the Universe is the Kalam Cosmological Argument:Premise 1: Everything that begins to exist has a cause (law of causation; basis of science).Premise 2: The Universe began to exist (all evidence).Conclusion: Therefore, the Universe has a cause.
Everything in the Universe had a beginning, therefore, it is all contingent (depends on something else to cause it all to exist), yet something outside of nature and time does not require a beginning, and is capable of being the uncaused first-cause. The reason philosophers have recognized the need for a first-cause is to avoid the impossibility of an infinite regress of causes (it is impossible to go infinitely backwards with every cause needing a cause as we would never reach “now”).
8d: Dawkins quote of “Who designed the designer,” assumes that God and the Universe are comparable to a computer-maker and the computer. However, aside from the category error mentioned already, another one is involved here because unlike the Universe, computer and computer-maker, God is a non-physical entity, not composed of complex parts functioning together – an entirely different category.
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Q9: Isn’t science against religion?
[fusion_highlight color=”#ffeb3b” rounded=”no” class=”” id=””]A9: Science (study of nature) and theology (study of God) cannot be enemies as these are both just tools or methods of gaining knowledge about reality. However, when both of these tools view the same aspect of reality, the view provided by each can support or reject the claims of the other, providing very useful corrective action on the people involved. A great example is the whole issue of a beginning of the universe.[/fusion_highlight]
My theory (provided here in The Watchman article) as to the actual relationship between science and theology, was first written in 1999. Dr. Hugh Ross noted to me the general idea of science and Christianity mutually supporting and benefitting each other, as my theory covers, was discussed in a conference a few years ago, and the symbiotic concept I took from Dr. John Clayton. What The Watchman article adds is the focus on the interaction of science with all belief systems, and the trends of evidence over time which continuously trend upward in support for the accurate belief system/model of reality, and trend downward for all contradicting belief systems. So science has disproven almost all “religious” beliefs, except it validates Christianity.
Scientists and religious leaders have disagreements, but science and the Christian model not only support each other, but also the relationship is symbiotic, meaning if both are turned to a topic, each can corroborate the other, and help address errors that people bring into either. The Christian claims can be tested just as other scientific models, as has been shown in these sections. Furthermore, in science we look at trend-lines of evidence, and the trends noticed are continuously increasing evidence validating the Christian model and invalidating other models.
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Q10: Aren’t Christians just supposed to have “blind faith?”
[fusion_highlight color=”#ffeb3b” rounded=”no” class=”” id=””]A10: Why do you believe that?
The claim that beliefs are based on “blind faith,” or that religious beliefs are held without reason or evidence is a straw man argument, a weak generalization, or at best, a statement made in ignorance.
Why would any person just believe anything blindly, without any reason whatsoever? Can you give me an example? Some believe in atheism, agnosticism, Buddhism, Christianity, etc., because they were brought up that way, because it fits their wants, or what they are comfortable with, or because they have been led that way by their social group. So, they have reasons, albeit very weak reasons. I doubt there are many, if any, things people believe without any reasons, they just don’t have reasonable reasons. For a list of potential sources of support or reasons see “How Can We Know.”
However, the word “faith” in the biblical model is best described as a reasoned trust, and those who look for reasons will find them. Faith is simply trusting in what we have the best reasons to believe is so.
[/fusion_highlight]People misunderstand “faith.” Definitions are needed, and better if the definitions can be kept simple:
REALITY = The way things are.
BELIEFS = The way we think things are.
TRUTH = Telling it like it is. Telling the reality of a situation.
If your BELIEFS fit REALITY, then they are TRUE, and a solid foundation to base your life on.
FAITH = The act of trusting/believing in something, based on some reasons.
Faith has 3 parts:
(1) The object of trust (for, example, a chair);
(2) the content of the faith (e.g., that the chair will hold me up when I sit on it); and
(3) the reason(s) for the trust (e.g., rarely ever dropped by a chair, looks sturdy, don’t see Punk’d cameras around anywhere).
The same is true with any faith, including worldview beliefs. It is intellectually dishonest to claim only belief in God uses faith. Belief in God (called theism), belief there is no God (atheism), belief we cannot know if God exists or not (agnosticism) are ALL faith beliefs.
There are different kinds of faith, depending on the how a person incorporates the available evidence into their faith:
- A REASONED FAITH is trusting in something based on the evidence.
- A BLIND FAITH is trusting in something without any evidence.
- A DELUSIONAL FAITH is trusting in something against the evidence.
With just this one section in astronomy, we find that the biblical model has proven, scientific reasons supporting its accuracy. If you currently reject the biblical model, what other option fits? How does agnosticism, atheism, Hinduism, Islam, etc., fare when tested regarding the beginning, cause of the Universe, fine-tuning, evidence for Jesus’s resurrection, etc.? I could certainly be missing some information, feel free to let me know, but it becomes astronomically unlikely considering the consistent trend of evidential support for the biblical model and coincident refutation of opposing belief systems.
If you have faith that something other than the biblical God caused the universe, then why? If the biblical model has objective evidence, and if yours has less, or no evidence, or you expect that someday some other cause will be found – you are involved in wishful thinking, delusional faith – and standing on unstable ground. If you reject the Christian faith, what reasons and evidence support your faith?
Only having a reasoned faith greatly increases your probability of being on solid ground. And reasons, or tests for truth, which can differentiate between accurate and inaccurate beliefs, such as: logical, scientific, historical and other such verification are available to expose the incorrect idea of faith existing without evidence.
The Bible calls for a Reasoned Faith
Many, who claim to know and follow the Bible, neglect the clear direction to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone that asks you to give a reason of the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15) Why did God use checkable events through the Bible to demonstrate authority and accuracy, and validate claims, if God just wants blind faith?
God tells us we can know he exists by looking at nature, some of which is covered in this website. Further, Jesus specifically worked miracles to validate the authority and message, and the apostle John wrote that there would never be enough space to describe all the miracles, but the ones he did include “have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” Throughout the Bible, diverse and tangible reasons were given for belief, or trust in God.
The Bible states that God will “equip us to demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.” (2 Corinthians 10:5) Why would he equip us if he didn’t also expect us to use that equipment? Why give us the ability to reason, if he wanted us to turn off our brains? Jesus may love the faith of a child, but is that blind faith? No, it is speaking about the lack of humility and submission adults sometimes show, thinking they know better than God.
A child jumps into the scary deep-end of a pool because that child has reasons to trust dad, who is there waiting and says it will be all right – the child has reasons to trust. And that is what God wants, we will never be on the level to totally understand, so it is important we develop a level of trust.
So how can you trust there is a Creator of the Universe with a Purpose for your life? Some very significant reasons can be found in some of the most amazing scientific discoveries of all time, and are discussed in the next two sections . . .
[/fusion_text][fusion_builder_row_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_2″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” target=”_self” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” box_shadow=”no” box_shadow_blur=”0″ box_shadow_spread=”0″ box_shadow_color=”” box_shadow_style=”” background_type=”single” background_color=”” gradient_start_position=”0″ gradient_end_position=”100″ gradient_type=”linear” radial_direction=”center center” linear_angle=”180″ background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_blend_mode=”none” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” filter_type=”regular” filter_hue=”0″ filter_saturation=”100″ filter_brightness=”100″ filter_contrast=”100″ filter_invert=”0″ filter_sepia=”0″ filter_opacity=”100″ filter_blur=”0″ filter_hue_hover=”0″ 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animation_speed=”0.3″]http://thoughtfulbeliefs.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Cause-Options-300×203.png[/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_2″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” target=”_self” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” box_shadow=”no” box_shadow_blur=”0″ box_shadow_spread=”0″ box_shadow_color=”” box_shadow_style=”” background_type=”single” background_color=”” gradient_start_position=”0″ gradient_end_position=”100″ gradient_type=”linear” radial_direction=”center center” linear_angle=”180″ background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_blend_mode=”none” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” filter_type=”regular” filter_hue=”0″ filter_saturation=”100″ filter_brightness=”100″ filter_contrast=”100″ filter_invert=”0″ filter_sepia=”0″ filter_opacity=”100″ filter_blur=”0″ filter_hue_hover=”0″ filter_saturation_hover=”100″ filter_brightness_hover=”100″ filter_contrast_hover=”100″ filter_invert_hover=”0″ filter_sepia_hover=”0″ filter_opacity_hover=”100″ filter_blur_hover=”0″ type=”1_2″ first=”false” last=”true”][fusion_button link=”/evidence-from-science/the-fine-tuned-evidence/” target=”_self” alignment=”center” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” color=”default” stretch=”default” icon=”fa-chevron-right” icon_position=”right” icon_divider=”no” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″]The FINE-TUNED Evidence[/fusion_button][fusion_imageframe image_id=”2487″ style_type=”none” hover_type=”zoomin” align=”center” lightbox=”no” link=”/evidence-from-science/the-fine-tuned-evidence/” linktarget=”_self” hide_on_mobile=”medium-visibility,large-visibility” animation_direction=”left” 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