Students are often taught wrongfully in school how the universe came into existence
Patricia sat in her biology class with her mind racing.
The bell rang, and all of her classmates were packing up their bags, except for her.
Patricia was still sitting at her desk and staring at the floor.
She was thinking about the bizarre way her teacher ended their biology lesson that day.
“Science has become so advanced, that it has eliminated the need for all religions.” Her biology teacher said.
“There is no longer any good reason to believe in myths about there being a god or gods when science reveals how we all evolved.”
Is this true? Has science proven that God doesn’t exist?
Are all religions just make-believe myths?
The 3 Opposing Perspectives on the Subject of Science and God’s Existence
There are three major views on the subject of science and God’s existence:
1. On the one hand, you have secular scientists who claim that science proves that there is no God or gods.
2. On another hand, you have some Christians who say that science does prove that God exists.
3. Then you have myself and some other Christians who say that science cannot prove God’s existence, but that it does provide overwhelming evidence that He is real.
So why the discrepancy? Let me explain.
Listen, You Have to Understand the Difference Between Proof and Evidence or Else You’ll Be Ignorant
The word proof has 28 different definitions according to Dictionary.com, and it’s used in different contexts.
When it comes to using the word proof for God’s existence, then most people use it in the sense of wanting 100% verifiable confirmation.
99% of the time, atheists who say that there is no scientific proof for God want to see the scientific method applied to God.
Just as a reminder from any one of your science classes, here are the steps to the scientific method:
- Make an Observation
- Form a Question
- Form a Hypothesis
- Conduct an Experiment
- Analyze the Data
- Draw a Conclusion
The rest of this article is going to show you why the scientific method can’t be applied to God.
While it’s my belief that there is no scientific proof for God, there is plenty of evidence.
The evidence for God’s existence outweighs the evidence of their being no god.
Even though the scientific evidence does overwhelming point to the fact that there is a god, there is always going to have to be an element of faith.
The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6:
[x_blockquote cite=”Hebrews 11:6″ type=”left”]And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.[/x_blockquote]
But Why Should You Care About the Scientific Method Not Being Able to Prove God’s Existence?
If you’re holding your breath for there to be a scientific experiment that can prove God’s existence, then you’re going to be disappointed.
That’s because there will never be one available.
Imagine you want to find out how hot it is outside of your home.
You go outside of your house, and you hold up a scale to the sky.
The numbers on the scale don’t change.
Why? Because a scale isn’t the right tool to use to measure the outside temperature.
And neither is the scientific method the right tool to use to measure God.
If you continue to deny God’s existence, then you’ll never know things like:
- What is the meaning of life?
- What is your unique purpose?
- And how can you go to heaven and avoid going to hell (Yes, these two places exist regardless of whether you believe they do or not)
Now, Here Are the 3 Mind-Bending Reasons Why The Scientific Method Can’t Prove God’s Existence
Ok, so let’s just dig right in.
1. Reason #1 – God Exists Outside of Space
Our universe is made up of space, time, and matter.
God exists outside of our universe.
In fact, the universe in all of its gigantic size can’t contain God.
King Solomon said:
[x_blockquote cite=”King Solomon, 1 Kings 8:27″ type=”left”]But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You.[/x_blockquote]
Your mind isn’t able to begin to understand how MASSIVE God is.
Worship happens when we understand how small we are compared to how big God is. Click To TweetThat’s because there is no being like Him when it comes to size that you can compare Him to.
Another point to consider about God existing outside of space is that our universe has a specific age.
That means it was created a specific number of years ago.
So consider this: God had to exist outside of space so He could have created the universe and all of the space that is in it.
Science can only measure things inside of our universe.
So that’s why science can’t measure things like the mass, density, or the volume of God.
By the way, for any Christians reading this blog post, I’m referring to God the Father and not God the Son (Jesus).
2 . Reason #2 – God Exists Outside of Time
The concept of time is a very complex subject that has intrigued quantum physicists for decades
Ok, see if you can wrap your mind around this one.
Listen, I’m not insulting your intelligence, but truly this is a difficult concept to grasp because we don’t fully understand anything outside of our time continuum.
For a long time, scientists, including Albert Einstein, thought that the universe was static and infinite.
However, scientific discoveries have proven that the universe is expanding at a very fast rate.
What this means is that the universe must have originated in a single point in time.
You probably know this as the Big Bang which means that time itself had a beginning at the same time as the universe. (source)
So for an Intelligent Designer to have created our universe, then that would mean that He would need to exist outside of the time-space continuum.
And that’s exactly what the Bible says about God.
Look at what God says about Himself in Isaiah 57:15:
[x_blockquote cite=”Isaiah 57:15″ type=”left”]For thus says the High and Lofty One
[highlight]Who inhabits eternity[/highlight], whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble,
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”[/x_blockquote]
God inhabits eternity.
That means that before time, space, and matter ever existed, there was God who was just chilling doing whatever a cool God does. (I think God is super-cool)
Science can only measure what is found in our time-space dimension.
So since God not only exists outside of space but also outside of time, then that’s another reason why the scientific method can’t be used to find Him.
3. Reason #3 – God is Immaterial
So here is another mind-bending fact about God:
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24
The problem with this word “spirit” is that you and I tend to think that it means something like a ghost.
But God is not a ghost although some could argue that He is the Holy Ghost (that’s a different subject entirely).
God (the Father) is a spirit, and that means that He does not have a human body.
God not having a human body and being a spirit gives God the following characteristics:
- God is infinite (He has no beginning and no end)
- God is omnipresent (He is present in all places at any given time)
- God is the uncreated First Cause that has always existed and has caused all things to come into existence
The scientific method can only measure material objects.
That’s the final reason why God can’t be measured using the scientific method.
It’s Not Just Me That Thinks These Things About God, So Do These Authoritative Experts
Dr. Frank Turek is an American Christian author, Christian Apologist and public speaker at universities, conferences, and churches.
“In light of all the evidence for a beginning of the space-time universe, the Beginner must be outside the space-time universe.” – Frank Turek
James “Jim” Warner Wallace is an American homicide detective and Christian apologist.
“If our universe had a beginning (if all space, time and matter came into existence from nothing), it is a finite universe.
“If our universe is finite (if it isn’t eternally old), we are obligated to look for its first cause, given the Principle of Causality (which affirms the fact that every effect, everything that begins, everything that is finite, and everything that is limited has a cause).” -J. Warner Wallace
Dr. William Lane Craig is an American analytic philosopher, Christian theologian, and Christian apologist.
“This cause (God) must be an uncaused, changeless, timeless, and immaterial being which created the universe. It must be uncaused because we’ve seen that there cannot be an infinite regress of causes.
“It must be timeless and therefore changeless—at least without the universe—because it created time. Because it also created space, it must transcend space as well and therefore be immaterial, not physical.” -Dr. William Lane Craig
Key Takeaways
Here are the key takeaways from this blog post:
1. The scientific method can’t be used to measure or detect God for at least three reasons.
2. The first reason is due to the fact that God exists outside of space, and the scientific method is only able to measure things inside of our spatial universe.
3. The second reason is due to the fact that God exists outside of time, and the scientific method can only measure things inside of our time continuum.
4. The third reason is that God is spirit and therefore, immaterial. The scientific method is only able to measure things that are made up of matter.
[author title=”About the Author”]
Comments 33
Peter,
I’m very disappointed in this post. It’s very dishonest in its presuppositions. Here are some quick answers so others won’t need to wade through your straw man “reasons” and false information where science is concerned:
Q: “Science has become so advanced, that it has eliminated the need for all religions.” Her biology teacher said.
A: In a nutshell, yes.
Q:“There is no longer any good reason to believe in myths about there being a god or gods when science reveals how we all evolved.”
A: There has never been a good reason to believe in god myths, but we do it anyway. Science has not claimed to reveal how we all evolved. It has however produced reliable models which best explains the facts of our world. Science doesn’t claim absolutes, it leave that to religions.
Q: Is this true? Has science proven that God doesn’t exist?
A: Science has no means to test supernatural claims. Science doesn’t concern itself with proving things “don’t exist”.
Q: Are all religions just make-believe myths?
A: So far, no religion (insert any one you like) has met a burden of proof to suggest its not a “make-believe myth”. Whichever one you subscribe to is no different.
Hope this clears things up.
R
Author
Hi R,
I have to say that your comment made me chuckle. Of course you are going to be disappointed in this post. Aren’t you going to be disappointed in every post that I write?
We’re always going to look at things from two entirely different perspectives so I don’t see us agreeing on spiritual matters any time soon. But that doesn’t matter because I welcome everyone’s opinions, even if they’re different from my own, as long as they abide by my comments policy (which you have been doing, thank you by the way)
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Peter,
What I’m truly disappointed in is myself for expecting you to be honest about of the purpose, capabilities and limitations of the scientific method and science in general. Science doesn’t set out to disprove anything – I’m betting you know this.
Science has NO mechanism to test your claims (Reasons 1-3). So in effect, you can make any claim you please – free from any scientific based scrutiny. We humans been doing this since the dawn of mankind. Thankfully we’re letting go of superstition and myth as fast as science can fill in the gaps in our knowledge of our universe.
You cannot make statements like “The evidence for God’s existence outweighs the evidence of their being no god.” or “Even though the scientific evidence does overwhelming point to the fact that there is a god…” without providing actual, verifiable, falsifiable evidence. I hope your next post lists these out.
As always I enjoy your posts. Keep em coming!
R
And I apologize for the terrible grammar above. Written in a hurry!
R
Author
No worries about the grammar, R 🙂
I don’t think that I committed any kind of intellectual dishonesty. I’ll tell you the motivation of why I wrote this article.
Sometimes when I talk to my atheist friends, I ask them what kind of proof they want so they can believe in God. Some of them say that they want some kind of scientific proof that is a result of a scientific experiment.
As you can tell from my article, I think that’s an impossibility. So that’s why I put this article together so I can share this article with them so they can know my answer on the subject. Additionally, I’m sure there will be some people who are searching on Google and maybe they will be persuaded by my point of view.
If they are not persuaded, then they will see your comment and be on your side, which I can imagine just tickles you senseless 🙂 j/k
I don’t think that science can or ever will prove that God doesn’t exist. I do think that science can find rational, verifiable explanations for many phenomena that had once been attributed to God; e.g. we now know that a solar eclipse is caused by the moon passing between the earth and the sun vs. God “blotting out the sun”…it’s not a supernatural act, just celestial mechanics.
I don’t think that Christians should be afraid of science reducing the number of things that had once been considered supernatural events. That new information doesn’t “lessen” God’s importance, it just reveals the complexity of the universe that He created. If God is real, and he created the universe, then it just shows how really, really clever He was about doing it.
I will agree that religion is man made…but God was not made by man. He has always been. My faith in HIM, not religion, tells me this. None of us need religions. We need God. Even when He sent His son to redeem us, He did not create a religion. He merely was, is and will forever be.
Prove to me that love exists…you cannot. It’s not tangible, it’s a feeling, a faith in something. Yet you will claim it exists because you KNOW it does, you believe it does. Then you have proven God exists by your belief, your faith.
Science leaves out the most important thing about man..his heart and feelings…which render any exercise of proof null and void.
And since I believe there is no argument. My belief, my faith, is good enough for me. My free will given to me by God allows me to choose faith over mans pitiful excuse of proof, science. It allows me to choose to believe, or not. I choose to believe, and if, when I die, there is nothing, I have lost nothing. Unlike those who choose not to believe. They will have lost a eternal life.
Author
Good point DK, thanks for sharing your personal convictions with the community. It’s extremely helpful to those who are searching for answers.
Something I have been trying to say but couldn’t find the words, thank you for posting this
I have no religion. Because Jesus did not brought religion but eternal life john 3:16. Mat 28:19 Jesus commanded us to make disciple not church member. Religion/church being man made is under human rules. Not the gospel. Paul brought the gospel upto Europe and from there so called scientific man created religion. And following that many churches were created according to man’s understanding of the books written by Paul. The very tragic one is churches based on speaking in tounge. But they forget that Paul insisted that the speaking of tounge must b translated. In fact many tries to speak in tounge without other member even translate. Very2 unbiblical
Hi R
Question: you said science doesn’t claim absolutes, it leave that to religion. Do you absolutely believe that? Because it sure sounds like you’re absolutely sure God doesn’t exist based on the evidence?
Jamwao,
I’m not aware of any solid evidence that God, gods, supernatural events or beings, etc. have ever existed or do exist now. So, I’d have to say that at the moment my confidence that none of those things actually exist is VERY high.
BUT (and this is important) – I’m always willing to change my mind if any God claim meets its burden of proof!
R
Finally, someone who’s open-minded.
R,
Read Frank Turek and Norman Geisler’s book “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist.” Perhaps their thoughtful presentation of logic and facts will provide the solid evidence you are looking for. Most of all keep looking. I personally spent over 20 years of my life not believing and not trusting man-made religions while also doubting the existence of any god, to then finally find that God isn’t in the religion business but in the relationship business. Open your heart and your mind to Him and He will reveal Himself to you.
Ken
Ken,
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve actually read it. My synopsis of it is “we don’t understand, therefore God.” I didn’t find it particularly logic driven.
I’d suggest you read “Deconverted: a Journey from Religion to Reason” – Seth Andrews & Matt Dillahunty. Maybe we can discuss both books sometime.
If you have any other book suggestions please send them my way!
R
The fact is that many Christians are leaving Christianity. I believe that debates between skeptics and believers on the internet are helping to fuel this exodus.
However, a “one size fits all” approach to debating Christians is misguided. I recently wrote a post on my blog entitled, “How to Debate a Christian”. I believe that the key to debating Christians is to know which type of Christian he or she is: a Liberal, a Moderate, or a Fundamentalist. I believe that each of these three types of Christian has a different weakness in their Christian belief system; a weakness which the atheist/skeptic can take advantage of to win the debate. I would be interested in a Christian critique of my post if anyone has the time and inclination.
Blog: Escaping Christian Fundamentalism
Post: How to Debate a Christian
Thanks,
Gary
Author
Hi Gary, may I please ask you if you are a former Christian?
Two things stood out to me..
‘Many Christians are leaving Christianity’… I’m sorry, but that’s a but of a….reach. Sounds like a conclusion without grounds. Then again, if it were really true, then those ‘Christians’ were in the business of religion, and not true biblical faith and a personal relationship with God. This is the singular problem with many ‘Christians’ today.
Imagine tweaking the statement to ‘Many Christians are leaving Christ’. The mere thought of it is painful at best. And any true Christian, not tied down by religion, man-made doctrines and legality would realise the sheer….terror and impossibility of it.
The second statement ‘I believe that each of these three types of Christian has a different weakness in their Christian belief system; a weakness which the atheist/skeptic can take advantage of to win the debate….’ was just plain……..sad. To find joy in stabbing holes in the faith of Christians by ‘winning the debate’? Sad, I tell you. Sounds empty and unfulfilling too.
Thank you Mr Peter Guirguis for this article. I enjoyed it extremely. Time, space, matter. Got it!
Author
You are most welcome Estelle. Thank you also for your feedback. Your comments are very valuable to our online community. Please continue building up the body of Christ ? .
Interesting: http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/
There is a point at which untestability becomes an objection in its own right.
Author
Can you elaborate a little bit more about what you mean, Daniel?
I am a Christian but as I have read through these comments and they are deep. Like very DEEP to the point where I could read more. Anyways Peter I have a question since I have gone through the same thing you have I was once an agnostic almost an atheist I was just wondering if you could give me some tips on how to believe the best way and not fall back into not believing. For example I ask myself questions like why God does not answers prayers and it is empty all the time. I am not saying it is always empty but sometimes I feel empty withou God if possible I could use your help like some answers about that one question. Last thing I want to be honest here I sort of am going through the same thing you went through and I need help getting over it I spend hours upon hour trying to believe in God if I do one thing it makes me feel that God is not there. Respond back when you can I will try to check later and sorry about grammar. God bless.
Author
Let me ask you a few questions, Nate, so I can best answer your own question:
1. Do you currently attend church? If you do, then how often do you attend?
2. Do you currently pray? If you do, then how often?
3. Do you currently read the Bible? If you do, then how often?
4. Do you ever visit atheistic websites?
5. Do you serve in any kind of ministry?
1. Yes I do attend Church I try to go every weekend.
2. I do pray much.
3. Yes I do read the Bible I do not read the Bible everyday but I like to read verses off the internet when I look up Christian sites.
4. No I do not I have went on one by accident when I was on the internet but I do not it on purpose.
5. What do you mean ministry? sorry.
Thanks for a great article Peter, in our blog we share same kind of information and we would like to post
this kind of articles.
for more information contact us at ProjectOHT@Gmail.com
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Hi Peter, I’ve read a few of your posts and there are some things that I would be interested to hear your response on.
I think the some of the most questioning points of religion are tied with history. What I mean is this: Christianity changes with time. How can something immortal created by a omnipotent being, aka religion and the bible, change due to the moral evolution of mortals through the centuries?
Here are some examples:
God in Christianity is always depicted as an older white man and Jesus as a younger white male. Many centuries ago, when Europe and the middle east (birthplaces of Christianity) were a strict patriarchy, this was never questioned. All leaders were older, white men so they made god’s image around themselves and it became the norm. Nowadays however, god is said to be “everyone and all people” which is very democratic. The same way people have grown more democratic.
A women was created from merely the rib bone of a man and this is considered normal. The same way back then, women were considered inferior and could not politically express themselves, so when people read the bible and heard that a woman is equal to the rib of a man, that was normal. Yet nowadays, Christianity is much more open-mined and less sexist because people, mortal people, have become less sexist and more accepting. People changed, so the bible’s interpretation changed.
Let’s look at Heaven. Heaven is depicted as a kingdom in the skies were people walk on clouds, and that is where god “lives”. This is how painters from ages ago depicted Heaven because people did not know what was up in the sky. It was mysterious and seemed calm and peaceful, so it became Heaven. Clouds look fluffy, so they became the floors of Heaven. However, nowadays, the sky is no longer mysterious. We have planes and we have been up there. We know its empty. We know it ends. We know clouds are just evaporated water that cannot be stepped on. So now Christians say that Heaven is somewhere else, not the sky. Once more, people advance, people discover. They change the depiction of Heaven and the holy kingdom. Nowadays, it is simply in another “plane of time” and no longer in the sky.
Finally, one of my favorite argument: how can there be other religions?
Take the Egyptians for example. They fully believed in their gods like Anubis. They prayed to him and they loved him, before there was any Christianity in the world. There literally was a time on earth when there were 0 Christians and no body believed in the Christian God, so how can he be eternal? What about the prehistoric times when there were no people? Without people, there is no concept of god. Yet he is eternal?
How can the majority of human beings currently present on Earth not worship the Christian God, and the Christian god is essentially okay with that since other religions have been around for as long as Christianity and have been equally as successful? This is not to mention that if I ask you why Allah is not real, you can give 100 reasons, yet when an Atheist applies these same 100 reasons to the Christianity God, the Atheists are wrong. Here is the funny thing to me: Christians disregard 320 million gods. That’s how many gods exist in all human religions. For 320,000,000 gods, you are as much of a non-believers as me. We could get together and make an enormous list of why those gods, including Zeus, Anubis, Allah, Aphrodite, don’t exist. But if I apply the same logic to the Christian god, you say I am wrong.
Christians disregard 320,000,000 gods. Atheists disregard 320,000,001 gods. That’s the difference between you and me. 1 out of 320,000,000 gods. Strange, isn’t it?
I got a bit off track, but here is a summary of my arguments: we can observe that religion has changed along with human ideals through history, yet you say that religion is eternal and written by one who knows all. So, isn’t it somewhat clear that the Bible are human words and concepts, and like everything else in the human world, changed and became more democratic?
second, how can it be that God is okay that most people don’t worship him and are successful? How can it be that you can disregard so many gods with certain arguments, yet for one of them, Christian God, these arguments are invalid?
Thanks for reading this far, and sorry if I ever came across as rude. I have a great respect to you as a person.
-G
Author
Thank you very much G for your very thoughtful and kind response. And just FYI, you never came across as rude. You came across as very respectful and considerate. I appreciate that about you ? .
Your questions are excellent! They show that you are a deep thinker and that you have a very analytical mind. Unfortunately, I can’t answer all of your questions in the comments. It would take me quite a long time to create a response. However, I will be making several articles about some of the questions that you posed in your comment and posting them on the blog. So as long as you are subscribed, then you will be able to read my answers.
I hope that I’ll get a chance to engage with you in future blog posts. Thank you for the wonderful questions and I appreciate your patience with me.
Great post G!
I believe in one less god than Christians do as well!
R
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Hi-As a Muslim your reasoning why God exist resonates with me as well, because Islam and Christianity shares much in common as the source of the revelation is from The One God. ( translated as Allah in Arabic).
I give an example you quoted King Solomon ( who is prophet Sulaiman in the Quran) said:
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You.
King Solomon, 1 Kings 8:27
I refer you to hadeeth qudsee a narration which is attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, that he narrated words from Allaah which are not part of the Quran.
One such narration commonly quoted and attributed to Allaah as His Words is as follows:
ما وسعني أرضي ولا سمائي، ووسعني قلب عبدي المؤمن…
“Neither My Earth nor My Heavens could contain Me, whilst the heart of My believing servant does contain Me…”
Regards from Malaysia
just adding a typo: Isaiah 67:15 should be Isaiah 57:15 in the article above. Good thoughts – appreciate your insight.
Author
Thank you very much for your correction of the passage in Isaiah. I went ahead and I corrected and updated the article as well.
God bless 🙏