UNIVERSE WITH GOD
When an infant is in the protective shell of his mother’s womb, he does not know the world outside. Outside the womb, a world as a whole is present, but the infant has no idea at all of it. The same is valid for man himself. All of man’s information is limited within space and time. Man does not know the realities that are beyond space and time.
When British philosopher John Stuart Mill (d. 1873) was in his youth, his father said that belief in God is irrational because if it is said that God created man, then the question arises as to who created God. Mill mentions this in his autobiography. After this, this point began being repeated by philosophers like Bertrand Russell, Julian Huxley, and others. This process continued further, and one often hears this argument today, too.
I have analyzed this objection of certain atheists: if God created the universe, then who created God? According to my study, this objection is based on an apparent contradiction in thinking. This is because the question comes from those who believe in the universe without a Creator, but so far as their belief in a Creator is concerned, they need a Creator of the Creator. Yet, if the universe’s existence is possible without a Creator, then the existence of the Creator, too, should be possible without a Creator.
In Mill’s day and age, man’s knowledge was confined inside a limited scientific ‘shell’ or ‘womb,’ just like an infant inside the shell of his mother’s womb does not know the world outside. But now, there have been significant advances in man’s scientific knowledge of the universe that testify to the existence of the Creator.
The situation is that before us, an entire universe is present. We can see it. We are experiencing it. And so, we are compelled to accept the existence of the universe. Even if a person does not accept the existence of God, he does accept the universe’s existence.
Now, one scenario is that a person regards the universe, whose existence he accepts, as causeless. But such a belief is not possible because, in the universe, all events seem to be coming into being in line with cause and effect, and behind every event, a cause is at work. But the nature of the universe itself desires a Final Cause for its existence—the Cause of all causes, which is another name for God.
It is not possible to accept a causeless universe. In fact, with the ‘Big Bang’ theory, modern science has proved that the universe is not eternal and had a definite beginning, which points to a cause of the universe. The universe necessarily requires a Final Cause for itself. When we accept the causeless God as the cause of the universe, we save ourselves from accepting the impossible belief in a causeless universe, which modern science has shown to be fallacious. That is why I assert that it is strange to believe in God, but not believing in God is even stranger. In accepting God, we only choose something less strange over something more strange.
This is not an issue only of God’s existence. From a purely scientific point of view, nothing can be conclusively proven or disproven in this world. In accepting anything, the option is not between proven and unproven. Instead, every choice is between workable and non-workable.
For example, scientists generally believe in the theory of gravity. But it is not because gravity is a proven theory. Newton saw an apple falling from a tree and wondered why it fell downwards. After investigation, he came up with the theory of gravity. However, a scientist once said that Newton was amazed at why the apple fell down and did not go up. The roots of the tree go down, and its trunk goes up. If the reason for the roots going down is given as the presence of gravity on the Earth, then how will the going up of the trunk and branches be justified?
This is the case with all scientific theories. In science, whenever a theory is accepted, it is not about accepting the proven against the unproven. Instead, it is about accepting a workable theory against a non-workable theory. The same principle applies to the theory of God.
In the case of gravity, our choice is not between matter with gravity and matter without gravity. Instead, it is between matter with gravity and non-existent matter. Because the theory of non-existent matter is not workable. Therefore, we have chosen the theory of matter with gravity, and the same is true with believing in God from a purely scientific point of view.
The universe does not possess the ability to create on its own. It cannot produce even a particle inside it. That is why, here for us, the choice is not between a universe with God and a universe without God. Instead, the option is between a universe with God and a non-existent universe. Because we cannot choose a non-existent universe, we are compelled to accept the theory of a universe with God.
