Science and God are often set in opposition to one another. But this is a false dilemma. Not only did many prominent early scientists (such as Albert the Great, Sir Isaac Newton, and Robert Boyle) believe in God, but scientific discoveries themselves increasingly point to the existence of a Creator who transcends the physical universe.

Since science is confined to the study of that which is physically testable, and since God transcends physics, science cannot offer proof of God’s existence in the strict sense. Nevertheless, many scientific findings point to the existence of a supernatural Creator Who is, by definition, beyond the limits of what science can directly test.

Here are some of the key scientific findings that strongly indicate the existence of a Creator.

The Fine-Tuning of the Universe

The workings of the physical universe depend on laws of physics that govern matter and energy. These laws, scientists have discovered, are extremely fine-tuned to accommodate the physical processes of the universe, including the processes that allow for the existence of life.

The equations of physics contain certain given, measurable constants (such as the speed of light). Scientists have discovered that if you shift these constants even a tiny bit, the universe as we know it falls apart.

Similarly, the strong nuclear force holds protons and neutrons in an atom’s nucleus, and if tweaked just a little, we’d be in serious trouble. If the force was a little weaker, protons and neutrons couldn’t stick together, and so complex atoms (which are necessary for life) couldn’t be formed. If it was a tad stronger, protons would bind too easily, preventing the emergence of stable hydrogen, a necessary element for life.

The precise placement and conditions of our planet provide another example of fine-tuning. When the earth formed, it had just the right conditions to ensure that nitrogen and phosphorous would be available on the planet’s crust in the right amounts to support life. Similarly, the Earth’s core produces a magnetic field that shields it from harmful cosmic radiation and solar particles. In our distance from the sun, we also inhabit the “Goldilocks area:” a star’s habitable zone that is neither too hot nor too cold.

Obviously, all this gives the strong impression of Intelligence behind the universe that fashioned it with the precise qualities necessary for complexity and life to arise. Even the famous atheist and physicist Stephen Hawking wrote in “A Brief History of Time,” “The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life.”

The Origin of Life and Genetic Information

Speaking about the origin of life, the famous evolutionary biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins admitted in his 1996 book “Climbing Mount Improbable,” “Nobody knows how it happened.” There isn’t a clear materialistic scientific explanation for the miracle of life.

Moreover, science struggles to explain the origin of the complex genetic information necessary for the development and propagation of life. Stephen Meyer argued that the more we learn about DNA, the more it indicates the presence of a designing intelligence behind it. In a YouTube video he explains:

If you want to build a cell in the first place, you’ve got to have the information to build the proteins that service all the important cellular functions. So where does that information come from? … There have been a series of attempts to solve that, some based on chance, but that didn’t last very long because the amount of information … was so much greater than could be explained by random assembly or interactions of molecules that that went by the wayside.

Meyer concludes, “Whenever we see information, especially in a digital or an alphabetic form, as we do in DNA and RNA, and we trace information back to its source … it always arises from a mind, not a material process.”

Near-Death Experiences

About 15% of people in intensive care report having near-death experiences (NDE). NDEs are a well-documented and statistically analyzed phenomenon in which individuals who experience clinical death – or nearly so – not only retain consciousness but experience visions and extra-sensory perceptions after death. These incidents have been reported, compared, and scientifically analyzed, allowing researchers to identify common characteristics, such as sense perception apart from the physical body, encountering mystical light, a review of one’s past life, meeting deceased loved ones, and encountering the Divine.

Perhaps most significantly, people who have NDEs often witness real events that they couldn’t possibly have known about unless separated from their physical bodies (i.e., a conversation or an operation going on in another room of the hospital). This strongly suggests that people undergoing NDEs are not experiencing mere hallucinations but are really encountering a spiritual realm, and that consciousness really does remain after physical death.

All this points to the existence of God, the spiritual realm, and the afterlife.

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This article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal. 

Image credit: Picryl