The Fine-Tuning Argument for the Existence of God [Video]

After writing about the incredibly high stakes concerning the existence of God, in addition to the strong Cosmological Argument for God’s existence, it seems like a good time to introduce the Fine-Tuning (or Teleological Argument) for the existence of God (skip to video here).

There is no shortage of scientific evidence for the incredible appearance of design. Few doubt that the entire universe seems fine-tuned for life with incredible precision.

For there are numerous constants and quantities observed in nature that all need to be just right for there to be any life at all. They “must fall into an extraordinarily narrow range of values for the universe to be life-permitting. This is what is meant by the fine-tuning of the universe for life.”1

For example, as Dr. Craig in On Guardnotes:

The so-called weak force, one of the four fundamental forces of nature, which operates inside the nucleus of an atom, is so finely tuned that an alteration in its value by even one part out of 10100 would have prevented a life-permitting universe!…

Roger Penrose of Oxford University has calculated that the odds of that low-entropy state’s existing by chance alone is on the order of one chance out of 1010(123), a number that is so inconceivable that to call it astronomical would be a wild understatement.

Moreover, there are over 100 finely-tuned constants and quantities — on Earth and in the universe as a whole — that certainly give the impression of deliberate design for life.2 These include the  level of oxygen in our atmosphere, the level of transparency of the atmosphere, the gravitational interaction between the moon and the earth, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the constant force of gravity and more.3

In, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, Dr. Norman Geisler and Dr. Frank Turek list several more of these constants. For example:

If the universe had expanded at a rate one millionth more slowly than it did, expansion would have stopped, and the universe would have collapsed on itself before any stars had formed. If it had expanded faster, then no galaxies would have formed…

If the thickness of the earth’s crust were greater, too much oxygen would be transferred to the crust to support life. If it were thinner, volcanic and tectonic activity would make life impossible…

Any of the laws of physics can be described as a function of the velocity of light (now defined to be 299,792,458 meters per second). Even a slight variation in the speed of light would alter the other constants and preclude the possibility of life on earth.

Astrophysicist Hugh Ross has calculated the probability that all of these finely-tuned constants would occur in any life-permitting planet purely by chance. If there are 102planets in the entire universe, the chances are a whopping 1 out of 10138.4 Such chances are truly incredible.

To put things in perspective, there have only been 1017 seconds in the entire history of the universe,5 there are only 1070 atoms in the entire universe,6 and there are only 1080 subatomic particles in the entire universe.7

According to Dr. Craig, there appear to be only three possible explanations for the incredible fine-tuning of the universe.

  1. Necessity
  2. Chance
  3. Intelligent Design

And, Intelligent Design appears to be, by far, the most reasonable explanation.

Watch Dr. Craig’s engaging animated video below for more details on the Fine-Tuning Argument and responses to common objections.

The Fine-Tuning Argument (Video)

Sources

  1. Craig, William Lane. On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision (Kindle Locations 1728-1729). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.
  2. Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 105.
  3. Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 102.
  4. Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 106.
  5. “The number of seconds in the entire history of the universe is around 1017 (that’s 1 followed by seventeen zeroes: 100,000,000,000,000,000).” Though the more recent video says 1020 Craig, William Lane. On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision (Kindle Locations 1731-1732). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.
  6. Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 106.
  7. Craig, William Lane. On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision (Kindle Locations 1731-1732). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.
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Imperfect Servant ✝?⛪ | Husband | Princeton U. Alum | M. Div. | Assistant (to the) Pastor | Sound Doctrine & Apologetics @catchforchrist