Can Scientific Research Demonstratethe Existence of God?

By Daniel Holt

Many Scientists are Motivated by their Belief in God• Psalm 111:2 Written Above the door of Cavendish Physics labs,

Cambridge• Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight

in them• ‘Is Science Showing there Really is a God?’ Wall Street Journal• When we look for God in Nature will we ever find Him?

Nature is Cruel

• In the God Delusion one of the arguments used is the fact that Nature is cruel• Stephen Fry’s Rant at the Pearly Gates

"I’ll say: bone cancer in children, what’s that about?”• David Attenborough has said something similar “are you saying that

God created this worm that can live in no other way than in an innocent child’s eyeball? Because that doesn’t seem to me to coincide with a God who's full of mercy.”• CS Lewis was against using Nature as an argument, leading to

‘grounds for thinking that the proofs of our religion are very weak’

Leading to the Problem of Suffering

• On a similar route many look at Evolution as a process founded upon death and extinction to create new species• We descend quickly into the root of suffering• I definitely don’t have time to answer that• It’s clear for us, the world is not as God intended it• What about situations where people have no control?• Can the Natural world be judged as cruel?

• The Fine Tuning of the Universe• If 6 dimensionless constants slightly altered there

would be no stars

Nature is Intentional

Anthropic Principle

• The counter argument has been used against Fine tuning• Douglas Adams: ‘Imagine a puddle

waking up one morning and thinking, ‘This is an interesting world I find myself in — an interesting hole I find myself in — fits me rather neatly, doesn’t it?’• But what if there is only one

puddle?

More Robust Approach

• The Physics Lecture where we broke Quantum Mechanics• Science is constantly changing with each new discovery• do we categorise every new result?

Different Questions are Answered

• It seems far safer to state that Science and Faith answer totally different questions and that you will not find God in Science• It’s been said many times before that Science Answers How? Faith

answers Why?• The difference between an agent and a mechanism

Conclusion

• Not the strongest argument for the defence of our faith• The Interpretations of different discoveries are often subjective• What did I learn about the situation with my Aunt and the Flowers?• Who we are and our testimony are powerful persuasions• See God in your research everyday• Maybe Science can’t confidently show there really is a God, but God

can certainly use Scientists to show He is there.