Charlie,
Keep in mind we’re still discussing only one evidence (the logical evidence) for God’s existence. We have many more, but let’s take them one at a time. Please do forgive my long posts as once I start writing, I try to maintain my train of thoughts so I don’t forget my ideas.
Going back to our critical question of why Muslims believed in God rather than matter to be the eternal first cause. Here are the basic answers for that important question (please take your time to think about them):
1- To the best of science’s ability so far, science believes that best theory to explain our universe is that it started at a particular point in time (Bing Bang). They gathered many evidence including the background radiation detected by the couple that won the noble prize for it as you know. And also including the research on red shifts which proved that the universe is currently expanding (side note: our Quran states that universe is currently expanding and we do consider this a scientific miracle in Quran). The Big Bang theory has as much evidence as evolution. They both follow the same logic. They both explain things that happened in the far past in the light of different evidences that support the claims for these theories. In both cases, we never saw how it started. In both cases we have associated evidence that makes scientist believe they happened. So based on BB, our universe had a start point. So it emerged into existence after not existing. Per statements 1 and 2 above, it has to have a cause! Can we say the same about God? Did he emerge into existence after he did not exist? We believe no. We believe that God ALWAYS existed and thus is eternal. Since he always existed, and is thus eternal, his existence does not depend on any external cause. He’s is the ultimate end of causes. This also answers the “illogical” question of who created God. Why do I say it is illogical? Because the question assumes that God is not eternal. It assumes he emerged into existence after he did not exist, and so we asked what caused him. The answer is nothing caused him. He was eternal. Can we say the same about our universe? No because to the best of our knowledge it is not eternal, but rather started at some point in time.
2- Atheists claim that matter is eternal. We don’t believe in that. Why not? One important key difference between matter and God is that matter changes its attributes. The universe is in a constant change all the time. We believe that God is not the same. We believe that God is eternal in himself, but also that his attributes are eternal. Nothing changes about him. What does this mean? Logically change is a sign of a starting point. I’m claiming that if you change, you can not be eternal. How so? Let me clarify with an example. Let’s take the universe. It’s changing all the time. Let’s take a fixed moment in time (now). With this moment there are certain positions to objects/ parameters, and even every single atom. These positions can not be where they are right now, unless they were where they were in the previous moment. So the previous moment is a prerequisite for the current moment for where every single atom is right now. But in the previous moment, the positions of all atoms in the world depends on where all these atoms where in the moment before it. Each moment depends on the previous one as far as the position of every single atom in the universe. The current positions to all atoms would have never occurred if previous chain of positions within moments of time did not occur. What does this mean? This means if you claim this universe existed for eternity; it would never be the way it is right now at a single moment of time. It’s again the impossibility of an eternal chain of cause and effect per statement3 above. So we choose God to matter because matter changes all the time, but God is eternal in his existence as well as his attributes.
3- Assuming this universe is eternal leads us to a contradiction to thermodynamic laws. As you know the laws state that heat flows from hot to cold objects. In other words the sun is emitting light and heat (energy) all the time. This light and heat are will even out through the entire universe if you give it a very long time. If we take the sun as an example, the sun will keep emitting heat and light until it dies (in 4 billion year according to some scientists). Why would it die? Because energy will keep flowing from the hotter object (sun) to the colder (everything that receives this heat in our galaxy) including earth. If we claim that sun existed for eternity, per the thermodynamic laws, the Milky Way galaxy would have reached heat equilibrium by now and the flow of energy would have stopped. Scientists realized that this violates established laws, and this was an additional evidence to believe that Sun did not exist forever. Same argument applies to the universe. If our universe has existed for eternity, by now heat would have reached and equilibrium and the entire universe would have been at the same temperature (which surely leads to no life!). We either have to break these established thermodynamic laws, or deduce that there must be some external power/ external factor that started the universe (whether you want to believe it to be God or not). Again this makes us further believe that God exists since he is eternal, but universe is not.
4- Here is my favorite one and I ask you to really ponder upon it a little bit, so God may guide you to him. I will claim that laws can not exist without someone establishing and maintaining them. Let’s start with an example. If you see a computer right now that has running programs. They run with a certain behavior and follow a particular law. To use the computer and see the great things it can help us with, we would not hesitate to think that somebody was behind designing this computer and programming the different programs that run on it. If I really did not initially know much about computers or how they work, and I asked: how does this computer internally work? If I open up the computer and see a hard disk, RAM chips, motherboard, and see how they are connected and detect electric signals on how the different components communicate: will I say: I found out why we see for example the picture on the screen. It’s simply being loaded from the RAM to the monitor through the VGA cable. That’s why we can see the screen. What does this mean? Does this mean that no body designed this computer and programmed it just because I detected its behavior? I never explained why it behaves like that. All I saw is an observation or a particular behavior and guesses on why and how it works based on certain laws. I never explained why the laws work the way they do! I can’t say there does not exist a designer for the computer because these “laws that govern computers” just exist with no reason. They exist because there was some INTELLIGENCE behind them! This is exactly the biggest problem in how people think that science negate the existence of God. Old human beings maybe never knew how rain fell. Now science observed more and noticed that sun produced heat that vaporizes sea water and then this was carried in form of clouds that will eventually rain. This is exactly saying: we know how it works, but we can never explain why it works like that. Why do water particles vaporize like that when exposed to heat? Why do atoms behave in such a manner that maintains life on earth? Does this mean there is no “designer” or “intelligence” behind it just because we observed “how” it works? This is the greatest atheist fallacy in my opinion. Why do human beings survive? Because the heart keeps bumping blood. Why does it do so? Because it gets electric signals to bump like that. What triggers the electric signals? Nothing it just happens like that!!!
How do we comprehend things and have consciousness? Our brains have neurons and they get fired to represent different things and make us have our consciousness. But why at a random point in time does it trigger these neurons? What’s the key behind these laws? Don’t know, it’s just how the brain works. No: there is a great design and intelligence involved we say. If you carefully read all the questions above, you would see that it will always boil down to the same main question: why does matter behave the way it does right now and how does it with simple rules come up with such marvelous complexities (truly beyond description) of our current world. Both believers and atheists absolutely believe that there are a lot of amazing “fine-tuning” of parameters in the universe to allow matter with its own properties to become our universe as we see it. Dawkings admits to this too, and the best answer he can come up with is proposing a very mind-stretched multi-universe theory that has absolutely no support or evidence. Just anything to deny God vs. even exploring the possibility that he does exist!!
So my question for you and all atheists, that I never got a convincing answer ever so far, is: How do atoms randomly explode and have certain physical laws (like forces of attractions…etc) come up with such a marvelous universe randomly? Don’t tell me about evolution, I’m talking about before the first cell was composed. I’m talking about how earth rotates around the sun in just exactly the right speed and distance to support life. How did this greatly-finely-tuned universe come about the way it is right now with such amazing uniformity and organization out of a random explosion? This violates the second law of thermodynamics further (entropy). Natural tendency of matter as we know it goes from organization to chaos (unless an external force/factor is involved). This is by the very basic laws of physics. Don’t even attempt the (random chance) argument. Mathematically I can prove to you that the probability that from a random explosion of matter we can get what we see today in our world is way beyond even the possibility that 14 billion years will suffice for such a probability to occur. Did you think about the first cell? Did you think about the fact that to see life on earth, that first cell didn’t only have to exist, but also had to have the absolute correct (programming) of DNA that would enable the cell not to only survive, but to also have a mechanism to reproduce? Not only that, that DNA has to have information about how after the cell reproduces, it communicates with other cells! Not only that, it should also have mechanism to group together to form tissues and eventually organs. Not only that, it should have programming for these organs to communicate and work on the one goal: survival of the entire biological structure. Did you know when a cell reproduces to generate two new cells the DNA get’s split and a corresponding copy of the DNA (AT/GC) bonds is made. Once that copy is made did you know there are enzymes in the cell that goes to the new cell and checks the copying process to make sure it was copied correctly, and even correct wrong bonds!!!!! We see new “biological laws” emerging from pure “physics laws”. How did it emerge? Did all this occur randomly? I’m not even talking about evolution yet. All this is really right before evolution takes place. Did you notice that there is always a tendency for organization and survival!!! As if everything is being prepared “on purpose” for life to exist the way it does right now!!! To me my friend, the conclusion is inescapable, there has to be not only physics laws: there has to be some kind of “INTELLGENCE” and “DESIGN”. This is why Muslims choose God over matter. God has this required intelligence and design which is far beyond description. Matter as we know it today does not!
Sorry again for the long post, but once my fingers start typing, I just can’t help stopping!
I pray for you to see this and understand that we’re not simply ignorant people that don’t think about such major decisions about life. We do have a lot of evidence that make us very convinced of what we believe on (more to come). I’m not too worried if I make a mistake and believe when I should not have. I would be much more worried if I make the mistake of not believing when I should have, and carry the “eternal” burden of the consequence of such a decision. That is not to say that we’re not positive about God’s existence, but as a way for you to reflect upon the importance of why we take such matters very seriously.
Best of luck,
Stranger
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