Why This Astrophysicist Left Atheism & Found Jesus

Summary

This video script narrates a personal journey of discovery into the origins of the universe and the search for truth. The speaker, raised in Canada, recounts his childhood curiosity about stars, leading him to study physics and astronomy. His exploration of various religious texts and philosophical works culminates in a deep study of the Bible, which he finds remarkably consistent with scientific evidence. This leads him to a profound realization about the existence of a personal God, creator of the universe, and his commitment to Christianity. The narrative also touches on the implications of cosmic fine-tuning and the inadequacy of the multiverse theory as an explanation for the universe's design.

Takeaways

• 🌟 The speaker was born in Montreal, Canada, and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia at the age of four, where he was raised and educated.
• 🔭 At seven years old, a curiosity about stars led the speaker to the library, sparking a lifelong interest in physics and astronomy.
• 📚 The speaker's school trip to a public library with over 3 million volumes was pivotal in shaping his future career in astrophysics.
• 🤔 A debate on the nature of the universe during his teenage years led the speaker to explore various cosmologies and philosophies in search of answers.
• 🌌 The speaker's study of cosmology at 16 years old and the evidence favoring the Big Bang theory led him to consider the existence of a cosmic beginner.
• 📖 After exploring various religious texts, the speaker found the Bible's account of creation to align remarkably well with scientific findings.
• 🔬 The speaker's use of the scientific method to analyze the Bible's creation narrative revealed a consistency and accuracy that he did not find in other religious texts.
• 📚 The speaker's commitment to Christianity at the age of 19 was influenced by his inability to find contradictions or errors in the Bible, and its alignment with scientific discoveries.
• 🌐 The speaker discusses the development of space-time theorems, which suggest that space and time have a beginning, implying a creator beyond matter, energy, space, and time.
• 🔍 The speaker's exploration of cosmic fine-tuning provides evidence for a personal God, as the universe's specific conditions necessary for life suggest intentional design rather than random chance.
• 💭 The speaker addresses the anthropic principle and the multiverse theory, arguing that the improbability of the universe's fine-tuning points to a purposeful design rather than mere chance or infinite possibilities.

Q & A

Where was the speaker born and where was he raised?

The speaker was born in Montreal, Canada, but his family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia when he was four years old, where he was raised and educated.

What sparked the speaker's interest in astrophysics?

The speaker's interest in astrophysics was sparked at the age of seven when he looked up at the stars and asked his parents why they were hot, leading him to visit the library and read books on physics and astronomy.

What was the speaker's initial belief about the existence of God?

The speaker was not raised in a Christian home and neither of his parents believed in a God that created the universe.

What led the speaker to start searching for the 'Cosmic beginner'?

The speaker began to search for the 'Cosmic beginner' at the age of 17 after studying cosmology and being convinced by the evidence favoring the Big Bang cosmology, which suggested that the universe had a beginning.

What was the speaker's initial impression of the Bible when he started studying it?

The speaker was astounded to find that the Bible followed the scientific method and accurately described and ordered the creation events, as well as the initial conditions of planet Earth.

How did the speaker's study of the Bible influence his personal beliefs?

After 18 months of studying the Bible and finding no provable errors or contradictions, the speaker concluded that it was at least 10 to the 220 times more reliable than the second law of thermodynamics, leading him to put his trust in the message of the Bible.

What was the speaker's experience with the moral teachings of the Bible?

The speaker found the moral teachings of the Bible to be incredibly beautiful and elegant, and he was attracted to living according to its moral standard, although he found it challenging to meet that standard.

What was the turning point for the speaker in his spiritual journey?

The turning point for the speaker was when he realized that Jesus Christ offered to trade his moral perfection for the speaker's moral imperfection, which led the speaker to commit his life to Jesus at the age of 19.

How does the speaker view the concept of fine-tuning in the universe?

The speaker views the fine-tuning of the universe as evidence of a personal God who created everything with the purpose of making possible the redemption of billions of human beings from their sin and evil.

What is the speaker's response to the idea that the universe could be eternal?

The speaker argues against the idea of an eternal universe by referencing space-time theorems that suggest space and time have a beginning, implying a causal agent outside of matter, energy, space, and time that created the universe.

How does the speaker address the objection that the universe's fine-tuning could be a result of chance?

The speaker uses an analogy of a firing squad missing their target to argue that the incredibly remote probabilities of the universe's fine-tuning suggest that someone intended for life to exist, rather than it being a product of pure chance.

Outlines

00:00

🌌 Early Curiosity in Astronomy and Biblical Revelation

The speaker recounts their childhood in Canada and their initial interest in astronomy sparked by a question about the stars. This led to a voracious reading habit in physics and astronomy from a young age. The narrative then shifts to their exploration of the origins of the universe through cosmology, where they were particularly drawn to the Big Bang theory. This scientific interest intersected with a philosophical and spiritual quest, leading the speaker to investigate various religious texts in search of a 'cosmic beginner.' The speaker's journey through different religious philosophies ultimately led them to the Bible, which they found to align remarkably well with scientific understanding and to provide answers to life's big questions.

05:03

📚 The Bible's Consistency with Science and Personal Conviction

The speaker delves into their rigorous study of the Bible over 18 months, seeking any contradictions or errors that would undermine its credibility. They found none, instead discovering numerous instances where the Bible accurately predicted future scientific discoveries. This reliability, compared to the second law of thermodynamics, led the speaker to a profound trust in the Bible's message. The speaker's scientific background as a physics student at the University of British Columbia is highlighted, emphasizing the significance of their findings. The narrative culminates in a commitment to Christianity at the age of 19, a decision deeply rooted in both the Bible's alignment with scientific truths and its moral teachings.

10:04

🔭 The Inconsistencies of Other Worldviews and the Clarity of Biblical Teaching

The speaker contrasts their findings in the Bible with the inconsistencies they encountered in other religious texts, such as the Quran and Hindu scriptures. They critique the repetitive and vague language in these texts, which they found to be spiritually unsatisfying and scientifically inaccurate. The speaker also discusses the philosophical debate between an eternal universe and an eternal God, highlighting the space-time theorems that suggest a beginning to the universe and, by extension, a creator. The speaker's Christian worldview is reinforced by these scientific findings, which they believe confirm the Bible's account of creation.

15:05

🛡️ The Importance of Safe and Wholesome Digital Content for Children

Shifting focus from personal narrative to societal concern, the speaker introduces an app called 'True Play,' designed to provide children with safe, wholesome, and God-centered content. The app offers games, comics, and animated shorts, all free from ads, in-app purchases, and chat rooms. It is presented as a peace-of-mind solution for parents concerned about the content their children are exposed to online. The speaker emphasizes that while this app is not a substitute for family time and other nurturing activities, it can serve as a protective measure in an increasingly digital world.

20:06

🌟 The Case for a Personal God and the Fine-Tuning of the Universe

The speaker addresses the ongoing debate about the nature of the universe and the existence of a creator, highlighting the shift in scientific literature towards conceding the possibility of deism. They argue that the evidence for cosmic fine-tuning overwhelmingly supports the existence of a personal God, as opposed to a non-personal force. The speaker discusses their work on cosmic fine-tuning, explaining how the precise conditions necessary for life suggest intentional design rather than chance. They also refute the idea of the anthropic principle and the multiverse theory, using an analogy to illustrate the implausibility of design resulting from infinite universes.

25:08

🙏 Embracing Christianity and Experiencing Moral Transformation

The speaker concludes their narrative by sharing the personal transformation they underwent after embracing Christianity. They describe the moral teachings of the Bible as beautiful and compelling, leading them to strive for a higher moral standard. However, they also acknowledge their inability to meet this standard on their own. The speaker recounts the realization that Jesus Christ's life and sacrifice offer a path to moral perfection and forgiveness. This realization led them to commit their life to Christ, resulting in a profound personal change. The speaker reflects on the Holy Spirit's role in their ongoing transformation, illustrating the tangible impact of their spiritual journey.

Keywords

💡Astrophysics

Astrophysics is a branch of astronomy that deals with the physical properties and behaviors of celestial objects and phenomena. It is integral to the video's theme as the speaker's childhood interest in the stars led him to a lifelong pursuit of understanding the universe. The speaker's journey into astrophysics began with questions about the stars being hot, which was a pivotal moment that directed his future studies and career.

💡Cosmology

Cosmology is the scientific study of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe. It is a central concept in the video, as the speaker's interest in cosmology during his teenage years led him to explore different models of the universe, including the Big Bang theory, which he eventually found compelling evidence for, influencing his worldview and spiritual search.

💡Big Bang Cosmology

Big Bang Cosmology refers to the prevailing cosmological model that explains the origin of the universe as a single point that expanded and is still expanding. The speaker mentions this as the theory he found the most support for in his studies, which led him to conclude that the universe had a beginning and, therefore, a 'cosmic beginner' or creator.

💡Relativism

Relativism, in the context of the video, refers to the idea that truth may vary from person to person or culture to culture. The speaker contrasts this with his search for absolute truth in the origins of the universe, ultimately finding it in what he interprets as the historical and scientific accuracy of the Bible.

💡Scriptures

Scriptures are the sacred texts of various religions. In the video, the speaker discusses his examination of different religious texts, including the Bible, Quran, and Hindu Vedas, in his quest for understanding the universe's origin. His analysis of these texts was crucial in shaping his beliefs about the nature of the universe and its Creator.

💡Scientific Method

The scientific method is a systematic approach to investigating and understanding the natural world, which involves observation, hypothesis formulation, experimentation, and conclusion drawing. The speaker was surprised to find that the Bible's account of creation followed a method consistent with the scientific method, which bolstered his belief in its divine inspiration.

💡Moral Training

Moral training refers to the instruction in principles of right and wrong conduct. The speaker mentions that although he was not raised in a religious household, his parents imparted moral training, emphasizing the importance of morality as a universal concept that he later found beautifully expressed in the Bible.

💡Redemption

Redemption, in a spiritual context, is the act of delivering or being delivered from sin or evil. The speaker discusses how his studies led him to understand that the purpose of creation, according to the Bible, is to provide a path for the redemption of humanity, which became a cornerstone of his belief system.

💡Fine-Tuning

Fine-tuning refers to the precise balance of physical constants and laws of nature that allow for the existence of life in the universe. The speaker argues that the fine-tuning of the universe is evidence of a purposeful design, pointing to the Bible's account as the blueprint for this intentional creation.

💡Theological Debate

Theological debate involves discussions and arguments about the nature of God, religion, and spirituality. The video script reflects a theological debate as the speaker recounts his intellectual journey, comparing different religious texts and philosophies to arrive at his conclusions about the universe's origins and the existence of a Creator.

💡Anthropic Principle

The anthropic principle is the observation that the universe's fundamental constants seem to be finely tuned to allow for the existence of life, which in turn suggests that the universe may have been designed with life in mind. The speaker addresses potential objections to the idea of design, using the anthropic principle to argue for a purposeful creation rather than mere chance.

Highlights

The speaker was born in Montreal, Canada, and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia at the age of four, with a profound interest in the stars sparked at seven years old.

A childhood visit to the library and a field trip to the OU Public Library led to a voracious reading habit in physics and astronomy, shaping the speaker's future career in astrophysics.

At the age of 16, the speaker delved into cosmology, influenced by ongoing debates about the nature of the universe, including the Big Bang theory.

The realization that the universe must have had a beginning led to a search for the 'cosmic beginner', exploring various philosophical and religious texts.

A critical analysis of religious texts, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, revealed inconsistencies with astronomical knowledge and led to further exploration.

The Gideon Bible's alignment with the scientific method and accurate descriptions of creation events stood out as a significant finding for the speaker.

The speaker's 18-month study of the Bible revealed no contradictions and over a hundred accurate predictions of future scientific discoveries.

A pivotal moment occurred when comparing the reliability of the Bible to the second law of thermodynamics, leading to a deep trust in the Bible's message.

At age 19, the speaker committed their life to Jesus Christ, influenced by the Bible's consistency and the implications of its teachings on morality and redemption.

The speaker's journey involved a detailed examination of the scientific method as applied to the biblical creation narrative, emphasizing the importance of establishing a frame of reference.

The speaker critiqued other world religions for their lack of consistency with scientific knowledge, highlighting the Bible's unique alignment with observable facts.

The exploration of space-time theorems and their implications for the creation of the universe, supporting the existence of a causal agent beyond space and time.

The speaker's books on cosmic fine-tuning provide evidence for a personal God, arguing against the idea of an uncreated eternal universe.

A response to the anthropic principle and the idea of being winners of a cosmic lottery, emphasizing the intentional design of the universe for human life.

The critique of the Multiverse theory as an escape from the implications of fine-tuning, using a thought experiment to illustrate the philosophical fallacy of infinite universes.

The speaker's personal transformation through embracing Christian faith, recognizing the moral teachings of the Bible and the transformative work of the Holy Spirit.

An analogy used by Richard Swinburne to counter the argument of pure chance in the existence of life, advocating for the intentionality behind the universe's design.

The speaker's personal story of moral struggle and the realization of the need for divine intervention, leading to a deeper understanding of God's offer of moral perfection through Christ.

Transcripts

[Music]

so tell me about your Origins your your

family and what was

your initial view of life the universe

the answers to the big questions I don't

know just help me understand your

mindset at

onet well I was born in Montreal Canada

but when I was four years of age uh

family moved out to Vancouver British

Columbia and so I was born raised and

educated in Canada and when I was seven

years of age uh I looked up at the stars

and I said Mom Dad are those Stars hot

and they said yes son they're hot I said

can you please tell me why they're hot

and they said well for that you'll have

to go to the library well it was and

when I was age seven our school had a

field trip to the OU Public Library

which at that time had more than 3

million volumes and uh I was given we

were all given a card so I came home

with five books on physics and astronomy

and every weekend I would go back and

check out another four or five or six

books on physics and astronomy from the

age of eight onwards I knew my future

career would be in

astrophysics now I was not raised in a

Christian Home in fact I didn't know of

any Christians growing up uh but my

parents believed in Morality and so they

gave us moral training uh but neither

one of them believed that there was a

God that created the universe uh but

every year uh growing up I would focus

on a different subdiscipline of

astronomy and so when I was aged 16 I

spent a year studying

cosmology that's the science of the

origin and history of the universe and

at that time there is a debate going on

is it a hesitating universe is it an

oscillating Universe a steady state

universe or a big bang universe but even

at that time the astronomical evidence

was heavily favoring Big Bang cosmology

and I knew if it was Big Bang then the

universe had a beginning if it had a

beginning there must be a cosmic

beginner so as at age 17 I began to

search for that Cosmic beginner Ry

didn't know where look but I thought a

good place to start would be Emanuel

Kant uh he's the father of cosmology so

I read his critique of pure reason and

some of his other writings and

recognized that uh things were not

consistent with what I knew to be true

in astronomy I looked at renie Dart a

couple of other philosophers and I said

I think I'm going to have to look at the

world's holy books to try to get some

understanding I began with the Hindu vas

and I says oh this is where the

oscillating Universe model comes from

Hinduism is founded on the idea of

reincarnation and fundamentally on the

principle that the universe

reincarnates but as I read the vas I

realized they got the number wrong

because every cycle of reincarnation for

the universe they said was 4.32 billion

years and I knew the universe was older

than that uh and I also knew that the

Universe had way too much tropy for

there to be any mechanism to rebound the

universe so I put Hinduism aside I next

looked at Buddhism and as I read the

Buddhist commentaries realize that they

have the same cosmology as Hinduism then

I looked at the Quran and that there's

three creation texts in the Quran but

they're not consistent and I was

particularly Disturbed that it claimed

that the stars were closer to us than

the planets it's like you don't need a

telescope to know that that's incorrect

I looked at Zoroastrianism I looked at

several other religions but finally I

picked up a Gideon Bible that was given

to me uh in our public school and when I

went through that Gideon Bible you know

just looking at the very first page

Genesis 1 I was astounded that I

perfectly followed the scientific method

now I was naive I didn't know where the

scientific method came from years later

I discovered it had its origins in the

Bible's creation text uh but as I used

that scientific method I recognize that

all the events in Genesis 1 were

correctly described and the correct

chronological order the best I'd found

outside of the Bible was the en numaish

which got two out of 14 correct uh but

the Bible got a 10 for 10 score on the

order and the description of the

creation events and four for four on the

initial conditions of planet Earth and

so that's what motivated me to say you

know what this book The Bible deserves

serious study and I spent 18 months

reading and studying the Bible uh

anywhere from an hour to an hour and a

half a day uh looking for provable error

contradiction because I felt if this is

from the one that created Universe there

will be no erors there will be no

contradictions and by the time I went

got to revelation 22 I realized I'd not

found a single provable error

contradiction instead I found over a

hundred places where the Bible had

accurately predicted future scientific

discoveries in fact at that time I was a

sophomore physics student at the

University of British Columbia and when

I came to that conclusion it was the

same week our physics professor said

here's an assignment calculate the

probability that one of the students in

this class will be killed by a sudden

reversal of the second law

thermodynamics within the next seven

days that probability is roughly one

part in 10 the 80th it's so extremely

remote that we realize such an event has

never happened anytime anywhere in the

universe but what I had just determined

is that these predictions of future

scientific discoveries showed that the

Bible was at least 10 to the 220 times

more reliable than the second law

thermodynamics and since I trusted my

life and the reliability of the second

law thermodynamics I said the only

rational thing to do is put at least

that much confidence in the message of

the Bible so that's what motivated me to

sign my name in the back of a Gideon

Bible at age 19 committing my life to

Jesus Christ

receiving his gift of forgiveness uh for

all of my offenses against God and other

people and also realizing it only makes

sense to put Jesus in charge of my life

he knows better than I do what's best

for

me so now we have to spend the next hour

unpacking your intro there because you

covered so many different things that I

want to drill into Let's uh I I don't

know if this is too much sort of off the

top of your head or whatever but I am so

fascinated what those 10 criteria were

that you had in mind and then what those

four criteria were so I don't know if

that's better just to tell people to go

to a certain article or whatnot but

that's I want to point right point to

that I could do that okay I Do cover it

in detail in my book navigating Genesis

but like step one of the scientific

method do not interpret until you first

establish the frame of reference or the

point of view and for the six days of

creation in Genesis 1 Genesis 1 tells us

the spirit of God is hovering over the

surface of the Waters of planet Earth

underneath the cloud layer not above the

cloud layer and that's also clarified in

Job 38 where it says that God had

blanketed uh the Seas of the ear Earth

with clouds that kept the Seas dark so

that's the frame of reference Genesis

1:2 also gives you the four initial

condition s that it's dark everywhere

over the surface of the waters the

waters cover the whole surface of the

Earth and the Earth is formless and

empty it's unfit for life and it's empty

of life but now the spirit of God begins

to work and what you see in the six days

of creation is God step by step filling

the Earth with life and preparing the

Earth physically uh for his creation of

human beings 10 specific creation events

and as I mentioned they're all correctly

described relative to the established

scientific record and they're all in the

correct chronological

order now when you were talking about

the different contradictions that you

experienced within the other world

religions prior to you're seeing the

consistency that you found within the

biblical worldview you talked about

within Islam that there was what did you

say there was three

different cosmology occurr three

different major texts on creation okay

one of which is looks like has been

borrowed from the Bible then you got two

others uh but one that Disturbed me is

where it talks about how the universe

can be described by seven spheres and

there's different objects on those

spheres uh but they actually have the

planets on a sphere above the sphere

that has the Stars so it's like uh I

knew that wasn't correct I knew the

description of the seven spheres wasn't

correct either so uh that's that's just

one of many things the other thing that

bothered me about reading the Quran it's

incredibly

repetitious and its language is quite

vague and it looks like uh the author of

the Quran is going overboard to make it

sound spiritual and so there's all these

references to the Great and Powerful God

but it's repeated so many times it's

like you know what are you trying to

prove and that's something I also saw in

the Buddhist commentaries and in the uh

the Hindu vas this highly repetitious

and overly esoteric and spiritual

sounding language and you when I read

the Bible I noticed that Jesus made the

comment do not make repetitious prayers

God hears you you don't have to repeat

over and over again and so we need to be

specific about our prayers uh but to go

into repetitious ritual is not something

that God wants and I says that sounds

very reasonable for someone who created

the universe and wants a relationship

with each individual human being I've

been coming up against this comment on

this channel a lot where and it's sort

of it sort of comes out of I've been

doing some sort of debate commentary

when it was like John Linux and Richard

Dawkins debate

and you know the big question comes out

of is it an

uncreated eternal universe or an

uncreated eternal God and there's sort

of is almost like this false equivalency

if you believe that those are both

equally theoretically feasible I want to

zoom in on what you were saying about

the actual science regarding the

universe and because I think a lot of

people it seems like still believe that

it could be Eternal e even even uh even

before getting into multiverses and all

of that uh it seems like people still a

lot of people hold a steady state type

of model in their in their mind and I'm

just wondering if you can actually kind

of talk the audience through what like

what are the what are the options at

this point and what is almost like the

development of thought around the origin

of the universe and where are we

actually at today to try to clear up you

know some of this confusion well what

bothered me about reading the great pH

philosophers is that they talked about

time and space being Eternal I also saw

that in the Eastern religions what I saw

in the Bible was that space and time are

not Eternal God creates space and time

when he creates the universe so that's a

key factor that separates the Bible from

the non-biblical religions of the world

and I was doing this study at the same

time that physicists in Britain and

South Africa were developing the first

of the space-time theorems we now have

over 30 of these space-time theorems and

they're based on two fundamental

assumptions the theorem is true if the

universe contains mass and you and I are

living proof that the Universe indeed

contains Mass the second condition is

that the equations of general relativity

reliably describe the movements of

massive bodies in the universe now when

I was first exploring this in my teenage

years astronomers could only prove that

to be correct to about 1 or 2% percision

we can now prove that that's correct to

better than 15 places at the decimal so

today there's no basis for doubting

these two conditions and what the

theorem States is that space and time

have a beginning space and time are

created which implies that there must be

a causal agent outside of matter energy

space and time that creates our universe

of matter energy space and time and so

the space time theorems basically

establish it's the god of the Bible that

created the universe a God who has the

power to create space-time Dimensions at

will and remove them at will and so this

is what distinguishes the god of the

Bible from the gods of the non-biblical

religions now I think some people here

are going to say how do you how do we

know that it's

not uh in other words how do we know

that it's a personal being as opposed to

some sort of force or I've heard people

talk about I don't even know what people

are making up Quantum winds or just you

know some idea of a of a of a power

that's capable of this but that's not

necessarily you know Yahweh or or even a

God who has manifested himself in any

particular way well you're correctly

describing what's happening in the

community of atheist scientists if you

are a parent with kids and they're

spending any amount of time in front of

a screen there's a certain level of risk

that they are being exposed to and for

that reason I wanted to introduce you to

an app that I learned about a couple

weeks ago and I've been looking into

called true play essentially what true

play is trying to do is to provide an

alternative to the often mindless often

soulless sometimes questionable content

that your kids are exposed to if they're

on their phone or tablet or whatever so

the true playay app has games Comics

animated shorts all designed to be safe

wholesome and true to the word of God I

want to be clear this is definitely not

an alternative to family time to prayer

time to play time Etc but if you have

kids that are already in front of a

screen in some capacity the idea here is

that this would give you peace of mind

knowing that there's no ads no inapp

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truth-telling so save 30% today with an

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in the description now back to Dr Ross

I mean I've got many books written by

atheist scientists in my library but

what I've noticed in the last five years

books produced by atheist physicists and

astronomers are conceding deism I mean

even Lawrence Krauss is saying on page

173 of his book a universe from nothing

that we cannot take deism off the

scientific table the force of the

SpaceTime theorems established there

must must be a causal agent beyond space

and time that creates our universe the

debate has really shifted is this God

this deistic God a theistic God is this

God a personal being and that explains

why I've written seven books on Cosmic

fine-tuning uh over my career because

that is the go-to evidence to establish

we're dealing not just with Transcendent

causal agent but a personal being

because what you notice in the Bible it

makes the point repeatedly that God

began his works of redemption before he

created anything at all which implies

that everything that God created is for

the purpose of making possible the

Redemption of billions of human beings

from their sin and evil so in my latest

book on fine tuning designed of the core

I make the point that the universe as a

whole and all of its size scale

subcomponents going from the cosmic web

down to our Super Galaxy cluster our

galaxy cluster our local group of

galaxies our galaxy The Local bubble in

which we're existing the local fluff our

solar system I mean our star the planets

the asteroid and Comet belts our planet

uh the interior of our planet the Moon

the interior of the Moon every bit of it

is uh designed to make possible the

Redemption of billions of human beings

from their sin and

evil and we actually are able to

establish numbers on the degree of fine

tuning if people want to see that uh we

have at reasons.org

finetuning a 300 page compendium which

gives all the calculations of the degree

of fine-tuning that's necessary for

example just to get human beings on one

planet in the universe and that

probability is less than one chance in

10 to the 1600th power that's 1600 zeros

after the one and I compare that with

the very best examples of human

inventiveness and design and there we

get like one chance or you know one part

in 10 to the 25 or 10 to the 26 so we're

getting with the one that created the

universe is not 26 zeros after the one

we got, 1600 zeros after the one which

makes the point that the one that

created the universe at a minimum is 10

to the 1500 times more intelligent more

knowledgeable more creative more

powerful more caring than we human

beings and those are only attributes

that a personal being can manifest but

the degree to which we see these

personal attributes again isolates the

god of the Bible from the gods of the

other major religions of the world you

know it's the god of the Bible that is

so intimately related with his

creation Playing devil's advocate for

just a second because I know that

someone is going to hear what you said

and and have a knee-jerk response to to

say well this is just the privilege that

we have as the winners of this Lottery

and so we have the Fe feeling that it's

designed for us when really probab you

know probabilistically we just are at

this place now and so we're looking back

and we have this feeling that it's so

unlikely sort of the anthropic principle

idea how how would you address that type

of push back to say no this isn't just

that we got lucky and things played

themselves out but like what do you make

help me help that person to see why it's

more reasonable that this is actually

designed rather than just lucky I'm not

the first one to deal with this uh the

British philosopher Richard swinburn

more than 30 years ago responded to that

objection and he came up with an analogy

I mean they're about to be executed by a

firing squad and so they have you stand

blindfolded and uh there are 20

Sharpshooters with high powered rifles

uh standing 30 ft away and they're told

to shoot and kill you and so the 20 of

them shoot their guns and somehow you

survive and you look out at the 20

Sharpshooters after they take the

blindfold off and said wow they all

missed Richard swinburn makes the point

the only reason that they would have all

missed is either somebody put blanks in

all of their guns or all 20 of those

Sharpshooters wanted you to live there's

no way they would have not have killed

you at had the intent of murdering you

or executing you and likewise they say

when you look at these incredibly remote

probabilities the only rational

conclusion is there's somebody out there

who wanted us to live and that wanted us

to get the victory over the sin and evil

uh in our life it makes no sense that

we're just here by a product of pure

chance now what some atheists have done

is to propose what's called the

Multiverse fact I've been speaking on

fine tuning since the

1970s and I remember telling audiences

in the

1980s that the evidence for fine-tuning

the points of the god of the Bible is

getting a minimum of a thousand times

stronger with every month of new

scientific discoveries it's

exponentially increasing in the degree

of evidence and eventually uh the case

uh for a personal God is is going to

become so overwhelming that atheists

will have nowhere else to go but to

propose there's an infinite number of

universes where they're all different

from one another and we happen to live

in the one lucky Universe where

everything is just right but what I told

audiences in the 1980s whenever any

skeptic appeals to Infinity they've got

nothing and basically explain to lay

audiences infinity plus infinity is

infinity infinity times infinity is

infinity infinity to the Infinity power

is infinity so by appealing to Infinity

you can explain anything you want now

what I've done in my book The Creator in

the cosmos fourth edition is to give you

an analogy that drives home that point

if there really is an infinite number of

universes where they're all different

from one another you'll of an infinite

number of planets identical to our

present planet Earth and on those

infinite number of planet Earth you're

going to have an infinite variety of

birch tree species and birch trees have

the property that they peel thin white

pieces of bark but if you get an

infinite variety of birch tree species

one of those species at least one will

peel thin white pieces of bark that are

perfectly rectangular that measure 8 and

a half by 11 in and these pieces of bark

will fall on soils with random chemical

in them that'll make random markings on

those pieces of birch bark which will

duplicate every equation every

photograph every paragraph every diagram

and every scientific research paper

that's ever been published so those

millions of scientific research papers

they did not come from the minds of

scientists the Multiverse did it so

you're basically exposing the

philosophical fallacy of appealing to a

Multiverse to get around the design if

you do that there is no design anywhere

all of our human designs are negated at

the same

time that's fascinating I need to chew

on that but I really I really I've never

heard that before and I really like that

analogy that's very interesting let's

get back for a second to your personal

story because I'm curious now so far

everything we've covered is is very much

sort of in the realm of your truth Quest

and I'm curious at what point did did

this kind of come home for you and at

what point did you actually um enter

into a relationship with this God that

you had been searching for and studying

about well while I was going through the

Bible over that 18mon period trying to

determine is this the inspired inherent

word of the one that created

Universe I was also fascinated by the

morality I was seeing promoted in the

Bible and realize it's moral message is

incredibly beautiful and elegant it's

unlike any other moral message I saw in

any other religion I was very attracted

to it and said I want to live that way

so I remember during those 18 months

doing everything I could to live up to

the moral standard that I saw in the

Bible but the harder I tried the more I

realized I don't make that standard I'm

falling

short uh but as I read through the Bible

I realize that's the message of the

Bible that every human being falls short

of God's standard he's written as law in

the heart of every human being the

conscience that's within it and all of

us have failed to live up to our

conscience and so it told me God does

not great on a curve he demands moral

perfection I don't have it but as I read

through the 66 books of the Bible I kept

seeing repeated over and over again God

wants to do for me what I can't do for

myself he wants to trade my moral

imperfection for his moral perfection

and he even sent the creator of the

universe God the son the planet Earth to

live a life of moral perfection in front

of us and when I read the gospel

accounts What impressed me Jesus of

Nazareth in front of a large crowd that

included his mother and his brothers and

his sisters said can any of you accuse

me of sin or a moral failing no one

could I mean you're not going to fool

your mother you're not going to fool

your brothers they all agreed he was

morally perfect and so I said this is

the one and then Jesus as it tells us in

the gospel accounts willingly took upon

himself the penalty for all the offenses

of every human being that ever lived and

basically said uh I will pay for you

which you can't pay for yourself I said

that's a that's a a that's an offer I

can't turn down and as I mentioned

earlier also realizing he knows better

than I do what's best for my life and so

becoming a Christian is receiving God's

offer forgiveness through his payment on

the cross but also realizing I need to

make him the master of my life and take

direction from him and what you see in

the gospel account says if you do that

God will say send you as Holy Spirit and

your Holy Spirit step by step day by day

uh will transform you into the character

of Christ and I've experienced that

process that's the proof that this has

really taken home in my life because I

realize the character attributes I

manifest today are not what I manifested

before I gave my life to Jesus

[Music]

Christ m