How it all began

Charles R Darwin highly acclaimed English Naturalist and author of the book ‘On the Origin of Species’, proposed the theory of natural selection and evolution. However he is quoted to say, “The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us; and I for one must be content to remain an agnostic”.

Sir Isaac Newton physicist, mathematician and theologian accredited with theory of universal gravitation said, "Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who sets the planets in motion."

Albert Einstein ­German theoretical physicist and developer of general theory of relativity said “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”

Simple Question

Do the founders of modern science reject the idea of a supreme being?

Causality

Aristotle an ancient Greek philosopher born in 384 BC is one of the founders of western philosophy. In one of his works of logic ‘Posterior Analytics’ Aristotle places the following crucial condition on proper knowledge: "we think we have knowledge of a thing only when we have grasped its cause (APost. 71 b 9–11. Cf. APost. 94 a 20). That proper knowledge is knowledge of the cause is repeated in the Physics: we think we do not have knowledge of a thing until we have grasped its why, that is to say, its cause" (Phys. 194 b 17–20).

Ralph Waldo Emerson American essayist and lecturer noted “Cause and effect are two sides of one fact.”

Edward Lorenz American meteorologist and pioneer of the chaos theory sums this up, “The fluttering of a butterfly’s wing in Rio de Janeiro, amplified by atmospheric currents, could cause a tornado in Texas two weeks later.”

On The Other Hand

Georges Lemaître a Belgian cosmologist, catholic priest, and ‘father’ of the Big Bang theory described the Big bang as simply "a day without yesterday."

The theory of Big Bang states the universe was once a hot and dense matter that expanded very rapidly so much so that in the instant—a trillion-trillionth of a second—after the big bang, the universe expanded with incomprehensible speed from its pebble-size origin to astronomical scope. Expansion has apparently continued, but much more slowly, over the ensuing billions of years

Simple question

Does George Lemaître’s quote fit in with the well accepted fact of cause and effect? Could such incredible power before the explosion be generated out of nothing?

Maybe we just got lucky?

Dr. Hugh Ross gives an example in his book, ‘The Creator and the Cosmos’, where he describes the chances of this finely tuned universe. It reads as follows:

One part in 10³⁷ is such an incredibly sensitive balance that it is hard to visualize. The following analogy might help: Cover the entire North American continent in dimes all the way up to the moon, a height of about 239,000 miles (In comparison, the money to pay for the U.S. federal government debt would cover one square mile less than two feet deep with dimes.). Next, pile dimes from here to the moon on a billion other continents the same size as North America. Paint one dime red and mix it into the billions of piles of dimes. Blindfold a friend and ask him to pick out one dime. The odds that he will pick the red dime are one in 10³⁷. (p. 115)

But is this highly unlikely scenario evidence of a divine design?

Brandon Carter an Australian theoretical physicist proposed the Anthropic Principle or ‘the law of human existence’. Today it’s referred as the Weak Anthropic Principle (WAP) which states that by our very existence as carbon-based intelligent creatures, we impose a sort of selection effect on the Universe.

In other words the universe appears to have been fine-tuned for our existence (by itself).

 In the book ‘The Anthropic Cosmological Principle’ by J.D Barrow and F.J Tipler argue if the universe didn’t have the finely tuned properties, then we wouldn’t have existed in the first place. Therefore even thought there is a very high improbability of the universe existing with observers, the properties of the universe that allow us to exist are also what allow us to observe the universe.

However William Lane Craig a theologian and philosopher known for his work on existence of God defines the principle as follows

 “According to the Anthropic Philosophy, an attitude of surprise at the delicately balance features of the universe essential to life is inappropriate; we should expect the universe to look this way. While this does not explain the origin of those features, it shows no explanation is necessary. Hence to posit a divine Designer is gratuitous.”

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said. ‘Shallow men believe in luck, believe in circumstances....Strong men believe in cause and effect.’

The Holy Qur'an answers the raging debate succinctly:

"Have not those who disbelieved known that the heavens and the earth were one connected entity, then We separated them?..." (Quran, 21:30) 

"And it is We who have constructed the heaven with might, and verily, it is We who are steadily expanding it."
(The Qur'an, 51:47)

Dr. Alfred Kroner is one of the world’s renowned geologists, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.  He said: “Thinking where Muhammad came from . . . I think it is almost impossible that he could have known about things like the common origin of the universe, because scientists have only found out within the last few years, with very complicated and advanced technological methods, that this is the case.”  Also he said: “Somebody who did not know something about nuclear physics fourteen hundred years ago could not, I think, be in a position to find out from his own mind, for instance, that the earth and the heavens had the same origin.