What Do You Say to Those Who Claim God’s Existence Is Not Proven?

Question of the week: How do you respond to scientists who say that it is not known whether or not the universe had an absolute beginning and therefore the existence of God is not absolutely proven?

My answer: All the observational and experimental evidence is consistent with the universe having a beginning and implying a cosmic Beginner. However, we don’t know everything about the universe and never will. There are nontheistic cosmologists who appeal to what we don’t know about the universe to speculate that in the realm of our ignorance there might be a possible loophole to a true cosmic beginning. Such appeals, though, are based on nonempirically based hypotheses. Since we humans are constrained by the space-time dimensions of the universe, we are unable to come up with absolute proof about any of the features of the universe or even about ourselves. We can, however, develop progressively stronger practical proofs of a cosmic beginning and the existence of a personal cosmic Beginner as we learn more and more about the universe. We can demonstrate the biblical principle that the more we learn about nature, the more evidence we will uncover for the supernatural handiwork of God. We can also show that the arena of speculation about God’s nonexistence is progressively becoming smaller.

● For more on this subject, people can read my white paper, Responding to the Nonempirical Case for Atheism. See also chapters 8–18 in my book, The Creator and the Cosmos, 4th edition.