More on Reasons To Believe
Seeing that Dr. Hugh Ross is an astrophysicist, it is not surprising that most of his lecture I attended concerned astronomy and its support for Christian theism. I believe Dr. Ross convincingly illustrates that the heavens do declare the glory of God.
He spent a good portion of the evening talking about the Big Bang theory. I must admit, as a young Christian who lacked a great deal of scientific, as well as apologetic, acumen, I despised the Big Bang. When I walked through the science museums and saw the displays trumpeting the truth of the Big Bang, I snickered with incredulity.
I now realize that the Big Bang presents a powerful evidence for the existence of God. The Big Bang states that there was a time when our universe did not exist, and that the Big Bang is when it came into existence (creatio ex nihilo). The Kalam Cosmological Argument, dating back to midieval muslim philosophers, has been recently popularized by William Lane Craig. It states simply this:
(1) Everything that begins to exist has a cause
(2) The universe began to exist
Therefore:
(3) The universe has a cause (God)
The crucial premise of this argument is (2) The universe began to exist. Big Bang Cosmology, which is the widely-accepted theory concerning the origins of the universe among scientists, establishes this premise. As Hugh Ross states on his website, the only people who oppose this theory do so on philosophical and not scientific grounds. One group (a few secular scientists) opposes it because of its theological implications…God is the cause of the universe. Another group (some Christians) oppose it because they (incorrectly) feel it displaces God as the cause of the universe.
As someone who has a deep interest in science and Christianity, I am filled with excitement and anticipation. I am certain that the more we learn about the universe and all that is in it through science, the firmer our faith in God will be established. Truth need never fear intense scrutiny.