Are human beings the most intelligent species to ever exist
across the entirety of the universe?
If your answer is yes, you are claiming intellectual
superiority over a universe of which humans have explored and studied less than
a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction.
If your answer is no, you can't be an atheist.
Before I begin, I want to make something clear: This not about "proving" the
Christian God. Yes, I am a born-again
Christian and I do believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for
my sins. But this is not about proving which
religion is "right." For that
matter, it's not even about proving God exists.
It's about acknowledging the very logical possibility of the existence of a Creator.
Atheists like to throw around words like "logic"
and "reason" in an attempt to make themselves appear superior and to both
degrade and demoralize those who disagree with their reasoning. After all, if you're not logical or
reasonable, you clearly aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer, right? But if you take a step back and observe the
workings on the universe for just a moment, you'd find that it's both
unreasonable and illogical to assume there is no God, much less declare this as
a fact.
We see varying levels of intelligence in the various species
on our own planet. Insects, animals,
humans - we all have differing degrees of intellectual capacity, and it is clear
that humans stand at the top of that list.
Right away, that begs the question: What about other planets? Does any other life exist out there? If it does, is it smarter than us?
Critics will jump all over that comparison by saying that comparing
the possibility of life on other planets to the possibility of a Creator is not
equal because we see life on our own planet yet do not see any scientifically
measurable evidence of a divine being.
Again, I direct them back to the "levels of intelligence"
point from the previous paragraph.
For example, a dog can't design a satellite. A bear can't invent an energy-efficient
vehicle. Lower forms of life lack the
intellectual capacity to understand
the concepts required to be able to accomplish what humanity has. To them, the inventions of humans work by
magic. We, however, know that these
things are not powered by magic because we understand the science behind them.
To those life forms, we are the divine beings due to our
superior level of intelligence.
With that in mind, now ask yourself the question: How did the universe begin? Whatever your answer may be, ask yourself
what came before that. Then ask what
came before that. And before that. And before that.
No matter what reason you come up with, you can always ask
the question, "What came before that?" This demonstrates the human brain's
limitations. Humanity cannot truly comprehend a hard
"start" to existence because our brains tell us something must have come before that. The law of cause and effect states that for
every effect there is a cause. So our minds
tell us that whatever we believe "started" the universe, there must
have been something to cause that.
But this plane of existence we call the universe had to
begin somewhere, right? The only option
we have left - whether you do or do not believe in God - is to accept that our
intellect is too limited to understand what many refer to as the "First
Cause" of the universe.
So if we can demonstrate that the human brain is indeed
limited, and we can demonstrate that there are varying levels of intelligence
right here on our own planet, how can we possibly assume that there's nothing
out there with an intellectual capacity greater than our own?
Most atheists will discount believers who invoke the
"God did it" response to biblical events that would appear to be
scientifically impossible. Again, I want
to reiterate that my goal here is not to prove Christianity but instead prove
the possibility of a divine creator.
With that being said, why is the answer of "God did it" so
impossible to us? Regardless of the
context, whether it be a miraculous healing or a worldwide flood, why do we
discount the possibility that a divine Creator could do these things?
The answer, usually, is because these events seemingly go
against the laws of physics and contradict much of what science knows regarding
how the universe works. So let's talk
about that for a minute.
Your dog enjoys riding in the car with you. To him, the car is this sleek red container
that he jumps into and it takes him on this amazing ride through town. He's always known it to be the same shape, color,
and size, and there's nothing he can
do to change the overall appearance or workings of the vehicle.
Then you buy a new car.
Your dog has no idea why, but his formerly red container has now become
a wide green container. It sounds
different, looks different, and smells different. How could this be possible? It goes against every understanding he
previously had about the appearance and workings of his travel container.
To us, the universe has always adhered to certain
expectations. The planets revolve around
the sun, the tide rises and falls, etc.
And although we may put dings and scratches on our world much like that
dog would put on the car, overall, it's the same universe it has always
been. Based on that, science has observed
certain scientific laws regarding the nature of the universe. And in our understanding of things, nothing
can break those laws.
But what if something with a greater intellectual capacity does exist out there? Again, the owner is smarter than his dog, so
the owner completely understands why his car changed. If there's something out there greater than
humanity, how do we know it couldn't
break what we call the laws of physics in a way that would be perfectly
understandable if we shared its level of intelligence? Why is that so impossible? To declare these scientific laws 100%
universally unbreakable is akin to declaring mankind the most intelligent
species in the universe. It is basically
saying, "If we can't understand how it would be possible, it simply cannot
be."
Yeah, the dog said that too.
When presented with these arguments, the atheist will
typically say something about how there's no evidence that any of the workings
of the universe are guided by a divine being and therefore there's no reason
add one into our line of reasoning.
After all, if science can explain how a thunderstorm works, why do the
religious add God into the mix?
Because nothing happens without cause. Science teaches humanity how things work. It does not
teach why they work that way. The question "Why?" is similar to
the question "How did the universe begin?" because it can never be
truly answered. No matter what the
response, you can always ask "Why?" again. We know how thunderstorms and earthquakes
work. We know how televisions work and
how motor vehicles are operated. But why
do they work that way? And whatever
answer you have in your mind, ask why again.
And again to that answer. And
again to that answer. Keep going and
going, because every scientific response you give - right down to the most
basic laws of physics - still do not and cannot give a definitive answer to the
question of "Why?" If you can
ask it again, it hasn't been resolved.
Science learns how the universe works, but ultimately has no
idea why it works that way. It's like learning how a car works without acknowledging
the fuel that makes it go.
So if we can accept the possibility that humans are not the
most intellectually superior beings in all of the universe, then we must also
accept the possibility that there is something greater out there. And if we accept the possibility that there
might be something greater out there, we must also accept the possibility that
this greater form of intelligence could understand and manipulate the laws of
science in ways that the limited human brain cannot. And if we accept that possibility, then we
must accept the possibility that God
exists.
