What if the universe is god

Lacking convincing scientific evidence to the contrary, such a power may be necessary to force all the parameters we need for our existence—cosmological, physical, chemical, biological and cognitive—to be what they are. Science and religion are two sides of the same deep human impulse to understand the world, to know our place in it, and to marvel at the wonder of life and the infinite cosmos we are surrounded by.

Contact us at letters time. Digitally generated image showing volcanic eruptions during formation of Earth. By Amir D. Related Stories. God Is Dead. Except at the Box Office. The 25 Defining Works of the Black Renaissance. Already a print subscriber?

Go here to link your subscription. Need help? Visit our Help Center. Go here to connect your wallet. Hawking says the first blow to Newton's belief that the universe could not have arisen from chaos was the observation in of a planet orbiting a star other than our Sun.

Hawking had previously appeared to accept the role of God in the creation of the universe. Writing in his bestseller A Brief History Of Time in , he said: "If we discover a complete theory, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason — for then we should know the mind of God.

These include the prevalence of evil, suffering, and injustice, and also the scale of the physical universe. We would expect the God of traditional theism to create a world without suffering and evil, and one where human beings occupied a central place rather than inhabiting a very small corner of the universe. Atheists also object to the metaphysical hypotheses that theists typically must introduce to reconcile the existence of evil with the benevolence of God—such as libertarian freewill and personal immortality.

AP argues that, even if they succeed, these powerful theist arguments only rule out a benevolent God. They provide no evidence against non-benevolent Gods.

AP will appeal to those who find both theism and atheism unsatisfactory—who are not persuaded either by theist explanations of evil or by atheist suggestions that the existence of this world is a brute fact.

One striking feature of this debate, as in other areas of philosophy, is that two thousand years of philosophical arguments seldom results in anyone changing their mind. Theists and atheists both find their own arguments compelling. One charitable explanation for this impasse is that our universe is religiously ambiguous.

It is open to equally reasonable but radically different interpretations. Theism, atheism, axiarchism, and AP are all credible options. Faced with this choice, any belief involves a leap of faith. I argue that we should be especially wary of self-aggrandizing leaps—of comforting conclusions that tell us either that we matter or that nothing does. The very fact that AP is so unsettling should make us question our natural tendency to leap instead to more comforting views.

Perhaps the deepest challenge for AP is existential. How can the purposes of an indifferent albeit morally perfect God matter to us? But AP nonetheless has moral resources that atheism lacks. In my book , I present a dialogue where seven imaginary characters explain the impact of AP on their lives.

Suppose you convert to AP from some particular theist religion such as Christianity. First, the very fact that there is a cosmic purpose either because a perfect God created this universe for a reason or because axiarchic requirements underpin its existence gives you an extra reason to study, contemplate, or explore that purpose by any available means. Activities as diverse as cosmology, evolutionary biology, mysticism, metaphysics, and meta-ethics gain a vital new meaning.

Second, while you cannot enjoy a reciprocal relationship with an ananthropocentric God, one-sided connections are still possible. We may not matter to God, but God could still matter to us. A perfect, non-benevolent God might be an appropriate object of admiration, imitation, contemplation, or perhaps even worship. If God created this universe because it contains complex phenomena united by simple mathematical laws, then knowledge of this fact would give you a new reason to rank complex, ordered, imaginative creativity above frivolous pleasures.

Everyday moral life is all about balancing competing goods. So even a small change in comparative importance could make a significant difference. Is the fine-tuning of our universe evidence for God? View the discussion thread.

Skip to main content. Closer to Truth Closer to Truth. Home Topics Cosmos. Search Closer to Truth. Via Social. Create new account Request new password. Relationship Between the Universe and God? Don Page Don N. Page is a Canadian theoretical physicist at the University of Alberta, Canada. Send Us Feedback.