Fr. Robert Barron: "I confess that something in me tightens whenever I hear a scientist pontificating..."

... on issues that belong to the arena of philosophy or metaphysics. I will gladly listen to Stephen Hawking when he holds forth on matters of theoretical physics, but he’s as qualified to talk about philosophical and religious issues as any college freshman. There is a qualitative difference between the sciences, which speak of objects, forces, and phenomena within the observable universe, and philosophy or religion which speak of ultimate origins and final purposes. Science, as such, simply cannot adjudicate questions that lie outside of its proper purview—and this is precisely why scientists tend to make lots of silly statements when they attempt to philosophize.

Here’s an example from Hawking’s latest book: “Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing.” Well, first of all, which is it: nothing or the law of gravity? There’s quite a substantial difference between the two. If Hawking is saying that the universe, which is marked in every nook and cranny by stunning and mathematically describable intellegibility, simply came forth from Nothing, then I just throw up my hands. The classical philosophical tradition gives us an adage that is still hard to improve upon: ex nihilo nihil fit (from nothing comes nothing). Any teacher worth his salt would take a student to task if, in trying to explain why and how a given phenomenon occurred, the student were to say, “well, it just spontaneously happened.” Yet we are expected to be satisfied with precisely that explanation when it comes to the most pressing and fascinating question of all: why is there something rather than nothing? In my dialogues with atheists, I often come up against this total non-explanation, and I can only smile ruefully. Apparently, the affirmation of God involves far too great a leap of faith, yet the assertion that the universe just popped into being is rationally compelling!

Read all of Fr. Barron's piece, "Stephen Hawking & More Tiresome Atheism," on WordonFire.org.

Comments

[MFRahman.]

Submitted for your consideration.

MFRahman. Trinidad & Tobago. (868) 683 4698. 3/9/10.

Responding to Stephen Hawking’s Non-God theory.

Contrary to what the eminent Dr. Hawking has concluded, we do have scientific proof that God did indeed create the existent world. The proof is the same which NASA has defined to prove that intelligent life exists beyond our system.

Carl Sagan, late head of NASA had informed us that NASA had set up listening radio devices around the globe in anticipation of receiving radio messages from outer space capable of distinguishing cosmic signals from those of intelligent life.

And why would NASA be prepared to accept even one radio signal as conclusive proof of extra terrestrial life? In the words of the eminent Sagan, because “A message does not come from nobody.”
Within this universe, conclusions on theories such as Dr. Hawking’s and Darwin’s are based on observation that relies on the clarity of circumstance. When proof comes from without, it is more conclusive because of its objective origin.

The God Who is credited with the creation of the Universe and all in it has not merely sent us intuitive signals which may be subjectively received and dubiously transmitted, but has ensured that such messages survive through commission to writing. With us are several messages received by different individuals in different centuries and distant lands which all testify in common to the existence of That God. Among these messages are the Vedas, the Torah, the Psalms, the Injeel, and the Quran.

Whatever differing philosophies and laws these Messages may contain, they all insist on a Single Creator of all.
And as evidence of their authenticity, each contains wisdoms and prophecies and also data which ongoing history and science regularly confirm as true.

The final of these messages also affirms the validity of its antecedents, as much as each earlier message foretells of the emergence of the last one.
NASA’s standard of proof in its dictum “A message does not come from nobody.”, is eminently met. The Divine Messages often ridiculed by non adherents endure as steadfastly as their prophecies come true.

Perhaps Dr. Hawking and his peers who deny God see these messages as manmade - written by men. It is fairly safe to conclude that few atheists have ever studied all the claimant messages still in our presence, most knowing of their content by hearsay, a method that science rejects as anecdotal and not scientific.

The late Dr. Maurice Bucaille took the trouble to examine the Bible and the Quran and wrote his book: “The Bible, The Quran and Science” which every scientist owes to himself to read.

As in many instances, the proof we seek is often hidden in plain view.

Whatever anomalies one may believe he sees in the nature and character of God in the various Scriptural Messages, none of this impacts negatively on the affirmed internal fact of His Existence which science seeks to deny. Yet to expect that the Creator of variety and multiplicity should be a single faceted Being is itself illogical.

No attempt will be made here to recite the science, prophecy and history which the Scriptural Messages contain. That research has been done by many. Another useful book is “The Signature of God” by Jeffrey Grant. But personal study as assiduously given to disproving God is warranted.

What is anomalous in Dr. Hawking’s logic is his blitheness of assertion without thought. As he had ridiculed in an earlier book, a woman had stated “Tortoises all the way down!” emphatically to explain the earth’s foundation. In Dr. Hawking’s more scientific view, it is rather Gravity all the way down! The awkward question is Who brought about either Tortoises or Gravity?

And while Dr. Hawking easily affirms that Gravity is eternally pre-existent, he finds that eternal essence inappropriate to ascribe to God, choosing “spontaneous gravity” originating creation against deliberate Divine creation attested to by the very Messages God has sent from beyond this material world. Gravity is a feature of this world and worse it has sent no messages but had to be discovered courtesy Newton’s famous apple. Further, gravity is not uniform, but varies with locale, being very different in space. Gravity itself is a creation and part of the nature of creation as a “glue” for matter.

The ephemeral nature of matter is further addressed in the Scriptural messages which all tell of a final day when all matter will be reduced to one crunch and remade. Those messages also address such incorporeal matters as dreams and visions and warn of a hereafter, when the law of consequence will prevail fulfilling: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”?

MFRahman.
Author: “The Books of God From Genesis to The Final Revelation.”