Best-selling author Eric Metaxas wrote in the Wall Street
Journal article “Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God” (Dec. 25, 2014):
“In 1966 … astronomer Carl Sagan announced that there were two
important criteria for a planet to support life: The right kind of star, and a
planet the right distance from that star. Given the roughly octillion – 1
followed by 24 zeros – planets in the universe, there should have been about
septillion – 1 followed by 21 zeros – planets capable of supporting life. … But
as years passed, the silence from the rest of the universe was deafening. … As
of 2014, researches have discovered precisely bubkis – 0 followed by nothing.
…”
Eric Metaxas continued:
“What happened? As our knowledge
of the universe increased, it became clear that there were far more factors
necessary for life than Sagan supposed. His two parameters grew to 10 and then
20 and then 50, and so the number of potentially life-supporting planets
decreased accordingly. … Peter Schenkel wrote in a 2006 piece for Skeptical
Inquirer magazine: ‘In light of new findings … we should quietly admit that the
early estimates … may no longer be tenable.’
“As factors continued to be discovered, the number of possible planets
hit zero. … In other words, the odds turned against any planet in the universe
supporting life, including this one. … Today there are more than 200 known
parameters necessary for a planet to support life – every single one of which
must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart. Without a massive planet
like Jupiter nearby, whose gravity will draw away asteroids, a thousand times
as many would hit Earth’s surface. The odds against life in the universe are
simply astonishing. Yet here we are, not only existing, but talking about
existing. What can account for it? … At what point is it fair to admit that
science suggests that we cannot be the result of random forces? …”
Eric Metaxas ended:
“Theoretical physicist Paul Davies has said that ‘the appearance of
design is overwhelming’ … Oxford professor Dr. John Lennox has said ‘the more
we get to know about our universe, the more the hypothesis that there is a
Creator … gains in credibility as the best explanation of why we are here.’”
No comments:
Post a Comment