Week Two - Day Five: What We Believe

To describe the consistency of the way nature operates you often hear the term the “laws of nature.” The term “law” is used because it is believed that nature always operates according to the same patterns – at every point in time and at every point in space. Water always freezes at 0 degrees Celsius. Bodies of mass always attract one another. Every action always causes an equal and opposite reaction. Etc. These operations have always been true, both throughout knowable history and in every direction of the known universe.

Clue #3: the regularity of nature.

To describe the consistency of the way nature operates you often hear the term the “laws of nature.” The term “law” is used because it is believed that nature always operates according to the same patterns – at every point in time and at every point in space. Water always freezes at 0 degrees Celsius. Bodies of mass always attract one another. Every action always causes an equal and opposite reaction. Etc. These operations have always been true, both throughout knowable history and in every direction of the known universe.

This is so completely and thoroughly the case, that Albert Einstein once said “God does not play with dice.” By this Einstein meant that things in nature are not random; they are not even unexpected. Nature operates by certain immutable laws. Of course there are some surprises in nature – my 50th birthday party was a surprise – but these surprises do not violate the laws of nature, not anywhere and not any time.

But why? Why should this be the case? Tim Keller was right when he said that most of us are not troubled by this constancy at all. We never even think of it – but philosophers do. They’ve obviously got too much time on their hands. Keller explains, “David Hume and Bertrand Russell, as good secular men, were troubled by the fact that we haven’t got the slightest idea of why nature regularity is happening now, and moreover we haven’t the slightest rational justification for assuming it will continue tomorrow. If someone were to say ‘well the future has always been like the past in the past,’ Hume and Russell would respond that you are assuming the very thing you are trying to establish.” If you are reading this in the morning, I may have lost you already. Admittedly, waking up to names like David Hume and Bertrand Russell is far less appealing than a good cup of coffee and Sports Center. Still, this point is worth our consideration so don’t give up yet.

Let me put it like this. Up to this point, I suspect all of us have lived our lives with the baseline, unexamined assumption that nature will continue to operate as it always has. I will not somehow float out into space after my shower. If I can raise the temperature of the water in my pot to 100 degrees Celsius, then I can boil an egg. And if I push on the front door, it will swing open and not suddenly disappear from sight. And so far, these assumptions have served us all well and have proven reliable. But David Hume and Bertrand Russell are exactly right. These assumptions are really articles of faith. We don’t know why these things never change, but we just believe that they won’t. Admittedly, our faith is based on a vast amount of experience, but we have to admit that we have no proof for it. We have no rational explanation for why nature operates within these laws, nor why it should continue to do so.

An explanation for the consistency of nature’s laws

Well ... maybe there is one rational explanation. Can you see how a personal God who acts with unimaginable force both in creating and in sustaining the universe does present a viable explanation for why nature acts consistently over all time and space? Psalm 147:4-5 offers a poetic explanation of just this point. “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.” The notion that God calls something by name is an Ancient Near Eastern way of saying that He exercises authority and control over that thing.

There are certainly objections to this observation. The skeptic may say, “Give science enough time and it will discover why the laws of nature continue to operate just as they have always done. There’s no need to insert God into this situation just because it is currently a mystery.” But, at the risk of beating a horse, isn’t this a statement of faith? In this case, the skeptic is placing a profound belief in the powers of “science.”

Or, the skeptic may say, “This is the universe we have. We examine it and operate within it assuming these laws because that is what is, and what always has been. We are not predicting, just observing. If they should change suddenly, then we will take that case as it presents itself.”

Like all of our clues, this one does not present an irrefutable case for the existence of God. But if we take this as one more clue pointing to something more, it becomes pretty powerful. I hope you are beginning to feel the power of a completely rational, objective case for God’s existence. We cannot end the debate, but if you take the clues for God and combine them with a little doubt of our doubts, you end up feeling not so defensive, don’t you?

Before You Start Your Day

1. Look at Psalm 147:1-11.

   (1) Praise the LORD.
         How good it is to sing praises to our God,
         how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

   (2) The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
         he gathers the exiles of Israel.

   (3) He heals the brokenhearted
         and binds up their wounds.

   (4) He determines the number of the stars
         and calls them each by name.

   (5) Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
         his understanding has no limit.

   (6) The LORD sustains the humble
         but casts the wicked to the ground.

   (7) Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
         make music to our God on the harp.

   (8) He covers the sky with clouds;
         he supplies the earth with rain
         and makes grass grow on the hills.

   (9) He provides food for the cattle
         and for the young ravens when they call.

   (10) His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
         nor his delight in the legs of a man;

   (11) the LORD delights in those who fear him,
         who put their hope in his unfailing love.

   1. What examples of God’s governance of the universe does the Psalmist give?
   2. What delights God?
2. What verse stands out to you in this Psalm? Consider using that verse to guide your day today. Rehearse it a few times before you start your day.
3. Pray.
   1. Remember to use your worry list and to do list to avoid distraction.
   2. Reflect on God’s control of all things. Someone suggested to me that the difference between the supernatural and the natural order is that the natural order is simply the way God usually works. Ask Him to show you more of Himself!