Let’s take a look at where the age-old question of Theism vs Atheism stands today.

Until the 1950’s, most people believed that Theism and Atheism were essentially polar opposites. Theists believed in a Creator and atheists believed that the universe was eternal and simply existed. There was no “Creator.” Along with that came an automatic exclusion of the possibility of an intelligent creator. The universe simply had always been there.

That all changed in the 1950’s however, due to the introduction (by science) of the standard cosmological model, also known as the Big Bang theory. News flash! The universe did indeed have a beginning. Bottom line… time, space, and matter as we know them all came into existence at the same instant.

Theism had no problem with this discovery. Genesis 1:1 tells us “In the beginning (time) God created the heavens (space) and the earth (matter).” In fact, the Catholic Church thru Pope Pius XII confirmed that there was no conflict between science and religion. As you can imagine however, this created a huge problem for atheism. As J. Warner Wallace says, “Big Bangs require Big Bangers.” Atheists could no longer automatically reject the possibility of intelligent creation. Putting the argument into its most basic form, we know that the universe was created. There are only two choices for that creation: personal (intelligent creation, I.E., requiring an intelligent creator) or impersonal (accidental creation). Spin it any way you want, give it any name you want. Everything falls into one of those two possibilities.

The position of theism was unchanged. God is the intelligent creator of the universe. Atheists, however, needed a new game plan. The most accepted ‘new’ explanation is known as the multiverse, driven by an impersonal creation force called the multiverse generator. They pair this with the explanation that the reason life exists in our particular universe is that, out of the billions of possible universes, this one just happens to fill the dozens and dozens of specific requirements for life to exist. That’s why we are here. This explanation is needed to fight the intelligent creator explanation that God fine-tuned this universe to support life (more on this in future articles). The fact that there is not one single shred of evidence to support the multiverse theory doesn’t matter. This non-answer is no better than the proverbial politician who chooses to “kick the can down the road.” The basic problem is still the same… whether there is one universe or a million, there still must be a creating force. Period.

Sadly, but not unexpectedly, the discovery that the universe had a beginning has not settled the argument. In fact, the opposite is true. Atheists have become even more vocal. They proudly proclaim that the Big Bang disproves religion, yet the opposite is true! As is common in society today, if enough people proclaim a lie loudly enough and for long enough, it will be taken as truth.

So, here is an update for theists. Atheists like to “follow the science”. That’s great! Science is the friend of theism, NOT the enemy. The next time an atheist tries to ridicule you by proclaiming that the answer lies in the multiverse, or proclaiming that the Big Bang disproves religion, do not let your silence give them an automatic pass. Simply remind them of the only difference between Theism and Atheism… Science tells us that the universe was created. Atheists are looking for a creator also. The only difference is whether creation is personal or impersonal. You may choose impersonal, but the evidence points to personal creation, not impersonal.

In case you have not yet seen J. Warner Wallace’s excellent presentation on this subject, here are the links you will want to review… It develops a little slowly but give him a few minutes to build his case. It is time well spent.

Let’s start with his first two points on how the origin of the universe points to God and introduce you to the fact that the Creator of the universe, whether personal or impersonal, had to be “outside the room”… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjBwuQ3iTKs

His next point in this same presentation can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4uRWk06Wo0

Enjoy!