Proof for God! How do Atheists Respond?
How do atheists respond to this "proof of God"? Some atheists admit there's some kind of Designer out there. Astronomer Fred Hoyle had his atheism shaken by the Anthropic Principle and the complexity he saw in life. Hoyle concluded, "A commonsense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature." While Hoyle was vague about just who this "super intellect" is, he recognized that the fine tunning of the universe requires intelligence.
Other atheists admit design but then claim there is no Designer. They say is all happened by chance when there's zero probability that all of the 100-plus constants would be as they are in the absence of intelligence? It's not easy. Atheists have had to resort to wild speculation to give chance more of a chance. Their speculation is the Multiple Universe Theory.
According to the Multiple Universe Theory, there actually are an infinite number of universes in existence, and we just happen to be lucky enough to be in the universe with the right conditions. Given an infinite number of universes, these atheists say, every set of conditions will occur, including the life-supporting conditions of our universe.
There are multiple problems with this multiple-universe explanation. First, and most significantly, there's no evidence for it! The evidence shows that all of finite reality came into existence with the Big Bang. Finite reality is exactly what we call "the universe." If other finite realities exist, they're beyond our ability to detect. No one has ever observed any evidence that such universes exist. That's why this multiple universe idea is nothing more that a metaphysical concoction-a fairy tale built on blind faith-as detached from reality as Stephen Hawking's "imaginary time."
Second, an infinite number of finite things-whether we're talking about days, books, bangs or universes-- is actually impossible. There can't be an unlimited number of limited universes.
Third, even if other universes could exist, they would need fine tuning to get started just as our universe did. So positing multiple universes doesn't eliminate the need for a Designer-it multiplies the need for a Designer!
Fourth, the Multiple Universe Theory is so broad that any event can be explained away by it. For example, if we ask, "Why did the planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon?" we need not blame Muslim terrorists: the theory lets us say that we just happened to be in the universe where those planes-though they appeared to be flown deliberately into the buildings-actually hit the buildings by accident. With the Multiple Universe Theory we can even let Hitler off the hook. Perhaps we just happened to be in the universe where the Holocaust appeared to be murder, but actually the Jews secretly conspired with the Germans and sent themselves into ovens. In fact, the Multiple Universe Theory is so broad that it can even be used to excuse the atheists who made it up. Perhaps we just happened to be in the universe where people are irrational enough to suggest that such nonsense is the truth!
In the end, the Multiple Universe Theory is simply a desperate attempt to avoid the implications of design. It doesn't multiply chances, it multiplies absurdities. It's akin to Apollo 13 astronauts denying the fact that NASA designed and built their spacecraft in favor of the unsupported theory that there are an infinite number of naturally occurring spacecraft out there and the astronauts are just lucky to be on the one that supports life. Such a theory is, of course, nonsense, and is obvious absurdity reveals how strong evidence for design really is. Extreme evidence calls for extreme theories to explain it away.
(Source: Page 106-108 "I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist" by Normal L. Geisler and Frank Turek)