Humanists like RW (abbreviated) believe that “laws of nature and chance” can explain our existence. RW commented on Ray Comfort’s Facebook post of a YouTube video[i] where two young gentlemen express their belief that we may exist simply by “chance.” RW felt that the Christians were somehow misrepresenting what atheists truly believe:
RW: Most of us think that both the laws of nature and chance, explain how we got to be here.
That it's due to chance only is a creationist myth which creationists believe about us. It makes the ideas (they say) we have look stupid, and so helps them win converts or keep converts.
However, it's a mistaken idea about what we think. When it helps to win converts then it's doing so under false pretenses.
I challenged him on his point concerning the "laws of nature and chance," but at the time of writing this blog post, I have not gotten a response.
Me: Do you have an observable example of laws of nature and chance creating life from non-life? Also, how do you even account for the laws of nature within your naturalistic, atheistic worldview? In other words, why shouldn’t the laws of physics change tomorrow if there is no Lawgiver to uphold them (Genesis 8:22, Jeremiah 33:25, Hebrews 1:3)?
“Laws of nature” cannot create life. Moreover, laws of nature cannot create information. Letters and words never randomly fall onto the page of a book or blog and somehow create a coherent message. The information contained in a book or blog comes from an intelligent source: the author. In the same way, our DNA is an information language, and information has to come from an intelligent source.[ii] Christians have an explanation for this (Genesis 1). I could write on and on about this, but for the purpose of this post, I would like to focus on a different point: the Humanist is forced to borrow from the biblical worldview for even believing in the existence of the “laws” of nature. If the existence of the universe is truly an accident, then why should the universe consistently obey any “laws” at all in the first place? If 2+2=4 today, then why can’t 2+2=5 tomorrow?
While the Humanist worldview cannot account for the origin and the consistency of the laws of nature, the Word of God can:
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. –Genesis 8:22
Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and fixed the order of heaven and earth, then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them. –Jeremiah 33:25-26 (emphasis mine)
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…–Hebrews 1:3 (emphasis mine)
[i] See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2FV0gz_kBg
[ii] I recommend the following page to learn more: “Information Theory,” Answers in Genesis, accessed 3 May 2017, https://answersingenesis.org/genetics/information-theory/.