The Case for a Creator (53 page)

4
. See: Patrick Glynn, “The Making and Unmaking of an Atheist,” in:
God: The Evidence
(Rocklin, Calif.: Forum, 1997), 1–20.

5
. Ibid., 22.

6
. Ibid., 55, 53.

7
. Alister McGrath,
Glimpsing the Face of God
(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2002), 19.

8
. John Polkinghorne,
Belief in God in an Age of Science
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998), 10.

9
. Walter L. Bradley, “The ‘Just So’ Universe,” in William A. Dembski and James M. Kushiner,
Signs of Intelligence
, 170.

10
. Paul Davies,
The Mind of God
(New York: Touchstone, 1992), 16, 232.

11
. Edward Harrison,
Masks of the Universe
(New York: Collier, 1985), 263, 252.

12
. Quoted in John Barrow and Frank Tipler,
The Anthropic Cosmological Principle
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986), 22.

13
. Owen Gingerich, “Dare a Scientist Believe in Design?” in John M. Templeton, editor,
Evidence of
Purpose
(New York: Continuum, 1994), 25.

14
. John Leslie,
Universes
(New York: Routledge, 1989), 198.

15
. Robert M. Augros and George N. Stanciu,
The New Story of Science
, 70.

16
. Robin Collins, “A Scientific Argument for the Existence of God: The Fine-Tuning Design Argument,” in Michael J. Murray, editor,
Reason for the Hope Within
(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1999), 48.

17
. Paul Davies,
The Cosmic Blueprint: New Discoveries in Nature’s Creative Ability to Order the Universe
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988), 203.

18
. Collins (and Gingerich in his earlier quote) was referring to a well-known comment by Sir Fred Hoyle: “A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with the physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.” Fred Hoyle, “The Universe: Past and Present Reflections,”
Engineering & Science
(November 1981).

19
. The relative strength of the four forces in nature—gravity, electromagnetism, the weak force, and the strong nuclear force—is typically specified by a widely used dimensionless measure, which can roughly be thought of as the relative strengths of the respective forces between two protons in a nucleus. See: John Barrow and Frank Tipler,
The Anthropic Cosmological Principle
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986), 293–95.

20
. Martin Rees,
Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe
(New York: Basic, 2000), 30.

21
. Stephen C. Meyer, “Evidence for Design in Physics and Biology” in Michael J. Behe, William A. Dembski, and Stephen C. Meyer, editors,
Science and Evidence for Design in the Universe
(San Francisco: Ignatius, 2000), 60.

22
. Steven Weinberg, “A Designer Universe?”
New York Review of Books
(October 21, 1999).

23
. Ibid.

24
. Ibid.

25
. Roger Penrose,
The Emperor’s New Mind
(New York: Oxford, 1989), 344, quoted in Stephen C. Meyer, “Evidence for Design in Physics and Biology” in Michael J. Behe, William A. Dembski, and Stephen C. Meyer, editors,
Science and Evidence for Design in the Universe
, 61.

26
. Brad Lemley, “Why Is There Life?”
Discover
(November 2002) emphasis added.

27
. Ibid. Also see Martin Rees,
Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe
.

28
. Quoted in Larry Witham,
By Design
(San Francisco: Encounter, 2003), 55.

29
. Bill Bryson,
A Short History of Nearly Everything
, 16.

30
. Brad Lemley, “Why Is There Life?”

31
. Ibid.

32
. Clifford Longley, “Focusing on Theism,”
London Times
(January 21, 1989).

33
. Steven Weinberg, “A Designer Universe?”

34
. Michael J. Behe, William A. Dembski, and Stephen C. Meyer,
Science and Evidence for Design in the Universe
, 104, referencing Clifford Longley, “Focusing on Theism.”

35
. Paul Davies offers this definition of metaphysics: “In Greek philosophy, the term ‘metaphysics’ originally meant ‘that which comes after physics.’ It refers to the fact that Aristotle’s metaphysics was found, untitled, placed after his treatise on physics. But metaphysics soon came to mean those topics that lie beyond physics (we would today say beyond science) and yet may have a bearing on the nature of scientific inquiry. So metaphysics means the study of topics about physics (or science generally), as opposed to the scientific subject itself. Traditional metaphysical problems have included the origin, nature, and purpose of the universe, how the world of appearances presented to our senses relates to its underlying ‘reality’ and order, the relationship between mind and matter, and the existence of free will. Clearly science is deeply involved in such issues, but empirical science alone may not be able to answer them, or any ‘meaning-of-life’ questions.” (Paul Davies,
The Mind of God
, 31.)

36
. Lee Strobel,
The Case for Faith
, 78, 79.

37
. John Polkinghorne,
Serious Talk: Science and Religion in Dialogue
(London: Trinity Press International, 1995), 6.

38
. John Polkinghorne,
Science and Theology
(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998), 38.

39
. Paul Davies,
The Mind of God
, 220.

40
. Clifford Longley, “Focusing on Theism.”

41
. Brad Lemley, “Why Is There Life?” In a subsequent interview, Rees said it’s helpful for physicists to contemplate the possibility of other universes. He added: “I don’t believe, but I think it’s part of science to find out.” See Dennis Overbye, “A New View of Our Universe: Only One of Many,”
New York Times
(October 29, 2002).

42
. Ibid.

43
. According to
The Bread Factory Book
, produced by Sanyo: “Bread flour made from hard wheat is high in the protein substance called gluten. When mixed and kneaded, the gluten stretches and incorporates air bubbles to produce a light, fine textured loaf.” In making whole-wheat bread, up to four tablespoons of gluten needs to be added to increase the height of the loaves.

44
. Michio Kaku,
Introduction to Superstrings and M-Theory
(New York: Springer-Verlag, second edition, 1999), 17.

45
. Freeman Dyson,
Disturbing the Universe
(New York: Harper and Row, 1979), 251.

46
. Gregg Easterbrook, “The New Convergence,”
Wired
(December 2002) emphasis added.

47
. See: “Chapter Six: Beautiful Theories,” in Steven Weinberg,
Dreams of a Final Theory
(New York, Vintage Books, 1992).

48
. Alan Guth,
The Inflationary Universe
(New York: Helix, 1997), 124.

49
. Paul Dirac, “The Evolution of the Physicist’s Picture of Nature,”
Scientific American
(May 1963).

50
. Oliver Darrigol,
From c-Numbers to q-Numbers: The Classical Analogy in the History of Quantum Theory
(Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1992), 304.

51
. Paul Davies,
Superforce: The Search for a Grand Unified Theory of Nature
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984), 235–36.

52
. Steven Weinberg,
Dreams of a Final Theory
, 250.

53
. Dennis Overbye, “A New View of Our Universe: Only One of Many.”

54
. Owen Gingerich, “Dare a Scientist Believe in Design?” in John M. Templeton, editor,
Evidence of Purpose
(New York: Continuum, 1994), 32.

55
. Vera Kistiakowsky, “The Exquisite Order of the Physical World Calls for the Divine,” in Henry Margenau and Roy Abraham Varghese,
Cosmos, Bios, Theos
(Chicago: Open Court, 1992), 52.

56
. Patrick Glynn,
God:
The Evidence
, 55, 26.

Chapter 7: The Evidence of Astronomy: The Privileged Planet

1
. George Greenstein,
The Symbiotic Universe
(New York: William Morrow, 1988), 27.

2
. Henry Margenau and Roy Abraham Varghese, editors,
Cosmos, Bios, and Theos
(LaSalle, Ill.: Open Court, 1992), 83.

3
. Carl Sagan,
Pale Blue Dot
(New York: Ballantine, 1994), 7.

4
. See: Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee,
Rare Earth
(New York: Copernicus, 2000), xxiv.

5
. Ibid., xiv.

6
. David Darling,
Life Everywhere
(New York: Basic Books, 2002).

7
. Ibid., xii.

8
. Ibid., xi.

9
.
Science
277 (1997), 892.

10
. Bernard Oliver quoted in Steven J. Dick,
Life on Other Worlds
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 217.

11
. Michael J. Denton,
Nature’s Destiny
(New York: The Free Press, 1998), 387.

12
. Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee,
Rare Earth
, xxiv.

13
. Ibid., xiv.

14
. Ibid., 33.

15
. Ibid., xix.

16
. Ibid., back cover.

17
. Ibid.

18
. The
Times of London
(January 26, 2002), quoted in: David Darling,
Life Everywhere
, 91.

19
. Jimmy H. Davis and Harry L. Poe,
Designer Universe
(Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2002), 107.

20
. See: Michael Denton,
Nature’s Destiny
(New York: The Free Press, 1998), 88–89.

21
. Frank Press and Raymond Siever,
Earth
(New York: W. H. Freeman, 1986), 3.

22
. Ibid., 4.

23
. Ibid., 3.

24
. Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee,
Rare Earth
, 37, 229.

25
. Michael J. Denton,
Nature’s Destiny
, 3–4.

26
. Quoted in Hans Blumenberg,
The Genesis of the Copernican Revolution
, translated by Robert M. Wallace (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1987), xv.

27
. Galileo Galilei,
Sidereus Nuncius
, quoted in Dennis Danielson,
The Book of the Cosmos
(Cambridge: Perseus, Helix, 2000), 150.

28
. Philip J. Sampson,
Six Modern Myths
(Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2000), 33 (emphasis added).

29
. William R. Shea, “Galileo and the Church” in: David C. Lindberg and Ronald L. Numbers, editors,
God and Nature
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986), 132.

30
. Philip J. Sampson,
Six Modern Myths
, 38, citing Jerome J. Langford,
Galileo,
Science and the
Church
(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1971), 134.

31
. A. N. Whitehead,
Science and the Modern World
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1946), 2, quoted in Philip J. Sampson,
Six Modern Myths
, 38.