Simon Vandekerckhove – Famously, the Book of Genesis opens with the presumptuous statement that, “In the beginning … God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This very first line of the Bible has put the Christian faith – or any other faith for that matter – in direct contrast with the scientific worldview, which states that everything is created by chance and that matter is all that exists. Between both irreconcilable ideologies, there lies a world of endless possibilities to explore that may shed a more comprehensive light on the extraordinary nature of our existence.
The materialistic vs. spiritualistic worldview has been a source of much dispute between scientific hardliners and religious fundamentalists. To figure out which of the two is more credible, let’s take a closer look at both positions.
According to scientists, our universe started off with a Big Bang that created all mass, out of which solar systems, planets, humans, etc. came into existence through gradual evolution. That is in all likelihood what happened, but scientists are unable to explain how from the very moment the explosion occurred, certain regularities were established that were indispensable for our planet and, indeed, the whole universe to exist. They are what scientists call the physical constants and they have stayed pretty much the same all over the known universe from the onset of its tumultuous creation. Continue reading →