Let’s talk about the element of chance.
Are the elements of “change by mere chance, and an “eternal something” compatible with one another? Can they co-exist? In other words, can an eternal something suddenly, at some point, start changing by mere chance (without will or intention)?
The answer is a resounding NO, and here’s why…
First, let’s get really “out there” and say that your eternal something happens to be a couple elements floating around in a cosmic wind, that when they “happen” to bump into each other at some point, transform or combine into “something else”… This supposed chance encounter sparks a series of ongoing change such as an “increase” of elements or matter.
And we’ll say that this ongoing change somehow leads to the eventual creation of our universe (which, by the way, would involve billions of additional occurrences of mere chance).
Here we have to really wrap our minds around the concept of eternity. What is eternity? Eternity has no beginning, and no end! Thus the eternal something always was, is, and always will be! It’s a CONSTANT.
If the element of chance had existed along with the “eternal something” (regardless of what the eternal something is), ANY chance event or “spark” would’ve occurred INFINITE times in the past (based on overwhelming probability at work)!
With our example above leading to the creation of the universe, the universe would have been created infinite times in the past.
And if you and I are here by chance and fixed odds (however remote), given eternity and chance to work with, that would unavoidably mean WE’VE happened by chance infinite times in the past! Crazy, huh? Even if the chances of us being here are 1 in a billion-quadrillion, that 1 in a billion-quadrillion chance HAD to have occurred INFINITE times in the past, given that we’re dealing with eternity!
Explaining further, let’s say that the odds of the universe occurring by mere chance was “x”, and that “x” takes a quadrillion years to occur by mere chance.
Well, a quadrillion years has already occurred and elapsed countless times over when you’re dealing with eternity!
“Dialing this down” a bit, let’s say that you had the elements of a cosmic wind, and exactly TWO magnetic particles swirling around in the cosmic wind, with the “chance” (however remote) that they will meet at some point.
So your eternal something in this case are the cosmic wind, and two magnetic particles. And we’ll say that once these magnetic particles meet, there is no other existing force that can separate them. So this supposed chance event can only occur once.
The problem with this scenario is the same as above. These magnetic particles would have had to come together infinite times in the past, despite that the event could only happen once.
So you think, “Well, maybe a billion years passed since the beginning, and THEN the particles came together!” But wait! Eternity has no beginning. There was a billion years before that, and another billion quadrillion before that, to infinity.
Do you see the CONFLICT here? We’re facing yet another “impossibility” to our finite minds. Chance and eternity cannot logically occur together. Whatever happened by chance or by even the most mathematically remote odds, had to have happened in the eternal past infinite times. Impossible!
An eternal something is CONSTANT. It can’t suddenly begin changing by chance because of the dilemma described above. Chance and the eternal something are not compatible!
Thus, the ONLY way the eternal something could have sparked change, is through a willful decision. With a willful decision, you don’t face the paradox above.
The eternal something that possesses a will, could at any point decide to implement change, without ANY conflict or paradox with the eternal past!
Isn’t it interesting that the Bible says God never changes – that he’s the same yesterday, today, and forever? God is the eternal constant, and by his will and intention, he CREATED the universe and all that exists within it!
We’re not here by chance, but for a specific purpose – to serve and obey our Almighty Lord!
To sum it up simply, with ANY and EVERY theory that man and science devises to explain a possible existence without God, you’ll invariably face MULTIPLE impossibilities. You’ll face core impossibilities such as “something from nothing” and “something having always existed” (amongst others). You’ll face things that can never be explained or answered by science, due to eternal impossibility!
The ONLY logical and possible answer to the impossible…
Is God!
We’ll leave you with a statement to consider:
World-renowned (secular) physicist Penrose said the odds against the universe coming together in its initial state is so infinitesimally small that HE COULD NOT ASSIGN THE HAPPENING TO CHANCE! Other scholars agreed. But then he inexplicably spit in the face of all reason and logic (and God!), by concluding…
Some other reason had to be involved in the universe coming into being, he said, pointing to the possibility of a missing physics, an undiscovered phenomenon that, once explained, will solve some of the mystery.
…Perhaps they should pray to God for the answer!
