top of page
  • Writer's pictureBible Brian

Thermodynamics and the cosmological argument


Just a few centuries ago, the idea that the universe had a beginning was considered absurd by Christo-sceptics. In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth? What beginning? But eventually, it was discovered by scientific means that the theologians were correct. The universe had to have a beginning.

The first law of thermodynamics states that the total amount of matter and energy in the universe remains constant. Matter and energy cannot be created, nor can they be destroyed, they can only be converted. For example, when you turn on a light, electrical energy is converted into light and heat energy. Therefore, either the first law of thermodynamics was once suspended, or the universe is infinitely old.


The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy in a closed system (i.e. a system that is not receiving energy from an external source) always increases. In other words, order always becomes chaos as the matter and energy in that system eventually reaches its most probable distribution. Our universe is a closed system. Nothing is adding energy to it (the first law). Therefore, in order for there to be order in our universe, the second law of thermodynamics has to have once been suspended.

If the first law was never suspended, the universe is infinitely old, a mathematical impossibility. If the second law was never suspended, the universe would have reached maximum entropy an infinite amount of time ago (and actually would have started from a state of entropy, as entropy does not reverse).

All of this means that nature alone cannot sufficiently explain our current universe. In order for there to be a present, there must be a finite past, as an infinite amount of time cannot elapse. That means matter and energy had to have been created, and organised in a specific, ordered state. If nature cannot explain the origins of our universe, it must have a supernatural origin.

At this point, atheists may object and say "you're arguing from ignorance! We'll find a natural solution eventually!" Yet this is a faith based position. What ever happened to "I'd rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned"? Yet a natural origin of the universe can't be questioned? Even if all current scientific knowledge strongly suggests the universe cannot possibly have created itself naturally, we must reject the only logical conclusion simply because we don't like the answer? Such an attitude is nothing short of foolishness.


Furthermore, I'm not arguing from what we don't know. Nor am I arguing from what we might find in the future, as the Naturalist does. Rather, I am arguing from the absurdity of a proposed alternative to what we do know! The creation narrative presented in the inspired word of God has never been shown to be flawed, and the evidence discussed above is just more modern confirmation of it. Ultimately, the best evidence for the Genesis account is the resurrection of the Creator Himself. If Jesus really did rise from the dead, that pretty much verifies His claim to be God, which validates not only Genesis, but the entire Bible.


Ultimately, we already have a solid account of origins. Just because it isn't Naturalistic doesn't mean it's not true. Naturalism itself is a highly flawed philosophy, because it excludes even well-evidenced conclusions based purely on the fact they are not natural. In other words, it is a philosophy explicitly designed to rule out the supernatural, regardless of whether the supernatural exists. In other words, Naturalists don't rule God out because of the evidence, but rather, they rule the evidence out because of God.


Such is the nature of sinners. Each and every one of us rebels against our Creator, and that rebellion carries with it a very harsh penalty. Yet, in spite of our rebellion, God loves us, and thus He offers us grace. Jesus' death was no accident, nor was His resurrection. It was all part of God's plan to redeem sinners to Himself. When Jesus died, He received the punishment owed to rebels like us, which leaves His reward for His righteousness available to said rebels. All we must do to receive forgiveness, and eternal life with it, is to confess that Jesus is Lord, and believe He rose from the dead. Thermodynamic laws are just one thing that makes this a very easy faith to accept.

bottom of page