| Physics and Astronomy: The Collapse of the Idea of A Random Universe and the Discovery of the Anthropic Principle A second atheist dogma rendered invalid by twentieth-century discoveries in astronomy is the idea of a random universe. The view that all matter in the universe, the heavenly bodies, and the laws that determine the relationships among them is no more than the purposeless result of chance has been undermined dramatically. For the first time since the 1970s, scientists have begun to recognize that the universe's physical balance is adjusted delicately in favor of human life. Advances in research have enabled scientists to discover that the universe's physical, chemical, and biological laws, as well as such basic forces as gravity and electro-magnetism and even the very structures of atoms and elements, are all ordered exactly as they have to be for human life. Western scientists have called this extraordinary design the "anthropic principle": Every aspect of the universe is designed with a view to human life. We may summarize its basic characteristics as follows:
This delicate balance is among the most striking discoveries of modern astrophysics. Paul Davies, the well-known astronomer, writes in the last paragraph of his The Cosmic Blueprint: "The impression of Design is overwhelming."9 In an article in the journal Nature, the astrophysicist W. Press writes that "there is a grand design in the Universe that favors the development of intelligent life."10 Interestingly, the majority of the scientists who have made these discoveries were materialists who came to this conclusion unwillingly. They did not undertake their scientific investigations hoping to find a proof for God's Existence. But most, if not all, of them, despite their unwillingness, arrived at this conclusion as the only explanation for the universe's extraordinary design. In his The Symbiotic Universe, the American astronomer George Greenstein acknowledges this fact: How could this possibly have come to pass [that the laws of physics conform themselves to life]? … As we survey all the evidence, the thought insistently arises that some supernatural agency-or, rather Agency-must be involved. Is it possible that suddenly, without intending to, we have stumbled upon scientific proof of the existence of a Supreme Being? Was it God who stepped in and so providentially crafted the cosmos for our benefit?11 By beginning his question with "Is it possible," Greenstein, an atheist, tries to ignore the plain fact confronting him. But many scientists who have approached the question without prejudice acknowledge that the universe has been created especially for human life.
Materialism is now being viewed as an erroneous belief outside the realm of science. The American geneticist Robert Griffiths acknowledges this when he says: "If we need an atheist for a debate, I go to the philosophy department. The physics department isn't much use."12 In Nature's Destiny: How the Laws of Biology Reveal Purpose in the Universe, which examines how physical, chemical, and biological laws are amazingly calculated in an ''ideal'' way with a view to human life's requirements, well-known molecular biologist Michael Denton writes: The new picture that has emerged in twentieth-century astronomy presents a dramatic challenge to the presumption which has been prevalent within scientific circles during most of the past four centuries: that life is a peripheral and purely contingent phenomenon in the cosmic scheme.13 In short, the idea of a random universe, perhaps atheism's most basic pillar, has been proved invalid. Scientists now openly speak of materialism's collapse.14 God reveals the falsity of this idea in the Qur'an: "We did not create heaven and Earth and everything between them to no purpose. That is the opinion of those who disbelieve…" (Qur'an, 38: 27), and science confirmed that truth in the 1970s.
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