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by Bill Seng

Today I was listening to Neil Degrasse Tyson, the host of the popular science series Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey, lecture against the existence of God.

As he lectured, he cited Ptolemy, who upon observing the heavens praised the gods for the magnificence of the cosmos. Tyson then stated, “This is Intelligent Design.” No, he was not giving credit to the Intelligent Design movement or credibility to the notion that there could be a God out there. His point was that even though we are compelled to worship some sort of divine being as we observe the universe, this feeling is a false feeling and it is a natural feeling. It is like we are stupefied by what we look at in the vast vacuum of space. In other words, he was simply stating that our study of the universe naturally instills us with an awe and wonder akin to some sort of reeeeligooooussss experience. Hmm. What does Romans 1:18-23 say? Check it out:

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became as fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.” ~Romans 1:18-23

Shall I go on? Need I? Ok, you twisted my arm. Mr. Tyson, you might not like the answers the Bible has to give, but it just described you to the finest point. Why can a person look up to the heavens and be filled with awe and wonder, akin to a religious experience? Could it be because our observations of nature are a part of our religious experience? Could it be that the universe reveals God to us; that it opens the door to a greater understanding of who created everything that we see? This seems to be what the Bible is advocating. But what about this verse that says, “Although they claimed to be wise, they became as fools”?

I do not seek to offend anybody who might be reading this blog post, but it is making a point of which Dr. Tyson is a clear example. If you can look up at the heavens and exclaim, “Wow, this makes me want to worship!” and then in your next breath say, “There is no God,” you have by your own admittance become what the Bible calls a fool.

I have heard my fair share of atheists debating theists, and the atheist’s number one argument is that there is no evidence that can either prove or disprove the existence of God. This means, to them, that the existence of God is just an absurdity. But wait, did not Tyson legitimize Ptolomy’s worship of the gods by saying that observing the universe brings upon this sort of euphoria? Do not evolutionists also routinely concede that life appears as though it has been designed? Are there not natural laws and solid theories that defy evolutionary philosophy, like the law of conservation of energy, biogenesis, and (dare I say) entropy?

I don’t mean to take away from Tyson’s brilliance; he is a very smart man. What I will say is that he is closed-minded and does not realize how badly he is hurting the progress of science by denying the possibility that God exists. Giving credit to Newton and Ptolemy, but denying credit to people like Jason Lisle and Stephen Meyer, is beyond hypocritical; it’s totally backwards. The God through whom the wonders of the natural world were first unveiled is the same God who still has much to reveal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epLhaGGjfRw