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Prager, Meyer: Evidence for a Personal God Behind the Cosmos

Photo: Stephen Meyer, via En Arche Foundation.

Stephen Meyer had a great interview with Dennis Prager on Tuesday, marking the day that Meyer’s new book, Return of the God Hypothesis, came out. It was part of the weekly Ultimate Issues Hour, which is unique on talk radio as far as I know. As Dennis remarked, it’s like an intellectual “dessert” for him to wrestle with questions like this, and there’s no more “ultimate” question than the existence of God. Prager has himself spent a great deal of time thinking about the relevant evidence so, as he said, to have the Discovery Institute philosopher of science on for an hour to talk about the subject is itself a remarkable endorsement. You can find an excerpt here:

Prager led Meyer through a discussion of the three scientific discoveries that command an inference to a personal God: that the universe had a beginning, that it was fine-tuned for life from the very start, and that life in its long history has been infused with bursts (“explosions”) of biological information, reflecting the activity of a mind as information always does. It’s not a “proof” for God, as Meyer explained — proofs are for mathematics — but it is strong evidence of a transcendent intelligence at work behind the veil of the cosmos. The evidence of nature is what a theist would expect.

An Imposing Canvas

I thought it was interesting that both Dennis Prager and U.C. San Diego physicist Brian Keating asked Meyer variations on the same question: Why does the universe have to be on so grand a scale of space and time? Why does God require such an imposing canvas? Prager also asked about natural evil, or “malevolent design”: Why do many tragic things, horrific things, occur in the nature that God has authored? Meyer answered, saying this was to be expected from a Biblically informed perspective, but also pointed to an epic footnote on page 496 (note 32) of the book, dealing with the problem.

It’s been an exciting week for Return of the God Hypothesis. The publisher informs us there’s a decent chance of getting on some prominent bestseller lists. You are cordially invited to help that happen by ordering a copy now. Or get one for a friend or family member!