“Are there any modern-day, scientific discoveries that prove the existence of a super-intelligent Creator of the universe?” New Era, July 1979, 15–16
“Are there any modern-day, scientific discoveries that prove the existence of a super-intelligent Creator of the universe?”
Answer/Brother Owen C. Bennion
I have given much thought to your request for some scientific discoveries that might substantiate the existence of a super-intelligent Creator of the universe. May I begin by saying that in studying science, I have found a simple mathematical unity in the laws of nature. For example, the speed of light seems to crop up in many of the equations that are used to express these laws. We use the symbol c to represent the speed of light: c = 3 x 1010 cm/sec. To list just a few cases where it crops up: e = mc2 is the equation given us by Einstein expressing the relationship between energy and mass; e = hc/(yyy) is the equation given us by Plank expressing the relationship between the energy of a photon and its wavelength,(yyy) m = m0/(1-v2/c2)1/2 is Einstein’s equation that shows how the mass of a particle increases as its velocity approaches the velocity of light. We call c a universal constant because it shows up so often. This seems to be a part of the fabric of the universe—a sort of witness of intelligence in the universe.
Although there have been many exciting scientific discoveries in recent years, I hesitate to call them proofs of the existence of God. To name a few, we now believe in subatomic particles, such as electrons and quarks, so tiny that we now consider protons and neutrons as composite particles; we think there are tiny bodies in space so massive that light cannot escape their gravity, which we call black holes; we are quite sure that continents drift over the mantle of the earth and that ocean crust is being created and destroyed at the ridges and trenches all due to tectonic processes. Yet as exciting as these things may be, I am impressed that our wisdom is as foolishness compared to the omniscience of God. Through a modern prophet, Joseph Smith, the Lord has said, “In that day when the Lord shall come, he shall reveal all things—
“Things which have passed, and hidden things which no man knew, things of the earth, by which it was made, and the purpose … thereof.” (D&C 101:32–33.)
And so, my friend, I have mixed feelings when you ask me to tell you of scientific discoveries that substantiate the existence of God. I feel sort of like the poet who is asked to write poetry using ratios instead of metaphoric expressions. The apostle Paul said:
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
“But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
“For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God:
“… for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:9–11, 14.)
Science is not bent on proving or disproving the existence of God, neither can it. I read Paul to mean that to find and understand God, we must overcome the natural man and yield ourselves to the teaching influence of the Spirit of God. Only when we are in the Spirit can we know God.
I sincerely believe that the greatest thing I can give you is my own testimony. I personally know that my Father in Heaven lives. He is not dead. He is near us. He knows us as his own children, and above all, he loves us with a great love that is beyond our understanding.
Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Rev. 3:20.) Although this expression is figurative, I know that Jesus will keep the spiritual meaning of the promise. He will communicate with us, and we can come to know him as if he had dined with us. A personal experience may tell you how this can happen.
About a year ago, I was driving home from an extended backpacking trip with my 11-year-old son. As we traveled along in silent thought, he startled me with a question I was not quite prepared for: “Dad, how do you think it would be if I went on a mission for the Church to Canada?” His older brother and I had both been on LDS missions to Canada, and so this was not what startled me. Instead, I was wondering how God could know my little son well enough among all the millions of children on earth to fashion a special mission just for him. As I pondered this notion while driving along the road, something warm and wonderful, wonderful beyond description, passed through me. I know it was the Spirit of God. The still, small voice had whispered to me: “I know you and your son better than you know yourselves. I love you with a great love.”
This is only one of the many ways that I have come, through the Spirit, to know of the reality of God. He is near us and wants us to know him. The trouble is that we are too far from him. But if we will draw near to him in faith and repentance, he will draw near to us. His Spirit will teach us of him. I do not think there is another way—not through science or any other way except as he has appointed.