00:00The question of whether or not God exists has been pondered by philosophers and theologians
00:05for centuries, and with the rise of scientific thinking in the past few hundred years, many
00:11people have asked, has science disproven the existence of God?
00:16In this video, we're going to examine the current state of scientific knowledge and
00:21see if there's any conflict between science and theology.
00:25When most people ask if science has disproven God, they're really asking if there's
00:29any scientific evidence against the existence of God.
00:33And the simple answer is no.
00:35Science can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God, because science deals with
00:40the natural world, and God, by definition, is supernatural.
00:45To put it another way, science cannot speak to the question of God's existence, because
00:51the concept of God is outside the realm of scientific inquiry.
00:55For example, I can't design an experiment to test the claim that angels exist.
01:02Angels are supernatural beings, so any observation about the natural world cannot speak to their
01:08existence.
01:09The same is true for God.
01:12By definition, God is a supernatural being.
01:15Thus, observations about the natural world cannot speak to the question of His existence.
01:20However, there are some claims made by religious people that are testable and falsifiable.
01:27For example, many Christians believe that Jesus Christ literally rose from the dead.
01:32This is a historical claim, and there are ways to evaluate the evidence for and against the
01:37claim.
01:38But science doesn't help us here.
01:40It's history and theology that can speak to this claim.
01:43There are also some who claim to have personal experiences with God.
01:47Now, if someone tells me that they saw God, I don't know what to make of that.
01:54If it's a sincere claim, then it might be a religious experience, but that's not scientific.
02:00If it's a dishonest claim, then it's a lie, which is also not scientific.
02:05So again, this claim isn't something science can help us with.
02:09Now, while science can't speak to the existence of God, there are some things science can do.
02:15For example, science can tell us that the universe had a beginning.
02:20We know this because every time we look out into the universe, we're looking back in time.
02:25And the farthest we can see is about 13.8 billion years back in time.
02:31This is significant because light takes time to travel, and the universe is so big that
02:36the light from the other side hasn't had enough time to reach us yet.
02:39If the universe had no beginning, then there would be no limit to how far we could see,
02:45because light from all parts of the universe would have had a chance to reach us.
02:49But since there is a limit to how far we can see, we know that the universe had a beginning.
02:55Science can also tell us that life on Earth arose from non-living matter through a process called
03:01abiogenesis.
03:02We know this because the fossil record shows a clear progression from non-living matter
03:07to single-celled organisms to multi-celled organisms to animals and plants, and eventually humans.
03:15There are claims made by religious people that life just kind of appeared on Earth,
03:20fully formed, and that God created humans in their current form.
03:24But science doesn't support either of these claims.
03:27The evidence overwhelmingly points to evolution as the mechanism by which life arose on Earth.
03:35Science can also tell us that the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old, and that the universe
03:41is about 13.8 billion years old.
03:44However, some religious people claim that the Earth and the universe are only thousands of
03:48years old.
03:50Science doesn't support this claim.
03:52Again, the evidence overwhelmingly points to billions of years old for both the Earth and
03:57the universe.
03:59Many religious people also claim that a global flood about 4,000 years ago killed all the
04:05dinosaurs and all the humans before Noah is Ark.
04:08And again, science doesn't support this claim.
04:12We know that the extinction event that killed the dinosaurs happened about 66 million years
04:18ago, long before humans even existed.
04:21And the oldest human fossils date back about 300,000 years.
04:25So there was plenty of time for humans to evolve after the dinosaurs went extinct.
04:31Finally, let's talk about intelligent design.
04:34Because this is probably where most of the conflict between science and religion arises.
04:40Intelligent design is the claim that the complexity we observe in the natural world requires an
04:45intelligent designer.
04:47For example, many religious people look at the human eye and claim that its complexity requires
04:52an intelligent designer.
04:54But science doesn't require us to believe this.
04:57Evolution provides a reasonable explanation for the complexity we see in nature.
05:02Here's why.
05:04Let's say we have a population of bacteria.
05:07Some are better adapted to their environment than others.
05:10They reproduce more and those traits get passed down to the next generation.
05:15Over millions of years, small changes accumulate and eventually you end up with a new species.
05:20This process is called natural selection and it's the driving force of evolution.
05:27Natural selection acts on existing variation, but new variation arises through random mutations.
05:34When DNA is copied, mistakes happen and those mistakes introduce new traits into the population.
05:41Sometimes these traits are beneficial and sometimes they're harmful.
05:44But if they're beneficial, they'll be selected for and passed down to future generations.
05:51Over millions of years, small changes accumulate and complex adaptations arise through this process.
05:58Now, does this mean that evolution happens quickly?
06:01No.
06:02In fact, evolution is really slow.
06:05It takes millions of years for major changes to occur.
06:09But given enough time, natural selection and random mutations can produce the complexity we see in nature.
06:16So, when religious people point to the complexity of the human eye and claim that it requires an intelligent designer,
06:23scientists can reasonably disagree.
06:26We don't need an intelligent designer to explain the complexity we see in nature.
06:30Evolution does a good enough job.
06:32So, now we come back to the original question.
06:35Has science disproven the existence of God?
06:38And the answer is no.
06:39Science can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God because science deals with the natural world.
06:47And God is, by definition, supernatural.
06:51However, science can tell us a lot about the natural world.
06:55And when religious people make claims about the natural world, science can help us evaluate those claims.
07:01For example, science can tell us that the universe had a beginning and that life on earth arose from non-living matter through a process called abiogenesis.
07:12These claims are outside the realm of theology.
07:14They're scientific claims.
07:17And the evidence overwhelmingly points against these claims being true.
07:22So, what should religious people do?
07:24Should they abandon their beliefs?
07:26Should they modify their beliefs?
07:28Or should they reject science?
07:31Ultimately, this is a decision that each individual will have to make for themselves.
07:36But I think it's important to remember that science and religion are two different ways of understanding the world.
07:42Science is based on reason and evidence, while religion is based on faith.
07:47There are some things that science can't explain, such as the origin of life or the meaning of life.
07:53And there are some things that religion can't explain, such as how to build a bridge or how to cure a disease.
08:00Each discipline has its own strengths and limitations.
08:03And when we understand those strengths and limitations, we can use science and religion in complementary ways to gain a deeper understanding of the world and our place in it.
08:12I hope this video was helpful.
08:15If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below.
08:19I'd love to hear from you.
08:21Thank you for watching and I'll see you next time.
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