Return of the God Hypothesis: Breakthroughs in Physics, Cosmology, and Biology Seeking Evidence for the Existence of God

by Stephen C. Meyer

the concept of God has inherent in it precisely those attributes—transcendence, omnipotence, creative power, free will, and intelligence—that confirm its adequacy as a cause of the origin of the universe, its fine tuning, and the information necessary for life. Thus, a theistic God would, if existent, provide a more causally adequate explanation for the origin of life and the universe than any entity affirmed in competing worldviews (such as materialism or pantheism) that deny a transcendent reality and intelligent agent separate from the material universe. By contrast, arguments that commit the GOTG fallacy exemplify a specific type of argument from ignorance—one in which the evidence against a proposed material cause leads immediately to the affirmation of a God hypothesis without any presentation of positive reasons for affirming the causal adequacy of that hypothesis.