Apologetics Series: Proving God with Two Cups of Coffee

by Robert Martin, MD
Today's Christian Doctor - Fall 2006
Note: This is the third article in a series on apologetics, which we plan to publish over the next several
years. The pages are designed for ease in copying for personal study, discussion in a group setting, or for
distribution to colleagues and staff. For the sake of space savings, notes refer to books listed in the
bibliography in each case. Installment four will appear in our Spring 2007 issue.

i. Introduction
We’ve all heard statements like the following: “I don’t need God; the universe is all there is and ever was.
You Christians use circular reasoning by claiming God exists because the Bible says God exists. Science
has proven there is no God.”
Either God exists or not. The most important element of any worldview is what it believes about God.
When unbelievers question the existence of God, apologists meet unbelievers where they are spiritually
and intellectually. Apologists begin with natural revelation (empirical and rational evidences such as those
mentioned in Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:19-20) to remove obstacles as Paul did with the Greeks (Acts 17:22-
28) and then move as quickly as possible to God’s Word.
Norman Geisler’s classical apologetic approach demonstrates (in order) the existence of truth and God, the
possibility of miracles, the reliability of the Bible, and the evidence that Jesus claimed and confirmed to He
was God (BEA, 36-37).
Dr. Geisler’s classical apologetic arguments for God’s existence use deductive logic (syllogisms) invoking
the principle of causality, which asserts that every effect has a cause or, said differently, everything that
comes into existence was caused by another.
There are three arguments that demonstrate that God exists, is intelligent, and is moral. These are the
cosmological, teleological, and moral arguments, respectively. (Note: Our next installment—Spring 2007
—deals with the moral argument, the main issue of which is reconciling an omnibenevolent God with the
existence of evil and suffering. The rest of this article deals with arguments 1 and 2.)

II. Argument 1: God Exists-The Cosmological Argument (see Geisler, ST, 2002, 27-28)
1. (Premise 1) Whatever begins to exist has been caused to exist by another (the principle of
causality).

2. (Premise 2) The universe began to exist.

3. (Conclusion) Therefore, the universe was caused to exist by another.

In a valid deductive syllogism (two premises and a conclusion), if the Premises 1 and 2 are true, the
Conclusion must necessarily be true! Since Premise 1 is indisputably true, we will focus on the veracity of
the second premise.
There are only four possibilities regarding the origin of the universe. Either the universe:
1. Was uncaused, which is impossible since something cannot come from nothing. To emphasize this
fact Ravi Zacharias quipped, “Nothing is what rocks dream about!”

2. Was self-caused, which is impossible since anything would have to exist prior to itself to cause its
own existence.
 3. Has existed for an infinite number of moments. But it is mathematically, scientifically, and
philosophically impossible to traverse an actual infinite number of moments—see below.

4. Was caused by another. This is the ONLY possibility! We call Him God!

Since the universe cannot be uncaused or self-caused we are left to address the possibility that it has
existed for an infinite number of moments. There is ample evidence that the universe is not infinitely old,
but came into existence (i.e., was created), including:
A. The First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics (or how to prove God with two cups of coffee!). When
discussing this with unbelievers, I love to hand them two Styrofoam cups of coffee with covers—one
recently poured (hot) and a second, a day old (cold). I then ask if they can tell me which is which by touch.
If they say, “Yes,” I respond, “You have just proven God exists, by invoking the first and second law of
thermodynamics.”

The first law of thermodynamics states that the amount of actual energy existing within the universe
changes form, while the amount of energy remains constant. The second law of thermodynamics states that
the amount of useable energy (not actual energy) in any closed system is decreasing. Therefore the
universe cannot be infinitely old because it would have reached the state of no useable energy a long, long
time ago. The amount of useable energy would be nearly absolute zero in the universe today, if the
universe were infinitely old. Furthermore, since, the universe is getting more disordered (entropic), it had
to be highly ordered at the beginning. And if had a beginning, it must have had a “Beginner.”

B. Big-Bang Cosmology. Dr. Geisler summarizes the “Big Bang Cosmology’s” converging lines of
evidence to prove the universe had a beginning (was created). Georges Lemaitre proposed that the universe
is expanding like in an explosion (“Big-Bang”) in 1927. Several lines of scientific evidence such as the
“red shift” or Doppler Effect in the light from stars as they move away support an expanding universe.
This means that if we put the universe in “reverse” it returns to a point of nothingness. But “nothing”
cannot produce “something.” So it must have been created! Second, Nobel winning scientists Penzias and
Wilson discovered a radiation echo given off by the universe that has the identical wavelength of that
which would be given off by a gigantic explosion. Third, in 1992 the Hubble Space Telescope discovered
the large mass of energy resulting from such an explosion predicted by “Big-Bang” Cosmologists. Finally,
even Einstein’s theory of general relativity demands a beginning of time (ST, 27-28).

C. Impossibility of Traversing an Actual Infinite Number of Moments. It is mathematically impossible that

the universe is an actual infinite number of moments old. To see this we must start by distinguishing
between the two types of infinity—abstract and actual—which are often confused in the debate. To
illustrate the difference I ask, “How many points can I potentially place between my two fingers?”
Unbeliever: “An infinite number.” My reply, “But can I really place an ACTUAL infinite number of
points, no matter how small, between my fingers?” Unbeliever: “NO!” Me: “Based on the mathematical
definition of an actual infinite series—it can never be traversed! By the same logic the universe cannot be
an actual infinite number of moments old, because an actual infinite number of moments could not have
occurred. If an infinite number of moments had preceded today, then today is ‘infinity plus 1’-
IMPOSSIBLE! Therefore, the universe had a beginning.”

D. Conclusion-The universe was created by a Creator (i.e., God).

III. Argument 2: God is Intelligent - Teleological (Design) Argument (see Geisler, ST, 2002, 31-34)

(Premise 1) All designs imply a designer (the principle of causality).

(Premise 2) There is great design in the universe.
(Conclusion) Therefore, there must have been a Great Designer of the universe.

As with the cosmological argument, there is compelling evidence from general revelation to support the
second premise, including:

A. Specified Complexity—Intelligence is implied by a type of order known as specified complexity, a

complex order that communicates a specific message or a clear function. An example is the comparison
between the complex but non-specific natural factors that created the Grand Canyon from the specified
complexity that created Mt. Rushmore.

1. Information Theory. Information theory confirms specified complexity of DNA. The English alphabet
has twenty-six letters and the genetic alphabet has only four, but the method of communicating by the
sequence of letters is mathematically identical (not analogous) to our written language (letter=base pair;
sentence=gene; paragraph=operon; chapter=chromosome; book=genome). The only conclusion is that if
the human language has an intelligent mind behind it to produce those sequences, then DNA must have
had an intelligent mind behind it to produce its sequences!

2. Irreducible Complexity. Michael Behe’s book, Darwin’s Black Box, confirms that a cell could not have
evolved. Only intelligent design explains the cell’s irreducible complexity. Irreducible complexity requires
that human cells have all of their complex parts functioning initially, simultaneously, and in the right order
for survival. Consider that a five-part mousetrap will not work with only four parts. Many examples of
irreducible complexity exist in nature, including cilium, vision, human blood clotting, DNA reduplication,
telomere synthesis, photosynthesis, transcription regulation, and electron transport.

B. Anthropic Principle—The earth and the universe are finely tuned to support life on earth. The anthropic
principle claims that from the moment of creation, every cosmic constant was intelligently “pre-set” by
God for human life on earth. If any constant had been changed by 1 degree in any direction, life could not
exist. This is an example of design from the very beginning of the universe.
Consider the following cosmic constants given in books by J.P. Moreland, Fred Heeren, and Hugh Ross. If
the average distance between the 100 billion stars in our galaxy, rate of universe expansion, speed of light,
Jupiter’s orbit, or the earth’s atmospheric oxygen, distance from the sun, gravitational force, crust
thickness, surface temperature difference, atmospheric discharge (lightning), or rate of rotation were
altered slightly, then life could not exist.

C. Conclusion: An intelligent Creator created the universe.

IV. Summary:
God did not leave us without evidence. God has revealed His presence and power through general
revelation (Psalm 19:1; 97:6; Job 12:7-9; Acts 14:15-17; Romans 1:19-20), but salvation requires special
revelation, i.e., the Bible (Acts 4:12; Romans 10:9, 14).
Bibliography
Behee, Michael J. Darwin’s Black Box. New York: The Free Press, 1996.
Geisler, Norman L. Baker’s Encyclopedia of Apologetics (BEA). Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999.
________. Systematic Theology. Vol. 1 (ST) Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2002.
Hereen, Fred. Show Me God. Wheeling IL: Searchlight Publications, 1995.
Moreland, J.P. Scaling the Secular City. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987.
Ross, Hugh. Fingerprint of God. Orange County, CA: Promise, 1989.