Argument for the Existence of God from Order

1. Everything that is ordered and began to exist had an orderer.
2. The universe is ordered and began to exist.
3. Therefore, the universe had an orderer.

Support for Premise 1:
Everything that is ordered and began to exist had an orderer (a cause that orders). There is no way around this premise because without such an orderer (at least one), you are faced with a cause-less effect, an effect that sprang forth from nothing, or an ordered effect that sprang forth from non-order. An effect cannot spring forth from nothing since "nothing" cannot change states and has no potential to do anything. "Nothing" will never produce anything. A ordered effect cannot spring forth from non-order because non-order has no ordering potential, laws or components (if it did, it would not be "non-order").

The reason "and began to exist" is in the first premise is because only things that began to exist can have a cause or orderer for that beginning (if there is no beginning, there is no need for a beginner/orderer).

Support for Premise 2:
The universe itself exhibits the fact that it is ordered in many ways, most obviously in its very fabric, its laws. The use of "laws" here refers to the forces behind what is often called "the laws of nature." Not many people would deny that the forces described by these laws control the way things operate in the universe, from the way molecules bond to gravity to entropy. The effects of the forces behind the laws are not haphazard, they follow specific rules and are consistent. Since these effects are ordered, so is their orderer because, as previously discussed, an ordered effect cannot spring forth from non-order. And if the forces described by the laws were not ordered but totally haphazard, why do these forces act the same way consistently? I don't think any of us worry about gravity suddenly reversing, sending us flying into space. Also, if the laws were not ordered it would not be possible to create mathematical equations describing any of the forces behind the laws.

Some may attempt counter-examples of this premise. A common one is crystal formation. These formations exhibit order and occur naturally. I totally agree! So does crystal formation have an orderer? Of course. The laws of nature that dictate the way molecules bond are the orderers of such a formation. These laws of the universe are the orderers of much of what we see that appears to have "natural" orderers.

Some might claim that there is some universal law that ordered all the other laws. If so, that law must also be ordered, since it orders. You can back this argument up but only as far as the beginning of the universe.

So did the universe begin to exist? Scientifically, this idea is supported by the Space-Time Theorem of General Relativity (Hawking, Penrose) which says that the universe and everything in it, even matter, space, energy and time, came into existence at the Big Bang. Also, in numerous books on cosmology we find much evidence of a single Big Bang. Even Hawking's more recent invocation of "imaginary time" does not successfully get around a beginning for the universe at the Big Bang. A beginning to the universe also holds philosophically, which is the realm in which I am making this case. The reason the universe must have had a beginning is because of the impossibility of an actual (as opposed to a mathematical) infinite regress. One cannot get to the present by traversing an actual infinite.

Conclusion:
Since the premises hold and the conclusion logically follows, the conclusion is shown. This argument does not make any claims about who or what ordered the universe. This argument doesn't make any claims about how may whos or whats ordered the universe (in the interest of parsimony, it might be wise to assume the orderer of the universe is singular, unless it can be shown otherwise).

A very common objection raised to the conclusion is: "Then who created God?" The key to answering this question is realizing that everything that is ordered and began to exist had an orderer (premise 1). Something with no beginning, like the orderer of the universe, could not have a beginner by definition. And this is not special pleading. A "beginning" makes no sense outside the temporal universe.

What's Next?
The conclusion that the universe had an orderer is startling, to say the least. It also might cause one to ask: Who is this orderer of the universe? For the answer to this question, the reader is asked to follow this link. That link will help you find out who the orderer of the universe, thus YOUR orderer, is and how much he wants a relationship with you. He loves you no matter what you've been through - he can wipe your slate clean and change your life. Imagine what an honor it is to matter to the orderer of the entire universe!

Mark Harpt

Further Reading

Astronomical Evidences for the God of the Bible by Hugh Ross

"Christian Apologetics" by Norman L. Geisler (Baker Book House, 1993)

"The Creation Hypothesis," J. P. Moreland, editor (InterVarsity Press, 1994)

"The Creator and the Cosmos" by Hugh Ross (NavPress, 1995)

"The Creator Beyond Time and Space" by Chuck Missler and Mark Eastman (The Word for Today, 1996)

The Existence of God and the Beginning of the Universe by William Lane Craig

"God and the Astronomers" by Robert Jastrow (W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1992)

"Handbook of Christian Apologetics" (with 20 arguments for the existence of God, plus a lot of other stuff) by Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli (InterVarsity Press, 1994)

"Reasonable faith" by William Lane Craig (Crossway Books, 1994)

Additional Arguments

Origins Web Page

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