Quick Shot: “Earth is just a pale blue dot in a huge hostile universe”

Our “Quick Shot” series offers brief answers to common objections to the Christian worldview. Each response is limited to one paragraph. These responses are designed to (1) answer the objection as concisely as possible, (2) challenge the objector to think more deeply about his or her claim, and (3) facilitate a “gospel” conversation. In this article, we’re offering “Quick Shot” responses to the objection, Quick Shot: “If God exists, why is most of the universe hostile to life? Earth Is just a pale blue dot in a huge hostile universe.”

Response #1:
“I agree that the universe is hostile to life. But how does that make the case against God? Doesn’t the existence of a planet like Earth, that overcomes the statistically impossible odds of existing in such an unfavorable universe – especially given the level of fine-tuning that is required for a planet to support life – demonstrate the need for Divine intervention? The odds of a planet like Earth, supporting the life that it supports, is more than just statistically improbable. It’s miraculous. Why wouldn’t the existence of a planet like ours demonstrate the existence of a Divine Creator?” The odds of a planet like Earth, supporting the life that it supports, is more than just statistically improbable. It’s miraculous. Click To Tweet

OR

Response #2:
“OK, imagine finding yourself in a vast desert stretching for hundreds of miles in every direction. As you walk in this huge wasteland, you discover a stone. Examining it closely, you find that something has been written on it. The words appear to be freshly scribed in dried blood: “Help! I have been kidnapped, and I am being held hostage a mile from here in a small red shack. Please contact authorities!” Should we ignore the stone and toss it back to the ground along with all the millions of other stones in this huge desert? Why should we consider this stone to be anything special? After all, this is just another stone among millions. They’ve been here a long time. Can you see why it doesn’t really matter how big the desert is, how many stones there are, how long the stones have been out here, or how old the desert is? This stone is special. It bears the hallmark of design and intelligence. It begs us to investigate further and to find the author. In a similar way, it doesn’t really matter how big the universe is, how many planets there are, how long the planets have been out here, or how old the universe is. Our little pale blue dot is special. It bears the hallmark of design and intelligence. Can you see why it begs us to investigate further and to find the author of life?” Our little pale blue dot is special. It bears the hallmark of design and intelligence. Can you see why it begs us to investigate further and to find the author of life? Click To Tweet

OR

Response #3:
“Imagine someone asks you to bake a small cupcake, but they require you to bake the treat from scratch. They prevent you from using pre-packaged flour, sugar, corn oil, or butter. Instead, you must grow, harvest, grind, process and churn these elements from the raw materials found in nature. The task would suddenly become more difficult, wouldn’t it? You would need a lot of space to plant the wheat, sugar cane, and corn, and even more room to raise the cow necessary to get the butter. You would also need a lot of time and material. Worse yet, you would have to cut down and destroy a lot to harvest all the finished ingredients. In the end, however, after doing all that work, using all that space, time and material, and after leaving that trail of wreckage in your path, you bake a beautiful cupcake. Imagine someone finding the cupcake on the counter and saying, ‘I can’t accept that this cupcake was specially designed and created. There’s all this hostile space outside in which there are no cupcakes! Seems like a lot of wasted space, time and matter to me!’ Can you see why it would be unreasonable to deny the existence of a baker in this way?”

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Our “Quick Shot” series was written specifically for the Cold-Case Christianity App (you can download it on Apple and Android platforms – be sure to register once you download the App). When confronted with an objection in casual conversation, App users can quickly find an answer without having to scroll beyond the first screen in the category. Use the App “Quick Shots” along with the “Rapid Responses” and Case Making “Cheat Sheets” to become a better Christian Case Maker.

For more information about the scientific and philosophical evidence pointing to a Divine Creator, please read God’s Crime Scene: A Cold-Case Detective Examines the Evidence for a Divinely Created Universe. This book employs a simple crime scene strategy to investigate eight pieces of evidence in the universe to determine the most reasonable explanation. The book is accompanied by an eight-session God’s Crime Scene DVD Set(and Participant’s Guide) to help individuals or small groups examine the evidence and make the case.

J. Warner Wallace is a Dateline featured Cold-Case Detective, Senior Fellow at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, Adj. Professor of Christian Apologetics at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, author of Cold-Case Christianity, God’s Crime Scene, and Forensic Faith, and creator of the Case Makers Academy for kids.

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