No, These Are Not “God-Of-The-Gaps” Arguments

Will Scientific Discoveries Eventually Disprove All This Evidence Pointing To The Existence Of God?

Skeptics sometimes claim the large set of evidence presented on this site does not prove the existence of God and instead represents nothing more than a “God-of-the-gaps” argument.  By this they claim we believe “God did it” whenever an unexpected event arises for which there is no natural explanation; they assert we falsely credit God’s intervention for what they perceive as a mere “gap in knowledge” that science has not yet filled.  At first, it might appear that attributing God as the cause for the origin of the universe and life might correctly be a “God-of-the-gaps” (GOTG) set of arguments.  In this post, we’ll assess that accusation and demonstrate it is false.

What Is Meant By “God-Of-The-Gaps”?

Here is Neil DeGrasse Tyson eloquently describing what is meant by God-of-the-gaps.  Watch this concise 3 1/4 minute video and note that he makes an interesting point at about the 2:45 mark when he states, “If you’re going to stay religious at the end of the conversation, God has to be more to you than just where science has yet to tread.”  On the one hand, he’s correct in that God must be more to you than just the facts and evidence presented on this site.  On the other hand, he bases that wisdom on a false assumption about scientific discovery – as you’ll see below.

Refuting The “God-Of-The-Gaps” Accusation

First of all, the facts and evidence presented on all the other pages of this site demonstrate that God’s direct action is the best explanation for the origin of the universe, life and the specified complexity found in all our cells.  A preponderance of positive evidence demonstrates that.  Said differently, there is no truth to an assertion that “God did it” just because there are no natural explanations.  No.  We know God exists, God created the universe, and God created life because we follow the evidence pointing directly to those conclusions.

Second, a GOTG accusation is often made by those who refuse to believe God exists despite the facts and evidence to the contrary.  Instead, they believe science and naturalistic explanations are the only sources of truth and they believe supernatural explanations are impossible.  In this view, no miracles have ever happened because there must be scientific explanations for all of them.  Furthermore, it is always incorrect to explain a perceived “gap in knowledge” as an act of God because the true cause will eventually be determined by science.

But here’s the funny part.  That belief is not based on science.  There is no scientific evidence demonstrating miracles don’t happen, science can or will be able to explain everything, and gaps in knowledge can’t be explained as acts of God.  Furthermore, there is no evidence that all phenomena and features of the world are caused and explained by natural processes – it’s an unproven assumption.  It’s also a false assumption because other explanations may exist including God’s direct intervention.  Instead, such a belief is a faith – like all other faiths.  It’s even fair to call it a religion; such a belief system has priests, practices, doctrine and authoritative figures from the past like those found in other religions!  But it’s a false faith and religion because the facts and evidence demonstrate the opposites are true.

And third, that faith is based on a circular argument: If everything must be explained by science then natural processes must be capable of producing effects to fill all perceived gaps in knowledge.  When no evidence of viable natural explanations exists, skeptics persist in forbidding supernatural explanations by citing their faith in science and reinvoking a GOTG accusation.

Some might justify this circular argument because they believe science will eventually explain everything if given enough time.  But here again, this is a faith based on no facts.  Some will cite examples from hundreds or thousands of years ago like when evidence seemed to indicate the sun revolved around the earth or by perpetuating the myth that it was common to believe the earth was flat.  These examples were discarded hundreds of years ago.  The modern reality is the more we learn about matter, energy, space, and time, the more we uncover effects demonstrating God’s direct action – and not demonstrating explanations from natural processes.  For instance, the evidence from cosmology, biology and information science presented elsewhere on this site represent just a few such cases.

Furthermore, there is no evidence that natural explanations exist for the creation of the universe or the creation of life including the specified complexity we see in every cell; all research into these topics is highly speculative and based on unrealistic assumptions and conditions.  See the “debunking” articles in the menus above for some examples.

When faced with the finely-tuned nature of the universe, skeptics admit there are no natural explanations yet they continue to faithfully hope for salvation from future science discovery, forbid supernatural explanations and reinvoke a GOTG accusation.  The rest of us, on the other hand, see the truth – such a faith has little basis in evidence or fact.  In reality, it’s just an erroneous opinion.  Said differently, based on the facts and evidence for the existence of God, His creation of the universe and His creation of life, there’s no viable reason to reject well-supported supernatural explanations of unexpected occurrences.

Conclusion

The trend indicated by new scientific discoveries made in the past several decades makes it abundantly clear that God’s supernatural intervention is both real and represents the best explanatory cause based on the facts and evidence.  God-of-the-gaps accusations become less viable the more we learn about the universe, the origin and development of life, and all the complexities of our modern world.  As a result, statements declaring advances in science will one day explain all apparently supernatural interventions are demonstrably false.

Here’s Frank Turek, in this 4 minute 20 second video, reiterating some of these arguments and presenting a few others – all arriving at the same conclusion: the positive evidence presented on this site does not represent a God-of-the-gaps argument but instead is best explained by the facts that God exists, God created the universe and God created life.