Nature. Natural Laws and Causes

• Natural laws have nominal. not real. existence. They are propositions tendered as explanations of particular events or phenomenon. and allude to imaginary forces inferred from the motions or relationships of events or phenomena. The laws of gravity. reproduction and growth in living organisms. magnetic attraction and repulsion. and others are not entities whose existence can be verified by our external senses or scientific instruments. For example. whatever truth the law of gravity may have. can we claim that the real universe (the one in which this law operates) has (or must) come about because of it? Is it reasonable to ascribe anything's existence. let alone intelligent and conscious living beings. to propositions?

• Natural laws and causes are inferred from the motions or relationships of events or phenomena observed in the universe. Therefore. as they depend upon external factors. they are either self-dependent nor self-existent.

• The existence of the universe. as well of all its events or phenomena. is contingent. So nothing in it must exist. for it is equally possible for each thing to exist or not to exist. There is an almost limitless number of cells in an embryo that a food particle can visit. Anything whose existence is contingent cannot be eternal. for someone has to prefer its existence over its non-existence or merely potential existence.

• As all contingent entities are contained in time and space. theyhave a beginning. Anything that begins must certainly end. and so cannot be eternal.

• Natural causes need each other to bring about an effect. For example. an apple needs an apple blossom to exist. a blossom needs a branch. a branch needs a tree. and so on. just as a seed needs soil. air. and moisture to germinate and grow. Each cause is also an effect and. unless we accept as many deities as the number of causes. we must look to a single cause outside the chain of cause and effect.

• For a single effect to come into existence. an infinite number of causes must collaborate in such a coordinated and reliable way that they become "natural laws." Consider this: In order to exist. an apple requires the cooperation of air and soil. sunlight and water. the 23º inclination of the Earth's axis. and the complex rules of germination and growth for seeds and plants. Could so many deaf and blind. ignorant and unconscious causes and laws come together by themselves to form a living organism? Do you really think that they could they form human beings. all of whom are alive and conscious. intelligent and responsible. and able to answer questions about their intentions and actions?

• A tiny seed contains a huge tree. A human being. the most complex creature. grows from an ovum fertilized by a microscopic sperm. Is there an appropriate relation or acceptable proportionality between cause and effect here? Can extremely weak and simple. ignorant and lifeless causes result in very powerful and complex. intelligent and vigorously living effects?

• All natural phenomena and processes have opposites: north and south. positive and negative. hot and cold. beautiful and ugly. day and night. attraction and repulsion. freezing and melting. vaporization and condensation. and so on. Something that has an opposite. that needs its opposite to exist and to be known. cannot be a creator or originator.

• Although all causes necessary for an effect are present. that effect does not always come into existence. Conversely. something happens or comes into existence without any causes that we can recognize or understand as such. Also. the same causes do not always engender the same effects. This is why some scientists reject causality as a way of explaining things and events.

• Among causes. humanity is the most capable and eminent. for we are distinguished with intellect. consciousness. willpower. and many other faculties and inner and outer senses and feelings. Yet we are so weak and helpless that even a microbe can cause us great pain. If even we have no part in our own coming into existence. and no control over our body's working. how can other causes have creativity?

• Materialists take the conjunction of events for causality. If two events coexist. they imagine that one causes the other. Seeking to deny the Creator they make claims like: "Water causes plants to grow." They never ask how water knows what to do. how it does it. and what qualities it has that enable plants to grow?

Does water possess the knowledge and power to grow plants? Does it know the laws or properties of plant formation? If we attribute a plant's growth to the laws or nature. do they know how to form plants? Some sort or amount of knowledge. will. and power are absolutely necessary to make the least thing. Therefore. should not an all-encompassing knowledge. and an absolute will and power. be necessary to make this complex. amazing. and miraculous universe about which we still know so little?

Consider a flower. Where does its beauty come from. and who designed the relationship between it and our senses of smell and seeing and faculty of appreciation? Can a seed. soil or sunlight. all of which are unconscious. ignorant. and deaf. do such things? Do they have the knowledge. power. or will to make even a flower. let alone to make it beautiful? Can we. this planet's only conscious and knowledgeable beings. make a single flower? A flower can exist only if the whole universe exists first. To produce a flower. therefore. one must be able to produce the universe. In other words. its creator must have absolute power. knowledge. and will. All of thse are attributes of God alone.