Author says faith requiredin science, too
MARS — The God versus science debate isn't a case of faith against facts, but rather faith against faith.
That's the gist of Bob Hoskin's book, “Science Reveals God,” which he will discuss at 5 p.m. Saturday at Dutilh Church's New Day Campus, 525 Pittsburgh St.
Hoskin of Grove City, a financial adviser for Ameriprise in Sewickley, said the book came after 10 years of research.
“I've always been a science enthusiast. About 15 years ago, I finally read the Bible and realized it was not a made-up story,” said Hoskin. “My first thought was 'What about evolution?'”
This question led to years of research “looking into science, cosmology and evolution,” he said.
His research led to the realization and the thesis of his book that while belief in a benevolent creator of the universe takes faith, so does the opposite: the naturalist view of a mechanistic reality created at random.
“The point is belief exceeds evidence in either case, ”said Hoskin.
This is caused by what is known as the “fine-tuning problem,” said Hoskin.
Hoskin said there is something like a recipe for creating a universe. Ingredients include fundamental constants such as gravitational force, electromagnetic force and the strong and weak nuclear forces.
If the values of these constants are changed by a tiny amount, Hoskins said, not only could there be no life, but the stars would not have formed or even atoms remained bound together.
“This universe is incredibly fine-turned to an astonishing degree,” Hoskin said.
Hoskin said this fine-tuning isn't disputed by the scientific community, but it does present a problem to physicists.
The many examples of the universe's life-friendly properties come across as a series of increasingly unlikely coincidences.
Physicists hate coincidences, Hoskin said, so to explain the fine-tuning that seems custom-tailored for the emergence of life in this universe, they posit the multiverse theory.
In short, according to Hoskin, this theory holds that our universe is one of only infinitely many universes that bubbled into being in the Big Bang. Some such as ours can sustain life. Most universes are barren.
“But there is very little evidence for the multiverse. String theory is one of the props of the multiverse theory, but it's never been proven,” said Hoskin.
“The multiverse is only theoretical,” Hoskin said. “The only hard evidence is the fine-tuning of this universe.
“The universe exists, it is fine-tuned, there is no God, so there must be a multiverse, is how the reasoning goes,” said Hoskin.
“This is belief exceeding the evidence: faith,” said Hoskin.
“Scientists concede the only reason to take the multiverse theory seriously is the fine-tuning of this universe,” Hoskin said.
He called it a Copernican counterrevolution. Since Copernicus and Galileo discovered the Earth revolved around the sun, Hoskin said, scientific discoveries have removed man from the center of the universe.
“Now it seems our universe is totally unique and our planet is totally special,” said Hoskin.
He said similar discrepancies also throw doubt on the absolute correctness of the theory of evolution.
According to evolution, Hoskin said, organisms over enormous amounts of time change from one form to another in a process dubbed “gradualism.”
“But animals show up, stay the same and die out. There is no gradualism in the fossil record at all,” he said.
Hoskin, a member of Grove City Alliance Church, said it took him a decade of research and writing to produce the self-published “Science Reveals God.”
He has discussed his book at appearances in churches through Western Pennsylvania.
“I think it will really be interesting,” said the Rev. Dwayne Burfield, senior pastor at Dutilh. “Actually, what we want is to give another perspective on the science and God controversy.
“I think he is going to be a good speaker. He is very methodical in his approach,” said Burfield.
“It's strengthening faith once you recognize how tenuous the naturalist beliefs are,” said Hoskin.
WHAT: Bob Hoskin discusses his book “Science Reveals God”WHEN: 5 p.m. SaturdayWHERE: Dutilh Church's New Day Campus, 525 Pittsburgh St., MarsINFO: Visit www.newdaycampus.com or call 724-776-1094
