The Return of the God Hypothesis | Stephen C. Meyer
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- Season 1
Biology reveals evidence of design, Dr. Meyer explains in this conversation with Michael, but it can’t take us very far in identifying the source of that design. Proponents of intelligent design have been clear about that. For an idea about who or what the designer might be, you need to turn to other scientific fields — physics and cosmology — that consider the ultra-finely tuned laws that permit a livable planet in the first place. The awesome design extends from the origin of the universe, down to the tiniest particles. Drawing from physics and cosmology, Meyer sketches the evidence for theism.
An Inferring Mind
Trained in the philosophy of science at Cambridge University, Dr. Stephen Meyer directs Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, which makes this show possible. He is both a friend and a leader in the intelligent design movement, which challenges orthodox evolutionary thinking. Meyer’s first book – Signature in the Cell – examined the evidence for design in the origin of cellular life. In a New York Times Best Seller follow-up, Darwin’s Doubt, he made the case for intelligence from the origin of animal life.
Show Notes
Timestamps more closely approximate the audio than the video.
- 03:05 | Doesn’t “The Return of the God Hypothesis” confirm the charges of those who have claimed intelligent design is merely a Trojan horse for religion.
- 04:55 | The rise and fall of the traditional arguments for God’s existence.
- 06:30 | The impact of Big Bang cosmology on the Kalam Cosmological Argument.
- 07:20 | Einstein’s and Hubble’s evidence for an expanding universe.
- 08:10 | Fine tuning and the relevance of multiverse theories to these arguments.
- 09:30 | The “privileged planet” and the fine tuning of the universe.
- 10:50 | Positing many universes to increase the probability of ours.
- 12:45 | Are all the universes governed by the same laws of physics?
- 13:05 | The problematic concept of “universe”
- 14:05 | The implications of fine tuning for a transcendent source
- 14: 30 | Why not a space alien, a deistic creator, or a pantheistic creator?
- 15:50 | Michael Denton’s works on fine tuning in the properties of water and light
- 18:00 | If we discover extraterrestrial life, would that undermine the argument?
- 18:55 | Peter Ward’s and Don Brownlee’s Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe
- 19:30 | The “What’s Behind It All” debate with Lawrence Krauss and a postlude with Richard Dawkins
Video
Resources
- Stephen C. Meyer, “The Return of the God Hypothesis” in Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies (January 1, 1999).
- Michael Denton’s The Privileged Species series on fine tuned aspects of earth
- Stephen Meyer’s website