Carl Sagan and Revelation 4:8
The opening sentence of Carl Sagan’s famous book Cosmos is, “The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.” [1] This statement reflects the naturalistic worldview of its author. Naturalism holds that the physical universe is all that exists. All things that exist in the cosmos are material. Even things such as emotions are reduced to biochemical processes in the brains of evolved organisms. The universe began with the big bang and has since evolved to its current state by natural processes. The Sovereign Creator God is not a part of this worldview, in which science is defined to exclude the Lord and His Word.
In Revelation 4:8, we read of the four creatures that praise God continually saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” This is in stark contrast to Sagan. The Bible declares over and over again that the Lord God is the eternal One, who had no beginning and will have no end. Psalm 90:2 states that “from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” It is this God who created the cosmos (Genesis 1:1) and brought everything into existence by His Word (Hebrews 11:3). He is the Creator and the cosmos is His creation. God is also the One who providential governs and upholds the universe (Colossians 1:7; Hebrews 1:3). This is the foundation for a biblical understanding of cosmology.
What we find in Carl Sagan and Revelation 4:8 are two opposing worldviews that are mutually exclusive. In discussing creation and evolution, Jonathan Sarfati states, “The debate between creation and evolution is primarily a dispute between two world views, with mutually incompatible underlying assumptions.” [2] These words are also true for our present discussion, as creation is part of the Christian worldview and evolution is part of the naturalistic worldview. For the naturalist, it is presumed that God does not exist, since God is outside nature. On the contrary, the Christian must start with the assumption that God exists and has revealed Himself in the Bible. Indeed, one must presuppose the Christian worldview in order to account for the universe as we know it. Naturalists cannot account for the basis of the science that they use. Greg Bahnsen explains, “It is the Christian’s contention that all non-Christian worldviews are beset with internal contradictions, as well as with beliefs which do not render logic, science or ethics intelligible.” [3]
For example, if in a naturalistic worldview, the material cosmos is all that exists or ever will, how does it account for the uniformity of nature? When scientists conduct experiments, it is assumed that the laws of physics are the same in Albuquerque as they are in Tokyo. It is also assumed that an experiment performed under controlled conditions will give similar results when repeated in the future. How does a naturalist account for the uniformity of nature that science hinges upon? This is an assumption in every scientific endeavor, or else the pursuit of science would be impossible. An atheistic, naturalistic worldview cannot account for the uniformity of nature. Someone who holds this worldview can still do science with great success, but cannot account for its foundations. When pressed, the best answer this worldview can give is that things have been that way in the past, so they will be that way in the future. They use their previous experience to account for the uniformity of nature. The question then arises, how can one trust their previous experiences? The naturalist answers, because it has worked in the past. They must rely on the uniformity of nature to account for the uniformity of nature. This line of argument is circular and shows that the uniformity of nature is a principle that scientists take by faith.
The Christian expects the cosmos to behave in an orderly, logical fashion since God has created all things (John 1:1-3) and upholds all things (Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3). God has created the universe with certain behaviors that we call “laws.” We can expect these laws to be consistent throughout the universe since God is immutable (James 1:17; Malachi 3:6), omnipresent (Jeremiah 23:23-24; Psalm 137-8), and omnipotent (Revelation 19:6; Psalm 115:3). This is the Christian’s basis for the uniformity of nature.
In conclusion, we can see that the conflict between naturalism and Christian supernaturalisms to be ultimately one of worldviews. Naturalism cannot give an adequate account for the basis of science. Only in the God of the Bible do we find a firm foundation for science. As Christians, we can take great joy in knowing that the omnipotent Triune God of the Bible who created the cosmos has created us to learn and discover wonderful truths about the universe for His glory. Even more wonderful is that this same God has given His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
1. C. Sagan, Cosmos, New York: Random House, 1980, p. 4.
2. J. Sarfati, Refuting Evolution, Master Books, 1999, p. 15.
3. G. Bahnsen, Always Ready: Directions for Defending the Faith, ed. Robert R. Booth, Nacogdoches, Covenant Media Foundation, 1996, p. 121.
(c) Copyright Dustin Crider 2010
