Something material cannot be first caused by something immaterial (i.e., nothing) based on the known laws of physics and natural laws. The very first material cause cannot emerge from nothing, from nowhere (no locality- no space), in no time domain (without space, time does not exist).
Sure, theoretical physicists argue this clear statement of reason and rationality must not be so. They try to inject something before the beginning. Claiming there always was something! Physicists, such as the late Stephen Hawking, spent his final decades trying to find proof that material explanations could account for the very first material effect. In the end, this never happened. Hawking’s reasoned there certainly was no god. Therefore, the universe must have somehow emerged from nothing. He came as close to nothing as possible by claiming a tiny origin of “infinite curvature,” meaning an infinitely small dot. Seeing physics did not exist, Hawking proposed imaginary time (negative time) to formulate his highly imaginative conjecture. Regardless, like all other theoretical physicists, Hawking’s proposal still includes something. Others propose mathematical formulas for quantum fluctuations, but how the math formula would transcend into reality is unknown or speculation at best.
The problem is figuring out how something came from nothing within the constraints of material naturalism. It is a massive problem for Naturalism that is hiding in plain view.
According to Hawking the universe is “the ultimate free lunch” and if the “universe adds up to nothing, then you don’t need a God to create it”…He answers, “We are each free to believe what we want, and it’s my view that the simplest explanation is that there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate….(t)his leads me to a profound realization – there is probably no heaven and afterlife either. I think belief in an afterlife is just wishful thinking. There is no reliable evidence for it (ignoring there is no reliable evidence for his own theories either), and it flies in the face of everything we know in science.”
Stephen Hawkings “A Brief History”, Sept, 1998. And “Brief Answers to Big Questions” Bold, italics, and paranthesis are mine.
The “problem”
If literally ANYTHING at all preexisted something else in the material universe, then that material thing could not have been the very beginning or the very first material cause (“VFMC”). Therefore, Naturalism is self-refuting, self-falsifying, collapsing before the origin of the universe can even begin.
Terminology & Definitions
Material refers to observable attributes of the universe as we observe and infer them to be in the present. We consider such material attributes to embody a cause-and-effect physics-based explanation. Such attributes of The Material Universe include time, space, length, height, width, energy, matter, anti-matter, and potentially dark matter and dark energy, etc.
Materialism or Naturalism is the term used to express the theory that the origin of every phenomenon in the universe, including its origin, emerged from only such material causation- expressly, no supernatural causes exist or have ever existed.
Naturalistic explanations are therefore derived only from material observations, categorizations, experimentation, and data. All phenomena are therefore entirely explainable, including the origin of the universe, by only prior material effects.
Supernatural refers to any conclusion not directly derived from prior known material causalities. These propositions are metaphysical theories meaning concepts outside the known material constraints of physics. These can include any number of examples because they are philosophical in nature. These constructs are important to thought and scientific advancement but do not meet the rigors of Naturalism by definition.
Theism is a philosophical inference that the supernatural exists within or perhaps even in dimensions beyond the measurable material universe. Inferring the necessity of a supernatural cause mandates the inference that God exists.
Creationism is a philosophically inferred position that infers that a supernatural Deity (“God”) must have preexisted materialism to create something from nothing in the beginning. Creationism and Theism conclude that (1) God created the universe as a self-sustaining material universe as we observe it in operation today under natural laws, and (2) the first non-material causation behind the origin of the universe was supernatural causation of God and logically could not have been a material cause.
Metaphysical inferences are products of the mind: philosophy and not science. The supernatural (or metaphysical) are constructs or products of the mind. This can include mathematical formulas should they be based on probabilities or conjectures outside the observable material observations. In other words, if the conjecture is supernatural outside the material universe. Such supernatural theories are, at best, speculations.
Speculations are actively forming conclusions based on conjectures that lack firm material evidence. Speculations do not (and cannot) meet the rigors of a theory because they are outside the observable material realm of reality. (That is why they are supernatural!).
Philosophy is speculation or conjecture held by a person or group of people (or organization) that acts as a guiding principle for behavior and inferences. Such inferences represent philosophical thought and are not scientific inferences that mandate only material causes. These conclusions can include beliefs in the supernatural, metaphysical constructs, models, products of the mind, science fiction, or outright make-believe.
VFMC. The origin of the universe (The Big Bang Theory or The Singularity) hereafter, specifically defined to focus on THE VERY FIRST MATERIAL CAUSE (“VFMC”). This is the very first material phenomenon, based on the principles of Atheistic Naturalism, that brought the universe into existence.
SCIENTIFIC ORDER ABDUCTION OF INFERENCES FROM WEAKEST TO STRONGEST.
- Anything that includes any aspect of anything non-material (supernatural or metaphysical), non-observable, which are levels of philosophical inferences and not scientific.
- Conjecture by the abduction of material scientific inferences. This includes theoretical physics.
- Hypotheses by experimental abduction of material scientific inferences.
- Theories by the abduction of models to explain a series or group of scientific inferences into models or groups. This is where The Theory of Evolution resides when using only inferences from material evidence as mandated by Naturalism. {Note: if any non-material or unobserved phenomena are included or presumed, then the inference is reduced to speculation or conjecture, not different from religious belief systems.}
- Repeatable and observable inferences are made on material phenomena. Boiling water example.
SCIENTIFIC INFERENCES BASED ON MATERIAL EVIDENCE
(1) Space and time are descriptors of the same material entity called space-time. Therefore, the universe is NOT infinitely old or FOREVER preexisting– it had a material beginning based on material evidence. Anything outside this conclusion is conjecture at best.
(2) The universe had a clear beginning in space-time (VFMC). Therefore, the universe is not infinite in size but is finite (as evidenced by the redshift of the universe still expanding).
INFERENCES OF CONJECTURE
- Multiverses are not measurable or observable but are highly imaginative conjecture.
- Any product of the mind not supported by material evidence, including math formulas, is conjecture.
- Anything infinite is conjecture. Any concept of anything existing for eternity is metaphysical, a product of the mind (conjecture).
- Mathematical formulas can represent scientifically inferred concepts; however, if any inferences include any of IOC as a variable (or constant), then the proposed formula is conjecture.
- Supposing the universe to have infinite age or eternal existence is not supported by any material evidence and is therefore conjecture.
- Any “pre” physics claim of the “meta” physical is conjecture.
- God of eternal existence or any Creator of the VFMC is equally conjecture.
- The preexistence of anything such as a “Primordial Atom” is pre-physics (metaphysical) and, therefore, conjecture.
- Bubble Universes, like multiverses, are not supported by material evidence and are at best conjecture.
- Alien Panspermia is undeniably conjecture.
CONCLUSION:
Atheism theorizes that there is no such thing as a non-material (supernatural) cause. All origin accounts that presume a self-creating universe are atheistic by definition. Naturalism theorizes that all effects experienced in reality are results of material effects from prior material causes. Therefore, Atheistic Naturalism necessitates the supernatural or metaphysical to account for the VFMC which falsifies Naturalism at the origin of the universe.
