Why does the universe have these particular laws of nature and not different ones? Why quantum mechanics and general relativity, rather than some other mathematically possible set of laws? This is one of the deepest unanswered questions in modern physics. For decades, physicists hoped to discover a unique theory of everything that would show our laws could not have been otherwise. But that hope has failed. Modern physics now points to a surprising possibility: the laws of nat

A universe like ours requires more than the right laws and constants. Even with the right physics, the matter and spacetime of the early universe had to be arranged in an extraordinarily special way. If the universe had started in a more random, disordered state, there would be no atoms, stars, galaxies, planets, chemistry, or life. Physics describes this special beginning in terms of entropy. Entropy is a measure of how many different arrangements can produce the same overal

Modern physics has uncovered a startling fact about the beginning of our universe: the Big Bang did not start in a random or chaotic state. Instead, it began in an extraordinarily ordered, low-entropy condition. According to physicist Roger Penrose, the odds of the universe starting in such a special state by chance are about 1 in 10^(10^123) — a number so enormous it dwarfs even a googolplex. This isn’t a minor detail about the early universe. These highly ordered initial co

This FAQ answers common questions and objections about the case for God from modern physics developed in the first nine essays of the Intelligent Cause Series. We address objections to the fine-tuning of the constants, the design of the laws of nature, and the ordered initial conditions of the universe. These questions include whether the constants could have been different, whether fine-tuning depends on probability calculations, whether science may one day discover another