What a combative, contentious world we live in today. Modern philosophers, free-thinkers, and many of our media opinion leaders are now trashing any idea of transcendent truth saying that truth is whatever works for you and makes you “happy.” 

Oh dear!

So it is some relief to rest back in the safe assurances of science. Science does not allow (and cannot operate) with such a cavalier attitude to truth. In fact, it has been a sense of wonder to scientists that the physical laws, that govern life on Earth, are exactly the same as those that operate in every corner of the universe. The “gravitational constant”, discovered by Sir Isaac Newton, is one of them. The “Fine Constant Structure” that determines an atom’s energy level is another… and the “conservation laws” yet another. These remain true anywhere in the universe, whether you are feeling “happy” or not. Physical laws exist and they are inviolable.

But can we say the same for moral laws that are currently being trashed by many of media’s libertine opinion leaders today?

I think we can, and here’s why.

It is difficult for scientists today to get the average non-scientist to understand the ridiculous levels of “fine-tuning” that exist in our universe that has allowed it to be life-friendly. Levels of fine-tuning down to levels of many trillions in exactitude exist for many forces and values. These cannot be ignored by a lazy shrug of the shoulders. That is simply crass anti-rationalism. Neither can they be dismissed by postulating the existence of an infinite number of universes, one of which (ours) has stumbled on the correct physical laws that allow life. That is simply to make the whole scenario even more complex. Why do an infinite number of universes exist that might be able to produce intelligent life?

The existence of this fine-tuning and the inviolable laws seen across the universe all point to the existence of intent, i.e. of there being a “mind” behind it. This, I suggest, is a reasonable conclusion. To believe anything else fractures the law of “cause and effect” that underpins all of science.

So, there is good reason to believe there is a “mind” behind the universe. This means that the “mind” has an intention and an idea. And if this is so, it would be very wise to know what it is, so we can key into it.

But what can give us any assurance that we are meant to understand anything about that “mind”?

Here again, science can help. One of the extraordinary features human beings possess is that our intellect exactly matches that which is required to unlock the workings, mathematical beauty and laws that govern the running of the universe. It must be clearly said that the universe is under no obligation to be rationally transparent to us––but it is. The most obvious reason for why this is so is that it is the intent of the “mind” that we do understand it. In other words, the “mind” wishes his/her actions to be understood. The cosmos is an invitation to connect with the ultimate “mind”.

Christians believe that this was just the first step in God’s revelation to humankind (Romans 1:18-20). His next step was to teach us his character and purpose through the events recorded in the Old Testamant. God’s final step was to come to us personally as Jesus (God’s peerless and final revelation of himself) who came to recue us back to himself. In the process of this, God gave us his moral laws, which are just as real as the physical laws he instituted in the cosmos. These laws were not given to rob us of freedom or spoil our day. They were given as boundaries within which we would operate best with the minimum of hurt. We are invited (not forced) to stay within those boundaries.

In Medieval times, men who were not in service to an overlord and the structures and securities the overlord imposed were called “lawless men”. They became bandits because of their lack of order, morals and boundaries. Interestingly enough, the apostle John uses the same term “lawless men” when speaking about those who choose to flout God’s moral laws (see: 1 John 3:4). I beg you not to be lawless and anti-God in this way. It will lead to hurt and dysfunction… and the eternal prospects are not good. God has given us a beautiful life-giving pattern, which we depart from at our peril. Nothing I see in the life of lawless hedonists persuades me otherwise. God’s ways work best.