There are several ideologies concerning creation of this universe/reality. Douglas Adams states his humorous idea: “Many races believe that it was created by some sort of God, though the Jatravartid people of Viltvodle VI believe that the entire Universe was in fact sneezed out of the nose of a being called the Great Green Arkleseizure.” A more philosophic/religious illustration might be of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. In these books, the world “consists of a large disc (complete with edge-of-the-world drop-off and consequent waterfall) resting on the backs of four huge elephants which are in turn standing on the back of an enormous turtle, named Great A'Tuin (similar to Chukwa or Akupara from Hindu mythology) as it slowly swims through space.”
Regardless, the two mainstays of western thought are Stephen Hawking’s ‘the-universe-created-itself-out-of-nothing’ (aedificatus sum se ex nihilo) and ‘intelligent-design’ (aedificavit deus ex nihilo). Dr. Hawking states: “But without a doubt, the most remarkable fact of all is that the entire enormous universe, all the innumerable galaxies, even time and space and the forces of nature themselves, simply materialized out of nothing.”
Francis Schaeffer points out two main dilemmas with se ex nihilo: “First, there is no real explanation for the fact that the external world not only exists, but has a specific form. Despite its [se ex nihilo] frequent attempt to reduce the concept of the personal to the area of chemical [heredity] or psychological [environment] conditioning, scientific study demonstrates that the universe has an express form.” And Schaeffer’s second concern with se ex nihilo: “If we begin with an impersonal universe, there is no explanation of personality.”
It is also interesting to note that Schaeffer had debates with this form of reasoning and dealt with se ex nihilo: “The truth is I have never heard this argument sustained, for it is unthinkable that all that now is has come out of utter nothing.”
Comments