THE EXISTENCE OF GOD AND THE SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
The only way to “prove” the existence of God and His creation, whether compatible or not with the second law of thermodynamics, is through the Word of God. However, the Bible is not capable of intellectual, scientific interpretation. It reflects the world of spirit, which is not able to be seen by the natural eye. the bible is not science book, able to be comprehended by the rational thinking method used by scientists. By definition it can only be understood by Divine revelation.
“God is [a] spirit and those who worship [relate to] Him must do so in Spirit” (Gospel of John 4:24). Further, matters of spirit are deemed foolish by the natural man. “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one (Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 2:14-15).
And: “the mindis hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so;” (Epistle to Romans 8:7).
Having said all of this, you may say that there is no way to prove scientifically the existence of God at all, let alone compare His existence with the laws of thermodynamics. However, we shall see that the Bible pronounces both laws as emmenetdly compatible.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics is defined as : “an expression of the universal law of increasing entropy, stating that the entropy of an isolated system which is not in equilibrium will tend to increase over time, approaching a maximum value at equilibrium” (Encarta). Entropy is defined (Webster’s) as: “a measure of the unavailable energy in a thermodynamic system”.
Thermodynamics is essentially a measure of heat and the fact that left to its own devices will eventually reach the temperature of its surroundings. An example is placing a cup of coffee hotter than its environment on a table and left to sit. Eventually the liquid will go from hot to the same temperature as its surroundings. This principle was put to use in the development of steam engine motors in the 1800s.
Entropy and the second law are described generally, to the layman, as: creation tends toward disorder rather that order. It takes energy input to create order from disorder and but if creation is left to itself, a state of order will be reached naturally but will lack any energy. It will be an orderly system unable to create any energy or movement and so will be useless for human needs. A system will remain in a state of entropy until energy is injected from some outside source.
The term entropy is somewhat synonymous with the term “futility”. Futility (or futile) is defined by Webster’s as: “Incapable of producing any result; ineffective; useless; not successful; trifling; not important; untrustworthy; vain”. Futility is “quality of being futile”. Entropy has all the qualities of futility.
Paul’s Epistle to the Romans Chapter 8 says: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him [God] who subjected it” (Rom 8:20). Therefore, looking at futility (entropy) from a spiritual vantage point, we live in a futile world a world of ineffectiveness, vanity, uselessness, of no importance and the like. A quick look around and we will see that the world and all its systems tend toward chaos rather than order. Even though energy is exerted into our systems to make them workable, the tendency toward chaos seems always the stronger force. This can clearly be seen in our economics, in the deterioration of resources (rust for example), the futility of relationships, wars and on and on. Everything is headed toward chaos and we are unable to stop it.
Futility is the curse of uselessness which causes life to have no meaning. Man works and sweats all his life to reach a place where he has amassed money and possessions or a certain reputation and prominence that he wants in life, only to find that the whole thing is like ashes in his mouth; he does not want it after all. How many successful people are unhappy because they do not really want what they finally achieve?
A further explanation of what futility is from God’s standpoint is found in Genesis, Chapter 3. At that point Adam and Eve had been ejected from the Garden of Eden. The Garden represented a perfect world where everything stayed in a condition of perfect eternal balance; there was no death or decay. However, because of man’s/woman’s sin, creation was subjected to a futile condition of entropy, cursed by God. God cursed the serpent, the woman, the man and the earth. The woman was cursed with great pains in childbirth, which implies these did not exist previously (Genesis 3:16). To the man and to the earth God said:
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
And you shall eat the plants of the field;
By the sweat of your face
You shall eat bread,
Till you return to the ground,
Because from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return. “(Genesis 3:17-19).
Other scriptures describe the futility (pointlessness) of this creation.
The futility of the human mind: “This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind. (Ephesians 4:17). King Solomon, regarded as the wisest man of his day had many things to say about futility (translated vanity in some versions of the Bible, which means in its literal English definition futility; as a footnote in the Bible to every time vanity is mentioned is Futility):
The futility of all endeavor: “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, Vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:1).
The futility of life: “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent among men a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner enjoys them. This is vanity and a severe affliction. If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they be, but his soul is not satisfied for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity;” (Ecc 6:1-4).
The futility of pleasure and possessions: “Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun” (Ecc 2:9-11).
The futility of wisdom: “And I set my mind (lit “heart”) to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted. I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge. And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain” (Ecc 1:13-18).
The futility of labor: “For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity” (Ecc 2:22-23).
The folly of riches: “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity” (Ecc 5:10).
Oppression: “Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun. I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is futility” (Ecc 4:1-4).
And finally: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood, Futility and things of no profit.” (Jeremiah 16:19).
Futility also rests on the animal kingdom, the principle prevalent in all of creation: the survival of the fittest. The strong prey on the weak. The Bible says in the Book of Isaiah that in a perfect state on earth, the lion will lay down with the ox. They will not hurt nor harm in the Kingdom of God. The same will be true of man. He will no longer strive after nothing. What he does will be lasting. He will not build and another tear down. His children will be as plants, grown up in their youth, not lawless and rebellious as we see today. A fantasy? Well maybe, but not if you believe in the Bible.
Therefore, from the standpoint of God, all of creation, and certainly life on earth, reflects this condition of entropy and futility. Although not examined from a rational, scientific point of view in the Bible, it should be obvious to all that this age goes nowhere, is essentially useless and pointless, without real lasting value, temporary at best and striving after wind. Jesus said: “Of what value is there to gain the whole [futile] world and lose your own soul (Luke 9:25). The things that we see around us are temporal; they will all pass away from us by death. The things we cannot see with our natural eyes are eternal and will not pass away 2 Corinthians 4:18).
such futility, so that generation after generation lives life under these intolerable conditions? The Bible says He did it in hope. “For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God”(Romans 8:20). The Bible says that Sons of God, like Christ, will release all of creation from the divinely imposed futility, the futility that rests on all we can see, hear, smell, taste and touch, including on the scientific world.
What can we do? Believe this takes place. Pray for an end to futility and entropy.
All scripture quotations from the New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995; LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
