Author of “God’s Not Dead” Rice Broocks and physics professor Dr. Eric Hedin explored evidence for the existence of God in a presentation on Monday, Oct. 16.

“I’m not here to say tonight that I have absolute certainty,” Broocks said, explaining the purpose of the event. “We’re here to basically present the evidence and ask the question tonight, ‘Are you willing to follow the evidence wherever it leads?’”

The first talking point in their presentation involved the assertion that the universe had a beginning. Broocks and Hedin provided an argument against the concept of materialism, a philosophical principle that everything that exists is matter, and, therefore, the only things that can be proven real are material.

“Maybe a physical law like gravity can bring about something from nothing,’ but what is actually at fault with that thought is that gravity is not nothing,” Hedin said. “So, it’s the one starting point. Gravity only exists if you only have matter or energy or space. If there’s nothing, there’s no gravity, so you can’t have gravity be the cause because it didn’t exist until the stuff already existed.”

Next, Broocks addressed the concept of “fine tuning of the universe.” He explained how the physical parameters of Earth are fine-tuned and calibrated to the precise point that allows for life to be sustained. He said that life isn’t an accident. 

Hedin, formerly of Ball State and now with Biola University, said that if the variables and measurements that keep the world alive were to be altered even in a small way, everything would fall apart. He said that this level of detail and precision points to an intelligent mind that dialed everything with exact accuracy.\

In relation to the precision of the universe’s makeup, the speakers connected this level of detail to the human genome. Hedin referred to the contents of human DNA as “computer code-like information” and cited them as evidence for intelligent design.

The third portion of the presentation surrounded the concepts of good and evil. 

“If there is no God, then basically what we would consider morality is just an illusion,” Broocks said. “It’s not really there.”

Broocks said that God gave humanity the freedom to make choices, and people have the ability to choose wrong. 

The final section of the presentation covered Jesus Christ and the resurrection. Broocks and Hedin examined Christ as a historical figure and said that any true historian would contend he was a real person. The speakers delved into historical accounts of Christ, such as his disciples saying they saw him after his death.

The speakers concluded their presentation by explaining the gospel and praying for the audience.