Argument from cosmic coincidences

From Religions Wiki

Argument from cosmic coincidences is based on various circumstances such as the distance of the Earth from the sun, the moon being exactly the right apparent size for spectacular eclipses, the tilt of the Earths rotational axis, the Earth's magnetic field, etc. These are thought by apologists to have been contrived for our benefit or to inspire our appreciation and awe. They argue this is evidence for the existence of God. [1] It is a hybrid of the fine-tuning argument and the argument from design.

Examples[edit]

These examples are all problematic because they cannot distinguish between coincidence, natural processes and design.

Distance and size of the Moon[edit]

The distance and size of the Moon allow total eclipses to occur:

"The moon has a number of distinctive characteristics. It is both 400 times smaller and 400 times closer to Earth than the sun is. This means that the moon and sun have about the same apparent size in our sky on average. This makes total solar eclipses possible. Earth is the only known planet that can experience eclipses where its moon so precisely covers the sun.[...] Of the planets in our solar system, Earth is uniquely designed for life, and the moon is uniquely designed to aid life on Earth. God chose to spend five of the six days of creation working on Earth, making it just the way He wanted it to be.[2]"

References[edit]