In the Beginning was Information

The nine above-mentioned general but fundamental theoremsabout the nature of the laws of nature, N1 to N9, have all beenderived from experience. Their correctness cannot be proved, butcan be tested repeatedly in the real world. We now formulate atenth theorem which depends, however, on the personal view ofthe user. For this reason we present two different versions, theoremsN10a and N10b. In the one case the existence of God isdenied, and in the second case He is accepted as the Prime Cause.Both views are equally a question of belief and conviction. In thecase of any given model, we have to decide which one of the twoassumptions would be more useful.N10a: Natural events can be explained without God. Thisassumption can be used in all cases where the laws of nature areapplied to existing or planned systems. An analysis of the energyequilibrium when ice melts, is an example of an existing system,while an example of a planned system is the building of a newspace vehicle. In actual fact, most effects of the laws of nature canbe explained and computed without reference to God (e. g. freefall). All attempts to explain the origin of life by means of modelswhere God as Initiator is ignored, are based on theorem N10a.It is necessary to formulate an important alternative theorem forthose who acknowledge the God of the Bible, namely, when didthe laws of nature begin to operate, and what is God’s position inregard to these laws? These questions cannot be solved throughobservation, and we require some knowledge of the Bible as background:N10b: The present laws of nature became operational whencreation was completed. The laws of nature are a fundamentalcomponent of the world as we know it, and they indicate that theCreator sustains all things (Colossians 1:17, Hebrews 1:3).Theselaws were installed during the six creation days, and thus cannot beregarded as prerequisites for creation, since they themselves werealso created. It is very emphatically denied that God’s creative actscould be explained in terms of the present laws of nature. At theend of the six days of creation everything was complete, the earth,the universe, the plants, animals, and man: “By the seventh dayGod had finished the work He had been doing” (Genesis 2:2).33