A Science-Based Argument For Hashem

By: Rabbi Elie Feder

Part 2: How the Scientific Discovery of Fine-tuning Solved the Great Mystery

By Rabbi Elie Feder, PhD, and Rabbi Aaron Zimmer | PhysicsToGod.com

In our previous article, we presented a deep mystery at the heart of modern physics. Our universe runs on a set of 25 strange numbers, known as the constants of nature, that don’t follow any known law of physics. For decades, scientists hoped to discover a deeper explanation that would unlock the secret behind these values. For a long time, none came.

But then scientists discovered something extraordinary. Something that transformed this mystery into one of the most powerful scientific arguments for the existence of G-d.

This discovery is known as fine-tuning. And it changed everything.

Beginning in the 1970s and continuing to this day, scientists made a series of surprising discoveries about the constants of nature. While these precise numbers may not seem important for physics alone, they turn out to be absolutely essential for things like chemistry, astronomy, and biology. If some of these 25 numbers were even a little bit different, atoms wouldn’t form, stars wouldn’t shine, and life would never exist.

This is called fine-tuning. It means that the constants are set with incredible precision. It’s almost as if someone carefully adjusted them to make everything in the universe work just right.

Scientists discovered many examples of fine-tuning. One is the fine-structure constant. While it’s not important to know exactly what this is, it is important to know that if it were a little bigger, then an atom wouldn’t be able to hold together. And if there were no atoms, there could be no molecules, planets, stars, or life. Physicist Leonard Susskind highlighted this in his book, The Cosmic Landscape (page 175):

What if the fine structure constant were bigger, say about one? This would create several disasters, one of which would endanger the nucleus. Why is the fine-structure constant small? No one knows. But if it were bigger, there would be no one to ask the question.

Many people say the constants are fine-tuned just for life, but that’s not quite right. They’re fine-tuned for everything amazing in the universe: from atoms to galaxies, and everything in between, including life.

Of course, life is extraordinary, and human beings with a neshamah are uniquely significant. But it’s overstating the case to say that fine-tuning is exclusively for life. (This is a really important point that answers many of the problems raised on the fine-tuning argument.)

The discovery of fine-tuning caused a major problem for scientists. Saying we got incredibly lucky just wasn’t an option. It would be like randomly guessing a 25 trillion-digit password and getting it right on the first try.

To appreciate the problem, let’s revisit scientists’ two previous explanations for the constants (from the last article) and see how the discovery of fine-tuning shows that neither of them works at all. Here’s why:

Saying “these constants are just brute facts” doesn’t explain why they’re perfectly tuned to result in a complex universe. It just remains a massive coincidence!

Saying “maybe a deeper law set them” doesn’t explain how that law could hit all the right numbers by accident. It’s once again a huge coincidence with no explanation.

Fine-tuning was clearly a great clue for solving the mystery of the constants. This is because it was the only genuine scientific knowledge ever discovered about these strange numbers. But what did it mean?

Let’s say you find a spaceship with 25 control knobs, and they’re all set exactly right to keep the ship running. Would you think that was just luck?

No way! You’d be sure someone intelligent set those dials on purpose.

That’s what fine-tuning in the universe looks like. Out of all the possible values the constants could have had, they ended up being the exact ones needed for atoms, molecules, planets, stars, galaxies, and life. That indicates something intentionally chose them for the purpose of producing our complex universe.

In fact, that’s exactly what intelligence is—the ability to choose one setup out of many to reach a goal. So if the constants of nature are fine-tuned to create our complex universe, this discovery directly indicates that it was done by an intelligent cause—Hashem.

Some people might object, “Aren’t you just using G-d to explain something you don’t understand—a ‘G-d of the Gaps’ argument?”

Not at all. This isn’t about filling in gaps that we’re ignorant about. It’s about a real scientific discovery. We didn’t say, “We don’t know, so it must be G-d.” We said, “Scientists know that the constants are fine-tuned, and that points to an intelligent cause.”

Therefore, this isn’t an argument from ignorance. It’s an argument from knowledge.

Some people ask, “If the constants had to be fine-tuned by G-d, doesn’t that mean someone else had to fine-tune G-d?”

That would be a valid question if we were to explain fine-tuning by invoking a complex god that’s made up of parts. Because if a being is composed of parts, then something else would need to arrange and fine-tune those parts. But a complex god isn’t the G-d of the Torah—it’s a god of avodah zarah.

This is precisely why the fine-tuning argument points not just to any designer, but only to YichudHashem: one utterly simple, indivisible, and fundamental Existence Who intelligently designed the universe. Hashem doesn’t have parts that need to be adjusted. He is not subject to the question, “Who fine-tuned G-d?” because He is not made of components that could be fine-tuned in the first place.

It’s striking to see how the discoveries of modern science point to true monotheism—the very same idea of G-d that Avraham Avinu taught the world thousands of years ago. The same truth that Moshe Rabbeinu proclaimed in the Torah when he said, “Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad.” The same concept that the Rambam formulates as a mitzvah in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 1:7 where he writes that Hashem is absolutely one with no parts whatsoever.

Fine-tuning presented a major problem for scientists who assumed that G-d couldn’t possibly exist. How could they explain the precisely fine-tuned constants without an intelligent cause?

As shocking as this may sound, the best explanation scientists could come up with is the multiverse—an infinite number of unobservable universes where everything possible happens. According to this theory, our universe is just one of infinitely many universes, each with different constants. While most of the universes wouldn’t have atoms, stars, or life, we live in one of the rare universes that does.

You might wonder: What are the chances that we live in a universe with just the right conditions? The multiverse theory answers this by saying that we had to end up in a universe like this because life isn’t possible anywhere else. Out of all the possible universes, only the ones with fine-tuned constants can support life. So while it feels like our universe is special, multiverse scientists argue that it’s merely the only kind of universe we could ever live in.

While this might sound like science fiction or a Marvel movie, the multiverse is actually a serious theory that many scientists accept. The very fact that brilliant minds are willing to embrace something as extreme as an infinite, unobservable multiverse to avoid the conclusion of a Creator speaks volumes about how powerful the fine-tuning argument truly is.

But the multiverse isn’t just far-fetched; it fails even in its own scientific terms. To understand why, watch or listen to Season Two of the “Physics to G-d” podcast, where we fully analyze why the multiverse doesn’t hold up as a valid explanation for fine-tuning.

With this brief presentation of the fine-tuning argument in mind, we can return to the beginning of this series of articles, where we laid out three reasons why it’s worthwhile for a ben Torah to see how the physical universe itself testifies to its Creator.

First, we can confidently respond to the apikorus who falsely claims that science makes G-d unnecessary. In reality, belief in an intelligent Borei Olam Who fine-tuned the constants for a purpose is far more reasonable than the atheistic embrace of an infinite, unobservable multiverse that more rightfully belongs in the realm of fairy tales.

Second, the fine-tuning argument offers a solid, scientifically-grounded case for the existence of Hashem. Of course, the Torah and our mesorah have always taught us that He exists, but seeing this truth emerge from modern physics allows us to grasp it firsthand, deepening our emunah in a powerful and personal way.

Third, recognizing the infinite chochmah of Hashem—in choosing just the right values to shape our wondrous universe—inspires ahavah and yirah, drawing us nearer to the Source of all wisdom, beauty, and meaning.

This series of articles is just the tip of the iceberg. There is far more depth to the fine-tuning argument, as well as other discoveries in modern science that also point toward the existence of Hashem. While pursuing this path in depth isn’t for everyone, those who are drawn to these questions can explore them further—whether through the resources at “Physics to G-d” or elsewhere—to deepen their understanding, strengthen their emunah, and draw them closer to the Creator of the universe. n

Rabbi Elie Feder PhD, a Rebbe at Yeshiva Bnei Torah and a math professor at Kingsborough Community College, is the author of Gematria Refigured (2022) and Happiness in the Face of Adversity (2024). Rabbi Aaron Zimmer holds a degree in physics and is a retired commodity futures trader. They both received smicha from Rabbi Yisroel Chait, and together host the Physics to God podcast, which presents a rational, science-based case for the existence of G-d.