The Reason For God

I'm reading Timothy Keller's , The Reason For God, and am thoroughly enjoying it. I find it an easy read, which for a book with an apologetic nature that is a rarity. Here is a great illustration the author quotes from philosopher Alvin Plantinga on the issue of the creation of the universe, "He imagines a man dealing himself twenty striaght hands of four aces in the same game of poker. As his companions reach for their six-shooters the poker player says, 'I know it looks suspicious! But what if there is an infinite succession of universes, so that for any possible distribution of poker hands, there is one universe in which this possibility is realized? We just happen to find ourselves in one where I always deal myself four aces without cheating!'" This argument will have no effect on the other poker players. It is technically possible that the man just happened to deal himself twenty straight hands of four aces. Though you could not prove that he had cheated, it would be unreasonable to conclude that he hadn't." Another illustration by John Leslie, "imagine a man who is sentenced to be executed by a firing squad consisting of fifty expert marksmen. They all fire from six feet away and not one bullet hits him. Since it is possible that even expert marksmen could miss from close range it is technically possible that all fifty just happened to miss at the same moment. Though you could not prove they had conspired to miss, it would be unreasonable to draw the conclusion that they hadn't." Of course these illustrations are in a context of examining the "clues for God", one of which is the incredible way we exist in the midst of the perfect combination of elements and conditions. While I suppose it is possible that life could have "happened" without a Creator, I find it hard to trust the one in a trillion-trillion chance, but more difficult to understand is the way this potentially random formation is sustaining itself: the clues lead to a Creator.