English

Does a Fine-Tuned Universe Tell Us Anything About God?

History and Philosophy of Physics 2025-02-18 v1

Abstract

The apparent fine-tuning of several fundamental parameters that determine the properties of our Universe and make it hospitable to life is sometimes used as an argument for God from design. I review the concept of cosmic fine-tuning and critically examine the claim that God is its most probable cause. While not definitively repudiating this claim, I argue that it is potentially in tension with the more apophatic approach to God found in the Abrahamic traditions. I then offer a metaphysical analysis of the contingency of fine-tuning that situates it within the classical analogy of being that points to the Divinity.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2502.12083,
  title  = {Does a Fine-Tuned Universe Tell Us Anything About God?},
  author = {Adam D. Hincks},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.12083},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

19 pages, 1 figure. To appear in _Zygon: Journal of Religion_ (DOI 10.16995/zygon.16897) in a thematic section on "Theology and Philosophy Engage the New Cosmology"