J. Warner Wallace - Gods Crime Scene Participants Guide: A Cold-Case Detective Examines the Evidence for a Divinely Created Universe

As a homicide detective, Ive been dispatched to a variety of death scenes over the years. But not every death scene is a crime scene. There are four ways to die and only one of them is criminal: murder. So how do homicide detectives tell the difference between natural deaths, accidents, suicides, and homicides? We ask one simple question: Can we explain everything we find in the room by staying in the room for an explanation?

If theres no evidence of an outside intruder, the best inference is usually a natural death, an accident, or a suicide. If, on the other hand, we have evidence in the room that indicates someone other than the inhabitant (someone outside the room) is responsible, we must at least consider the reasonable inference of a homicide. When theres evidence of an intruder, our priorities shift toward murder.

What if we applied this simple inside or outside the room approach to the entire natural universe? Can we explain everything we see (and experience) in the universe by staying inside the natural universe for an explanation? Can space, time, and matter, governed by the laws of physics and chemistry, explain everything we find in the universe, or is there a better explanation outside the material realm?

Several features of the universe require explanation. Over the course ofsidebar this study, well examine eight attributes of the cosmos, studying explanations that are offered from inside and outside the room of the natural universe. Well investigate the cosmos like a crime scene, using the skills of a detective, to determine if the universe is Gods crime scene.

Well begin where all good detectives begin, by examining causes. In homicide investigations, detectives ask, Who caused this murder? What motivated this suspect to commit this crime? Criminal investigations are largely causal investigations. Detectives learn to ask good questions about causation to determine the identity of a suspect. Judges then instruct jurors about causation to help them render a verdict. Heres an example from the State of California Jury Instructions:

An act causes [an injury] if the [injury] is the direct, natural, and probable consequence of the act and the [injury] would not have happened without the act. A natural and probable consequence is one that a reasonable person would know is likely to happen if nothing unusual intervenes. In deciding whether a consequence is natural and probable, consider all the circumstances established by the evidence.

In this session, well examine the issue of causation as we ask the following questions: Did the universe have a beginning? If so, what caused the universe to begin? What is the nature of this first cause? Well investigate the evidence to determine if the beginning of the universe was likely to happen if nothing unusual intervene[d].

How would you define the word miracle?

Many people are hesitant to believe what the New Testament says about Jesus because the Gospels include miraculous claims. Why do you think people are hesitant to accept miracles?

Have you ever thought about the origin of the universe? The apostle John wrote the following in the book of Revelation:

Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created. (4:11)

Why would the act of creation make God worthy of worship?

What difference would it make if the universe had a beginning, rather than having existed eternally?

Understanding the inside or outside the room principle

Applying the inside or outside the room principle to the universe

Examining the evidence that demonstrates our universe had a beginning

Fill in the missing words in the following diagram based on the information J. Warner provided in the video:

Examining one attempt to avoid a universe that has a beginning (from Lawrence Krauss)

Understanding why the beginning of space, time, and matter requires a cause outside the room of the universe