Part One: What evidence is there that God exists?

In my opinion, the likelihood of the universe springing into existence by itself, for no reason, is so remote as to be non-existent. The mathematics of this universe forming event are mind-bogglingly extreme. And even then, the sheer size and scale of it tells me something. To think of it as just a random, statistical fluke is either arrogant or stupid. I’ve looked long and hard at the science, philosophy, and religion of the universe, and my mind keeps returning to the same incontrovertible truth – a supreme being made it. My reasons for thinking this are: 

• The sheer size and scale of it. The universe is so unimaginably vast and complex. That something this vast and substantial could come into existence of its own accord and for no reason is implausible.
• The universe is too precise. Numerous, fundamental conditions of the universe appear to be fine-tuned to very ‘special’ values, where even small deviations from these values would have detrimental effects on its existence. If they were even slightly different, the universe as we know it would not exist. These fine-tunings could, theoretically speaking, have had any number of different values, and yet they just happened to be exactly perfect for our universe to exist. The usual way cosmologists explain this incredible fact away is that there must be an infinite number of universes, where all possible permutations of these constants occur, and we just happened to be in the perfect one. That may or may not be true, but another answer is that a supreme being engineered it. 
• The universe is highly organised. It is a vast cosmic web of galaxies and galaxy clusters, tied together by filaments that distribute matter, dark matter, fundamental particles, and gas. It looks, behaves, and acts like a living slime mould. The universe then is not chaotically arranged, disorganised, accidental, or random, but rather it is ordered and organised.
• The creation of the universe was a sophisticated, orchestrated event. The Big Bang required a faultless balance of forces (e.g. gravity, dark matter, quantum fluctuations, plasma cooling, radiation, particle formation) acting in just the right manner, at just the right times. It was not a failed, incomplete, or partially correct process. It happened exactly, synchronously, and perfectly. This could not have happened in such a short time period, and on such a humongous scale, without intention and deliberation.
• The creation of the universe was ‘miraculous’. Billions of light years of stuff, from a pin prick of matter, in a split second. This is extraordinary, fantastical, and transcendent. To all intents and purposes, the universe appeared in an instant, out of nowhere, and it didn’t even take six seconds, let alone six days! 
• The universe has great value. The inception of the universe was a purposeful, positive, creative act. Atoms were created in the Big Bang. Matter, water, and elements were created in the first supernovae. Galaxies, solar systems, cosmic structures, and the basics of life were formed. It is built on positive matter, rather than negative antimatter. It was not a negative, destructive act, like that of a high-velocity explosion. It created life, it is structured in a functional manner, and displays behaviours such as the flowing of galaxies along routes and pathways.
• The ingenuity of it. The incredible sophistication, ingenuity, and massive scale of the universe suggest a higher intelligence must have caused it. 
• The originality of it. Nothing like it has been observed anywhere in science, or has occurred since. It is a unique phenomenon. (We are not able to say that multiple universes exist; they are only a mathematical inference.)
• The idea that the universe has no cause is unlikely. It is implausible that such a vast, cosmic organism, displaying function, motion, action, and dynamism, came about by itself, for no reason. To suggest life is meaningless is nihilistic. 
• Baryonic Asymmetry. The fact that positive matter dominates the known universe is actually very strange and hard to explain using the laws of physics. When energy converts to matter, according to Einstein’s equation E=mc², it always creates equal amounts of matter and antimatter. In the Big Bang, when the universe was formulated, there should have been a blinding flash of radiation as these opposing particles cancelled each other out. But that is not what happened. By the order of one particle in a billion, matter prevailed and the universe as we know it was created. The margin that allowed everything we know to exist is 0.0000001%. Something broke the symmetry and tilted the scales in favour of all the complex chemistry we see today. 

The chances of the universe occurring by itself then, in the way that it does, are incredibly remote, which typically results in two conclusions: 

1. It created itself, without purpose and is one of only a number of universes. 
2. It was engineered by a supreme being or beings that are beyond our comprehension. 

The idea that we are products of a bizarre fluke of nature that has no cause or purpose may be some people’s notion of reality, but it isn’t mine. That there might be numerous universes only pushes the origins further back into infinite regress. On the other hand, if we accept the second example is more likely, we are usually forced into accepting religious dogma, which I don’t accept either. I want the science, I want rationality and reason, but ultimately, I have to examine what the implications of a supreme creator are.

A non-interventionist God

Although there is a strong argument that a higher power must have created the universe, we have no evidence of supernatural machinations, manipulating matter to suit divine purposes, or performing miracles. God could, if He wished, make unequivocal, supernatural interventions that made His existence certain and beyond doubt, but He doesn’t. Many people take this as proof that He doesn’t exist. Another way of seeing it, however, is that it is proof that He cannot, or will not, intervene. We are a tiny planet orbiting a star in a universe consisting of trillions of stars. It’s a bit like asking a farmer to identify bacteria on a single blade of grass on a 500-acre farm. Besides, for all we know, life may be ubiquitous throughout the universe, so our position may not be so special. It might also be that our universe is equivalent to a sealed terrarium jar, where bioorganisms, plants, and matter are placed inside and sealed, only for life to find its own way. 

While we do not have evidence of an interventionist God, what we do have are scientific laws, principles, and natural mechanisms that drive and orchestrate the universe. If we assume a higher authority made it, then we can also assume that the natural laws that govern it must be intentional too. In conclusion, then: there is enough evidence to believe that some higher authority created the universe, but little evidence that it is involved in day-to-day affairs. The implication from this is that God is a Deist God. 

What is Deism?

Deism is an ancient philosophical belief that a Supreme Being created the universe, but does not intervene further. This belief is based solely on rational thought and observation and does not involve revealed religions or religious authority. Deism, therefore, is based on natural theology, that is, God is revealed through the natural world. Deism has roots in Ancient Greece and was at its zenith during the Age of Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries. Many of the US founding fathers and notable philosophers, such as John Locke, were Deists, and it continues in intellectual and spiritual movements such as Unitarianism. Deism adds an immaterial, supernatural cause for the existence of matter in science but removes the miraculous, revelatory element from religion. This makes it outside of both these polar opposite systems, occupying a kind of middle ground, or halfway house. 

What is the purpose of believing in a Deist God?

God is outside of mainstream science and beyond the scope of religion. But why should we believe in something that only adds an immaterial layer to the scientific view and which takes away the profound, revelatory nature of religion? What is the point of believing in something that, at first glance, seems to have no involvement in our daily lives?

God brings elegant and persuasive power to the universe’s existence, which science has no answer for. Believing in God implies there is a power greater than us, and that everything around us is an aspect of a greater, natural design that is slowly being revealed by science. The very notion that you are part of an intentional, vast creation affects your world view. It is like being an orphan and finding out information about your biological parents or tracing your family tree and finding out about your ancestors. It is very powerful knowledge and it affects how you view everything else. It tells you who you are and where you come from. In this way, God brings focus and meaning to our existence.

While we can reasonably argue that God made the universe, we cannot know the reason why. This is because the mind of God is beyond our comprehension and not within our means to understand. Frustratingly, then, the purpose and meaning of the universe is ineffable. However, this need not be a cause for despair. Ancient Chinese and Indian cultures, describing the origins of the universe over three thousand years ago, simply said there was an absolute void, which was neither existence nor non-existence, from which everything emerged.

Vedic peoples may not trouble themselves with existential questions about the origins of the universe, but they do have some startling, insightful thoughts about the nature of reality. They believe there is a fundamental layer of reality that pervades and connects all things. Called the Brahman, it is an invisible essence that permeates the whole universe, an idea which is reminiscent of the quantum field, despite being three thousand five hundred years old. They believe that God manifests through this eternal life force, which is the basis for all things, including consciousness. It forms our sense of self, and from this we can aspire to achieve spiritual clarity through meditation, yoga, and by living virtuously. By transcending our preoccupation with the self, by getting rid of selfishness, greed, and anger, we can be liberated and released from much suffering. Through meditation and deep focus, we can rise above our usual self and become at one with the Brahman. 

In this way, God isn’t a personified being that intervenes in our lives, altering and manipulating them. He isn’t a supreme overlord, with a magical kingdom waiting for us when we die. If we are morally good, it is the fundamental nature of the universe and a way of being. God is an essence, present in everything around us.

Part Two: A Deist path through life – the importance of virtue

‘All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.’ Buddha

Summum Bonum is Latin for the highest good and in Stoic philosophy it was the ideal we should aim for in our daily lives. Roman emperor and military general Marcus Aurelius wrote about this highest life goal often in his diaries. He defined it as four Stoic virtues: wisdom, courage, temperance and justice, though these words differ slightly from how we use them today. He believed that when the world was filled with decadence, corruption, evil and sin, we had to hold onto virtue as the just and proper way to live. Virtuous living was also the central theme to the worlds great religions, and also most of history’s greatest thinkers, including Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Immanuel Kant, and even modern philosophers such as Iris Murdoch and Philippa Foot, all of which taught the importance of virtue. So, what is virtue?

Virtue has many synonyms: goodness, kindness, righteousness, honour, decency, trustworthiness, and even strength and power. Virtue is the quality of excellence in morality, behaviour and intellect. It is the foundational principle of being, and is the pillar upon which many great empires and religions were built. 

Virtue helps our spirit grow positively, the absence of virtue hinders it, and causes us to suffer. This is common sense as much as anything. We can see these effects with our own eyes. Anger, hate, vengeance, war, oppression, cruelty; all these things and more, make us sick, twisted and bitter. We cannot thrive while we are in these states. Only by abandoning these vices and adopting love, peace, strength, calmness, generosity and kindness can we feel true happiness and contentment. Great religious figures and political leaders have all preached this simple loving message since the beginning of recorded history. We teach it to our children, and when they learn it they are happier. Human happiness is inextricably linked with being good and virtuous, and the opposite (vice) is also true. These are natural, inherent states of body and mind. When our body and mind are in harmony, we become at one with the natural order that God created.

Life is exhilarating 

We live in a creative universe; an incredible cosmic web of galaxies, miraculously derived from an infinitesimally small singularity. By default, the universe produces positive things; things of significant value. Even when apparently destructive things happen, there are positive reactions that arise from them. For example, the fearsome fires of supernovae forge the very elements we are all made from. On our planet, destructive volcanoes erupt which wreak havoc, but in time this produces the most fertile soil. Forest fires appear to destroy everything in their path, yet they help rejuvenate them, and are beneficial for their conservation. In this way, things of great value are in abundance on our planet, and most likely everywhere else too. Life is a constructive force, not deconstructive one.

Because life is positive and affirming across the universe, we can be certain that the natural order for our minds and bodies is to be positive and affirming too. A healthy young child is vibrant, curious, energetic, innocent, and playful. A happy person is uplifting, joyful and full of fun. By contrast, a negative person is sad, cynical, depressed, bitter, twisted, angry or malevolent. A disturbed person is capable of inflicting extremely destructive acts that are difficult to recover from. Negative states of mind and body lead to sickness and internal maladies. They result in addictions, substance abuse and self-harm. Violent behaviours lead to inner stress and trauma. We do not need to be taught this, it is clear and evident. We all want to be in beneficial, positive states of mind. If life is meant to be about survival of the fittest, if it is supposed to be about being strong and tough, then why aren’t we happiest when we are cruel or unkind? The only people who are like that are sick, mentally unsound, and the products of a morally corrupt childhood and a poor environment. Ask yourself – why should this be? Is it just another evolutionary fluke that love and laughter is the blueprint for happiness?

How can God be a force for good when there is so much hardship, poverty and cruelty in the world? 

There is no such thing as evil. Evil is an outmoded concept that tells us little about the motivation for extremely bad behaviour or terrible natural disasters. What constitutes evil, is incredibly difficult to define, and what we think of as human evil is down to poor upbringing and environmental conditions, rather than an innate badness which is the fault of God. The very notions of goodness and badness are relatives, rather than absolutes. What’s bad for the prey is good for the predator. The natural order can seem tough to us city dwelling folks, but maybe that’s because we don’t understand nature anymore.

Death, disease and pain are important essential aspects of being a living, breathing, sensitive organism. They have evolved under genetic conditions, over millennia, to help organisms respond to complex environmental situations. Some aspects of nature can appear quite cruel to us, but they are in fact, natural instincts creatures have developed to help them survive and pass on their genes. What we think of as evil in nature is actually essential behaviours needed for life in the wild. 

We don’t think of a cell, or microorganism, absorbing another cell for food, as being an example of evil, but we do associate a praying mantis eating its male partner during mating, with cruelty. And yet, both of these behaviours are essentially the same. The difference is in the moral attachment human beings place on them. We, quite rightly, object to casual violence, pain and suffering in our modern societies, but then seem quite happy to slaughter billions of animals each year for food. Morality, good, evil, ethics, are all difficult to define and vary from society to society, and culture to culture.

However, despite what some Tik-Tokers would have us believe, it would be wrong for us to revert back to a survival of the fittest mentality in our modern societies. This is because we have developed ways of living together in large groups that negate the need behave in this way. We don’t need to be selfish and unkind, as survival of the fittest suggests. We share, we cooperate, we heal the sick, and support the infirm, for example. We attempt to rise above some of our basic natural instincts, and we try to teach our children to do the same. When we fail, when we revert to mass violence and war, we fall back into primitive ways that can only do us harm. Yes, we have to be strong, yes we have to be resilient, but we shouldn’t have to live in the shadow of oppression and cruelty either. We cannot blame God for bad things that are caused by, or strongly influenced by human beings.

Part Three: What can we gain from religious practice? 

“There is no need to travel a great distance to touch the Kingdom of God, because it is not located in space or time. The Kingdom of God is in your heart. It is in every cell of your physical body. With a single mindful breath, a single insight that is deep enough, you can touch the Kingdom of God. When you are practicing mindful walking, that is exactly what you are doing-touching the Kingdom of God, walking in it mindfully, with compassion and under-standing. The Kingdom of God becomes your kingdom.” Thich Nhat Hanh 

While Deists believe that divine, religious revelations did not happen in the way holy texts say they did, this does not mean sacred texts should be completely ignored. Deism takes an Omnistic approach to religion, which states that all religions have value, but none are absolute. Sacred texts provide us with many important, valuable lessons about how to live richer, more meaningful lives. Desists may not believe Jesus was a Son of God, but they believe he was a brilliant teacher from whom we can learn so much. There is much profound, beautiful wisdom in ancient texts, from the Parables of Jesus, to the Tao, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, to name a few. Here are some texts I believe contain so much wisdom and guidance:

Analects, Confucius

Tao Te Ching

I Ching

the Awakening of Faith, Ashvaghosha

Avatamsaka sutra

Bhagavad Gita

The Vedas

Upanishads 

The Quran 

The Bible

Parables of Jesus 

Tripitaka, Buddhist canons

Blue Cliff Record and Book of Serenity, central to Zen Buddhist practice

Dhammapada, Buddha’s sayings

In addition to the spiritual guidance from reading sacred texts, there is much to gain from following the structure and lifestyle of religious practice. Most of these practices have been extensively researched and are widely supported. 

Meditation calms the wandering mind

Meditation is a practice that involves concentration, contemplation, and mental focus, to train your mind and emotional states, in order to achieve self-awareness. There are many ways of meditating. Some, such as Zen Buddhism, focus on the breath, while transcendental meditation focusses on sounds and chants. Popular apps support guided, mindful meditation, but the principle aims of all meditations are the same – to take control of the wandering thoughts that go around in our brains every waking moment and to focus the mind. For many people, like me, these thoughts are often disturbed, intrusive and anxiety inducing, so exercising a degree of control over them is hugely beneficial. This is isn’t easy and it takes a huge amount of commitment to learn the skills required. In any case, meditation is only one weapon in the battle to quell the troubled mind. 

The most important thing about learning meditation is to have a good teacher and online videos and apps are not necessarily the best way to learn. The second thing is to prepare the time and space needed to practice it because it takes commitment and you will often feel like giving up. The third thing is not to expect instant results because meditation creates tiny, incremental changes in the mind over a long period of time. 

That said, if done well, meditation can have fantastic rewards. Ideally, you should be able to feel as though you are sitting on the bank of a river watching your thoughts you past you. There should be a disconnection with your mental chatter, whether it is negative and intrusive, or even if it is good. There are no compulsions to latch onto thoughts and churn them over in your mind, because you become aware that all such thoughts are superficial. If you can get to that stage, bravo, you are a meditation master! It’s rarely a binary process however. There are good days when you feel in control, and others when you don’t. Some days, meditation seems superfluous, other days you feel like you need to lock yourself away and meditate for hours. 

How do you meditate? Although there are many ways of meditating, ancient Indian texts outline a simple method:

“To attain this godly state, Arjuna, you must become fully immersed in the True Self through the process called meditation (dhyana yoga). You have to control your mind, body, and senses and become free of possessions, expectations, desires, and greed. You must live alone, at least internally, in a quiet place. This inner discipline called meditation is imperative because it is the means for achieving lofty and necessary ends.”

“The method of meditation includes locating a clean spot to sit, neither too high or low, covered with kusha grass, a deerskin, and a cloth, in that order.” Then, the meditator strives to still all thoughts and sensations. Thus cleansing the mind returns it to its original state, inviting God to enter.”

“While meditating, sit up straight, keep your body still, and keep your eyes from wandering by gazing at the tip of your nose. Or close the eyes and focus on the center of spiritual consciousness between your eyebrows. Remain in perfect calmness with your thoughts fixed on Me, the Divine.”

“Through long concentration one’s mind ceases its wandering. After some time one develops what is in essence a new sensory faculty known as medhanadi, an intuitive penetrating skill that makes knotty issues of life no longer problems. The yogi with his or her mind constantly on the Divine finds deep serenity, the zenith of Self-realization, and merges with Me.” Bhagavad Gita

Rituals connect us

All belief systems have rituals, for example. Rituals may seem like pointless, repetitive actions, but they have both symbolic meaning and contain great benefits. Studies show that the anxiety-reducing effect of rituals, they induce happiness, help us cope with grief, and improve social bonding. Rituals connect us to our ancestors and mark important life cycles. In Confucianism, rituals permeate every aspect of living, eating, and even breathing. 

Prayer heals us

Rituals also extended to prayer, which can be traced back to prehistoric offerings and incantations tied to agricultural cycles and seasons. Today, prayer serves as a way of connecting to the divine, to provide comfort and solace, and to connect communities. Prayer has been shown to have a positive impact on both mental and physical health. It reduces stress, enhances emotional stability and even improves your heart! 

Sacrifice restores and cleanses

Sacrifice has also been practised since prehistoric times, in the form of animal and sometimes human sacrifice, although it has evolved into an expression of religious devotion through self-sacrifice and fasting; a way of showing devotion, restoring order, cleansing, and providing social cohesion. Fasting has been scientifically shown to have significant beneficial effects on cellular repair, reducing inflammation, heart health and brain function. 

A tree of faith

Although there are countless doctrines, rituals, and practices contained in the world’s religions, you can find other patterns; not sporadic, casual patterns, but patterns with greater consistency, order, and structure; things that unify all religions; places where all faiths overlap: 

• The law of reciprocity (do unto others),
• Being truthful, 
• Generosity, 
• Peacefulness, 
• Love,
• Non-violence, 
• Reaping what you sow, 
• Being slow to anger, 
• Forgiveness, 
• and my favourite: all things are of one essence. 

There are others, of course, but together they form a ‘tree of faith’; values upon which all religions unite. In this way, faith becomes a trustworthy pattern with significant form and clarity. It shows that, far from being a dangerous form of psychosis, religion has real purpose and meaning. Of course, these qualities don’t need to be religious in nature. Secular societies offer similar things without religion, and perhaps this indicates these patterns are essential human traits. 

What is the spirit?

The spirit is defined as our living essence, which is seen as being greater than consciousness alone. In this way, the spirit exists as the bioelectric life force within us, and is shaped and formed as we grow. 

Even if you just want to stick with the science, by definition we have a tangible bioelectrical life force emanating within us. But, I do believe the Spirit is more than just an electrical current. The Spirit encapsulates our emotions, or desires, our ambitions, our relationships, our interactions and environment. Our Spirit is our life force. A life without a Spiritual side is a life lacking in one of its profound gifts. You can argue that you can have a spiritual side without religion, but I do believe that deeply religious people often have an added spiritual dimension that transcends us ordinary folk. It as though they have a divine providence accompanying them on life’s journey. 

The highest level

However, there is another dimension to religion that is missing from non-belief: the other-worldly, higher dimension to existence that is God. Truly religious people place a deep trust in this higher authority and are humbled by it. They commit to living peaceful lives that reflect those unifying teachings and values. The values form a commitment; a pact with God whereby they pledge that they will live their lives trying to enact them in all that they do. This is very different to simply saying I think I more or less, kind of, practice them. 

The fact that people through time and place have abused and used peaceful, spiritual beliefs for their own nefarious ends says a lot about people and less about God. Anyone who kills in the name of God is not acting in true accordance with their holy scripture. The high values of religious teachings are things for the faithful to aspire to; they aren’t automatically bestowed the moment you walk through a church door. Besides, we have (apparent) free will, so it is our own personal choices that define us and make our species what it is, not God. 

As providence decrees

Deism, rather than being an empty, vacuous thing to believe, is an umbrella under which all human beings can unite. Deism is useful, in that it offers a simple, common sense framework for understanding and living in a contemporary world. Deism isn’t a religion, but it agrees with the fundamental, moral principles of religion. Deism does not hinder scientific progress, or interfere in its operation, but it adds a useful layer of context to it, because suddenly, we aren’t attributing everything to blind forces happening upon fortuitous innovations, we can say they are acting within intent. We are the result of known cycles, forces and interactions, carefully procured to evolve and grow. Of course, you might easily argue that none of this proves God exists, but I think the evidence is manifest everywhere in the natural theology all around us.

God is the wind and the trees, it is the sun on the flowers, and the rain in your hair. God is nature. God is evolution. God is revealed through science. God is the art you have created, or the goal you have achieved. God is a nebula erupting in the cosmos, or the black hole swallowing time and gravity. God is the delicious food you had for breakfast and the plants, animals, flowers and insects that brought you it. God is the bioelectric force of life itself. From the fundamental particles of matter, to the elemental, evolutionary forces that bind everything together. God is everything. 

Sources

• The unreasonable likelihood of being. Origin of life, terraforming, and AI. Robert G. Endres, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London 21 Dec 2025
• The asteroid Ryugu has all of the main ingredients for life. New Scientist. 16 March 2026 Leah Crane
• The Highest Good: An Introduction To The 4 Stoic Virtues. Daily Stoic website
• Omnism Wikipedia
• Surprising power of daily rituals BBC
• Rituals alleviate grieving for loved ones
• What are Confucian customs and rituals?
• 10 reasons why we pray
• 10 science backed benefits for prayer
• 5 health benefits of fasting backed by science