According to Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, 1962 edition, nature is defined as “the sum of all things in time and space; the entire universe.” If nature is the entire universe, how do we define supernatural? Back to Webster – supernatural is defined as “existing or occurring outside the normal experience or knowledge of man.” Definition 2 of supernatural further states “attributed to hypothetical forces beyond nature; miraculous; divine.”
If nature is all that we are aware of or have experience of, how can we be aware of the existence of something like “supernatural”? What we only have knowledge of is the universe, the sum of it. What we only have experience with IS the universe. I contend we have no knowledge or experience with anything outside the universe. True we don’t know all there is in or about the universe but so far our experience and our exploration has shown that what we have discovered locally seems to be held throughout the known universe. So where or what is this thing called supernatural?
I contend that supernatural does not exist. If it did exist, then we would have knowledge of it and therefore it then becomes part of nature, i.e. the universe. In other words, supernatural is a nonsense word.
The question of the existence of a god is a good example. The claim is made that a god exists but so far there has been no material, definitive, testable proof of its existence. As long as there is no solid evidence of a gods’ existence, then the question of a god remains a hypothesis.
There has been much written about some of the characteristics of a god such as omniscience, omnipresent and omnipotent. But I prefer another characteristic, location. According to the Bible, a god created the world. Most of the story of the creation event concerns itself with the creation of the Earth. Somewhat implied is the creation of the universe, e.g. “let there be light!” Genesis 1:22. So following the line of logic that says if a god created the universe then that supposes that the universe did not exist at some time in the past and then this god brought it into existence. That further supposes that a god exists in some realm “outside” our known universe. Or does he/she/it?
Some have proposed that a god is the universe or that the sum total of all that is, is a god. I prefer to look at the question more simply. If a god exists, where does he/she/it exists? The answer is either in the universe (as part of it or it as a whole) or outside of the universe in some other realm. Either answer poses problems.
Consider the proposition that a god exists outside the known universe. If a god exists outside of the known universe then that presumes that “something” outside our universe exists. And it follows that a god resides in this “something”. That immediately begs the question of what is this ‘something” that a god resides in? If then there is something beyond our universe, could there not be other universes? Cosmology delves into the multiverse theory as something that is plausible but as of yet, no evidence exists to support the theory.
But assuming that a god exists outside our known universe, and that there is the possibility of other universes that he/she/it deals with, are we his favorite? Maybe we are just an experiment. Since the Bible states that god has always existed, maybe we are just one of many universes that he/she/it puts together just for the fun of it.
Now think of the other possibility; that god exists in our universe; that there is nothing outside of what we know or see of our universe. Since we have pretty good evidence that the laws of physics operate the same in the observable universe, it can be assumed that a god or any god must be subject to the same laws. But wait. Christians will maintain that god can do what he pleases, regardless of the laws of nature, for example Jesus stilling the waters by his words. That leads to two other lines of questions. If a god exists in the universe and is not bound by the laws of nature as we know them, is then god just a real smart entity who knows more than us? Or does god operates under his own rules, laws, etc. How can he operate in the universe and not run into conflict with the laws of nature as we know them? It’s like having a bonfire in a solid ice cave. The fire would eventually melt the ice and the melting ice would put out the fire unless there was a trick involved.
Dealing with “supernatural” is fraught with contradictions. I contend that since this question can not be reasonably resolved, atheism is the default premise for dealing with the universe.