Some atheists argue that if God actually existed then the universe wouldn’t be as big as it is; nor would it be as old.
These atheists argue that if, for example, the Christian God really cared about human beings (i.e. if he was “human-oriented”) then we should expect to see a much smaller universe; or at least more humans populating the universe across both space and time. But instead we find an immense universe with humans relegated to one tiny planet for a relatively short period of time.
One philosopher put it this way.
𝘐𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯-𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺? 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘠𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯...
𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯-𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵? 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴.
The problem with this line of reasoning is that it fails to account for the fact that the Christian God is not only interested in humans (John 3:16, Psalm 8:1-5) but he also seeks to display his glory.
According to the Bible, the world around us displays both the existence and greatness of God (Psalm 19:1-2, Rom 1:20). That means that the power of a thunderstorm, the beauty of a flower, the intricacy of a snowflake, the majesty of snow-capped mountains, and the immensity of our vast universe, all declare the glory of God
Given this, it’s no wonder that the universe is as big and as old as it is; for it shows us just how great and powerful God is.
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Reference
Emily Thomas, “Does the Size of the Universe Prove God Doesn’t Exist?,” RealClearScience, November 3, 2017, https://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2017/11/03/does_the_size_of_the_universe_prove_god_doesnt_exist_110442.html.