Most latter-day saints are familiar with the first law of thermodynamics. It is the law of conservation of energy which states that energy can be transformed, but never created nor destroyed. Fewer of us are familiar with the second law of thermodynamics which is unfortunate because the second law provides rational, scientific-based evidence for the existence of God.

The second law of thermodynamics states that matter in a closed system will move toward a more disorganized state until it reaches equilibrium. If we assume, from an atheistic viewpoint, that all matter in the universe came from a closed system that was the Big Bang, and that there is no Creator, then the overall level of disorder in the universe should be increasing. However, we see evidence of highly organized planetary and biological systems all around us. Does this prove the atheists wrong?

Not quite. Disorder, or entropy as it is sometimes called, may decrease in areas of a system by chance alone. Put differently, it is possible for matter to randomly coalesce into highly ordered states (low entropy) by chance.

I am reminded of a Star Trek Next Generation episode where “Q” (an omnipotent and chaotic being from another world) took Captain Picard back in time to when a primordial soup of inorganic material coalesced to form the first proteins that started life on earth (a process called abiogenesis). Q looks into the soup and says, “See this? This is you.” Then he regretfully informs Captain Jean-Luc Picard that his actions inadvertently disrupted the chance ordering of protein molecules, thus halting the formation of life on earth.

While this Star Trek story is fanciful fiction, it bears some truth. All inorganic material necessary for forming complex systems capable of sustaining life is present in the physical universe. And it is possible that inorganic matter could randomly arrange itself into complex, life-sustaining systems. The second law of thermodynamics allows for this possibility, but it also suggest that such an event is unlikely. 

Here's an example that illustrates the improbability of this sort of thing happening.
Look around the room you are in. Draw an imaginary line through the center of the room. Oxygen molecules are dispersed throughout the room keeping you alive. If we think of your room as its own system, we would say that the oxygen molecules are in a highly disordered (high entropy) state. They are more or less evenly dispersed.

Now, what are the chances of the oxygen molecules randomly assembling on the opposite side of the room from where you are seated, assuming no outside force is at work? If this happened, the oxygen molecules would have moved to a more ordered (low entropy) state and you would suffocate and die. Thankfully the chances are nigh to impossible, but it could happen.

The same goes for the creation of life (abiogenesis). There is a chance that inorganic particles could randomly form complex systems capable of sustaining life; it is, however, improbable. It is less likley than oxygen molecules randomly gathering on the other side of your room. The chances of abiogenesis happening by chance are so slim that it is rational to look for an outside entity like God to account for the presence of life.

Warwick University philosophy professor Roger Trigg agrees. He said, “It’s much simpler to believe in God who created the one universe, rather than saying there are an enormous number [of universes] and we just happen to be the one that’s come up in this way [by chance].”