Does the Universe Need God?

I've had God on my mind lately, as I've been finishing an invited essay for the upcoming Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity. The title is "Does the Universe Need God?", and you can read the whole thing on my website by clicking. I commend the editors, Jim Stump and Alan Padgett, for soliciting a contribution that will go against the grain of most of the other essays. As you might guess, my answer to the title question is "No," while many of the other entries will be arguing "Yes" (or at least be sympathetic to that view). I think of my job as less about changing minds than informing -- I want thoughtful people who are committed Christians reading this volume to at least understand where I am coming from, even if they don't agree. Think of it as an elaboration of "Why (Almost All) Cosmologists Are Atheists," which ...