Why Multiverse Is a Theory of the Gaps, But God Isn’t

The multiverse has become scientists’ favorite explanation for the remarkable fine-tuning of the universe. The idea is simple: if there really are an infinite number of universes, each with different laws of nature, then of course we find ourselves in one that looks fine-tuned and designed. After all, we couldn’t exist anywhere else.

I often criticize this “naïve multiverse” as nothing more than a theory of the gaps. Why? Because it can be used to explain absolutely anything. If you claim there are infinite universes with infinite variations, then no matter how strange, unlikely, or bizarre something is, it must happen somewhere. But if a theory explains everything equally well, it actually explains nothing at all.

At this point, skeptics sometimes turn the critique back on me: “But isn’t belief in God just another ‘God of the gaps’ argument? Aren’t you being hypocritical?”

Here’s why the comparison fails.

An intelligent God is not a plug-in explanation for anything we don’t understand. Rather, God specifically explains a universe that is ordered, structured, and filled with complexity. That’s the very observation that led scientists to notice fine-tuning in the first place: the laws of nature are arranged in a way that produces atoms, planets, stars, galaxies, and life.

If, instead, we had observed a universe that was chaotic, formless, and devoid of any interesting structure, then God would indeed be a very poor explanation. An intelligent cause points directly to the reality we actually see.

By contrast, an infinite multiverse is so flexible it can explain anything—an ordered universe, a chaotic one, and everything in between. That’s why it falls into the trap of being a “theory of the gaps,” while belief in an intelligent God does not.

The difference is subtle but decisive: a theory that explains everything explains nothing, but a theory that explains the specific features of reality we observe is doing real explanatory work. That’s why the multiverse is a bad theory and God is a good one.

For Jews, this debate echoes something much older. From the opening verses of Genesis to the daily recitation of Shema, we affirm that the universe has a single, intelligent source. King David looked up at the heavens and declared, “The heavens tell the glory of God; the sky proclaims His handiwork” (Psalms 19:2). What modern physics calls “fine-tuning,” our tradition has long seen as the wisdom embedded in creation.

The multiverse may be today’s fashionable way for atheists to avoid God, but it doesn’t really explain why our world is filled with such precise order. The Torah’s insight remains as sharp as ever. Creation reflects design, not chance.