Materialists believe that all the energy and matter in the universe is governed by physical laws. A planet circles a star at a precise distance from it, electrical impulses travel along neurons in the brain and blood circulates in arteries--all according to law.

Everything exists in its present state because of an infinite chain of law-abiding events that preceded the present circumstances. Some things may appear chaotic and random, but in fact everything is moving and interacting according to precise laws such as those of motion, electromagnetism, gravity and strong and weak nuclear forces. It is not really by chance that a coin will be heads about half the time and tails the other half. Subtleties in the way the coin is held and the forces from your thumb dictate exactly what it will be at every flip.

Every atom in every one of your cells, every molecule you breathe in at this moment and every photon and cosmic ray from the sun and stars striking your body at any given time were all predetermined by physical sequences set in motion with the Big Bang of the materialist