Scientific evidence for a ‘clockmaker’ explored in book for an anxious generation

The international bestseller "God, The Science, The Evidence" argues that scientific evidence for the existence of God complements faith and provides reassurance in an age marked by uncertainty. Featuring insights from 63 Nobel Prize winners, authors Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies are promoting the English translation of their French work, originally titled Dieu, la science, les preuves and published in France by Guy Trédaniel publishing house in October 2021. The English edition was released in October 2025 for the 2025-2026 holiday season.

Christian Daily International interviewed Bolloré, 80, a computer engineer from Brittany currently living in London, about the science-faith debate presented in the book. Bolloré says studying science has always been vital to ensuring his Christian faith is informed by evidence.

"If science had concluded that God does not exist or was a different religion, I would have followed science," Bolloré said. "So science has always been very important to me, and I was happy that science and faith were coherent together."

The book’s origins began 20 years ago when Bolloré embarked on a study of how science aligns with Christianity. During this time, he met Bonnassies, a mathematician and former atheist who converted to Christianity in his 20s based on scientific evidence.

"He was convinced that God existed and he became a Christian and converted his family," Bolloré recalled. "It's a clear example that reason, philosophy, and science can lead to the certainty of God’s existence."

Recognizing a need for a book accessible to the general public, the duo spent four years researching and consulted 25 experts. The work was a collective effort, including contributions from respected scientists such as Robert Wilson, the agnostic cosmologist who discovered the "echo" of the Big Bang in 1963. Wilson edited the cosmology section and wrote the preface.

"He wrote something which, for an agnostic, is important," Bolloré said. "He noted that if the Big Bang and related discoveries are true, we cannot avoid the question of creation."

Bolloré says the book is aimed at the roughly half of the population who no longer believe in God and often feel anxious. “People are searching for answers,” he said. “We wanted to write a book for the general public—accessible to young readers and grandparents alike—while remaining accurate and rigorous.”

Sales have reached 450,000 copies, and the authors have participated in conferences at universities such as Princeton and Oxford. Bolloré noted that many young students are eager to understand how science informs faith.

"Our book is not about religion or faith," Bolloré said. "It asks whether the universe is like a wonderful clock. Philosophers of the 18th century used this analogy: is there a clockmaker behind the clock? Materialists say there is a clock but no clockmaker. We—Christians, Jews, Muslims—say there is a clockmaker."

Bolloré uses an illustration of a 10-floor superstore with an underground car park to explain the book’s progression. The book acts as an elevator, moving readers from the "underground" of atheism to the "ground floor" of deism, showing that science points to a creator God.

"We don’t go further," he said. "After that, the question is: Who is He? What is His name? We just show that science indicates, beyond doubt, that there is a creator God. That is the alpha and omega of our book."

Bolloré described reports of a "Quiet Revival" among Gen Z as encouraging, but emphasized a long-term historical view. From 1500 to 1900, discoveries seemed to suggest God was unnecessary to explain the universe, citing Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, and Darwin. Philosophers and later figures such as Marx and Freud argued that faith caused unhappiness and that removing God would bring freedom.

"Of course, that was not true," Bolloré said. He argued that 20th-century scientific discoveries caused the "pendulum" to swing back, making it "impossible to explain the world without a creator God."

He highlights several scientific discoveries as evidence: the universe’s beginning and eventual thermal death, its ongoing expansion, the precise fine-tuning of physical constants, and the complexity of life, which cannot emerge from inert matter alone.

Bolloré suggests that materialism has become an irrational belief. Some scientists reject God because His existence challenges their personal freedom.

"They say, 'No master, no God,' because they don’t want limits on their freedom," he said. "If they have an abortion or euthanasia, they don’t want critics. God could be a limitation. So many scientists continue to deny God to avoid constraints."

He blames the "cult of reason" and de-Christianization following the French Revolution for current secular perceptions of science. Political movements, he argues, rewrote history to suggest Christians opposed science, when in fact modern science developed largely in Christian countries.

"It is Christianity that allowed science to develop," Bolloré said. "Copernicus was a church canon, Galileo a scientist for the Pope."

He also discusses historical consequences. In Stalin’s Russia and Hitler’s Germany, scientists who pointed to a beginning of the universe—regardless of personal belief—were persecuted.

"There was fantastic persecution of scientists simply for showing the universe had a beginning," he said. "This chapter is original in our book; few have written about it."

Bolloré emphasized that one does not need to be a top scientist to understand the evidence. If the universe has an absolute beginning, there must be a cause outside it, which can only be God. The fine-tuning of the universe is also accessible for general understanding.

"All the evidence in our book can be understood by anyone over 17," he said. "It is written to be read by everyone."

He believes the question of God’s existence is the most important inquiry in life. "If God does not exist, we enjoy the days we have," Bolloré said. "If God exists, everything changes."