John Oakes -- San Diego, California
June 13, 2005
The wonders
of nature shout out to all those willing to hear that there is a wonderful and
powerful creator of it all. Anyone willing to take the time to look and
to listen can see evidence for God all around them. Anyone, that is, who
is willing to accept the idea of God and the implications of the existence of
God for their own lives.
One group
of people in our world who have even less excuse than the rest of us for not
believing in and responding to God is the scientists. This is because
they are in touch with the amazing intricacies of God’s creation on several
levels which most people are unaware of. Below is a list of evidence
for a designer of the universe from scientific knowledge.
1. Consider the amazing element carbon.
Of the 100+ elements, only carbon has the correct properties required to build
the large molecules required to create life. Carbon is able to build
long strands of atoms, cyclic molecules, molecules with rigid or flexible structures,
flat, linear and three-dimensional molecules. Carbon forms single and
multiple bonds with itself and other atoms. If the properties of carbon
were even slightly different, life would not exist anywhere in the universe.
Surely God designed the properties of carbon to make life possible.
2. Water is a very important molecule to
life for a great number of reasons. Without water as a solvent, life would
be impossible. Water is a very simple molecule made out of two hydrogen
atoms attached to one oxygen atom, bent at a 105 degree angle. If water
was linear instead of bent at this angle, it would boil at about –250
degrees Farenheit, and there would surely be no life anywhere in the universe.
Water has the property, because it is bent, of being very sticky. For
this reason, it can dissolve a great number of kinds of compounds, making it
an ideal solvent for living things. At the same time, because water molecules
are so sticky, water can absorb a lot of heat, making it capable of maintaining
the temperature of the earth within a very small range. The water molecule
was designed just right to allow life to exist.
3. Next, consider the force of gravity.
Stars and galaxies form out of the original matter of creation due to the attractive
force of gravity pulling the created matter together. According to physicists,
if the attractive force of gravity had been a tiny fraction smaller, galaxies
and stars would never have formed. If the force due to gravity had been
just slightly larger than it is, the universe would have collapsed soon after
its creation, and life would never have formed. The gravity force is exactly
what it needs to be to allow for galaxies, stars, planets, and eventually life
to exist. Good job, God!
4. Now, please consider the eye. It
is a marvel of design on every level. It has a flexible lens with a variable
focal length, allowing both near and distant objects to be focused. It
has molecules with the incredible property of turning light photons into an
electrical signal. It has an adjustable aperture (the pupil), which responds
more accurately than any computer-controlled camera. Charles Darwin called
the eye his worst nightmare because he was fully aware that it was inconceivable
that any kind of random process or natural selection could cause the first eye
to appear spontaneously. The growth in our understanding of both the chemical
and physical function of the eye since Darwin’s time has made the problem
even more intractable. Can anyone believe that the eye was not designed
by a creator? Sure. People who refuse to accept the personal implications
of a divine designer in their own lives can close their eyes to both the design
and the designer. Again we say good job God!
5. Lastly, consider the genetic code and
the function of DNA in passing on information from generation to generation.
Our cells contain thousands of extremely complex chemical factory-like protein
molecules called enzymes. Cells build these huge and complex molecules
by using the code written into the DNA molecules contained in the chromosomes.
The question is, who created the code in the first place? Can a code just
form itself spontaneously? Besides, the enzymes created by the DNA are
required in order for a cell to synthesize DNA, so which came first, the chicken
(DNA) or the egg (protein enzymes)? The obvious answer is that both the
proteins and the DNA, as well as the code system by which DNA is capable of
directing the synthesis of proteins were designed by a very intelligent and
powerful creator.
The properties of carbon, the shape of the water molecule, the size of the gravity
force, the design of the eye, the genetic code, the list could go on almost
indefinitely. One could mention the size of the electrostatic force, the
magnetic field of the earth, the protective ozone layer, and on and on…all
required for the existence of life on the earth. The world is an amazing
mosaic of design which makes the statement in Romans 1:20 ring true:
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his
eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood
from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
John M. Oakes, PhD