The Essay

GOD DID IT!

A SPIRITUAL BELIEF DRAWN

FROM SCIENCE

 

 

INTRODUCTION

1/2/04      updated April 25, 2006

Do you ever wonder if there really is a God- with whom you can feel a relationship?

Do your prayers get answered?

Why do bad things sometimes happen to good people?

Do you ever wonder what caused the world to exist and to work the way it does?

Are you interested in how scientific considerations might bear on such questions?

 

As a scientist who had trouble accepting religious teachings in view of scientific facts, I searched for evidence in the design and operation of the world as science has revealed it.  The search revealed unmistakable signs of ingenuity in the design of everything in the world. We don't ordinarily recognize those signs because we take them for granted without asking how they originated.

This paper presents a theoretical concept for combining our scientific understanding of the source and design of the universe with our awareness of a spiritual dimension in our lives. Most theories of the origin and functioning of the earth and life do not resolve the different explanations offered by "natural" scientific theories, as taught in schools, and the religious statements that "God created heaven and Earth" taught by religions. These seemingly polar opposites are actually resolvable and coexistent. This theoretical concept offers a resolution of the science versus religion dilemma by proposing a plausible "working" theory and credible, verifiable evidence for an intelligent Creator of our existence.

 

 

  

    EVIDENCE FOR BELIEF IN A CREATOR 

 

There is overwhelming evidence, not commonly recognized, of astonishing ingenuity^[1] in the design, creation and operation of the universe, nature and our lives. A key point of the theory of this paper is that there is a cause for everything--whether we have identified it or not. Thus the world's existence and its ingenious design revealed by science require a cause. This BELIEF holds that the ultimate or primary cause is an ingenious designer-creator. There is nothing else known with the ingenuity and power to be the cause of the design and creation of the world.

 

In many court trials circumstantial evidence is taken as a basis for judgment.  The evidence of ingenuity in the world's design is overwhelming. Even though it is circumstantial and not proof, the evidence justifies the belief that there must be a transcendent, intelligent, powerful 'something' that purposely chose to create this particular form of universe, from the broadly (but not completely) accepted 'Big Bang' theory of an explosion that produced:

·  all the atomic elements

· the scientific laws such as chemistry, physics and biology which assembled the atoms into this amazing universe

· the patterns of the universe's operations such as life, growth and evolution that produced-

· the plants, animals and humans living in it.

 

Name the cause what you will: Ingenious Designer, Primary Cause, Intelligent Source, Creator, or God.²

 

This intelligent source does not micro-manage the world today but, while indirectly guiding the overall direction of this 'world in progress', it has given it a degree of self-management by incorporating variations, chance, inherent capabilities and limited free-will in many areas. These features make life enjoyable and free, explain some random happenings and facilitate progress toward a more perfect world.

 

Anything that can bring such an amazing universe and living creatures such as humans into being from nothing, starting with the "Big Bang", must have super-human intelligence and power.

 

Although this theoretical concept is drawn from scientific considerations it still affirms and reinforces the underlying, if not literal, assertion of most religions that there is a God- a Creator- 'whose presence can be discerned in all that exists' (Espinoza). Thus it allows believers to practice their religion, but on the basis of its symbolic, not necessarily its literal, meaning.

 

EVIDENCE FOR THIS THEORY

 

It is beyond the scope of this paper to point out all the examples of intelligent design because they are everywhere we look. Let a few examples illustrate the point.

 

The world in which we live provides convincing and awesome evidence of intelligence and imagination in creation. But because it is the only place we've ever known it's hard to appreciate how ingenious each feature really is.

 

To help recognize this, try to see life from a new viewpoint. Set aside the way you view the things you have always taken for granted--such as our earth and our everyday pattern of existence. Close your eyes and try to imagine the situation from the perspective of Creator before this universe existed. Realize that billions of years ago there was nothing-no stars, no earth, no air, no time, and no space that we are now occupying Nothing!  Yet today you can open your eyes and see all that and infinitely more!!

 

How would one even begin to create all this?  Don't you get a feeling of awe at the result? 

 

Consider the overwhelming evidence found in the immensity of the cosmos and the incredibly complex yet ingeniously interdependent relationships in nature, which make it work so smoothly

 

The more you study science and learn the principles and methods by which the world works, and experience the intellectual, emotional and spiritual aspects of our existence, the more you come to realize just how ingenious, awesome and, yes, miraculous life really is.

 

Most of the world's design features or characteristics are absolutely vital to the formation and operation of the universe and life. This fact offers compelling evidence for a thinking source that had knowledge of what design would work well, and also had the power to bring it all into being. If any one of the vital parts had been missing there would be no universe as we know it.

 

A complete list of these vital elements would seem endless but some are discussed in this essay. A sampling includes:

 

·      the physical laws of science

·      the Big Bang

·      quarks

·      electrons

·      protons

·      neutrons

·      the so-called 'strong' and 'weak' forces that hold together the nuclei of atoms

·      positive and negative polarities that attract opposites

·      electron orbits that make atomic structure possible

·      Ability of atoms to bond together by sharing electrons to form the large molecules and compounds of life.

 

 The list continues with:

 

·      the gravity that holds everything together, and along with centrifugal force, holds the earth and other planets in orbit around their suns

·      the atomic elements such as oxygen, hydrogen, carbon etc.

·      water, sunlight, rain and the key molecules such as chlorophyll, DNA and proteins needed for life

·      all the processes of cell division, digestion, reproduction and evolution.

Each one of these and many more are essential for the existence of today's world.

 

Can you imagine such an assembly of vital elements just 'happening' to be on hand without an intelligent, reasoning cause?

 

The Big Bang theory apparently has some inconsistencies but is accepted by most scientists. It posits an explosion about fifteen billion years ago at a single tiny spot (known to mathematical physicists as a singularity) with an almost infinite amount of concentrated energy or material, which was contained by an almost infinite gravitational force.

 

Moments after, the universe consisted of photons, electrons, neutrinos, protons and some neutrons. Minutes later cooling condensed these particles into helium and hydrogen.

 

Millions of years later gravity condensed this matter into galaxies and stars. Some of these stars fused their hydrogen into more helium and eventually 'burned out', collapsed and exploded as supernovae spewing out all the heavier elements such as carbon, oxygen and iron needed for life. These in time condensed as more stars and planets such as our earth.

 

So from something tiny at the time of the Big Bang were created all the diverse yet ordered and interrelated entities we observe today: the cosmic universe with billions of stars, galaxies etc. expanding in space and containing our solar system with our own sun and amazing, life-giving, hospitable Earth.

 

Consider the fortuitous availability and interactions of the earth's vital air, water, carbon dioxide, chlorophyll, fertile soil and sunlight needed to produce the food, fuel and temperature for survival; and the complex scientific laws of nature's behavior, including evolution, that have helped produce the phenomena of life, growth and reproduction.

 

More specifically, recognize that the entire universe is a system of interdependent, cycling constituents:

 

·      the galaxies apparently expanding forever

·      the planet earth rotating on its axis for day and night and around the sun for the seasons

·      water cycling from oceans to clouds to ground to plants (powered by sunlight) to animals and humans

·     carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and other chemicals cycling from ground to plants to humans to dust again!

·     the residual energy from the Big Bang, residing in the nuclei of atoms, the chemical  bonds of compounds, the order, momentum and heat of the universe' constituents etc. Order, such as in living things, requires energy for its maintenance. Thus plants require sunlight and humans need food and die without it.  It has been theorized that when the universe's energy, which is continually decreasing as heat is radiated to space, reaches zero, this universe will cease to exist as such. 

Practically anything we observe today can seem like a miracle if we try to imagine how to design and create it, starting from scratch: forests teaming with trees, insects, animals and humans; birds, flowers; beautiful sunsets. -What a production!

 

Physicist Chat Raymo³ cites Teilhard de Chardin, Jesuit scientist, as "insisting that the surest way to know God is through his creation, and the truest knowledge of creation is that provided by contemporary science".

 

The atomic elements, molecules and compounds that comprise the earth and all the other planets are formed from the atoms produced by the Big Bang and subsequent condensation processes. Some mechanism had to combine the atoms into the thousands of different compounds of the world we know, such as:

 

*   various proteins of our bodies

*   drugs that cure us

*   cellulose and lignin of trees and plants, etc.

 

How does this ingenious and vital process work?

 

Organic molecules usually consist of the atomic elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and lesser amounts of nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, etc.  The way these atoms are positioned and bonded to their neighboring atoms in a molecule determines their behavior and use in all the processes of life.

 

One atom, carbon, has the unusual ability to bond to itself and thus can form long chains.

 

These chains can branch out by bonding to other atoms such as hydrogen and oxygen or more carbon to produce the whole family of organic chemicals.

 

How does this bonding take place?  Consider the structure of the atom.  All atoms from the smallest, hydrogen, to one of the largest natural atoms, say uranium, have a central core, the nucleus of which consists of positively charged protons and usually neutrons with no charge.  The larger the atom the more protons and neutrons it has.

 

Far outside the nucleus, in atomic dimensions, negatively charged electrons, equal in number to the positive protons in the nucleus, whirl around the nucleus in several concentric orbits, of fixed capacity for electrons that have discrete energy levels.  Bigger atoms have more electrons and orbits.  The outermost orbit contains the electrons that can form bonds with other atoms to form the big molecules needed for life.

 

Atoms are very stable when their outer orbits are full.  Atoms of inert gasses such as neon and krypton have full outer orbits and thus are stable and rarely bond.

 

Atoms without full orbits bond with other atoms by sharing enough outer electrons to fill their orbits to achieve stability and become molecules.  If instead of sharing, some atoms that may be only slightly negative may "steal" an electron from a slightly more negative atom and become strongly negative, leaving the other more positive.  The pair then consists of oppositely charged ions that attract each other, because positives attract negatives, and they form ionic compounds such as the common table salt.

 

When all the atoms are metallic, say iron, copper and aluminum, they hold together by contributing all their outer electrons to the general pool of the group.  The pooled electrons are free to flow through the metal body such as an electric wire to conduct electricity.  The rest of each metal atom becomes part of the crystal structure of the metal and obtains its stability by sharing the free electrons with all the other atoms

 

All atoms and molecules seem to have an inherent, built-in self- organizing tendency to find a stable configuration and find it by random migrations.  But how did the stable configurations and the process of migration "happen" to exist? 

 

What was the original cause of this effective and vital feature of our existence?  The evidence cited here points to something intelligent, superhuman and powerful.

 

THE LAWS OF NATURE "Did they just happen"?

The principles and relationships we call laws of nature that define and control the formation and operation of this complex but organized universe, are themselves marvels of intelligent design. Their elegant simplicity and inter-connectedness can be seen in the mathematical forms of the laws" equations".

 

Thus the very simple equation F=M A, when properly applied, can tell the force F needed to Accelerate a body, say your car, having a mass M to say 60 miles per hour in a certain number of seconds. How can something so simple define something so complex?

 

The simple equation E=M C (squared) describes the energy E obtained in a nuclear reactor from the consumption of a mass M of fissionable uranium, where C is the speed of light.  Amazing simplicity!

 

Is the simplicity of these and all the other simple equations representing the complex processes of nature, just accidentally simple-or examples of intelligent design?

 

Another observation dubbed the "Anthropic Principle" has noted that many seemingly arbitrary and unrelated constants in the laws of physics are in fact by mysterious coincidence precisely the values needed to have a universe capable of producing life.  Even the most minor variation in the values of certain fundamental forces of physics would have completely eliminated the possibility of our existence.  For example:

· If the strength of gravity had been slightly weaker relative to electromagnetism, stars such as our sun would be much smaller, burn faster and not support life as we know it.

· If the nuclear 'weak' force, one of those bonding the nucleus of an atom together, were slightly weaker relative to gravity, all the hydrogen in the universe would have been turned to helium and there would be no water anywhere.

· If the nuclear 'strong' force, which also bonds the nucleus, were 2 percent stronger, protons, and therefore atoms, would not have formed; or if it were 5 percent less there would be no stars.

· If the difference in mass between a proton and neutron were not exactly as it is, all neutrons would have been protons or vice-versa and no chemistry or life would exist.

· If ice were not lighter than liquid water, a property traceable to unique properties of hydrogen, ice wouldn't float, so oceans and lakes and rivers would freeze from the bottom up.

· If the ratio of the strong force to electromagnetism were not exactly as it is, carbon-the building block of all living things-would not have been produced at the center of stars from beryllium and helium during the tiny window of opportunity - a micro, micro, micro second long.  And the list goes on! ^4,5,6

 

So the picture of creation seems hardly one of random events. Rather, it suggests (but does not 'prove' in the scientific sense) that the right conditions for the creation of the intelligently designed universe, life and human beings must have been intelligently conceived.

 

One might argue that an omnipotent Creator could have structured the laws and constants in any fashion and simply 'willed' them to work. But in that case the laws that we discover would still support the reality we experience and be no less convincing as evidence of creative intelligence and power.

 

NOTE: While science has explained in words and equations most of the laws that govern what happens in this world, there is much we don't know, especially at the fundamental level. For example,

 

· Why are the laws structured as they are? Is it on purpose to produce the world, as we know it?

 

· Just  how does gravity work? We know things attract each other in proportion to their mass but how?

 

· How did energy get converted to mass at the Big Bang?  We know that certain amounts of mass are produced by a certain amount of energy (the famous E= MC squared) but just how does that take place?

 

We are astonished and humbled at the superhuman ingenuity of all that we know and don't know of such matters.

Humans are arguably the crowning example of ingenuity in Creation!  Consider you, your human body, composed of ashes from dead stars, designed with:

 ·     eyes to see the world and convey information to your brain

 ·     vocal chords and tongues with which to talk and sing

 ·     legs to transport you

 ·     arms and hands to perform your myriad tasks

 ·     digestive system to provide you with energy from food

 ·     numberless biological processes in your body, to nourish, grow, and guard you

 

 ·     emotions to provide human  pleasures, love and danger warnings

 ·     sex organs for producing your offspring

 ·     brain to receive signals from your sensory organs; direct your body's functions;  think analytically and logically (sometimes!) to gain knowledge and understanding; conceive new ideas and patterns of living; solve problems; create technology of the modern world, beauty in the arts, and much more!

 ·     intuition and reasoning power, the uniquely subtle qualities that represent a high order of intelligent design. They tell us that all of creation could not have just 'happened', by an infinite number of lucky coincidences throughout time. It is much more credible to believe that some intelligent entity devised it all.

 

We intuitively seek an explanation for the mystery of life and search for that elusive meaning beyond our everyday experience.  Apparently we were created with that awareness of the existence of a larger meaning to our lives and we seek our role in it.  All of history's religions bear evidence of a human yearning for a spiritual dimension. We've been given the intelligence to discern it if we seek it with an open mind and desire.

 

Thomas Jefferson wrote .It is impossible for the human mind not to believe that there is, in all this, design, cause and effect-up to an ultimate cause, a fabricator of all things from matter and motion, their preserver and regulator'.⁷

 

THE HUMAN MIRACLE OF BIRTH

Witnessing or being a part of the ingenious birthing process can be a deeply moving, truly spiritual experience. How in the world could such a profoundly creative event have been devised? (conceived?!)  Producing a new human being that will have its own unique opportunity for a happy and potentially significant life to live is a sobering but exciting experience!

 

In the complex process of creating a baby the fittest male sperm, containing the donor's characteristic genes, must compete with others to find its way up through the female's slightly hostile acidic uterus to meet the egg coming down from the ovary.  It then must penetrate the protective layer of the egg, find and join the egg's cell to form the first fertilized cell with its own unique genes.

 

That cell then starts dividing and duplicating repeatedly. Individual parts of the organism start to form, integrate together and grow to full term. The final result is ejected as a baby, ready to start breathing and feeding on its own.

 

The antibodies that form in our immune systems represent an ingenious process that fights invading germs. Our bodies produce their molecular structure to conform in a hand-in-glove fashion to the invading molecule's shape. As a key fits in a lock the antibody molecule attaches itself to the foreign body and neutralizes it, making us immune to that disease. How did such amazingly powerful mechanisms and all the other processes in our bodies and in nature come about?

 

A SIMPLE LOOKING LEAF

 

Similar astonishing power is found in chlorophyll, the green substance in growing vegetation. It is able to capture photons from sunlight to power the reaction of carbon dioxide in the air with water to produce not only the oxygen we breathe, but most of the organic matter we need to sustain life. It provides us with all the grains, vegetables, grass and trees we need for food, clothing, and wood and it once produced the ancient vegetation that may have become our fossil fuel.

 

 

To simplify here a very complex process of photosynthesis, the chlorophyll molecule in leaves captures sunlight energy (reflecting back the green color). The chlorophyll's electrons, activated by the sun, pass their electrical energy to two intermediate molecules named NADPH and ATP.  Enzymes split water molecules into hydrogen ions and free oxygen; the latter diffuses out of the leaf to the air which living species breathe. Meantime carbon dioxide diffusing into the leaf from the air links with another intermediate, RuBP.  After several more steps all these reactants produce a molecule of glucose while the intermediates are restored to start the cycle over again. The glucose and its derivatives become the source of most of the world's needs for energy.

 

--- And all this takes place in a simple looking leaf!

EVOLUTION, the process first described by Charles Darwin offers clear evidence of ingenuity in the design of living things. Darwin's evolutionary theory posited that natural variations in genes, called mutations, produce variations in an organism's ability to survive and procreate in the various changing environments. By this theory, where advantageous for survival, the fittest members of a species survive to pass their genes on to their offspring. Thus they cause a gradual evolution toward fitness for survival of life and humans from the amoebic soup of pre-historic times to the highly developed, living species of today.  It seems significant (and fortunate for us) that one branch of development has been toward higher order, intelligence and ability, all of which favors survival in a competitive environment.

 

How does evolution work?  It is complicated. Start with the fact that no two members of any species are ever exactly alike, even twins. Cloned animals these days aren't identical even though they may have identical genes. Historically it was the fittest of the species that tended to survive best

.

Some of the variations between individuals are produced by the random effects of the environment or experience on the individuals ('as the twig is bent'). But some are caused by mutations of the code of the DNA molecule in the individual's original genetic make-up. 

 

DNA (desoxyribonucleic acid) is the key element in the process of evolution and indirectly in all the processes of life. It is the molecule found on the chromosomes in the nuclei of cells of organisms--both animal and vegetable. In a very complex, ingenious process DNA helps determine an organism's identity, structure and behavior. It is so unique to that individual organism that criminologists use it to establish the definite identity of a person. 

 

It consists of a long ladder-shaped molecule, twisted like a spiral staircase (a double helix). The sidebars are chains of desoxyribose phosphate and the 'rungs' or links are four types of basic chemicals dubbed AGTC (for four nitrogen-containing bases: adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine)

 

The sequential order of these different chemical links, embedded in selected segments of the DNA called genes, provides unique codes. The DNA transmits the codes of the genes through an intermediary molecule (RNA) to one or more proteins to establish the coded sequence of linked amino acids of those proteins that are forming the cell.

 

It is the uniquely coded proteins that actually provide the individualized and sometimes-inherited traits of the different parts of an organism- e.g., skin color, body-build, health, deafness, family resemblance etc. It seems as if the code instructed the protein as to its role in the organism. Just how that role is performed remains an intriguing puzzle.

 

In an added complication in the process of transmitting the code to the protein, enzymes often cut and 'alternatively splice' some of the original DNA's genes to produce spontaneously a new gene. These new genes are the source of many of the unexplained mutations found in nature.

 

The fact that the genetic mutations of evolution are produced at all and that some mutations have features that are superior and best fitted to survive has to be viewed as a very effective and practical concept - and ingenious.  And, that the general pattern of their operation has resulted in the emergence of human beings can seem strongly suggestive of a purposeful design (at least to a human!). Coding is where an intelligent something might intervene to insure the availability of superior genes for adaptation of species and development of the human race.

Archeological studies show that evolution did not start until DNA was created and showed up in the fossil remains. This highlights the key role of DNA in the creation of the world. DNA has even been called the "God molecule".

The sudden mysterious appearance of eyes in the long archeological history of the evolution of animals could also have been the result of divine, purposeful intervention.

The evolutionary process requires the presence of all the proper chemicals for:

·  the side bars and the rungs of the DNA

 ·  the intermediate RNA, (somewhat similar to DNA but it has uracil in place of thymine)

 ·  the enzymes

 ·  the amino acids for the proteins etc.

 ·  and the means of coding.

 

It seems highly significant that if any of these components of the evolutionary process are missing, evolution does not take place.

 

What causes this fortuitous assembly of these components?  The prevailing theory is that they are synthesized in the body by enzymes. How ingenious! Could the same original cause of the synthesis also guide the coding to insure the availability of the 'fittest' design?

 

It seems inconceivable that a mindless molecule such as DNA could have designed and produced itself and the ingenious operations it performs. It is as if something intelligent had programmed everything with intuition or knowledge of what to do!

 

In a very readable book, G.L.Schroeder has postulated that God's wisdom permeates the world.^[8]

 

In the post-Darwinian world there has been an assumption that evolution is a 'natural' thing-just part of the way things work. But again, its ingenious complexity argues for it to be recognized as the product of purposeful and reasoned consideration by something intelligent.

It seems that an intelligent source guides life's progress and direction by designing the mutants in DNA to cause individuals to have certain characteristics and abilities. In other words, the creator works through humans.

 

THE LIMITS OF EVOLUTION

In discussions of the origin of life and the world, it should be recognized that evolution is only one part of the creation process, not a complete explanation of everything in life. For example, it does not explain the origin of the DNA molecule itself. Nor does evolution deal with the source of all the non-living things in the world, such as:

 ·  the Big Bang

 ·  the universe

 ·  the existence of physical properties such as the negative charge of the electron

 ·  the amazing structure of the atom

 ·  the earth

 ·  the minerals

 ·  the carbon, water, sunlight etc. that produce the living things of life.

 

Furthermore there are some abrupt changes and puzzling gaps in the long archeological history of evolution that suggest the possibility of some sort of purposeful intervention. One example cited above is the sudden appearance of eyes in several species simultaneously in the course of archeological history.

 

BRAINS

 

Our human brains make us intelligent, reasoning, self-conscious and emotional creatures. They are one of the most complex examples of ingenious design on earth. They process information, use the gift of free will to make decisions, day in, day out.  They are involved in most of the body's functions from seeing, talking and moving to automatic control of unconscious bodily processes. They make possible our development of knowledge and the language by which to share it for progress.

 

Their construction and functioning are so complicated yet efficient as to defy full understanding----at least so far. But studies of injured brains along with magnetic resonance images (MRI) and stimulation-response behavior have thrown some light on where certain functions take place. For example, in the jelly-like tissue of the brain it has been shown that:

· the frontal lobe is involved in speech;

· the cerebrum, the largest part of the brain, receives signals from all the sensory organs and commands the actions of muscles and glands;

· the cerebral cortex (part of the cerebrum) is involved in seeing, hearing, feeling emotions, thinking and remembering;

· the cerebellum coordinates body movements; and

· the brain stem, the most primitive part of the brain, controls breathing and blood pressure.

Communication between these different parts of the brain takes place through interconnecting nerves and some cooperation seems to be involved.

 

But there is so much we don't know about the brain's operation. Just what goes on when our brains perform their myriad tasks? We know our brains have about 100 billion nerve cells (neurons and neuroglia), and 100 trillion synaptic connections networking from the brain stem at the top of the spine throughout the brain. The neurological cells account for half the brain's weight and help develop and support the neurons.

 

The neurons interact with each other by passing and storing electrical signals and electrochemical molecules (e.g. dopamine and serotonin) from neuron to neuron selectively at the synaptic joints where they meet. Experience seems to help contribute to the ever- changing patterns of neuron connections. Many thousands of neurons are involved in the simplest of tasks. And it all works-beautifully!

 

The brain's ability to produce experts is particularly fascinating. The brain apparently condenses all the learning from experience and observations of a skilled practitioner in a given field into unconscious, integrated conclusions, judgment or knowledge. It is that judgment that qualifies him to be characterized as an expert in his field.

 

But many mysteries remain.

 

How for example could proteins be coded to build the different parts of the brain, which perform in such a complex manner?

And just how does the brain learn its functions?

Just what is a thought?

And what is the role of emotions in the brain's functions?

How do impulses from the eyes get transformed into scenes in the "mind's eye"?

It is hard to imagine that the brain developed its complex structure and functions without guidance.

NERVES

 

Our bodies contain a million miles or so of bio-electric "cables" called nerves. No creature from amoeba to human can function without them.  The brain itself is a mass of nerves.

 

All body parts communicate with each other through the nerves. This makes possible the rapid, integrated, body- control so typical of animal behavior. Information on everything the nerves sense, from sight, smell, touch and sound to pain, pleasure and thoughts, is conveyed to the nerve centers in the spinal cord and brain for further directions. Other nerves then relay this processed response to the appropriate nerve or muscle fiber for action.

 

To help you understand the amazingly complex and ingenious design and operation of our nerves, consider this description:

 

Each nerve usually contains many insulated neuron fibers that individually conduct the message impulses generated in the many parts of the body. A nerve is thus much like a telephone cable containing multiple communication pathways.

 

Each neuron in the nerve consists of three main parts. At one end are many "dendrite" receptor fingers which generate or receive messages. Then there is the main cell body containing the nucleus that processes the messages and creates a response. Last is the extended arm, the "axon", (which may reach three feet in length for the nerve that that runs from one's finger tip to one's brain). The axon has multiple terminals that transmit the processed message to the multiple receptors in the next adjoining nerve or muscle.

 

Curiously, the terminals don't quite touch the next receptor, so the terminal has to emit a special liquid neurotransmitter, made and stored by the neuron cell that bridges the gap in a millisecond to complete the transfer of the signal!

 

Each neuron and its axon in the nerve are covered with a two-molecule-thick sheath of  myelin protein, which not only protects the neuron's signals, but helps generate and transmit the signals to the end of the neuron.

 

To make this possible, porous nodes, or pores, are spaced at short intervals along the axon's covering sheath. These pores contain two types of channels or pores. One type is designed to open on signal to permit the selective passage of positively charged sodium atoms (ions) from the fluid outside the neuron into the center of the neuron's axon. The other pore permits passage of potassium ions, either in or out. These pores block the passage of everything else including large molecules and negative chlorine ions.

 

By very selective pumping action, molecules of the neuron sheath are able to produce and maintain different concentrations of the electrically charged sodium and potassium ions inside and outside the neuron. When the neuron is at rest, the inside has a higher concentration of potassium and a lower concentration of sodium (and negative chlorine ion) than exist outside of the neuron. These concentration differences produce a voltage gradient across the neuron cell wall, with the inside measuring a minus 70 millivolts, relative to the outside.

 

The way each neuron cell sends signals is startlingly clever. When a neuron's dendrite sensors are stimulated by an incoming voltage pulse from another nerve, or by a physical signal such as elevated temperature from a hot stove, it routes the signal through the neuron's axon arm. Upon receiving the signal pulse the axon opens its nearest sodium pore to allow a pulse of positive sodium ions to rush through the axon sheath into the axon's center. When the first pore opens, it triggers the next and succeeding pores to open and thus creates an avalanche of excess positive sodium ions along the length of the neuron's axon.

 

This positive avalanche raises the inside cell voltage to plus 50 millivolts. It is this sharp voltage change that constitutes the signal pulse that activates action downstream. It travels the length of the nerve to the end terminals where it triggers release of the neurotransmitter which bridges the gap to the next nerve or muscle fiber. And all this takes place in a few milliseconds!

 

After delivering its message the nerve opens the potassium pores and also restarts the ion-pumping action to reestablish the original (resting) concentration differences and voltage gradient, in order to prevent accidental repetition of the signal!

 

Could all this complex nerve structure and amazingly effective functioning have occurred spontaneously, without any guidance? What wisdom is at work?  DNA in our genes certainly is responsible for passing the design on to succeeding generations but where did the original design concept come from which first programmed the DNA with the design and pattern of behavior?

CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS

 

Synthesis of chemicals occurs widely in animals bodies, which need hundreds of different complex chemicals to grow and function properly. A few familiar ones include:

 ·  varieties of proteins and DNA for building the body

 ·  hormones to help the body function

 ·  hemoglobin to carry oxygen in the blood

 ·  adrenaline for stimulation

 ·  dopamine for providing pleasure

 ·  electrochemical neurotransmitter compounds that carry signals between nerves in the brain

 

The synthesis of such chemicals is said to be performed in the brain itself and elsewhere. Just how the various syntheses take place is not fully established but enzymes are frequently involved. How did it come about that the body can produce such a variety of chemicals that meet its needs?

 

UNPREDICTABLE CHANCE AND UNCERTAINTY occur in many complex systems of everyday life, such as the luck of birth, health, weather; other people's thoughts and actions, chance happenings, accidents, economics, and politics, What role does chance play in our lives?  It ingeniously limits our control of the future and to a certain extent our responsibility. Thus it can induce humility and acceptance of forces beyond our control. It also offers an interesting, balanced variety in our lives and prevents predictable routine. It challenges us to deal with the uncertainty, including the bad things in life, and to adapt and make the best of it.

 

Einstein once quipped that God does not throw dice, but it appears that God did set up the game of chance for us to play. It may be that the area of chance is where an Intelligent Source could intervene to affect outcomes, without breaking any natural laws.

We can at least pray for:

 ·  that intervention

 ·  wisdom to make the right choices in life

 ·  strength to endure bad luck

 ·  ability to make the best of the new opportunities offered

 

On balance, uncertainty seems preferable to a life of predictable certainty.

SELF MANAGEMENT and innate ability seem to be an intelligent feature of everything including living organic species. For example, humans are self-organizing; plants are able to seek sunlight and fertile soil; animals are able to find food and mates. "Every species has enough intuitive capability to be able to perform its role in life and survive". Even complex "chaos" systems such as turbulent water and weather patterns show some self-organizing capabilities.

 

Human capabilities and accomplishments represent arguably the strongest evidence of intelligence in creation. Consider the advance civilization has made since humans first appeared on earth: in knowledge, understanding and skill in all fields from science, technology and medicine to human relations, organization and the arts. The unique genes in our DNA makes this possible.

 

Our intangible attributes such as emotional feelings, conscious awareness of our existence, instincts, creativity, artistry, inspiration, capacity for compassion and love add to the list of life's wonderful features.

 

Scientific evidence suggests the mechanism for generation of some emotions may involve the secretion of chemicals in the body.  Oxytocin for example can make rats cuddle and seems related to the generation of family love-and thus to spreading the genes that will insure survival.  Adrenaline stimulates energy and porphyrins ease pain.  Some individual human attributes or tendencies can be traced to the effect of inherited genetic DNA but no explanation for the other attributes has been established. Whatever the mechanisms however, their design, purpose and function seem amazingly Providential. We are a tribute to our Designer.

 

Indirect but supporting evidence of creation's ingenuity can be found in the observation that when one has a firm conviction of the existence of an all-pervading creator; one can seek and find real benefits from that faith. These may include:

 ·  the comforting feeling of companionship with God's presence

 ·  the opportunity to share one's innermost thoughts and concerns with him

 ·  the exciting awareness of being a part of God's plan

 ·  recognition of purpose and meaning in life

 ·   appreciation of all the ingenious features of our existence

 ·  better health, parenting and human relations.

 

So the evidence is all around us if we can but recognize it!  As Sir John Templeton said, "Humans searching for evidence of God is much like a wave on an ocean searching for evidence that the ocean exists".

QUESTIONS

 

Even when you are convinced that a kind, caring God exists you may wonder about some of the questions people have always struggled with, and what can be said about them here?

 

1.  Why do scientists seem to avoid discussion of religion and the evidence for God?

 

For one thing, established religions are often laden with supernatural claims that defy rational, scientific principles. And often, scientists tend to consider their discoveries as the adequate, immediate explanatory cause and do not pursue the question of the original cause for that explanation.

 

Yet many people who are scientifically trained to search for explanations and causes for everything in life do tend to believe in a spiritually transcendent source of life, but they cannot fully prove it professionally and therefore avoid discussing it. Basic research scientists tend to concentrate their interest in specialized areas where their kind of controlled experimental study of objective things may be able to make discoveries. They avoid subjective areas of philosophy and religion where such a possibility is not likely.

 

A growing number of particularly eminent scientists however have alluded to the theoretical existence of an intelligent creative force behind our existence. For example:

 

Einstein:  "I believe in a God who reveals himself in the harmony of all that exists, but not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and actions of men".^[9]  "Science without religion is lame.  Religion without science is blind". (The latter quotation is from Newsweek, 7/20/98 reference.)

 

Paul Davies, Professor of Mathematical  Physics, University of Adelaide, Australia said ^[10] there is "powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all" (i.e. the universe).  "The impression of design is overwhelming'.  The universe is "no minor byproduct of mindless, purposeless forces. We are truly meant to be here". By means of science, we can truly see into the mind of God.

 

Stephen Hawking, eminent physicist:  "If we do discover a complete theory, (of the universe and life) it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason-for then we would truly know the mind of God".^[11]

 

Edward O. Wilson, famous biologist:  "The existence of a Cosmological God who created the universe (as envisioned by deism) is possible, and may eventually be settled, perhaps by some form of material evidence".^[12]

 

2.  HOW DID BELIEF IN GOD UNFOLD OVER THE RECORDED AGES?

 

In the pre-Christian era belief in a creator was laden with superstition and multiple gods.

 

An early Christian belief held that God created everything from nothing (ex nihilo) and continued to control everything.

 

Then in the 14th century St. Thomas Aquinas theorized that reason aids faith; that God's existence can be proved by human reason--for example by noting the order existing in the universe's design and the principle of cause and effect.

 

All that was before science started to make its discoveries that, since Galileo's systematic observations of gravity in the 16th century, Sir Isaac Newton's laws of motion in the 17th and Charles Darwin's theory of evolution of life in the 19th century, explained how the world "really" works.   

 

But in discovering the laws of the universe's behavior, science inadvertently threw out the "baby" of awe and spirituality with the "bath water" of ignorance, doubt and superstition.

 

The average person back then seemed not to care that an explanation of how things work did not account for the "who?" or the "why?"-- i.e. the source, purpose or spiritual significance of the world's existence or of its intelligent looking design.  Many lost interest in religion and spirituality and thus forsook the moral guidance and inspiration formerly received from faith in religious teachings. With that they experienced a decreased concern for others, the common good, the earth, and the future -and an increase in self-centered interests and materialism.

 

Teleologist philosophers have long held that the mechanisms of nature must have an originating cause and that this ordered universe is evolving inherently and intelligently toward some predefined goal. Therefore an ultimate designer must exist.

 

In recent years opponents of the theory of evolution have maintained that living organisms have been "intelligently designed" rather than been the result of evolution. While having an element of truth, in that intelligent design is involved, they do not disprove the step by step mutations that science has demonstrated cause the adaptation of species.

 

Today we are beginning to realize the importance of these trends as our world's problems grow. Fortunately, science offers new evidence, cited here, that can renew faith in a powerful, ingenious and caring creator. As in many court trials, the evidence is circumstantial but compelling.

 

  3.  Why does the world today, designed by god, seem to have   PROBLEMS SUCH AS:

         = Early deaths

         = Disease epidemics

         = Earthquakes and tornadoes

         = Humans  being born crippled, retarded or in other  in unfortunate  

            circumstance

 

Many people feel that if this is what God of present day religions has produced, religion doesn't deserve their confidence.

 

Remember first that the world's misfortunes make the news, not the myriad good things in life, which vastly outnumber them.

 

God does not micro-manage the world, didn't produce the misfortunes and must regret it all. God designed the world to be self organizing and  self sufficient.  It runs itself. Everything has the innate ability, without instruction, to do its thing--from the negative electrons that  whirl around the positive nucleus of every atom to make chemical activity possible, - to the specifically required chemicals in our bodies that digest our food, and energize all our organs,-- to the sun activating the chlorophyll in leaves to convert the carbon dioxide we exhale  to glucose  and the oxygen we breathe, - to all living creatures, doing what comes naturally.

 

God also designed almost everything to exist with a variety of  differences in features and qualities. These differences not only make evolution for survival of the fittest possible, but also  produce  the variations that make life more interesting.

 

Yet not all variations  can be perceived as interesting or pleasing to all people. Some in fact , such as those listed above, can seem quite the opposite: hurtful, painful,  unpleasant. They are the inadvertent by-product of God's design for a wonderful world.

Variations that are good for some people may be bad for others. Thus heavy rain may be bad for damp tropics but would be great for the desert.

 

 The undesirable things mentioned above are usually extreme variations  or malfunctions of more normal phenomena:  floods from extreme rain ; drought from too little rain, and so forth.

 

In complicated systems such as the world, the variations are apt to produce occasionally extreme results . They are not the product of God's purposeful intent.

      -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

In addition to these  impersonal problems, the world  suffers from a host of man-made problems such as:

 ·  self centeredness, meanness, greed

 ·  wars, violence and hatred

 ·  corruption, oppression , poverty

 ·  environmental degradation

 

Unfortunately, it is we humans who are responsible for most of these conditions . "We have misused our free-will and intelligence to make selfish  or bad choices". But we have also been given the responsibility to understand and deal with all the bad things our freedom of choice can bring about.

 

Many believers report that when they pray they frequently find they receive not only comfort but ideas  on how to deal with their problems

 

Our goal must be to:

·   recognize  and appreciate the gift of this marvelous life

 

·  Understand that we are the cause of most of life's ills

 

·  Be inspired to do our part by becoming better people with more concern for our fellow humans and our environment.

 

In any case, recognize that life with our freedoms and capabilities is clearly preferable to a predetermined, controlled existence.

So how do we deal with the bad things in life?  We are challenged to apply our intelligence toward dealing with them, by understanding and reducing their cause.  We can, for example,

 

·  develop safer products, roads, cars, foods, etc.

·  strive to live healthier lives and eliminate sources of infection

·  be alert and prepare for earthquakes, tornadoes, etc.

·  be thankful when things go right

 

If we are among the unfortunate, we can try to

 

·  adapt to the misfortune.

·  learn lessons from it for the future

·  be toughened and strengthened by it

·  Make the best of what remains and be thankful, as many courageous handicapped and disadvantaged people do.

 

We can also be strengthened by sharing our pain with God through prayer, receiving insight for dealing with our problems and comfort from having done all that we can.  We can feel relief and hope from leaving the outcome of the adversity to a Greater Power.

 

Philosophically it may be hard to accept and be of ironic comfort, but if it were not for the bad things in life, we might not notice or appreciate the good.  Both of them make life more interesting, put our good fortunes in perspective and make us grateful for life.  Everything is relative and could be worse.

 

In a sense, bad things can be viewed as the "price of admission" for the privilege of receiving the gift of life.  It's "part of the deal" (and better than no life at all!)

 

4.   Is the BIBLE true?

"No, not literally, but it represents a yearning of early people for a God and an explanation of how life originated. Thus the authors, inspired with insight provided by God's design of their DNA, wrote what they thought would have taken place."  

Many people are skeptical of the historical accounts in the Bible. They note that most of the accounts were handed down orally for decades before being recorded and thus are subject to the possibility of distortion and exaggeration. They also cannot be verified today, often defy scientific principles, and usually have alternative explanations.

 

But the Bible does not have to be taken as literal history.  Statements in the Bible for instance can be regarded as the efforts of ancient writers to convey in symbolic language the underlying truth of the reality to them of the Supreme Being whom they worshiped. The stories do however often reflect the wisdom of the ages on how to live in our Created world, as derived from human experience and intuitive recognition of the Creator's vision.

 

Among God's creations, Jesus is an inspired role model and teacher and thus a prime example of this wisdom. Jesus may have developed his special qualities from genes in his DNA created by God. As such, he can be considered the son of God, as we all can be also.

 

One recent detailed study[13] of early Jewish traditions as they relate to the Bible concludes that the Jewish scribes who wrote the Bible never intended that it should be read as literal history. Their intent in the New Testament was to convey the astonishing God-like impression Jesus made on those whom he encountered. Through Jesus. presence and teachings, people sensed in him the reality of God and found in him the messiah predicted by their ancient tradition. Being intuitively aware of God's love for us, Jesus. message centered on God and the way to live and not on himself.[14]

 

Because this was not easy to speak about in the ordinary language of human beings, scribes used the mythical style of the earlier Torah scriptures (in the Old Testament), with parables and legends. Thus they ascribed to Jesus acts only a God-like superhuman could perform such as walking on water, raising the dead, changing water into wine etc. Non-Jewish scholars ever since however have tried to interpret the Bible literally, apparently unaware of the ancient mythical style of writing. These literal efforts are still apparent in some religious creeds and rituals and, if not explained, can lead to confusion.

 

So, one can accept the underlying meaning and wisdom of the writings as originally intended, celebrate and rejoice in their symbolic revelation of the underlying truth that God the Creator exists and created Jesus to  satisfy our need for an earthly- spiritual connection to a transcendent power. At the same time we can be tolerant of the ancient mythical style, recognizing that other people may be deriving much comfort and inspiration from their literal interpretations.

 

The theory of this essay however does not depend on such writings and instead offers modern verifiable evidence to make belief in an Intelligent Creative Force more convincing and to make possible the benefits from such a belief.

 

The "miracles" found in the Bible, similarly, do not have to be taken literally. They, too, were written by the early Jewish scribes in the mythical style of the Torah and were not intended to be taken literally but rather as symbols of the power and presence of God. In the New Testament, they were to convey the powerful God-like impression that Jesus made on his followers.  

 

While probably responsible for much misunderstanding, such miraculous stories do appeal to the spiritual needs of some people by helping them visualize and derive faith in God's power and presence. If one believes God created the scientific principles that produced the miracle of the universe from nothing, such human perceptions of earthly "miracles" that defy rational explanation can easily be seen as within a creator's power. And as discussed in the next section one cannot rule out some direct intervention by God in areas where uncertainty and chance prevail, such as healing the sick, catching fish, calming storms etc. 

 

Thus miracles are less convincing of God's power than the evidence of a Creator's existence we can see around us every day.

 

As for modern "miracles" such as weeping icons and Divine appearances, many people yearn for some current signs of God's presence today and are led to find them in their daily lives. But the same reasoning applies- the best evidence lies in the design of the world all around us.

 

5.  Why doesn't God answer prayers in the way asked for? 

 

Prayers of supplication are only part of our spiritual relationship with God. To someone who loves us so much as to create us, we owe gratitude for the miracle of life and the privilege of being part of it. Because of this close relationship we are not alone. We can strive to understand the role God continues to play in our lives-not as our servant but as our Creator, companion and guide. God created us on purpose. We are meant to be here.

 

As discussed earlier, God has built in much unpredictable chance and uncertainty in life, which leads to wide variations in individuals, their situations and needs. Suppose God answered prayers only for those who asked?  What about those who didn't ask, or who asked for the opposite? Whatever God did for one person might be bad for someone else. 

 

If a personal God answered our prayers as our human parents might, able to give us children what we ask for, to smooth our way, to solve our human problems wouldn't that spoil us? Why would we need our gifts of free will, intelligence and capabilities? 

 

What God did do was give us the ability, intelligence and responsibility to do what we can to deal with our own needs and problems. By having a firm belief in God and praying to Him, we can be empowered with strength, ideas, insights, inspiration and clarity of thought to take action. In a sense then, God guides the world through our minds, hearts and hands.

 

But, if we are unable to do anything about it, we can obtain the peace and comfort that comes from yielding responsibility for the outcome to a Higher Power. After all, God created this world and can be expected to guard it.  

 

Have we been designed to benefit from a belief in God?  Many people, including athletes, report experiencing a Power from praying and acting with faith that has enabled them to meet challenges in their lives. And it has been established that a firm faith, which can be invigorated by praying, helps healing through the "mind-body" effect (the placebo effect of medical research) which has been divinely built in to our systems. Perhaps these effects work by stimulating our hormones and enabling us to hope more confidently, to heal ourselves and to see and do things better. 

 

Sometimes our prayers are answered in ways we didn't expect. (God may say "no"!) Many times God answers our prayers with a change in our feelings. We feel better; can see things from a new viewpoint; or feel confidently determined.

 

Circumstances may change, or the feared event does not happen, or the outcome turns out to be more favorable than we expected.  We find these results more often as we learn to recognize the good and trust in God's wisdom and align our visions with God's.  Might this be the Divine Way? 

How can I tell if God is aware of my existence? The short answer is:  by the way I feel after praying to Him.  Being an omnipotent spirit, God who designed everything in this world, can be aware of everyone's existence. He will respond most strongly to those who pray most earnestly. Having designed the world to function on its own, He does not ordinarily answer prayers directly. But as mentioned above, He answers the earnest one who prays, with comfort and insight, and may stimulate ideas to deal with problems

 

Do we know any situations where God might intervene more directly in our lives? The vast areas of our lives where variations, uncertainty and chance seem to reign can offer the most likely place where God could intercede in human affairs, such as disease, or human decisions, without violating his own natural laws.

 

Some of the contributing factors to the outcome in these areas of uncertainty may seem trivial but can have an important effect-for example a chance human action or a coincidence; a casual remark overheard, can make someone change his mind.

 

Could God be involved in these areas by affecting our thoughts and behavior, perhaps without our awareness; or perhaps through the inspiration of our faith? Could a divinely directed cosmic ray affect a neuron in a key part of someone's brain to trigger a particular opinion or action? Could God mutate genes to introduce a particular characteristic in someone's behavior, such as in Jesus. actions and teachings? 

 

Stranger things than that are happening in this world.  Physicists know that one area of uncertainty is down in the sub-atomic, quantum range. Predictions of behavior of individual particles are only educated guesses based on averages or probabilities. Measurements of both the momentum and location of an electron for example cannot be made at the same time because in part any such measurement produces changes in the thing being measured. Yet something is producing an overall average result that is always predictable. 

 

Two other scientific discoveries in the "out of this world" category are so spooky that Einstein referred to one of them as a "ghostly action-at-a-distance" and he refused to believe it-although it has recently been confirmed. (Davies, p.158). At the quantum level of physics, pairs of sub-atomic particles such as protons and anti-protons spontaneously appear from nothing even in a perfect, so-called "quantum vacuum"! (Could this phenomenon have been involved in the Big Bang, which seems to have produced the universe "from nothing"?) Furthermore, the state of one particle, such as its spin, depends on the state of the other particle-no matter how far apart they have become separated! 

 

Whether or not this has any bearing on God's answering prayers, it indicates at least that there are strange mechanisms taking place in life that are beyond our control, yet are controlled by something. And small events can produce large effects in complex systems-much as El Nino does in the world's weather, and the "loss of a nail in the horse's shoe" did in the subsequent loss of the horse, man, battle and kingdom in the familiar nursery rhyme. Even the neutrino particle, so small it can penetrate many miles of lead, contributes to the explosive death of massive stars that generate the heavy elements needed for the formation of the universe.  

 

So there is certainly room for Divine Intervention in God's Way. And since it can be helpful to pray, we can accept the result, find the good in it, and gain the possible benefits noted above.

 

6.  HEAVEN

 

Has any scientific evidence been found for belief in the existence of the heaven, which has been accepted since at least the time of the Egyptian pyramids? They were stocked with food for the pharaohs" after-life" Heaven still is featured in today's religions.

 

No scientific, physical evidence has been found. But some kind of after-life may still exist because heaven as pictured exists in the spiritual realm and thus does not display material evidence. Any God who could create this super- ingenious world might have cared enough for the emotional needs of his creatures to provide for their continuation in some form after their death.

 

Here in the material world there is overwhelming evidence of that sacred hand, as pictured herein, which if fully appreciated can satisfy today our yearning to live with God. And our accomplishments and the memory of our lives will live on after our deaths in the minds of those who knew and loved us.

 

Unfortunately the concept of a future perfect world is being misused today by certain terrorist leaders to encourage youths to devalue this life and to earn a shorter route to heaven by suicide bombing of those they think defy the will of their God.

 

7. Is this theory a copout?  Some people may wonder whether this theory, that God designed and created this world and the laws science has discovered, is just a "cop out" -another example of "God of the gaps"-wherein everything we can't explain  "rationally" we say, "God did it".

 

But this theory posits that God did create everything, including the so-called gaps. We know of nothing else that could have done it. Science has discovered the principles and laws that describe how the world works- but has not explained how or why the laws came about or who or what designed them.

 

The more science has learned in the past about how the world works, the less mysterious people have thought it seemed and the less they have ascribed to God. But just because science has discovered the mechanisms and laws but not the source of them doesn't mean there is no source. In fact the discoveries reinforce the evidence for an intelligent Creator by disclosing the ingenuity and integrated nature of the laws and mechanisms.  

 

8. Why Hasn't Science Proved God Exists?  A frequently expressed view today is that unless science can answer the question of God's existence, faith in God is difficult to accept. But it should be recognized that scientists like to prove things by setting up experiments and testing to see if results are reproducibly obtained as predicted from theory. The question of whether God exists and created life does not lend itself to such an approach. Instead, it must be judged by circumstantial evidence obtained by other scientific methods including careful study of the overall evidence' in the world's ingenuity, elegance and completeness of design, as presented herein. 

 

In addition to such qualitative aspects of life we can observe daily, science has in recent years discovered many other startling clues of intelligent design in the technical and quantitative features of the universe and life's processes. These are cited in the Evidence section above, and again, constitute strong evidence of a reasoning and purposeful Creator.

 

This theory for belief in God draws on the scientific observations of the design and workings of nature and the natural laws, to reveal their astonishing ingenuity. Science has made its advances in part by seeking the cause for every thing it studies. This theory is based on the preponderance of verifiable circumstantial evidence which points strongly to an Intelligent Creator as the cause of it all. 

 

It is significant that science has not disproved the existence of a Creator (calling everything "natural" is certainly not a disproof).  Furthermore, science has no accepted theory for the originating cause of the Big Bang, or of evolution. Science has just shown how most things work. In a sense then, scientists might be considered modern day "prophets" by revealing and explaining the ingenious workings of all God's Creations. 

 

While many people who are scientifically trained to search for explanations and causes for everything in life do tend to believe in a spiritually transcendent source of life, they cannot fully prove it professionally and therefore avoid discussing it. Basic research scientists tend to concentrate their interest in specialized areas where their kind of controlled experimental study of objective things may be able to make discoveries. They tend to avoid subjective areas of philosophy and religion where such a possibility is not likely. Unfortunately those avoided areas are just where the ultimate cause exists for science's technical causes.

Every individual in every age attempts to understand and explain the origin and control of life and the universe in terms that make the most sense to them. For example, the universe is magical (controlled by a sun god; multiple gods etc.); mythical (controlled by spirits); monotheistic (Judeo-Christian); mechanistic (reasoned, controlled by scientific laws). Modern theories of life go so far as to consider such mind-boggling possibilities as multiple universes, self-organizing systems, "dark" energy and string theories. (The latter name stems from the finding that the behavior of subatomic species can best be shown mathematically to have the many required modes of motion if they are represented as loops of strings, rather than as single particles.)

 

Whatever the correct explanation, the evidence cited in this essay points to the design being caused by an ingenious, powerful and caring Creator (God Did It!)

  

DISCUSSION

Polls have shown that ninety percent of people believe in God, even though some may not practice a religion and may harbor skeptical misgivings because there is no scientific proof of the existence of God. Their faith may have come from  

·  acceptance of religious teachings or family traditions

·  an awareness of a spiritual dimension in life beyond the visible

·  a need to believe in something more significant than themselves

·  a search for strength to deal with adversity

·  a sense that this complex, smoothly working world could not have just   "happened" without some purposeful reason or cause.

 

Science has demonstrated that everything in the physical world has a cause or explanation. (Even so-called random events such as card sequences, ocean wave heights, and weather patterns have causes that would explain them if all the factors involved were known.)  

 

This paper has presented modern scientific revelations of the design and operation of the world that show hard evidence of superhuman ingenuity. Such strong evidence of intelligence and ingenuity points clearly to a reasoning, immensely powerful cause of everything from the Big Bang's origin of the universe to the astonishingly ordered complex life of today.

 

Consider briefly some of the evidence we have been citing for a reasoning, ingenious designer. Every feature of the world seems necessary and designed to do its job: from the

·  quarks, neutrons, electrons and other sub-visible particles that form the world

·  to the gravitational attraction that holds everything together

·   to the process of photosynthesis in plants that captures the sun's rays and stores the energy in chemical bonds of sugar molecules to provide most of the energy used in the world

 ·  to gene mutations that adapt living things for better survival.  

 

Ingenious creative power is seen in almost all of the world's features. Consider first the amazing fact that the world exists at all.  Think of the multiple steps needed to create it:

·  establishing the scientific principles (laws) that make and control the world's operation

·  fashioning the Big Bang which produced the elements needed to form the universe and us

·  designing the chemical and physical reactions that produced the chemical and physical things in the world

·  Devising the processes of evolution that helped fashion the living species of life.

 

Recognize also the ingenuity in the complex design of the world's building blocks, the atoms. Their negatively charged electrons whirl around the nucleus in concentric circles of discrete energy; are attracted to, and neutralize the positively charged nucleus. The atoms bond to each other by sharing electrons to form all the complex inorganic compounds and organic molecules of the earth.

 

Another amazing feature of the world's design is the fortuitous existence of all the different elements such as oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen that are needed by living things, and the metallic elements such as iron, calcium and aluminum that form the solid ground, as well as all the metal "nuts and bolts" of our familiar modern world. Each element is available in a quantity sufficient for its various purposes and is cycled between those purposes. For example oxygen cycles from recharging hemoglobin in the blood of animals, where it picks up carbon to become carbon dioxide which is converted back to free oxygen by photosynthesis in green plants.

 

Astonishing too is the ability of human and other animals to synthesize in their bodies all the complex chemicals (hormones, enzymes etc.) needed for life! And although scientists have unraveled the complex structure of the DNA double helix molecule and the roles of most of the genes embedded in it they have not yet been able to synthesize it because it is so complicated.

 

The listing could go on indefinitely. 

 

Just try to imagine how to design and create an atom or a brain or the world! We know of no way such things could be the result of an unreasoned process. And if a way is ever discovered it would simply add to the evidence of ingenuity in the world's design.

 

It is inconceivable that this world is just a coincidental assembly of all its hundreds of perfectly interacting components. And no evidence has ever been found of any residual signs of intermediate designs that would suggest the world was developed stepwise by random trial and error.

 

Creation taking place without some kind of reasoning process would be less credible than the idea of a reasoning God. The complexity of the design of this smoothly working world requires something with ingenious creativity and deductive reasoning ability, as well as limitless power and care to bring it into being. And these are all supernatural qualities of a creator. 

 

What other explanation can there be? Some people say "it is all just natural - it is the way things are". But that explanation does not answer the question of the cause of nature and things considered natural -how they were designed and came into being. Even though each component of the world does seem to have a "natural" innate ability to do its part, from where and how did it get that ability? 

 

Others see the world's existence as the result of the action of the scientific laws of physics, chemistry, biology and the process of evolution.  Well, it is, at least partially. But the laws alone don't explain the ingenuity and completeness of the design of the world -- living and non-living. They "simply" define the basic rules that such qualities must obey. And where did the laws come from?  The theoretical concept of this essay posits that an intelligent creator produced those laws and established the conditions that produced the world. That creator may also have guided the outcome by interceding in random areas of chance such as mutations and unpredictable events. 

 

This theory, in pointing to an ingenious creator, does credit something that is ethereal and different from familiar everyday, earthly phenomena. This may make it hard for some people to grasp. But the theory must explain the originating cause of the "not everyday" ingenuity in the integrated designs of everything from the Big Bang, the electron, the atom and gravity, to a human being. We know of no earthly phenomenon that could do that. 

 

How could an invisible, non-material source create an ingenious physical world?  One idea recognizes that the non-material realm contains all the intangible things such as ideas, concepts, designs, knowledge; intelligence, consciousness; scientific laws and principles of how things work; music, love, affection, motivation. God exists in this non-material realm and from there could design the physical world and establish the principles and laws that in part determined the way it all developed. 

 

God as creator must be aware of the many challenges to progress toward a better world resulting from chance and poor choices humans can make with their free will, but he can motivate and guide believers to deal intelligently with those things. 

 

God also pervades the rest of the world, providing every thing from atoms to plants and lower animals to human beings, with enough inherent capability to enable each individual entity to perform its tasks because it is designed for that purpose. In fact each part is vital in the overall design of the world.  As examples, consider the evidence cited above: electrons circling positive nuclei to form atoms, atoms reacting to form compounds; DNA encoding proteins; neurons passing signals to form ideas in the brain; etc.- all performing in a vital assigned, predictable manner.

 

While we have never seen God, we can be aware of his presence as an all-pervading, personified consciousness by the effects he produces, not only in us but also in the ingenious design and integrated operation of everything.  One can indeed have a glowing feeling of being in a living world with God by focusing attention on all the miraculous ways everything works as discussed in the Evidence section -- from the sun producing all our food and energy to the workings of the human mind. Life itself is the miraculous, spiritual sign we yearn for but seldom recognize as such.

 

VISUALIZING GOD

Many people have trouble visualizing God and that can hinder their recognition of His presence as creator, comforter and guide. Remembering that we live in a material world while God exists in the non-material spiritual world, we must transport our thoughts and consciousness into the spiritual realm. When we do that we may become aware of His intimate presence within us, perhaps as our soul, our guiding conscience and confidante.

 

We can share with Him our innermost  thoughts, problems and joys, as we might with a loving father.

 

It takes concentrated effort to develop such a personal relationship and it may depend on having a conviction that God does exist. That conviction may depend on personal history reinforced by the evidence cited in this essay.

 

The hope for the future may be that we all will lift our eyes occasionally from our self- centered, daily concerns to grasp the "big picture" of our life's source, meaning and purpose from the perspective of our Creator. If we open our minds and hearts to seek and sense such an added spiritual dimension of life, we can enjoy the exciting awareness that something of great significance, some knowledgeable force lies behind all we see. And we are part of it. We are meant to be here, to enjoy and be grateful for the gift of this wonderful existence. We have been given the abilities to be reasonably self-sufficient, to deal with life's adversities and to be grateful for life's blessings. We can find inspiration from the vision of being partners with our Creator, caring for our fellow creatures and for the well being of all Creation. 

 

An appreciation that all of us share the common bond of being children of the same God, created from the same supply of atoms, with various individual talents and frailties, makes it easier to understand and accept each other as members of our family.  We can feel we share a kinship with them and can admire their various individual talents and forgive their faults, as well as our own, as products of genetic inheritance, environment and experience. These factors strongly affect the nature of free choices our fellow humans make from among the many alternatives. Someone with troublesome faults may have inherited such traits or had a rough background and may not have been exposed to the conditions that would have helped him make good choices.

 

Qualities of understanding, forgiveness and good will are all key ingredients in personal relations, conflict resolution, world peace, and a just and sustainable future. Leaders of wars frequently draw their support from the people by appealing to religious, cultural, ethnic, or racial differences between the opponents, which have fueled misunderstandings, jealousy, threats and tensions. Examples include the Christian crusades, the Israeli-Palestine conflict and the September eleventh terrorist attack. If everyone were to have the same understanding of God as our creator, such as the one portrayed here, the common bond created could improve understanding, communication and friendliness. The cause of wars might be greatly reduced.

 

Fortunately babies are born innocent and unbiased. They offer possibilities for a fresh start toward a better world. Reinforcing parents, understanding, faith and motivation today could allow them to pass it on to their children and turn the world's future around---theoretically in one generation! 

 

This theoretical concept--that strong scientific evidence of intelligence in every aspect of the world's design offers a reasoned basis for a firm conviction of the existence of a Creator- may not produce a "Born Again" feeling but it did cause me to exclaim: "Ah-Ha!" I never thought of life that way before! Now I have an exciting and motivating understanding of what it's all about as I glimpse the "Big Picture" of the world's ingenious design and the myriad complex processes going on everywhere, -- in my body, and in all of nature. 

 

"As I go out each morning and take a deep breath I will try to be aware of these ingenious processes, for instance the way the oxygen in my lungs that is recharging the hemoglobin in my blood, was produced by sunlight being absorbed by the chlorophyll in nature's green leaves and converting the carbon dioxide I exhale to oxygen and to glucose in the leaf"

 

.Through such awareness I can feel a satisfying spiritual connection with the Author of this life-and can more confidently personify Him as a caring father figure--one to whom I can express my gratitude for life and look to for strength and guidance.

 

"Now my awareness of God is reinforced each day by experiencing the joyous thrill of "finding the sacred in the ordinary".--God's handiwork in the everyday things of life- such as:

 

 ·  the earth on which we live, with its abundant supply of fertile soil, water, minerals, oxygen and sunlight;

 ·  the availability and interdependence of all the necessary atomic elements and molecules, and all the .scientific laws. that produce the .natural. way things work;

  ·  the sunlight that heats our planet, and through its photosynthetic action on green foliage, powers the production of the food we eat, the oxygen we breathe, and the fuel we burn;

  ·  the ingenious design of our physical and mental capabilities that produce our amazing accomplishments in the modern world around us.

 

.Now I can also sense the transcendent in the beauteous things of life such as:

·   the exquisite elegance and functional design of a flower

 ·   the grandeur of a starry night that reveals the infinite size of our universe

 ·  the awesome beauty of a scenic sunset over the water

 ·  the inspiration of a soul-satisfying symphony

 ·  and the spiritually inspiring feeling of gratitude for having been purposely created as a unique and valued citizen of this miraculous universe".

 

S. Edward Eaton

If you would like to comment or discuss this with me

you may contact me at tedandteri@aol.com; or 100 Otis St., Hingham, Ma. 02043

 

References

^[1] "Ingenuity" is here taken to mean a clever quality of design involving the proper choice of multiple components working well together to meet the needs of a specific goal.

 

^[2] This paper uses the terms creator mainly and God sparingly because of the variety of interpretations God has received in the past. Also it uses the pronouns him and his because there are no other appropriate single pronouns in the English language.

 

^[3]  Skeptics and True Believers: The Exhilarating Connection Between Science and Religion, Chet Raymo, 1998, p. 264

 

^[4,5,6] The Mind of God; Paul Davies, Professor of Mathematical Physics, University of Australia, 1992; God.The Evidence; Patrick Glynn, Assoc. Director, Washington University Institute for Communitarian Studies; 1997

 

^[7] Jefferson the Man--In His Own Words; Ed. Robert C. Baron; Fulcrum Publishing; 1993. P.50

 

^[8]  G.L.Schroeder-- The Hidden Face of God, 1998

 

^[9]  Five Equations that Changed the World, M. Guilden

 

^[10]  The Mind of God, Paul Davies, Professor of Physics, Univ. of Australia, 1992

 

^[11]  A Brief History of Time, concluding passage, Stephen Hawking, 1988

 

^[12]  Consilience- The Unity of Knowledge, Edward O. Wilson, 1998

 

^[13] Rt. Rev. John S. Spong, Bishop of Newark (Episcopal)-Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes, 1998

 

^[14]  Meeting Jesus (Again) for the First Time, Marcus J. Borg, Professor of Religion and Culture, Oregon State University, 1994