THE EVIDENCE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD PART 4

 

So far in our study of the evidence for the existence of God, we have briefly examined the cosmological argument, which states that ever creation must have a creator, but the majority of our lessons have been based on the teleological argument, which states that every design must have a designer. We have briefly examined our universe and how everything in our galaxy is mathematical precise and how earth has just the right placement to sustain life. We examined many facts about our earth, its atmosphere, its oceans, and its geology to show that everything is too complex to have just happened by some random chance. We also looked at some of the scientific foreknowledge of the Bible.

 

In this lesson, we are going to continue to use the teleological argument. We are going take a look at the human body because it too defies evolution. As the ancient scholar Augustine said:

 

“men go abroad to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge wave of the sea, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the earth, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.”  

 

Sometimes we get so caught up in looking at the beauty and complexity of the universe and other living things around us that we forget to think about how marvelous and complex we are. Those who do not want to believe in God simply try to explain away our origin by saying that we some how magically evolved from that first creature that crawled out of the water into the complex creature we are today all by chance.

 

The more we learn from our modern science of just how complex we are, the more ridiculous the evolutionists look. Even evolutionist cannot deny the immense complexity of our bodies. As one evolutionist said:

 

When you come right down to it, the most incredible creation in the universe is you – with your fantastic senses and strengths, your ingenious defense systems, and mental capabilities so great you can never use them to the fullest. Your body is a structural masterpiece more amazing than science fiction (Guinness, 1987, p. 5).   

 

Can anyone honestly describe a human as being a structural masterpiece and then in the same breath say that masterpiece just happed by luck, or does it make more sense that the masterpiece had an artist? To me the answer is simple, God is the artist that created us, and every part of our body down to our cells screams intelligent design and not some lucky mutation over a long period of time.

 

For simplicity’s sake, we can break the body down to four areas:

 

  1. There are cells, which are the smallest unit of life.
  2. There are tissues such as muscle tissue and nerve tissue.
  3. There are organs such as the heart and liver.
  4. There are systems such as the circulatory system and digestive system.

 

When you examine these 4 areas of the body and how they make the body live and function, it becomes quite clear that our bodies were designed. As Wayne Jackson said:

 

“It is therefore quite clear… that the physical body has been marvelously designed and intricately organized, for the purpose of facilitating human existence upon the planet earth.”

 

First, let’s consider the complexity of a cell. It has been estimated that an average adult has 100 trillion cells in their body. If our cells were put end to end, they could encircle the earth 200 times. Our cells are different shapes, sizes, and have different life expectancies depending on what they do. For example, our red-blood cells are saucer-shaped and fairly flat, which makes it easier for them to transfer the oxygen and carbon dioxide they carry through the body, while nerve cells have long, thin extensions to transmit messages (Pfeiffer).

 

Before we had the technology to examine a cell closely, some thought the cell was nothing more than a blob of protoplasm. As Lester and Hefley put it:

 

We once thought that the cell, the basic unit of life, was a simple bag of protoplasm. Then we learned that each cell in any life form is a teeming micro-universe of compartments, structures, and chemical agents.

 

A single cell can be broken down into three major categories:

 

  1. There is the cell membrane, which encloses and protects the organism. This is a very thin layer that consists of protein and fat and it acts like a filter by only allowing certain things in and out. As Dr. Ernest Borek (an evolutionist) said:

 

The membrane recognizes with its uncanny molecular memory hundreds of compounds swimming around it and permits or denies passage according to the cell’s requirement.

 

Though scientist like this can see such complexity in the cell that is uncanny, they have to continue to chalk it up to a random mutation that happened over time. Just this one layer of our cell shows that it was intelligently designed.

 

  1. Within the second part of the cell, known as cytoplasm, it contains a number of specialized components. For example there are about 1000 mitochondria, which are miniature power plants that burn the food taken in for energy. It also contains tiny networks called endoplasmic reticulum, which are involved in transporting materials from one part of the cell to another. There are also microscopic units called ribosome which produce protein.
  2. The third part of the cell is the nucleus, which is the brain of the cell. The nucleus contains chromosomes and a chemical called DNA. DNA is a super-molecule that carries the genetic information necessary for the replication of the cell. If the DNA found in one of our cells was decoded into English it would fill a 1,000 volume set of encyclopedias that are around 600 pages each. Of course, if we do the math that is 600,000 pages of information. As you try to visualize that amount information and how much space it would take up in books, again remember this is just the DNA found in one cell. Even more amazing than that is the amount space it takes to house all the DNA that makes up a human as it is found in our bodies because it would fit in a container about the size of an aspirin.

 

I ask you, do you think that amount of information which is stored chemically in such a small package could happen by some random mutation, or do you see it like I do as something that had to have been intelligently designed?

 

Consider what Wayne Jackson says about the structure of the DNA:

 

A DNA molecule is composed of units of nucleotides. These are chemical combinations of sugar-phosphate and four bases – adenine, thymine, guanine, or cytosine. These bases bind the nucleotides in the spiral DNA molecule. In a strand of DNA the nucleotides are arranged in a specific order, along what sort of looks like a twisted ladder. The order of arrangement forms the “blueprint” that regulates the production of all living things.

 

It does not matter if you are looking at the cells of a tree, a mouse, or a human, the DNA is the blueprint that tells the cells what to be. The DNA code is like having a program for a computer. If you install Windows on it, then it will be a windows based system, but if you install Apple on it, it will be an apple system.

 

Let me ask you question. Did the code that makes widows or apple work just happen or did it have a creator? It had a creator. Same thing is true when you look at our DNA or the DNA of other creatures. The code did not just appear, no, it stands to reason it was created by an intelligent designer which we know is God.

 

In their book “The Mystery of Life’s Origin” the authors ask an interesting question:

 

“… an intelligible communication via radio signal from some distant galaxy would be wildly hailed as evidence of an intelligent source. Why then doesn’t the message sequence of the DNA molecule also constitute evidence for an intelligent source?”

 

Dr. James Coppedge has this to say:

 

“By all the rules of reason, could there be a code which carries a message without someone originating that code? It would seem self-evident that any such complex message system, which is seen to be wise and efficient, requires not only an intelligence but a person [behind it].”

 

One more fact about DNA is that yes it contains the code of life, but it cannot implement the code directly to produce things. Instead, the DNA produces an acid called RNA, which takes the blueprint from the DNA and makes it a reality. To put it another way, DNA is the contractor and RNA is the worker who does the building. So, DNA and RNA must work together to assemble the human body. Again, these complex things working together to form the human body are a clear testament to the fact that we are designed by God.

 

I agree with David who said:

 

Psalm 139:13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.  14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

 

So far, we have only examined one of the smallest parts of our body: the cell, and we have already seen how complex it is. The cell by itself defies evolution for me, but as we continue to look at how our bodies work and how things have to be just right for them to work together proves beyond a shadow of a doubt to me that there is no way we happened by random mutations that happened over millions of years.

 

Now let’s examine some of the details from the second category of our body the tissue. I will begin by highlighting the muscle system. There are more than 600 muscles in the human body, which make up about 40% of our weight.

 

According to Dr I. MacKay Murray, a professor of anatomy:

 

The muscles are the “engines” of the body, providing the power for movement.

 

Thus our muscular system is the engine of our bodies. When have you ever found an engine that happened by accident? Again, our muscular system and all that it does offers more evidence of intelligent designs.

 

Some of our muscles are very tiny such as the ones that regulate the amount of light that enters our eyes. Others are very large such as our leg muscles. Our muscles are classified as voluntary and involuntary. One must think and send a signal from the brain to make voluntary muscles move such as your arms, legs, and hands. However, involuntary muscles are not controlled by us thinking, they work with no thought on our part such as our heart and our intestines. We also have some muscles that are both voluntary and involuntary such as our eyelids and our diaphragm.

 

Many our muscles work in pairs such as biceps and triceps which allow us to bend and straighten our arm. These muscles are attached to our skeletal system, which is an engineering marvel itself. Our muscles make it possible for us to move around quickly and to move with precision.

 

Each muscle has its own stored supply of high-grade fuel, which mainly comes from sugar that we have eaten. Just as an engine creates a spark to ignite the vaporized gasoline to make its pistons move, Miller says:

 

A muscle cell performs the functions of both the spark and the piston; the cell itself splits a molecule of fuel and also exerts the resulting physical power.

 

Even an evolutionist named Dr. Lenihan writes:

 

The body’s engines [muscles] … demonstrates some surprisingly modern engineering ideas.

 

Who was the great engineer that made the engines of our body possible? Again, I must say it was God and not evolution. When we consider how our muscles are controlled by our nervous system by precise signals and how some muscles like our stomach are stimulated chemically by the hormones in our bodies, it shows how complex and precise things are in order to make our muscles work throughout our body.

 

I also find it interesting how our muscles work with our bones. The more you work out your muscles, the stronger your bones become to support your new muscle mass.

 

In his book, Human Design, an evolutionist William Beck wrote:

 

The intricate structural organization of the muscles and the tendons in the hand, are capable of such a wide variety of actions.

 

He also said that this phenomenon was:

 

One of evolution’s most remarkable achievements.    

 

Also consider the following snippet from an article in the magazine, Today’s Health, which was saturated with evolution including saying that our hand was evolved from a fish fin. Yet note what even they concluded about our hands:

 

…If the most gifted scientist cudgeled their brains [try to comprehend] they probably could not have come up with a stronger or more perfect tool for grasping and delicate manipulation as the human hand. And seen from an engineering standpoint, the loveliest hand actually is a highly complex mechanical device composed of bone, tendon, fat, and extremely sensitive nerve fibers, capable of performing thousands of jobs with precision (Wylie). 

 

Think about what these evolutionist have admitted. They called the hands a remarkable achievement and spoke of their intricate structural organization, and how they are a highly complex mechanical device that not even man could have came up with. Though they want to cling to there their beliefs, their statements disprove the idea that something like our hands just evolved by accident. They are way too complex to have not been designed.

 

Consider what Alan Gillen wrote concerning the design of the hand:

 

The movement of the hand and fingers of a concert pianist is an awesome sight. The necessity of coordination, timing, and order to play Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony” or Bach’s “Jesu. Joy of Man’s Desire” is a feat that is not accomplished by chance. There is a marvelous skill not only in playing the music, but also in the 70 (35 in each hand) separate muscles contributing to the hand movement of the keyboard.

 

The hand has been described as the most sophisticated “tool” in the body. It looks like it was crafted for maximum dexterity and strength in movement. The hand is capable of 58 distinct movements. These movements allow for dexterity and power for a diversity of actions ranging from piano playing and threading of a needle to holding a jackhammer. This amazing diversity of functions is accomplished with the help of muscles in the forearm and wrist.

 

The fingers have no muscles in themselves; the tendons transfer force from muscles in the forearm and palm… Orthopedic surgeons could write many manuals suggesting various ways to repair hands that have been injured. Yet, there has never been a surgical technique that succeeded in improving the movement of a healthly hand. It frequently takes over a dozen muscles and tendons working together with the opposable thumb to accomplish one movement.  

 

No wonder Sir Isaac Newton once said:

 

In absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.

 

When you really think about your hands and all they can do, it is absolutely amazing and shows how we are wonderfully made by our Creator. Even evolutionist will agree that while we share similar muscles and movements with animals, we stand a part from them in different areas. Such as two evolutionists wrote:

 

Only man can combine muscles with intelligence and imagination, plan and purpose, to plow and plant a field, to create a museum masterpiece or the “Gettysburg Address.” And only man trains to perform the most highly coordinated forms of bodily motion for … the athletic arts. We applaud this skill in our species every time we clap our hands for a ballerina or a circus aerialist (Miller & Goode).

 

Isn’t it interesting that men like this can admit to the complexity of the human body and what we can do that other animals cannot, yet they want to say we evolved from some lower life form? What this shows is that we did not evolve from any animal because we are different than the animal kingdom.

 

Another example of this difference is the 28 muscles found in our face that allows us to make facial expressions to either be silly or to express our mood. It has been estimated that we can make a quarter million different facial changes. Unlike animals, humans are the only ones that can smile. I know some will look at a dog or a primate and say look they are smiling, but according to Cosgrove:

 

Primates may appear to be smiling when their lips are drawn back with their teeth showing, by this is actual an expression of anxiety.

 

Even our two evolutionists agree:

 

Many animals can produce a grimace or a snarl. But only man is equipped with such an exquisitely differentiated set of muscles – the mimetic musculature of the face – with no other function than to express and communicate feelings (Miller & Goode). 

 

In conclusion, we have taken a brief look at just how complex our bodies are. So far we have only examined our cells and our tissues like muscle. These by themselves have shown that they are way too complex to have evolved over millions of years because too many things had to be in place at the same time in order to make the human body function and move like it does. While we will not have time to look at every area of the human body, I hope you will join us for our last lesson in this series because we will take a look at some more of the design of the human body, and we also take a quick look at a couple of God’s creatures that defy evolution as well.