Design in Creation Calls for an Intelligent Designer

Evolution teaches that time and chance will randomly produce complex creatures out of non-living matter. The problem with this is that the complexity of creation is so considerable that random blind chance could never produce the Universe in the mere fifteen billion years it is said to be in existence. The Teleological Argument for the existence of God is: things which show intelligent design must have an Intelligent designer. It is the opposite of the evolutionary view that all things came about by blind, mindless chance. Sir Fred Hoyle, the well-known English astronomer and professor at Cambridge University admitted; “The chance that higher life forms might have emerged in this way is comparable with the chance that a tornado sweeping through a junkyard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein” (“Hoyle on Evolution,” in Nature, vol. 294, [11/1981], p. 105).

Intelligent Design in the Universe

The universe is filled with so much evidence of intelligent design, it must have had an Intelligent Designer for its creation. The odds of the universe just happening is highly improbable. In order to comprehend and appreciate this argument, one must first understand logical probability. To help illustrate, take a deck of cards. What is the probability of drawing at random an ace of spades from a shuffled deck of cards? It would be 1 out of 52. Next, to pick the ace of clubs would be 1 out of 51 Picking the ace of diamonds right after that would be 1 out of 50. And, as you have guessed, there would be a 1 out of 49 chances in picking the ace of hearts. What are the odds of picking all four aces in a row? To calculate this would require one to multiply (1/52) by (1/51) by (1/50) by 1/49) giving the probability as 1 out of 6,497,000.

Calculating the probability of the solar system’s ability to support human life will demonstrate that there is not enough time, chance or space for it to have just happened without an intelligent designer or creator. In the Chicago Tribune and article quoted a scientist who concluded that “human life…must be exceedingly rare and may be unique to the earth.”

While investigating the probability of earth being suited for life, we will look at only seven criteria: kind of galaxy, place in the galaxy, kind of star, size of the planet, spin of the planet, mass of planet, and distance from the sun.

1. First, the earth had to be in the right kind of galaxy. This is a one in five chance.
2. Having the right place in the galaxy in a tolerable zone for life to withstand gravitational and electromagnetic forces results in the probability of 1 in 500.
3. The sun has to be the right kind of star. The heat and size of our sun is essential for life’s survival. The chance is 1 out of 50.
4. The current distance from the sun is very important. There is a very small margin for life to exist. The earth is some 93 million miles from the sun. The probability is 1/50.
5. The planet’s spin at about one thousand miles per hour at the equator is essential. Too slow and all life would either freeze or burn up. The chances are 1 out of 4.
6. For gravitational purposes the earth has to have the correct planet mass. This has the odds for life at 1/9.
7. The earth tilts on its axis at 23.5 degrees. This gives the earth seasons. The wrong tilt would result in the earth being either too cold and too hot for life to exist.

Multiplying the variables results in the probability of 1 out of 2,024,000,000. It may be argued that considering the size of the universe and the possibility of many earth like planets, evolution still could be probable given enough time and chance. However, we have only considered seven criteria for calculating the probability of human life evolving on earth. When one adds the probability of the right atmosphere, the right distance from the moon, the sequencing of DNA, the correct constructions of proteins, the development of a cell, etc. The probability of life results in a number so large it would fill the known universe.

Intelligent Design of the Water Molecule

Under normal circumstances the cooler a substance becomes, the denser it is, and vice versa. For example, air rises as it heats up and water rises as it turns to steam. However, whenever water freezes, the ice floats. Why is that? Water does become denser as it cools. Around four degrees Celsius water’s mass begins to become lighter. At zero degrees Celsius, which is freezing, the water turns to ice and begins to float in the denser, warmer water. The molecular structure of the water molecule H2O has a 105-degree angle. Therefore, it must expand to solidify. This simple angle allows life to exist on earth. If ice did not float, it would sink to the bottom of the rivers, lakes, and oceans freezing them solid in time. This would cause almost all aquatic life to die. The planet would eventually freeze over.

Intelligent Design Among Animals

Animals demonstrate intelligent design throughout all species. A rattlesnake can detect heat change of 1/1000th of a degree Celsius. The best time modern science can do this feat takes about a minute for the same reading. Snakes use this to capture warm-bodied prey in the dark.

The instinct in animals can only be explained by the presence of an Intelligent Designer. For example, the blackpoll warbler only weighs about twenty grams and is five inches long. In the fall, it flies from Alaska to the New England coast. There ist waits for a cold front to aid it in flying southeast in order to climb to an attitude of 21, 000 feet near Antiqua. There it finds westward winds to South America. The trip is not a straight shot, but it is quicker. Just three days of flight. “If a blackpoll warbler were burning gasoline instead of its reserves of body fat, it could boast of getting 72,000 miles to the gallon.” The arctic tern migrates 22,000 miles every year. After spending months at sea, penguins can migrate without making a mistake right back to their rookeries. Monarch butterflies travel south to rest in the wintering grounds after a two-thousand-mile flight.

R. Taylor wrote concerning the hereditary instinct of birds being able to build nest without ever learning from another bird. “There is not the faintest indication that it can hand on a behavioral program of a specific kind, such as the sequence of actions involved in nest building” (The Great Evolution Mystery, p. 221). Weaverbirds in Africa weave a thatched roof some fifteen feet in diameter. Under this roof they build as many as a hundred nests creating a sort of bird apartment complex. The Horned Coot builds its nest on small, flat islands. Where it does not have these to build upon, it will make an island in shallow waters. In southern Asia lives the Tailorbird who makes its own thread out of spider web.  Bark fibers, cotton, and large leaves are sewn together to make a nest.

Scientist, engineers, and inventors from a variety of fields have studied the intelligent design found in animals and came up with designs for products to assist us in our everyday life. The study of bird wings assisted in creating the first machines of flight. Later NASA noticed the air turbulence upon the surface of the wing and body of the aircraft. This is called “skin friction drag”. They found that shark skin is designed to reduce this drag because of the “V” groves called riblets on its skin. By adding the shark skin riblets to test models of aircraft, a 10% reduction in skin friction drag has been accomplished. This finding produces hundreds of millions in savings for commercial airlines” (NASA Activities, Feb. ‘84, p. 7.).

Additional inventions have been gleaned from a study of other creatures. Modern paper was a result of investigating the nests of wasps. The helicopter can fly thanks to the adaptation of the intelligent design of dragonfly wings. Football helmets have been made safer after manufacturers started to incorporate the design of woodpecker skulls into helmets as an added safety feature. Truly, “they are exceedingly wise” (Proverbs 30:24) because their Creator is God the Intelligent Designer.

– Daniel R. Vess