I’ve been a big fan of science ever since I was young. I even earned a degree in engineering in college. But the more I learned about science the more I saw order, purpose, function, and design in life and the universe. This couldn’t be possible without a “Designer”. Below are some reasons I believe science leads us to the existence of God, the Great Designer.

Man Evolving From A Single Cell…By Chance
Life is too complex to develop independently by chance. The human body contains about 100 trillion cells, the smallest, independent parts of organisms. If humans “evolved” from single cell organisms in the sea, what are the chances that:

• over a finite period of time
• 100 trillion cells would randomly come together to form a human body
• work in harmony and balance with each other
• group themselves to perform functions that sustain the body
• independently function to repair parts of the body over a lifetime. (Example, your skin heals itself after it gets a small cut).
• and develop the ability to reproduce the entire body from two specific cells that have to come from a male and female.

Without a Designer?

An Amoeba to a Man?
The DNA strand of an amoeba contains 25 million base pairs or “steps”. These base pairs determine all of the characteristics of that particular amoeba and any other amoeba it produces.

The DNA strand of a human has over 3 billion base pairs that determine all of our characteristics, e.g., hair, liver, lungs, eyes, pancreas, aptitudes, etc. What are the chances that:

• The amoeba’s DNA would “grow” over 120 times
• To the right length
• With the right order of base pairs
• With the right structure
• To give us all of the characteristics of people (that amoebas don’t have)
  Including the ability to reproduce other humans (not amoebas)

Without a Designer?

The Complexity of DNA Replication
Each cell in the human body contains a copy of the person’s DNA, which formed right after fertilization. The process that copies DNA from one cell to the 100 trillion cells in the body is called DNA replication. What are the chances that:

• Specific proteins start at the correct locations on the DNA strand 100 trillion times.
• The proteins that initiate the separation of the DNA strand “recruit” other proteins to assist in the process, 100 trillion times
• Certain proteins function to keep the strand from becoming too twisted so that the replication process keeps going – 100 trillion times
• While the DNA strand is being broken into two separate strands, the correct pair of molecules (the genetic “code”) is being added over 3 billion times for each of the 100 trillion cells.
• The process involves “proof reading” to remove mismatched pairs of molecules – 100 trillion times.

Without a Designer?

Life on Earth is Unique
Life on Earth is unique – so unique that the chance of finding another planet with similar life is unlikely. In order to support life as we know it, a planet has to be in the “habitable zone” of its star. The “habitable zone” is a distance from a star where the surface temperatures of a planet are conducive to the origin and development of life. It is sometimes called the “ecosphere”. But many factors have to be just right in order to support earth-like life on that planet. What are the chances that all of these factors:

1. The diameter of the planet
2. The age of the planet
3. The age of the star
4. The diameter of the star
5. The distance of the planet from the star
6. The shape of the orbit of the planet
7. The mass of the planet
8. The composition of the atmosphere
9. The thickness of the atmosphere
10. The amount of liquid water on the planet (not ice or steam)
11. The temperature range of the planet
12. The star’s life cycle
13. The luminosity of the star (how bright it is)
14. Whether the planet is gaseous or rocky
15. The position in the solar system such that numerous collisions with asteroids and comets are avoided
16. The existence of heavier molecules to form complex life
17. The distance from black holes to avoid their gravitational forces
18. The distance from supernovae to avoid excessive radiation
19. The gravitational forces between the star and planet and the planet and its moon(s)
20. Enough ultraviolet radiation to trigger ozone creation but not too much to destroy life
21. The orbit of the planet around its sun and its rotation are synchronized such that one side of the planet does not face its sun all the time

Are within the right range such that earth-like life can form, assuming evolution…without a Designer? Almost no chance at all.

Dr. Andrew Watson of the University of East Anglia developed a mathematical model to calculate the probability of the development of earth-like life. His study has placed the probability as 0.01 per cent over 4 billion years. What does that mean? If you first visited a planet when it was formed and waited to see life form over a period of 4 billion years, and then did it over again 9,999 more times, you may see life form once.

The Building Blocks of Life
Proteins are one of the building blocks of life on earth. They are so specialized that the chances of them forming by chance are basically zero.

Proteins are made from smaller molecules called amino acids linked together. The length of the average protein in the smallest living cell is 400 amino acid chains long with about 7000 atoms. Hemoglobin, which allows red blood cells to carry oxygen, has 574 amino acid links and over 10,000 atoms.

In order to produce one of the proteins needed for life, the amino acids must be:

1. The right combination of one to twenty of the “standard” set of amino acids
2. The right number of amino acids
3. In the right order
4. Of the right orientation (some have “mirror images” that are chemically the same, but react differently).

Dr. James Coppedge of the Center for Probability Research in Biology in California, calculated the time it would take for molecules in the ground, air and water to produce one protein by chance. It would take approximately 10242 years to produce one protein. That’s 100 times a trillion, times a trillion, times a trillion, times a trillion…twenty times over…years. By comparison, scientist say that the earth is 4 billion years old and the universe is about 13.7 billion years old.

Basically there is no chance at all that one protein that is basic to life would form by itself. The time required to form a single cell by chance is almost 500 times longer!

You have a better chance of being struck by lightning (1 chance in 600,000) or winning the lottery (1 chance in a million).

For additional reading, here’s an interesting article on amino acids, the building blocks of life: The Mathematics of Origin.

These are just a few of the reason why I believe what I believe.  Other reasons will appear in subsequent posts.