Evidence for God in Physical Design Archives

October 31, 2025October 28, 2025

Earth Needs Jupiter

Jupiter is by far the largest planet in the solar system. Its mass is 2.5 times greater than the combined mass of all other planets in the solar system. It divides the planets of the inner solar system (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) from the outer planets (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune). We have previously mentioned that the gravity created by Jupiter’s mass acts as a shield to protect our planet from comets coming from outside the solar system. Additionally, Jupiter influences Earth’s climate cycle. More than that, Earth needs Jupiter for its very existence.

As the solar system was formed, Jupiter’s massive gravity prevented gas and dust in the inner solar system from being pulled into the Sun. These materials coalesced into the inner planets, including Earth. As the planets formed, Jupiter’s gravity helped stabilize the orbits. A recent study co-led by Andre Izidoro of Rice University in Houston demonstrated that Jupiter shaped the structure of the solar system. Earth needs Jupiter today, just as it needed it at the beginning.

According to Izidoro, “Jupiter didn’t just become the biggest planet—it set the architecture for the whole inner solar system. Without it, we might not have Earth as we know it.” As gas and dust swirled around the newly formed Sun, Jupiter’s massive gravity created ripples that formed rings of material which clumped together by gravity to form the inner planets. Earth needs Jupiter because, without it, the material that formed the planet would have spiraled into the Sun.

Genesis 1:1 tells us, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth,” but it doesn’t specify the process God used or how long it took. If the Bible included every detail, it would be an enormous book. But the Bible is not a science book, and scientists are still exploring the processes God used in creation. It is fascinating to consider how complex the creation process must have been, yet the first verse of the Bible contains the essential facts. There was a beginning. God did it. The creation of a functioning universe, a solar system, and a planet for human habitation is summarized in five Hebrew words—“reshith elohim bara shamayim erets.”

References: space.com and science.org

October 22, 2025October 22, 2025

Solar Reflectors in Space

Joshua chapter 10 records an incident in which the Sun stood still to provide light for “about a full day” so that Joshua could lead the Israelites to defeat the Amorites in battle. I don’t pretend to know the details of how that happened, but I have heard a suggestion that God provided a miraculous way to reflect the Sun’s light into the Valley of Aijalon until the victory was complete. From the perspective of someone in that location, it would appear that the Sun stood still. Now, a California-based company called Reflect Orbital wants to do something like that with a constellation of solar reflectors in space.

Reflect Orbital hopes to launch a 60-by-60-foot (18-by-18-meter) mirror into orbit in April of 2026 to test the idea. If the plan succeeds, they want to place 4,000 solar reflectors in space to orbit in a sun-synchronous orbit between the poles. They would follow the boundary between day and night, providing reflected light to areas in the twilight zone. Reflect Orbital says it could enable solar power generation during peak morning and evening hours, improve crop growth, allow people to work into the night, and provide emergency lighting for disaster zones. Reflect Orbital has applied to the FCC for a license, claiming they have the funding and have already received 250,000 requests for service.

Astronomers and those interested in wildlife are very concerned. For example, Robert Massey, Deputy Director of the Royal Astronomical Society in the UK, said, “The central goal of this project is to light up the sky and extend daylight, and obviously, from an astronomical perspective, that’s pretty catastrophic.” With 4,000 solar reflectors in space, each reflection could cover a 5-kilometer area where some agency has requested and paid for service. However, atmospheric scattering would reach an undefined surrounding area. For up to 100 kilometers, the mirrors would appear like very bright stars.

Light pollution is already a problem, increasing by 10 percent per year since the introduction of LED lights, causing fewer stars to be visible in the night sky. Light pollution is also linked to the decline of beneficial insect populations, as well as increased sleep disorders and depression in humans. In addition to affecting astronomical observations, the solar reflectors in space could disrupt migratory birds that depend on the stars for guidance.

Instead of dreaming about what humans can do, maybe we should carefully consider what we should or should not do. Anyone who has experienced the night sky in one of the rare dark sky areas remaining can appreciate the words of the psalmist David: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you care for him? (Psalms 8:3,4 ESV)

Reference: space.com

October 20, 2025October 20, 2025

Precisely Nothing – Is It Something?

What is “precisely nothing?” Theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss used that phrase in the preface of his 2012 New York Times best-selling book titled A Universe from Nothing. Krass at that time was a professor at Arizona State University and head of the Origins Project there. He later lost that position due to “moral failure,” and is now an anti-theist blogger. An anti-theist is more than an atheist. He does not believe in God, but also actively opposes faith in a creator. Like other anti-theists, he believes that faith in God is not just wrong, but destructive to society.

On what did Krauss base his statement that there was “remarkable new support for the idea that our universe arose from precisely nothing?” Krauss suggests that quantum gravity fluctuations could allow for “the creation, albeit perhaps momentarily, of space itself where none existed before.” Furthermore, “small-density fluctuations in empty space due to the rules of quantum mechanics will later be responsible for all the structures we observe in the universe today. So we, and everything we see, result out of quantum fluctuations in what is essentially nothingness…” He further writes that the universe arose through “a process whereby the energy of empty space (nothing) gets converted into the energy of something.”

Is what Krauss calls “precisely nothing” actually nothing? You may have the same feeling that I have that someone is trying to fool you into believing nonsense. When he writes that “getting something from nothing is not a problem,” I have trouble believing him. Perhaps I am simple-minded, but I prefer a simple explanation of why there is something instead of nothing. It’s explained in a video called a “Proof of God in 3 Minutes.” I encourage you to watch it by clicking HERE.

August 21, 2025August 20, 2025

Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater Connection?

For years, the Does God Exist? ministry took groups of people on apologetics training tours of geological features in the southwestern United States. The Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater (also known as Barringer Crater) were among the places visited in northern Arizona. A recent paper in the journal Geology, written by researchers from the University of New Mexico, suggests a Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater connection.

Scientists have long known about driftwood and lake sediments found in Stanton’s Cave in Marble Canyon in the eastern Grand Canyon. Since the mouth of the cave is 150 feet (46 m) above the Colorado River that runs through the canyon, how the driftwood got there was a mystery. Additionally, explorers have discovered ancient beaver tracks in Vasey’s Cave, 121 feet (37 m) above the river—much too high for beavers to access today.

The proposed explanation for these discoveries in the caves is that, in the distant past, a lake existed in the Colorado River. Geologists estimate the lake was about 50 miles (80 km) long and 300 feet (91 m) deep. Something must have created a dam that held back the river, causing the water to rise to the level of the caves. The dam was eventually overtopped and eroded away, possibly less than 1,000 years ago.

What could have caused such a large dam to hold back the Colorado River? It could have been a volcanic flow or a massive rockslide that sent debris into the canyon. But what could cause a rockslide of that magnitude? New dating methods used by two labs in Australia and New Zealand determined the age of the driftwood to be 55,600 years. David Kring, the science coordinator for Meteor Crater, had estimated the age of the crater to be between 53,000 and 63,000 years. Researchers saw a possible Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater connection.

Kring calculated that the impact at Meteor Crater would have caused an earthquake of magnitude 5.4 or greater. In seconds, a shock wave of around 3.5 would have reached the canyon 100 miles away, potentially shaking loose rocks from the steep cliffs of the canyon and damming the river.

So far, the Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater connection is only speculation, but the dates seem to align. As we study the canyon, we can learn a great deal about the area’s geologic history. God gave us curiosity to seek answers about our planet’s past. While we don’t have all the answers about the Grand Canyon’s formation, one thing we know for certain is that the canyon was not formed by the flood of Noah’s time.

References: space.com and news.unm.edu

August 13, 2025August 12, 2025

Global Warming in the Past

We all need to be concerned about the impact of human activities on climate change, but the media hype suggesting that global warming is something new is simply not true. Science News magazine reported data on global warming in the past, going back to the Paleozoic era over 485 million years ago.

The data show that temperatures reached nearly 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) three different times in Earth’s history. The time of the coolest temperatures is the period in which we are living. Earth cooled about three million years ago, reaching 53.6 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius). According to NASA, the present average global surface temperature is 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius). It appears that our planet is heading into a warm cycle, which humans contribute to, but they are not the only cause.

The media and politicians sometimes present an alarmist view of the future to attract more attention. There has been global warming in the past, and while humans will be affected by future climate change, there are many contributing factors.

Reference: Science News magazine for August 2025 (page 35)

August 8, 2025August 8, 2025

Earth’s Age Is Irrelevant

How old is planet Earth? Why does it matter? Various branches of science agree, based on substantial evidence, that our planet is about 4.5 billion years old. Many Christians argue that it is only a few thousand years old, and they make it a matter of faith. In other words, if you disagree with their timeline, you are an evolutionist and Bible denier. Scientists have methods for calculating Earth’s age, and they have nothing to do with faith or denying the Bible. The truth is that Earth’s age is irrelevant to Christian faith.

Why do many Christians insist on a “young” Earth? It may be because they believe the Bible says so. They base that on a document written by an archbishop of the Church of Ireland, James Ussher, published in 1654. He calculated that Earth’s creation took place on October 22, 4004 B.C. He based his calculations on the assumption that the genealogies of Genesis are complete and that they are recorded for the purpose of chronology. Those assumptions are not correct. The biblical genealogies are incomplete, and their purpose is to show lineage, not chronology. Of course, the lineage eventually led to the Messiah. Because early English translations of the Bible included Ussher’s chronology, many came to believe it was the gospel truth.

Another significant reason many Christians today choose to believe in the young-earth doctrine is that they think it refutes evolution. Scientists don’t insist on billions of years to allow time for evolution. A little-known fact that scientists are reluctant to admit is that 4.5 billion years is not long enough for unguided evolution to create the diversity of life on Earth today. In reality, no amount of time is sufficient for random mutations and natural selection to accomplish the task. But not all of the 4.5 billion years are available for evolution. A large amount of time would be required for the planet to cool and become suitable for life. Then, more time would be needed for non-living elements to organize themselves into the first living cells. (They couldn’t do it by themselves in any amount of time, but that’s another issue.)

The bottom line is that Earth’s age is irrelevant to Christian faith. The age of the Earth is essential to the sciences of geology, paleontology, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and others. As it relates to the Christian faith and the accuracy of the Bible, Earth’s age is irrelevant and always will be. Archbishop Ussher was an intelligent church leader and scholar, but his chronology fails because he based it on false assumptions. False assumptions lead to false conclusions.

August 6, 2025August 5, 2025

Shortest Day on Record?

If you’re thinking that you didn’t accomplish much yesterday, August 5, 2025, it might be because the day was shorter than usual. I don’t mean that the daylight hours were shorter. Earth’s solar day was shorter than the typical 24 hours, which equals 86,400 seconds. You probably didn’t notice because the day was only 1.25 milliseconds shorter. Blaming the shortest day won’t help—you’ll need to find some other reason for not achieving more.

Earth’s rotation speed had been gradually slowing down, but for some reason it started speeding up in recent years, making the days shorter. Official and precise records of solar day lengths since 1973 show that they were getting longer. Earth’s gravity creates friction against the Moon, causing it to drift farther away and slowing Earth’s rotation. A slower rotation results in longer days.

The Moon’s position relative to Earth’s equator creates tidal forces that very subtly influence Earth’s rotation rate. Scientists speculate that the slower rotation of Earth’s liquid core might cause the outer layers of the planet to spin faster, but that remains only speculation.

We can’t really say that yesterday was the shortest day because July 5, 2024, was 1.66 milliseconds shorter than the usual 24 hours. Don’t worry about any noticeable change in the length of days. God has given us an incredibly stable planet on which to live. Many finely tuned factors make life on Earth and our existence possible, and it could not have been accidental. This remarkable planet is further evidence that God exists.

Reference: space.com

July 15, 2025July 14, 2025

Radical Sea Level Changes

Scientific American magazine reported that if the entire Greenland ice sheet melted, global sea levels would rise by 24 feet. The article clarified by saying, “The sheet won’t melt all at once, of course…” What articles like this fail to convey is that Earth has experienced radical sea level changes throughout both geologic and human history.

Geologic history shows marine deposits in places you wouldn’t expect. When I taught earth science, I took my classes to Thornton Reef on the south edge of Chicago, Illinois. I am told that the gravel pit now occupying the reef is the largest in the United States. On one trip there, a student found the tube of a cephalopod, an ancient giant octopus-like creature. Clam shells, snail shells, and brachiopods filled buckets that my students took home. This reef is similar to modern ocean reefs, except it winds through the south side of Chicago with a major interstate highway running right through it.

Other examples of historic radical sea level changes are abundant. Oolitic limestone in southern Indiana consists of tiny ocean creatures called oolites. The limestone in the Grand Canyon contains marine deposits. On the other end of the scale, canyons are cut into continental shelves along the U.S. East Coast of the United States. Those canyons were cut when the shelf was out of water. Scuba divers have reported signs of ancient human-made structures and fire pits in those canyons.

Was the Red Sea at the same level when Moses led the Israelites across? Are people searching for Egyptian armor and chariot remains in the wrong spots? The “Sea of Reeds” was likely dry land at that time, so efforts there are probably doomed to fail. We still have much to learn about climate history, radical sea level changes, and ancient peoples. As our technology improves, discoveries will increase, and we look forward to uncovering more evidence of Earth’s history.

Reference: “Greenland’s Frozen Secret” in the July/August 2025 issue of Scientific American, pages 26-36.

John Cooper explores dry land evidence for the credibility of the biblical account in a series of videos produced by Does God Exist?

June 17, 2025June 16, 2025

Dealing With Disasters

One of the challenges that we all face is dealing with disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods. Skeptics claim that if a God exists, He wouldn’t allow these terrible natural disasters to take place. That claim displays a combination of scientific and theological ignorance.

Tornadoes result when hot air is trapped under a layer of cold air. Warm air rises, but if the cold air above it is dense enough, the warm surface air will become even warmer. Eventually, the hot air will rise through the cold layer. Hang glider pilots and soaring birds look for these vertical updrafts. When the ground is covered with vegetation, there is never enough heat to trigger a strong upward air movement. However, when thousands of acres of land are plowed up or paved over, the surface air becomes hotter and creates stronger vertical movement. Earth’s rotation spins these upward air movements, creating a tornado.

Areas around 30 degrees north and south latitude are usually deserts. The states of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama are at or near 30 degrees north latitude. Hurricanes pick up massive amounts of water from the ocean and dump it on the land. Without hurricanes, there would be a water shortage in many places. In the past, storm surges were not a problem because the coastal areas were lined with mangroves and other plants on the barrier islands and along the mainland coast. Today, that protection has been stripped away and replaced with hotels, roads, parking lots, and beach-front homes. The result is that we are dealing with disasters.

God told humans to take care of the Earth, but greed, selfishness, and ignorance have often caused disasters. The more we learn about the creation, the more we understand that God designed it to work well, but humans have brought much pain and suffering on ourselves by misusing God’s gift. We must work together and avoid repeating past mistakes, or we will continually be dealing with disasters.

June 2, 2025June 1, 2025

Why We Care About Entropy

As a high school physics teacher, I frequently found myself challenged to keep my students interested. Some subjects were easy, but others were challenging, and the kids became bored very quickly. An example of the latter was a unit on the laws of thermodynamics. The second law, also known as the entropy law, states that a closed system tends to become increasingly disordered over time. Entropy is a statistical measure of disorder. During that unit of study, I once had a student who said, “Who cares?” There are good reasons why we care about entropy.

My response is that entropy is a design feature of the cosmos that produces black holes, but it also allows us to breathe and have engines in our cars. As a public-school teacher, I could not bring my religious views into the classroom, but it also disproves one of the atheist arguments against the existence of God.

When we say that God has always existed and He created the cosmos, atheists ask, “Then who created God?” They suggest it is easier to believe that matter has always existed. Why we care about entropy is that it shows that matter and the cosmos have not always existed.

Every reaction in the physical world reduces the amount of energy available to do work. The total energy in the cosmos available to do work is constantly decreasing, eventually becoming zero, and entropy will be maximum. That means the cosmos could not be eternal, and it must have had a beginning. There must be a cause for that beginning, and that cause is God.