Evidence for God in Physical Design Archives - Page 8 of 59

July 17, 2023July 16, 2023

An Astronaut Who Believes in the Bible and Science

“There are no atheists…on top of rockets” is the title of an article by B. T. Irwin, interviewing NASA astronaut Victor Glover. Glover has served on the International Space Station and will pilot NASA’s Artemis II Mission to the Moon next year. Glover is an astronaut who believes in the Bible and science. He talks about how the creation gives evidence for the existence of God.

What is especially interesting is that Glover’s interview was published in The Christian Chronicle, a Church of Christ periodical. The Christian Chronicle has been antagonistic to our ministry because we refuse to dogmatically say the Earth is less than 10,000 years old. The Chronicle has also supported dispensational efforts by promoting Ken Ham’s material and the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter amusement park. Ham’s program promotes the 6000-year age of the Earth to support his dispensational doctrinal views. Victor Glover is an astronaut who believes in the Bible and science, as he explained it in these words:

“The moon is a time capsule for the Earth, and we think it’s old – about 4.5 billion years. And my preacher used to say to me, ‘Yeah, but NASA is wrong because I know the Earth is about 10,000 years old.’ I said, ‘How do you know that?’ He walked me through the lineages in the Bible, and I said, ‘But that doesn’t mark any specific time period.’ And it doesn’t need to because the power of the Gospel is not in a timeline. It’s in that message, in that promise, and that promise being kept. So they don’t actually work against each other like some people like to claim that they do. I had to navigate that because of my faith and my belief in science. I believe in both, and I don’t find them to be in conflict. And I think it’s helped me to be an ambassador to both sides.”

For 55 years, the “Does God Exist?” ministry has shown that science is a friend of faith. We have seen much opposition from the religious establishment as we struggle to undo the collateral damage of the rejection of science. Physical evidence continues to reveal the truth of the Bible. Even when it conflicts with human religious tradition, science is in total agreement with what the Bible says. Let us all pray that some who will not listen to us will listen to an astronaut who believes in the Bible and science. Many young souls are at stake in this false conflict between science and faith.

Reference: The Christian Chronicle for July 2023, pages 22-23.

July 12, 2023July 11, 2023

Searching for Signs of Alien Life

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is searching for signs of alien life in the universe. NASA’s astrobiology program is renewing efforts to answer the question, “Does life exist elsewhere in the universe?” We find life all over this planet. Life is everywhere on Earth, from frigid climates to arid deserts and ocean depths to mountaintops. But does it exist anywhere else?

Currently, NASA is searching for microbial life on Mars with two robotic rovers, Curiosity and Perseverance. Those rovers are exploring rocks in fossilized waterways on the planet, seeking any indication that microbes once lived there. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are working to develop a Mars sample return mission to bring rocks back to Earth for closer examination.

In December of 2018, NASA spacecraft “Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer” (OSIRIS-REx) arrived at the asteroid Bennu after traveling for two years. It orbited Bennu to map the surface and find a good landing spot to obtain samples. In October 2020, OSIRIS-REx touched down on the asteroid, procured a sample, and prepared it for delivery to Earth. In May 2021, the spacecraft departed from Bennu and is expected to arrive back home in September 2023. Scientists will then study this very expensive rock sample, searching for signs of alien life.

Astrobiologists are hopeful that Enceladus and Europa, moons of Saturn and Jupiter respectively, might support some form of life now or in the past. The new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is also involved in the search for alien life. It can detect “biosignatures” around exoplanets, planets outside of our solar system. In all these ways, NASA is searching for signs of alien life in the universe.

Heather Graham, a NASA astrobiologist at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, says, “We don’t actually know yet how life on this planet began….” Of course, NASA is looking for some natural explanation of how life began. Graham further said that we must “roll back that clock to see how life began.” Why not roll back the clock all the way to the beginning? Science can’t explain how the universe began. Not very long ago, scientists thought the universe was eternal, and they made fun of the idea that the universe had a beginning. However, they reluctantly had to admit that the evidence shows there was a beginning, as Genesis has said for thousands of years.

Perhaps some are motivated to search for signs of alien life to show that God is unnecessary. Will science someday find that there is life, even microbial life, elsewhere in the universe? Perhaps, but if there is, God created it since He created the universe.

Reference: “Is There Life Beyond Earth?” on YouTube

July 5, 2023July 4, 2023

Asteroid Strike from Space

As our view of space and our solar system improves, astronomers have realized that space is a dangerous place. Space travel requires considering the many ways astronauts can be harmed when they leave Earth’s protection. It isn’t just cold and radiation and the damaging effects of weightlessness, but our solar system is full of rock material left over from the creation process. NASA must keep in mind the possibility of an asteroid strike from space.

NASA has plotted 1000 known “Potentially Hazardous Asteroids” (PHAs). These are documented boulders of rock and ice over 140 meters across that will pass within 7.5 million kilometers of Earth (about 20 times the distance to the Moon). Were a giant asteroid to strike Earth, the result would be catastrophic. There is evidence that this has happened in the past, probably causing mass extinctions on our planet.

NASA used the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission in 2022 to explore the possibility of redirecting an asteroid away from the Earth. We are talking about a large object, not the small pieces of rock and dust that strike the Earth every day, producing meteor displays and fireballs. NASA designed DART to find a way to prevent a catastrophic asteroid strike from space.

NASA has concluded that none of the asteroids known to astronomers will strike the Earth for at least the next 100 years. God created our planet in such a way that we are protected from destructive agents from outer space. The more we learn about space, the more we see the design and planning involved in creation.

The threat to humanity is what we do to ourselves, not any failure in the design of our planet. God has also given us a way to protect ourselves from each other, and we see that in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Read Matthew chapters 5-7, and you will see what Jesus told us. The selfishness and greed of humans threaten our existence individually and collectively. Human self-destruction is far more likely than a catastrophic asteroid strike from space.

Reference: NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day for June 30, 2023

July 3, 2023July 1, 2023

Human Actions Lead to Wildfires

In our part of the country, people will remember the summer of 2023 as the “summer of smoke.” Canadian wildfires combined with wind directions have brought heavy smoke into our area. The smoke has been so dense that a friend living in Chicago told me he could not see across the street – a distance of about 20 yards. In the past, we personally experienced California wildfires and saw their massive damage. The message we need to understand is that human actions lead to wildfires.

God designed the natural world to prevent massive fires from developing. When we allow brush to accumulate, lightning, human carelessness, or arson starts a fire, it will explode into a conflagration of massive proportions. The role of grazing animals is one way the natural world has been designed to prevent these huge fires.

Ireland is a rainy country, but in 2021, wildfires burned near Dublin for six weeks. The fuel for those explosive fires is a flowering plant called gorse. It grows in dense thickets and is highly flammable when it dries in late summer. The removal of an indigenous goat breed known as old Irish goats allowed the heathland to become overgrown. The result was annual fire outbreaks.

By introducing the old Irish goats back to the area where the gorse grows, the plant biomass is no longer a fuel source for the fires. An organization called the “Old Irish Goat Society” (OIGS) has been involved in a three-year project to reintroduce the endangered goat breed into areas suffering the threat of wildfires. One obvious risk in today’s world is that the goats will also eat desirable plants. In the past, carnivores prevented that from happening by limiting goat populations. The OIGS prevents that problem by equipping the goats with GPS colors that set off an alarm when the goats wander too far.

God built into the creation a variety of means of preventing wildfires. Once again, human actions lead to wildfires by altering the original system, which included grazing animals. Yellowstone National Park has similar results with elk herds. We must learn to allow the controlling agents that God built into the original system.

Reference: “Meet the Firefighting Goats of Dublin” in Discover magazine for July/August 2023, pages 10-11.

June 23, 2023June 20, 2023

Glacial Erratics and Time

People living in the southern United States may not be familiar with glacial erratics such as the one in the picture. Glacial erratics are rocks deposited by glaciers that are different from the native rocks in the area. Where we live in southwestern Michigan has many boulders like this. Many of us have at least one of them in our yard. They weigh hundreds or even thousands of pounds. Many years ago, when workers were digging the foundation for a wing of our local hospital, they hit a glacial erratic that was so large no equipment could lift it. They had to break it into smaller pieces to get it out of the way.

What is especially interesting about glacial erratics is that no two of them look alike, and they each have their own mineralogy. Some are a form of granite, some are metamorphic rocks like gneiss or schist, and some are sedimentary rocks like limestone or sandstone. As a public high school science teacher, I used to take my classes to the local gravel pit and have my students see how many different rocks they could find. Once, a girl found what she called “a pretty red rock.” I looked at it and recognized it immediately. It was a piece of jasper conglomerate, a rock only known to exist in an outcrop near Bruce Mines, Ontario – a place where I spent many summers as a teenager.

The question is, how did a piece of rock get from southern Ontario to northern Indiana? I have had students find pieces of pure copper in the gravel pit. There is a copper outcrop in the upper peninsula of Michigan that has the same color and texture as the ones my students found. In fact, almost every rock my students found came from a place far to the north of us where those rocks can be seen in outcrops. It is quite evident to thinking students that running water or wind did not carry those rocks. However, a moving sheet of ice can do it. Today you can go to an active glacier and watch that process taking place.

How long does it take for a sheet of ice to flow from Ontario to Indiana? There are places near Martinsville in southern Indiana where you can find similar glacial erratics. Glaciers bring not only minerals but water to our area. There are hundreds of lakes and ponds in the area where we live. Glaciers are a great tool of God to mold and shape the planet, and we are blessed by what glaciers have given us.
The glacial till we found contained no human remains or tools. The glaciers were there long before humans lived in Indiana. The process of shaping and molding the land took an enormous amount of time, but God created time, and it means nothing to Him. Only human theories and religions demand specific time elements. Truly “with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8).

June 20, 2023June 19, 2023

Matter Greatly Exceeds Antimatter

It’s “one of the Universe’s best-kept secrets” and a mystery that physicists are working to resolve. Every subatomic particle in the universe has an antimatter equivalent. Each atom consists of electrons, protons, and neutrons. The negative electrons have alternative positrons with a positive charge. If you could combine an electron and a positron, they would cancel each other. Protons and neutrons, which compose the nucleus of atoms, are made of smaller particles called quarks. There are also anti-quarks, and if you combined a quark and an anti-quark, they would explode and destroy each other. Our universe, and us, can only exist because matter greatly exceeds antimatter.

If matter and antimatter were in a state of symmetry with equal amounts, they would have destroyed each other, and nothing would exist. Scientists theorize that the creation event, or Big Bang, should have created an equal amount of matter and antimatter, so they wonder why the lack of symmetry. In other words, why does anything exist in the universe, our planet, and our bodies? The universe is made of matter, while antimatter is almost non-existent except in radioactive particle decay and particle colliders such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland and France.

According to the Standard Model of particle physics, physicists theorize that a “charge-conjugation parity violation” (CP) caused the lack of symmetry – but how and why? Physicists working with the LHC say particles and antiparticles can spontaneously transform from one to the other. LHC spokesperson Chris Parkes said, “Through more precise measurement, large improvements have been made in our knowledge. These are key parameters that aid our search for unknown effects from beyond our current theory.”

We can be thankful that in today’s universe, the amount of matter greatly exceeds antimatter. Since physicists are looking for an explanation, they may eventually solve the mystery. It will be interesting to see the scientific explanation for the lack of symmetry. Whatever process scientists discover, we suggest that this is another example where intelligence and wisdom provide a more reasonable ultimate explanation than accidental chance offers.

References: CERN News and Space.com

June 19, 2023June 18, 2023

The Cosmological Argument for God

Cosmology provides strong evidence for God’s existence. The basic cosmological argument for God involves three simple questions:

1) Was there a beginning to time, space, and matter/energy? The evidence says there was.

2) Was the beginning caused or uncaused? Taking the position it was uncaused violates scientific conservation laws.

3) If it was caused, what or who was the causer? The evidence is that the cause can not be blind, mechanistic chance. Logic suggests that the cause was an intelligence, in other words, God.

As more data becomes available to support intelligence as the cause of planet Earth, the cosmological argument for God becomes stronger. If we define life as that which can breathe, move, respond to outside stimuli, and reproduce, what is necessary for life to exist? Astronomers now talk about the habitable zone (HZ) of stars. This is the zone around stars where the temperature on a planet would allow water to exist in the liquid state on the surface.

Recent discoveries have shown that M-class dwarf stars are the most common and longest-lived stars. The problem with these stars is that their HZ is very close to the star, so tidal forces would lock the rotation of any planet so its same side would always face the parent star. One side of the planet would be constantly hot while the other would be cold. Also, M-class stars would bombard these planets with stellar flares causing massive radiation levels that would eliminate any possibility of life. Other star types create various problems for a life-supporting planet.

Astronomers have determined there is a galactic habitable zone (GHZ) in addition to the star’s habitable zone. A star must be far from the galactic center to have a planet with life on it. The high star density near the core of a galaxy exposes the star system to deadly supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. Mass distribution within a galaxy is also an issue because, near the galaxy’s core, mass concentrations cause gravitational instability.

The basic cosmological argument for God is now supported by a vast number of parameters that must be within precise limits to allow life to exist in a planetary system. Having a large moon is essential to the survival of life on a planet. Likewise, having a shield against incoming cosmic bodies is critical. A body the size of Comet Hale Bopp hitting planet Earth would have sterilized it, killing even microbes that might be present. The Earth’s shield is the arrangement of the Jovian planets. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune preventing objects like Hale Bopp from reaching Earth.

The more we look at the cosmos, the unique qualities of our planet reinforce the cosmological argument for God. Proverbs 8 personifies Wisdom speaking of God’s creative power and design. As we learn more about the cosmos, the stronger the evidence becomes that “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

Reference: “Is Earth the Only Goldilocks Planet?” by Klaus R. Brasch in Astronomy Magazine for July 2023, pages 18-23.

June 16, 2023June 19, 2023

Predictions of Earth’s Demise Are Highly Exaggerated

With many world issues to be concerned about, politicians and the media are predicting the end of the Earth because of global warming. Yes, climate change is real, but predictions of Earth’s demise are highly exaggerated.

U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez received widespread media coverage as she predicted the end of humanity would happen within 12 years. Politicians today continue to scream that the end of the Earth is near. The media quoted our current administration with these words: “The world is facing a grave emergency…Every week brings new climate-related devastation. Floods. Drought. Heat waves. Wildfires, Superstorms … We are in a battle for our lives … Climate change is the biggest threat to the global economy.”

There is no question that we need to take steps to improve our planet, but predictions of Earth’s demise are highly exaggerated. The prophets of doom are not only inaccurate, but they are unsettling. Consider the following facts which you won’t see in most of the media:

1. The number of hurricanes annually making landfall in the U.S. has declined since 1900. That is also true for major hurricanes – category three and above. The second-lowest recorded year was 2022.
2. The wildfires in Australia in 2019 and 2020 were close to Sydney and Melbourne, where the major news organizations are, so the coverage was exaggerated. The total number of fires in Australia as a whole was one of the lowest levels on record. The amount of burned areas over the entire planet has dramatically declined over the past 25 years.
3. In the 1920s, roughly 500,000 people died annually due to climate. That number has been dropping to approximately 11,000 people in 2022.
4. In 1890, renewable sources produced 94% of the world’s energy (mostly wood). In 2021, 16% of the world’s energy was from renewable sources.
5. Unlike the politicians’ proposal of net zero by 2050, the most optimistic model suggests we could reach 95%. However, the cost would be roughly $11,000 per person per year.
6. Yale climate economist William Nordhaus received the Nobel Prize in economics in 2018 for his studies comparing the cost of climate change and climate policy. He showed that restricting the average world temperature to a 6.75 degrees Fahrenheit rise, instead of the 7.4 degrees that it will rise if we do nothing, would cost 20 trillion dollars. Limiting the increase to 5.3 degrees would cost about 100 trillion dollars.

The bottom line is that the media and the politicians are exaggerating the long-term effects of climate change and underestimating the economic cost of climate policy. Motivating people to do something is good, but we must consider the cost and apply innovation to do the job efficiently.

God created a resilient Earth, and we must recognize the challenges and be good stewards of God’s gifts. All the hand-wringing of the media and the politicians accomplishes very little. Predictions of Earth’s demise are highly exaggerated.

Reference: “Thinking Smartly About Climate Change” by Bjorn Lomborg in Imprimis for April/May 2023, Volume 52, Number 4/5.

June 12, 2023June 11, 2023

Freeing Up Nitrogen Atoms

Nitrogen is an essential ingredient in biological molecules, such as proteins and DNA, but nitrogen must be in a free state for these molecules to form. By that, we mean nitrogen atoms that are not already bonded to each other, making them inert. Seventy-eight percent of our atmosphere consists of nitrogen, but nitrogen atoms in the air are bonded with other nitrogen atoms to form nitrogen molecules that are chemically inert. It takes enormous amounts of energy to tear apart nitrogen molecules, freeing up nitrogen atoms to bond with other elements.

A nitrogen atom can be useful for life when it bonds with three oxygen atoms to make nitrate. Nitrogen can also bond with three hydrogen atoms making ammonia, which is also useful for life. This is a complicated issue because Earth’s early atmosphere did not contain much oxygen, so the rock record shows nitrogen bonded to hydrogen atoms. Ammonia has a very low gram molecular weight, so it can escape Earth’s gravity. We see large amounts of ammonia in the atmospheres of our Jovian planets, but that is because their large masses provide enough gravity to hold on to the ammonia.

Humans create nitrogen fertilizer through chemical and electrical processes. But that method of freeing up nitrogen atoms is complex and requires a lot of energy. Scientists in the past have theorized that microbes could have been the method of nitrogen fixation, reducing the nitrogen to nitrates. This is a “chicken-egg” problem because nitrates had to be in existence for the microbes to exist. Freeing up nitrogen atoms would require some non-biologic processes. Studies have shown that electric discharges in lightning have enough energy to tear apart nitrogen molecules, but the rate is insufficient to account for all the nitrogen needed.

New research on volcanoes has shown that eruptions release oxygen and supply enough energy to tear apart nitrogen molecules that bond with oxygen. The nitrates produced would accumulate, allowing life to survive. Studies have shown that a strong volcanic eruption can produce about 60 million tons of nitrate. In 2022 the Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in Indonesia produced 400,000 discharges in one day.

As we learn more about the chemistry and physics required for freeing up nitrogen to allow life to exist on this planet, the complexity and design of the system astound many researchers. The Bible merely says God did it, but not how or what complexities were involved. Everywhere we look, we see that a wounder-working hand has gone before. Nitrogen is an excellent example of how much wisdom, power, and planning was required for a life-bearing planet to come into existence.

Reference: Science News for June 3, 2023, page 7.

June 5, 2023June 1, 2023

Chondrite Meteorites from Space

What are the odds of you getting hit by a rock that came to the Earth from Mars? A New Jersey woman named Suzy Kop walked into an empty bedroom in her house and found a hole in her ceiling and a still-warm six-inch potato-shaped rock on the floor. Scientists studying it have concluded it is one of the rare stony chondrite meteorites, dating back to the beginning of the solar system.

The word “chondrite” comes from the Greek “chondres,” meaning sand grain. Such rocks from space contain tiny, millimeter-sized granules, iron and nickel alloys, and as much as 50% silicate minerals. There are several different kinds of meteorites. Some are called “irons” because they are almost entirely made of iron and nickel alloys. Others, called “stoney irons,” have silicate minerals in addition to iron and nickel alloys. In addition, carbonaceous chondrite meteorites contain water, sulfur, and even some organic material.

In their excavations of ancient cities, archaeologists have found knives and various other objects made of meteoric iron material. Ling before humans learned how to smelt iron to make tools and weapons, they found iron meteorites and pounded them into useful tools. (See “Metal From the Heavens” in National Geographic for June 2023, pages 102-104.) Genesis 4:22 refers to Tubal-Cain, a son of Lamech, “who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron.” However, early humans used iron meteorites long before Tubal-Cain forged tools.

The question of why there are different kinds of meteorites is of greater interest. The answer is that the meteorites came from the formation of different objects in various places in the cosmos. Scientists believe iron meteorites came from the cores of asteroids or planets where extreme heat would allow only resistant metals to exist. Silicate minerals were probably ejected from planets with less heat and lower pressure. Some stoney chondrite meteorites have the same chemical composition as Mars, so they probably came from that planet.

In 2018 the Japanese Hayabusa2 spacecraft brought back samples from the asteroid Ryugu. The samples contained uracil, which is a building block of RNA. Some astronomers believe a planet exploded and that many meteorites, as well as Ryugu are what remain from that explosion.

Researchers are sampling other asteroids, but the message is that space is full of the remains of God’s creative actions. Likewise, the existence of planet Earth and the life on it tells us that this is indeed a unique place that we need to care for and preserve.

References: Nature Communications for March 21, 2023, and The Week for May 26, 2023, page 12.