Are We Alone in the Universe?
More and more these days we are seeing attention paid in the
press, on TV and radio, to questions of life in outer space, to
the origins of the universe, of life, and of human existence.
Some may view this with alarm, as evidence of increasing
pressure being brought to bear on Christian faith and the Bible.
But may I suggest that conditions have never been better for an
aggressive counter attack by those who believe in God and the
integrity of His Word. It is characteristic of atheistic
evolutionists to view belief in God as the Creator with the
utmost disdain and contempt. But in doing so it seems they
become more and more reckless, making claims and speculations
they can in no way defend if brought to task.
For example, in the May, 1996 issue of Reader's Digest is an
article condensed from Time Magazine entitled "Are We Alone in
the Universe." There is great excitement in the scientific
world about discoveries of possible huge Jupiter-like planets
circling distant stars. The presence even of such huge,
inhospitable worlds gives hope that the Milky Way "must be
bursting with other worlds and that there is life out there,
somewhere."
New scientific satellites are being launched by NASA and
European science groups which, it is hoped will shed more light
on the possibilities of life "out there." Since 1960 a search
for extraterrestrial intelligence (known as SETI) has been going
on. Millions of dollars have been invested in establishing
listening posts around the globe for radio signals from the
intelligent beings supposedly living out there somewhere.
Nothing has been discovered thus far, but many continue to hope.
Recently an even more ambitious effort called BETA has been set
up with an 84 foot dish antenna near Boston designed to sweep
the heavens on billions of channels for signs of life. Nothing
has been discovered, but they are still hopeful. "I have no
doubts," says BETA director and Harvard physicist Paul Horowitz.
"Intelligent life in the universe? Guaranteed. Intelligent
life in our galaxy? So overwhelmingly likely that I'd give you
almost any odds."
Really!? First of all it should be noted that whether
extraterrestrial life exists or not poses no threat to faith in
God or the Bible. The Bible says absolutely nothing about
whether life exists elsewhere in the universe. The nearest
thing to it is found in Matthew 24:31 and Mark 13:27. "And
then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his
elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth
to the uttermost part of heaven." "The uttermost part of
heaven" does not necessarily refer to outer space, although it
could. At any rate, if there are intelligent responsible beings
out there when the Lord returns, they will miss neither the hope
of heaven, nor God's judgment against the wicked.
In "The Myth of Natural Origins" by Ashby Camp, page 36 it is
stated that 2,000 different functioning enzymes are needed to
duplicate even a bacterium. And the odds of assembling this
many enzymes in proper order is one in 10 followed by 40,000
zeros. This expresses the odds of only ONE bacterium forming by
accident The odds against the tens of millions of species of
life on earth originating by accident is many times greater than
this.
"To appreciate the magnitude of a number like 10 to the 40,000
power, one should know that there are only an estimated 10 to
the 80th power atoms in the known universe...." If every atom
in the universe were itself a universe, there would be only 10
to the 160th power atoms. The odds, therefore, declares Sir Fred
Hoyle, that 2,000 enzymes could assemble themselves by natural
processes is "an outrageously small probability that could not
be faced even if the whole universe consisted of organic soup."
But back to the Reader's Digest article, "Although astronomers
increasingly suspect that bio-friendly planets may be abundant
in the universe, the chemical steps leading to life remain
largely mysterious." Mysterious indeed! The formation of life
is more than just a chemical process. Living things have
mechanical structures as well. Chemical processes might, for
example, lead to the formation of a plastic goop. But
accidentally forming that goop into useful objects, or the
fabric of living organisms is still another giant and mysterious
step.
"Traditionally," the Digest writer continues, "biologists
believed that life is a freak -- the result of a zillion-to-one
accidental concatenation of molecules. And Darwinian selection
is blind. The path of evolution is merely a random walk through
the realm of possibilities. If this is right, there can be no
innate drive toward more complex systems, including
consciousness and intelligence."
The probability of even the simplest living organism forming by
accident has been likened to the probability of a 747 airplane
resulting from a tornado passing through a junk yard, or to the
probability of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an
explosion in a print factory.
As scientific knowledge increases the things needed to make
Darwinian evolution possible have increased until even the
atheistic scientists are a bit embarrassed. So they must come
up with new theories. "There is, however," the Digest article
continues, "a contrary view that is gaining strength: complexity
can emerge spontaneously through a process of self-organization.
If matter and energy have an in-built tendency to amplify and
channel organized complexity, the odds against the formation of
life and the subsequent evolution of intelligence would be
drastically shortened."
One wonders how anyone could make a statement like that and keep
a straight face! Where is there the slightest evidence that
inanimate matter can organize itself spontaneously into anything
as complex as a living being? Such a view is "gaining strength"
only because its proponents hope that no one will question it.
Like evolutionism itself, if it can be stated often enough
without serious objection, it will somehow, mysteriously change
from a hypothesis to a scientific theory and then to a
scientific fact.
"Meanwhile, the astronomers who are looking for planets are
sounding downright cocky." It is time that we call them to task
on their fantasy and bring them down to earth.
Theoflus@aol.com
Bill Carrell
3693 Vanderwood Drive
Memphis, TN 38128-3238
|
Lyrics, Chords Tabs Rated
Children's NT Studies
