Intelligent Design

by Kimmi & Kerri

In our last column, we discussed the human brain and how it must have been designed by someone with intelligence. Something else that shows design is the fertilized human egg. It is the size of a pinhead yet it contains information equivalent to six billion chemical letters. In fact if all the DNA chemical letters of one fertilized egg were to be printed in books, they would fill the Grand Canyon over 50 times. The genetic code is an error-correcting. digital-coding system, and its DNA has built-in redundancy. This provides back-up genes to take over in case of informational errors that occur in the DNA. It also has decoding information. Without decoders the DNA is useless.

The human body is chemically unequaled for complexity. Each of its 30 trillion cells is a miniature chemical factory, which performs about 10,000 chemical functions, and each cell has over a trillion bits of data. These information-holding cells also replace themselves every seven years. The parts of the body all work together as a team. The body's 206 bones provide the framework while its 639 muscles enable it to move with incredible split-second timing. The body is controlled by over 16 billion neurons and over 120 trillion connection boxes packed together into an unthinkably complex set of neuropathways. And all of these function as a unified whole.

Logic tells us that the body was designed and thus had a Designer.

The argument for design is well illustrated by a conversation between Sir Isaac Newton and a scientist friend of his. Newton had a skillful mechanic make a replica of our solar system, with the planets geared to move in harmony when cranked. The event when Newton was visited by a scientist friend who did not believe in God is described this way by the Minnesota Technology (October 1957):

"One day, as Newton sat reading in his study with his mechanism on a large table near him, his infidel friend stepped in. Scientist that he was, he recognized at a glance what was before him. Stepping up to it, he slowly turned the crank and with undisguised admiration watched the heavenly bodies all move in their relative speed in their orbits. Standing off a few feet he exclaimed, 'My! What an exquisite thing this is! Who made it?' Without looking up from his book, Newton answered, 'Nobody!"

"Quickly turning to Newton, the infidel said, 'Evidently you did not understand my question. I asked who made this?' Looking up now, Newton solemnly assured him that nobody made it, but that the aggregation of matter so much admired had just happened to assume the form it was in. But the astonished infidel replied with some heat, 'You must think I am a fool! Of course somebody made it, and he is a genius, and I'd like to know who he is."

"Laying his book aside, Newton arose and laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "This thing is but a puny imitation of a much grander system whose laws you know, and I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without a designer and maker, yet you profess to believe that the great original from which the design is taken has come into being without either a designer or maker. Now tell me by what sort of reasoning do you reach such an incongruous conclusion?'"