The Disarray of Atheists
Looking for God? Get Reasonable!
The previous explanations about the appearance of matter, natural laws and life satisfy none but the die-hard atheists. Not every astronomer and biologist is satisfied with those answers. Amazing modern discoveries, such as those of quantum mechanics, have left many scientists spell-bound. Moreover, discovery of the extremely complicated DNA and gene mechanisms has shaken some scientists, including cellular biologists, into questioning the theory of evolution.
The old answers about life’s origin in terms of chance combinations have lost their luster in view of the latest scientific observations. It is estimated that for a chance assembly of a single protein consisting of no more than five elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur the odds are 1 in 10(160). The time required for this chance occurrence is 10(243) years longer than the period the universe has existed. The proteins themselves, combining into a specific pattern from amino acids that come in a chain, have the possibility to form 1048 shapes. But it always combines into a single shape at the first attempt.
Yet, not all modern-day evolutionists will agree that chance explains the origin of life. One of them will give you a rope of hope to hold on to. He will urge you into the bushes of verbiage to wait for an explanation of how the highly improbable first appearance of life could have occurred. The rope of hope is pretty long. When the wind subsides, the rendezvous ends and you hear that: yes, the highly improbable did happen here on earth. Why? Because we are here!
Each of the organelles in a cell has a variety of functions. They are so inter-related that it is impossible to figure out where the action began. The following diagram illustrates the mystery surrounding cellular activities. Each activity has its own purpose in addition to serving the purposes of several others in a chain reaction which goes on and on without any central command system, each one of the thousands of organelles functioning without committing a single error. (Picture source: Cell and Molecular BJ’OIOgy by Gerald Karp, Wiley and Sons, 1996)
It is known that a living cell heavily depends on a chain of amino acids, of which there are 20 different kinds. The function of these amino acids is in turn dependent upon 1,000 to 2,000 highly specialized enzymes. Hoyle postulated that for an enzyme to work by the amino acids chain, assuming its correct configuration in space, at least 20 to 30 key amino acids must be “right.” According to his calculations, the probability of a thousand different enzymes coming together in just the right way over the course of earth’s several billion years of history to form one living cell is a staggering 10(40.000) to 1.
Take any organelle of the cell. It is so intricately designed that it would be impossible for lifeless atoms to arrange themselves in this order to perform those several functions. This apparatus, a pore or “gate” allows only the nucleus of the cell, blocking all others. If other elements entered the nucleus, they would destroy the DNA. Note the intricacy and ask yourself whether this apparatus could have come into existence by chance?
And just as there seems to be deliberation behind the ratio in the magnitude of the four forces of nature, there seems to be deliberation behind the selection of material for life. There are around 100 elements that occur in nature. But only 24 are represented in all life forms, to which a 25th cannot be added. Out of these there are many that were never found in abundance on earth, but they have been selected; while there are others that have been abundantly available on the earth but were not selected for the creation of life. In other words, those elements occurring in minute quantities on earth are found in large quantities within a living cell, while those that of abundance on earth are found in preportionately small quantities in the cell. There was a definite selection made both in the material as well as in its quantities, which leads to recognition that a Creator was involved.
Author : Syed Iqbal Zaheer
