Origins: Random Chance or Intelligent Design? - Apologetics Press

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A human body is composed of over 250 different kinds of cells (red bloodcells, white blood cells, muscle cells, fat cells, nerve cells, etc.—Baldi, 2001, p.147), totaling approximately 100 trillion cells in an average adult (Fukuyama,2002, p. 58). These cells come in a variety of sizes and shapes, with differentfunctions and life expectancies. Each cell possesses organelles such as ribosomes,mitochondria, Golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum, and a nucleus—all of which play vital roles in keeping the organism alive. While all of thesemicroscopic organelles point to an intelligent designer, the truly amazing intricatecomplexity of a cell is observed within the nucleus, for it is within thenucleus that the DNA—or genetic code—is to be found.If transcribed into English, the chemical code (deoxyribonucleic acid—DNA)in the human genome (i.e, in a spermatozoon or ovum) would fill a 300-volumeset of encyclopedias of approximately 2,000 pages each (Baldi, p. 21).Yet just as amazing is the fact that all the genetic information needed to reproducethe entire human population (around six billion people) could beplaced into a space of about one-eighth of a cubic inch. The intricate andcomplex nature of the DNA molecule—combined with the staggering amountof chemically coded information that it contains—speaks unerringly to thefact that this “supermolecule” simply could not have come into existence dueto blind chance and random natural forces operating through eons of time,as evolutionists have claimed. This is not an adequate explanation for the inherentcomplexity of the DNA molecule. Does coded information happen bychance? And could the decoding system (RNA and ribosomes) just happenby chance as well? Hardly.In the human body, there are numerous tissues (e.g., muscle tissues, nervetissues, etc.). In fact, a single human has more than 600 muscles (containingabout six billion muscle fibers), composing about 40% of the body’s weight.Muscles are the “engines” that the body uses to provide the power for movement.Some muscles are tiny (such as those regulating the amount of lightentering the eye), while others (like those in the legs) are massive.Muscles may be classified either as “voluntary” (i.e., under the control ofthe human will), or “involuntary” (i.e., not under control of the will). The voluntarymuscles of the arms, for example, are attached to the bones by toughcords of connective tissue called tendons. One must “think” in order to movethese muscles. The involuntary muscles are those whose contraction and relaxationare not controlled consciously (e.g., the heart and intestines). Somemuscles are both voluntary and involuntary (e.g., the muscles controlling theeyelids, and the diaphragm). All muscles, in one way or another, are regulatedby the nervous system. The design inherent in voluntary and involuntarymuscles is utterly incredible.If it is clear that an automobile engine was intelligently designed, why is itnot reasonable to draw the same conclusion with reference to muscles? JohnLenihan, even though an evolutionist, wrote: “The body’s engines [muscles3
—BT/BH]...demonstrate some surprisingly modern engineering ideas” (1974,p. 43). Who initiated these “engineering ideas”? The answer, of course, isthe Great Engineer, God.The SkinThe skin is the largest single organ of the human body. It consists of threeareas: (a) the skin layers; (b) the glands; and (c) the nails. If the skin of a 150-pound man were spread out, it would cover 20 square feet of space and weighabout 9 pounds. The skin is also a very busy area. “A piece of skin the size ofa quarter contains 1 yard of blood vessels, 4 yards of nerves, 25 nerve ends,100 sweat glands, and more than 3 million cells” (Youmans, 1979, 17:404d).The skin absorbs ultraviolet rays from the Sun, and uses them to convert chemicalsinto vitamin D, which the body needs for the utilization of calcium. It retainsthe fluids in the body, and yet still is permeable enough for perspirationto penetrate in order to cool the body. And, the skin is the primary means ofdefense against bacteria and other harmful organisms. Man has yet to developa durable material that can perform the many functions that the skincarries out on a daily basis.The EyeOne of the most forceful evidences of design within the human body isthe eye. Even Charles Darwin struggled with the problem of an organ so complexas the eye evolving via naturalistic processes. In The Origin of Specieshe wrote:To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjustingthe focus to different distances, for admitting different amountsof light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration,could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess,absurd in the highest sense(1859,p.170,emp.added).However, in spite of his misgivings, Darwin went on to argue that the eye had,in fact, been produced by natural selection through an evolutionary process.Darwin, of course, is not the only one to be troubled by what appears to beobvious evidence of design in the eye. Evolutionist Robert Jastrow lamented:The eye is a marvelous instrument, resembling a telescope of the highestquality,with a lens, an adjustable focus, a variable diaphragm forcontrolling the amount of light, and optical corrections for sphericaland chromatic aberration. The eye appears to have been designed;no designer of telescopes could have done better. Howcould this marvelous instrument have evolved by chance, througha succession of random events? (1981, pp. 96-97, emp. added).Considering how extremely complex the mechanism of the eye is knownto be, it is easy to understand why Dr. Jastrow would make such a comment.Light images from the environment enter the eye (at approximately 186,000miles per second) through the iris, which opens and shuts like the diaphragmof a camera to let in just the right amount of light. The images move through4
Page 1 and 2: Lesson 1Origins: Random Chance or I
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Page 8 and 9: Asimov, Isaac (1970), “In the Gam
Page 10 and 11: 4. The distance (in miles) from the

Origins: Random Chance or Intelligent Design? - Apologetics Press

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