I had the privilege of previewing the forthcoming theatrical documentary The Story of Everything, which is out on April 30. It is an incredible scientific piece of work, that, I believe, will endure for many decades among scientists and the general public alike who want to learn more about the true source of life on this planet. The thought of extraordinary coincidences rang loudly and frequently in my mind. A master designer must be responsible. The audience will see that everything related to our presence on this planet could not have happened by accident. It’s quite a story.
A Fancy Word for Disorder
There was so much information that I actually had to view the movie twice. One cannot absorb it all otherwise. Keep in mind that the philosophical definition of materialism is atheism (not the opposite of immaterialism) and entropy is a fancy word for disorder. The animations of the inner workings of a single cell in the middle of the video are spectacular. Talk about a picture being worth a thousand words. Don’t miss this part!
Much has been learned since Darwin’s Origin of Species was published in 1859. Despite nearly two centuries of serious research, the theory of evolution has yet to be proven true. Yes, species can improve. They can run faster, have more offspring, hide better, but they can never change into another species. If they could, it might take millions of genetic and chemical steps. We now know that evolution, given present day biological advancements in the micro and nano world, will never become a fact.
Emperor Darwin
The time has come to tell Emperor Darwin that he has no clothes on. The figurative child who shouts this out from the crowd, embarrassing the Emperor, is Stephen C. Meyer. Dr. Meyer is the author of Return of the God Hypothesis, which is the basis of this movie. He is also one of the producers and a frequent commentator in the film, among other scientists and scholars. Their point is that there is an awesome, hidden Mind helping guide the universe. Thirteen other PhDs, all prominent researchers, participated in the film. They all stand on very wide shoulders from the past and present.
Although atheists may say these are religious arguments, the atheists are badly mistaken. What you will see in the film uses established facts and solid scientific conclusions. The viewer’s responsibility is to decide whether we are here by accident or by design.
Agreeing with Einstein
Nowadays, most experts agree with Albert Einstein that the universe began with the Big Bang. Given what had to have been an unimaginable, monstrous catastrophic event, one must explain how a presumed huge, grossly deformed, ragged chunk of geological shrapnel showed up as a nicely shaped, beautiful planet that was loaded with water and fine-tuned for life. In contrast to natural laws, there was a loss of entropy (disorder) rather than the obvious gain.
At some point thereafter, our atmosphere became compatible with supporting life. Oxygen levels became tightly maintained at a life-sustaining 21 percent concentration. Any higher and we would all spontaneously combust. Any lower, ever so slightly, and we would all die of asphyxiation. By design, oxygen is replenished by plants and trees on land and varied greenery in the seas. There is an incredible reciprocal process that benefits both plants and animals. Another coincidence that exists to keep us alive and well? Note, the maintained high nitrogen concentration in the atmosphere prevents a single spark from setting the whole world on fire in a matter of seconds.
Our moon is also not a ragged piece of stonework. It is located exactly where it serves us best. It helps stabilize the Earth’s tilt, creates the oceanic tides that clean the systems and helps regulate the Earth’s rotational speed. To maintain good health, we all need to sleep, right? Note that Nature turns the lights off naturally for us every night. And gravity keeps us from floating up to the ceiling or floating out the window.
Without the magnetosphere, we would be destroyed by cosmic rays. If the giant planets of Jupiter and Saturn weren’t standing guard exactly where they are and “taking the punches for us,” our early civilization might have been destroyed by any number of passing asteroids or comets long ago. Does anyone have a good idea, other than design, why massive amounts of oil and natural gas can be found on this planet? Or metal ores? Or timber? Or how did highly varied edible fruits, vegetables, and nuts turn up? And, what a coincidence that penicillin was accidentally found floating, and killing staphylococci, in a Petri dish by Dr. Alexander Fleming in 1928. Another gift? Coincidences of these sorts are not accidents.
The Design of Water
The Earth has an abundance of water, which is critical to our individual chemical make-up, our daily life, and our survival. If water were not designed to evaporate, it would quickly turn foul and linger. Instead, clouds (designed atmospheric trucks) carry evaporated water back up to mountain tops where fresh water comes flowing (pulled by gravity) back down, refreshed once again, over and over. Without fresh water, we could not exist. That is to say, with regard to food, water, and oxygen, one might easily say the table was set for us.
For me, as a physician, one of the most powerful proofs of an intelligent designer is found in the DNA instructions. It is just like a digital code, using four amino acids rather than an alphabet. As shown in the movie, the DNA splits to give the coded instructions of messenger RNA; the messenger RNA takes the instructions from the nucleus to the periphery, along temporarily laid-down paths, to one of many factories called ribosomes; and in these factories, specific proteins are made. These might be thyroid hormone, an antibody, or a clotting factor. There are thousands of possibilities.
Note, the clotting mechanism, that quickly goes to work on an injury that breaks the skin, requires dozens of different types of proteins immediately. And they are used in a very specific order. In the brain of a newborn, four quadrillion synapses (connections) between brain cells can be found. And, that’s not counting the forty different chemicals that exist in varied concentrations at each synapse. How many trillions of trillions of years would it take, through trial and error, to make all this?
The Designer’s Signature
Could the DNA code, which is very similar yet clearly different in all animals, be the designer’s signature? Per Dr. Meyer, “the discovery of digital information in even the simplest living cell suggests the activity of a master programmer in the origin of life.” The instructions for how to make a human are found in virtually our every cell, yet the body seems to know which instructions to use where and when. For example, sex hormones are mostly held back until the early teens. The animations beautifully show how all this works.
Darwin knew nothing about almost any of this. Had he known, I doubt he would have ever proposed the theory of evolution.