Archives for December 2017

Why We Believe in Creation

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Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip, set up their tent and fall asleep. Some hours later Sherlock wakes his faithful friend. “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see?”

Watson replies, “I see millions of stars.”

“What does that tell you?” Sherlock asks.

Watson ponders for a minute. “Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, it’s evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you, Sherlock?”

Sherlock is silent for a moment, then speaks, “Watson, you idiot, it tells me that while we were sleeping, someone has stolen our tent!”

For thousands of years it seemed self evident to the vast majority of mankind that the universe was created by God.  Even the most primitive of societies believed in creation.  Certainly there were always some who were skeptical.  There’s no question of that.  But it was not until 150 years ago that a man named Darwin, who, though he was raised the son of a preacher, did not appreciate the teachings of the Bible, and took it upon himself to establish a novel alternative model of origins.

It took time, but, in a world where skepticism was embraced, and Christianity was despised, Darwinism became the majority academic view.  While we were sleeping, someone stole our tent.  Oh, both Darwinists and Christians still look up at the same stars, but what we see in them is something altogether different!  Astronomically, astrologically, meteorologically and theologically, we are worlds apart when it comes to ultimate origins.

Today, you get your tent back… I hope.  It is my goal during this hour to at least get you to begin thinking about the evidence for biblical creation.  I know, I know; you’ve been told that there isn’t any… that the emperor wears no clothes.  But what you have been told is wrong.  Today I’m going to present some evidence that most people never get to hear… they don’t even know it exists.  Today I am going to give you four massive reasons why I believe in biblical creation.  Today, you get your tent back.

  1. Design Points to a Designer 1-5 & 14

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Let me review what happened on the first day.  God made the heavens and the earth.  Apparently, some form of a basic design the entire universe was laid out on day 1.  It wasn’t complete because in verse 2, the earth was not in its final form and neither was the sun or stars, because they weren’t completed until the fourth day.  But did create the light on day 1 in some primal form, so that at the end of verse 2 he stated that the evening and the morning were the first day.

Now I don’t want to belabor this point.  I know that some people hold different views, but if you read Genesis chapter 1 in a normal, ordinary, honest reading of it, you come away with the perfectly legitimate observation that God created the universe in six literal days.  There is no hint of symbolism in these verses.  There is nothing here to suggest that it was meant to be understood as a parable or a fable.  Instead you get the idea that it was written from the perspective of an observer, standing on the spinning earth and watching the sun rise and the sun set six successive times.  It is very specific, almost as if anticipating objections; six times it says, the morning and the evening were one day.  We Christians believe that God is so powerful he could have done it all in six seconds.  So six days is ok with me.

But I want to talk to you about an important principle of the universe:  It has the appearance of design.  We humans are designers by nature, and we have never been better at it. From the minuscule microprocessor to the massive, record-breaking skyscraper, it seems there is nothing we can’t do.

What is the source of this ability? The Bible directs us to God. “So God created man in His own image.” (Genesis 1:27).  Is the ability to design just a learned trait or is it a proof of the very existence of God.

When we look at the natural world around us, we see design everywhere. Did it all just happen? Or is God the master Designer? Is it just a bunch of random, accidental rocks? Or does it exhibit the elements of good design?

Let’s begin with a simple investigation of our solar system.  There are nine planets circling our Sun.  Our Earth takes 365 days to circle the sun, and the moon takes about 30 days to circle the earth.  There certainly seems to be the appearance of organization and design in our solar system, with one very strange purpose:  to make the earth habitable for mankind!  That’s the big picture.

Now let’s move from the telescope to the microscope.  Let’s look at the stunning design of DNA.  The DNA molecule contains a vast amount of information using a language that consists of three-letter words (referred to as codons) formed using a four-letter alphabet of molecules. This code in the human cell is 3 billion letters long! Every time a cell divides, the DNA reproduces itself with near perfect accuracy. The process even includes a proofreading function.

Human  DNA contains all the information needed to build your body. Did you know that your DNA determines things such as your eye color, shape of head, chin, neck, lips, ears, teeth, skin color, hair color, height, and even the size of your nose?  Your DNA is made up of 23 chromosomes from your mother and 23 from your father.

From a design viewpoint, DNA is incredibly functional and exists in all living cells, from single-cell organisms to humans.  It is estimated that DNA the size of a pinhead contains as much information as 25 trillion paperback books. Yet the complete replication of the human chromosome in a cell takes about an hour.[i]

So do you think it’s possible for a DNA book, the size of 25 trillion paperback books to have come into existence by chance?  Do you think that, If I had a color book here, that the letters could have just fallen from the sky, blacks, and reds, yellows and greens, and could have accidently organized themselves into a coherent book such as this?

For that matter, is it possible for a million monkeys to type on a million typewriters for a million years and do you think that they will somehow come up with a book as complex as this?

Think of this:

  • Everything in the body is controlled by 3 billion genes.
  • The amount of information stored in a single nucleus is equal to 1000 encyclopedias, each with 1000 pages.  Multiply that times our body’s 10 trillion cells!
  • How could a particle smaller than dust have enough knowledge to multiply into a trillion room skyscraper (our body) and know the color, shape and size of every room, it’s plumbing, wiring and every speck inside it.
  • If we came about through a single celled organism we would have to add one chromosome per year for 6 billion years.  All of them would have to be placed in the right order, at the right time, in the right place and must be fully capable of coordinating with all other genes.  No miss-steps could be allowed or the process would not work.
  • The likelihood of this happening is like a male swimmer named “Gene” taking off from England and meeting a female swimmer from the US in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean without a GPS system.  If the swimmers meet, they must find land, build a shelter, catch food and reproduce – or else they would perish.  (At least in our illustration, the swimmers know approximately where England and the US are!)

This is one of the main points of creation.  Incredible design takes an incredible designer.  It could not have been done without it.

  1. Fine Tuning requires a Find Tuner 6-10

6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

The Earth was made for occupation.  What’s going on in these verses?   Our designer is creating the universe so that the world will be habitable for life.  He has created sky, water, dry land and vegetation so that we will be able to survive on the third planet from the sun.

The universe in its bigness is amazing.  They’ve even found a planet which is racing through our galaxy at 67,000 MPH.  At the same time it is also spinning, rotating at 1000 MPH.  This planet is called earth, and this is why you should wear a seatbelt.

Now here is where we get into fine tuning.  Imagine that the things that make the universe habitable for humans are like dials.  These dials are tuned to astonishingly precise valises.  A value that falls within an exceedingly narrow life permitting range.   If any one of these dials are off by even a hairs breadth, it is the end of life as we know it.  No life of any kind could exist anywhere.  Sustaining life is more difficult than you might think.

The earth receives 99% of its energy from the sun.  The sun converts for us 4 million tons of energy every second, and over an 11 year sun-cycle that output varies less than 1 10th of 1 percent.  All of this at a distance of 93 million miles!  92 million miles, no life on planet earth.  94 million miles and no life on planet earth.

Now the earth is unique from other planets in that the earth tilts on its axis at 23.5 degrees.  Other planets in the solar system (straight up), earth (tilt).  Now the question is, why does the earth tilt?  If the earth did not tilt, it would run the risk of becoming tidally locked, which means that one side of the earth would get stuck facing the sun all of the time, while the other side would never see the light of day.  So one side would get hotter and hotter until it could not sustain human life, and the other side would get colder and colder until it could not sustain life.

So this 23.5 tilt of the earth’s axis is just exactly precise to allow this little blue and green floating ball to sustain human life.  Which raises the question, why does it tilt?  It tilts because 40% of the gravitational pull from the Sun pulls it over.  The other 60% of that gravitational pull comes from a little rock we’ve come to know as the moon.  The moon and its pull is what allows the earth to sustain life.  No moon, no life.

Which raises the question, how did we get our moon?  Scientists believe that our moon was some sort of meteor or asteroid that was just flying through our galaxy, and by some stroke of luck got stuck in Earth’s orbit.

Hydrogen on planet earth must continually convert .007 of its mass to helium to sustain human life.  .008 – no life on planet earth.  .006, no life on planet earth!

Our planet is just the right size to possess an oxygen rich atmosphere.  If it were much larger or smaller it would not be able to maintain and atmosphere because it would have either too large a gravitational pull or too small.  Only a planet the size of the earth will work.

Our oceans are 3.4% salt.  Which is the exact percent of salt in our blood stream.  4% salt in the ocean or in our body, – no life on planet earth.  2%, no life on planet earth!

And there are hundreds and hundreds of these unbelievably precise numbers that all add up to life on planet earth.  Yet, it isn’t just that there are hundreds and hundreds of them, and somehow, someone has adjusted them just perfectly, it’s the haunting truth that if just one of them was slightly turned in either direction, it would render the accuracy of all of the others irrelevant.  If you just messed with one of them there would be no life at all! [1]

Life is so complex that you can’t just tune one of these at a time.  They all have to come together simultaneously just like the hardware, the software, the electric current, the operating system of a computer or you just don’t have life.  If you were to come across a computer in the forest, would conclude that the parts had somehow come into existence due to random chance or dumb luck.  The computer has evolved over the years due to thousands of brilliant engineers and scientists who have made hundreds of incredible discoveries that have eventually led to an amazing piece of technology.  The universe is even more finely tuned than the most sophisticated computer.  Fine tuning requires a fine turner.

Listen, that’s all we have time for today.  Let me end with this:

Did you know that the one of the world’s most famous atheists came to believe in God just before he died?  Antony Flew, one of the world’s leading philosophers, changed his mind about God.

Son of a famous Methodist minister, Flew became an atheist at age 15. A student at Oxford, Flew won the prestigious John Locke Prize in Mental Philosophy. He has written 26 books, taught at Oxford, Aberdeen, Keele, Reading, and has lectured in North America, Australia, Africa, South America, and Asia. The Times of London referred to him as “one of the most renowned atheists of the past half-century, whose papers and lectures have formed the bedrock of unbelief for many adherents.”

A few years ago Rumors began circulating on the internet about his inclinations towards belief in God.  Flew said: “I have been simply amazed by the attention given to my change of mind.”

Comedian Jay Leno suggested a motive for the change on The Tonight Show: “Of course he believes in God now. He’s 81 years old.” However Flew is quick to point out that he is not a Christian. “I have become a deist.”  Flew now argues that from the fine-tuning of the universe, it is impossible to explain the origin of life without God.

He came part way, because he couldn’t get past the evidence.  Will you come the rest of the way?

[1] http://vimeo.com/13651464 (Rob Bell) “Why Little Things Matter.”  2010

[i] https://lifehopeandtruth.com/god/is-there-a-god/does-god-exist-design-of-the-universe/

 

END NOTES:  A LIST OF FINE TUNED UNIVERSE!

 

Fine tuning List:  Fine Tuning requires a Fine Tuner

The Earth was made for occupation.  Imagine that the things that make the universe habitable for humans are like dials.  These dials are tuned to astonishingly precise valises, a value that falls within an exceedingly narrow life permitting range.   If any one of these dials is off by even a hairs breadth, it is the end of life as we know it.  No life of any kind could exist anywhere.  Sustaining life is more difficult than you might think.

  1. THE SUN: The earth receives 99% of its energy from the sun. The sun converts for us 4 million tons of energy every second, and over an 11 year sun-cycle that output varies less than 1 10th of 1 percent.  The Sun’s extraordinary stable output of the energy is finely tuned.  An increase of the sun’s luminosity by 10% over the current level doesn’t sound like a whole lot, but this small change in our star’s brightness would be catastrophic for our planet.  With a 10% increase of brightness from our star, the Earth would no longer be within the habitable zone. This will mark the beginning of the evaporation of our oceans. By the time the sun stops burning hydrogen in its core, the Earth will be much too hot to maintain water on its surface.[i]
  2. SIZE OF THE SUN: the Sun’s mass and size are just right for Earth’s bios stem[ii] If it was larger, its brightness would change too quickly and there would be too much high energy radiation. If it was smaller, the range of planetary distances able to support life would be too narrow; the right distance would be so close to the star that tidal forces would disrupt the planet’s rotational period. UV radiation would also be inadequate for photosynthesis.[iii]
  3. The Sun’s luminosity and temperature are just right to provide for Earth’s extraordinary range of ecosystems.
  4. – the color of the Sun’s light from is tuned for maximum benefit for our plant life (photosynthesis)
  5. – the Sun’s low “metallicity” prevents the destruction of life on Earth[iv]
  6. DISTANCE OF THE SUN: The Sun is 93 million miles from the earth!  92 million miles, no life on planet earth.  94 million miles and no life on planet earth. The earth’s distance from the sun is crucial for a stable water cycle. Too far away, and most water would freeze; too close and most water would boil.   If the earth were moved a few million miles closer to the sun, the surface of the earth would become warmer causing our glaciers to melt. A minor decrease in the sun’s distance would have a drastic heating effect on the earth’s surface.  What would happen if the earth were a few million miles farther from the sun? The reverse of the previous situation applies. We would have more of our planet covered by ice.  The earth is just the proper distance from the sun to maintain the right surface temperature suitable for life.[v]
  7. ORBIT: The earth’s orbit is not circular, but elliptical. At its closest, earth is about 91 million miles – and at its farthest, 94 million miles for the sun.  The earth’s orbit exists in this Goldilocks range – or the just right range – in its distance from the sun.  [vi]
  8. TILT OF THE EARTH: Now the earth is unique from other planets in that the earth tilts on its axis at 23.5 degrees. Other planets in the solar system (straight up), earth (tilt).  Now the question is, why does the earth tilt?  One side would be too hot to sustain life; the other side too cold.  If the earth did not tilt, it would run the risk of becoming tidally locked, which means that one side of the earth would get stuck facing the sun all of the time, while the other side would never see the light of day.  So one side would get hotter and hotter until it could not sustain human life, and the other side would get colder and colder until it could not sustain life.   We would have no seasons and the surface temperature at any point on the earth would be the same during both July and January. The equatorial region of our planet would be intolerably hot all year and the poles would remain fairly cold. Ice would accumulate at the poles. The weather patterns would be stationary with permanently positioned warm and cold air masses. Some areas would continually be very humid while other areas would be quite arid. Only the mid-latitudes would be comfortable for human habitation and suitable for cultivation. Only about one half of our presently farmable lands could grow crops.[vii]
  9. MORE TILT: So this 23.5 tilt of the earth’s axis is just exactly precise to allow this little blue and green floating ball to sustain human life. Which raises the question, why does it tilt?  It tilts because 40% of the gravitational pull from the Sun pulls it over.  The other 60% of that gravitational pull comes from a little rock we’ve come to know as the moon.  The moon and its pull is what allows the earth to sustain life.  No moon, no life.
  10. ORIGIN OF THE MOON: Which raises the question, how did we get our moon? Scientists believe that our moon was some sort of meteor or asteroid that was just flying through our galaxy, and by some stroke of luck got stuck in Earth’s orbit.  No moon – no magnetic field, there would be no life on Earth.  [viii]
  11. DISTANCE OF THE MOON: the Moon’s distance from the Earth provides tides to keep life thriving in our oceans, and thus, worldwide.[ix]
  12. MOON’S ORBIT: the Moon’s nearly circular orbit (eccentricity ~ 0.05) makes its influence extraordinarily reliable. [x]
  13. SIZE OF THE MOON: the Moon is 1/400th the size of the Sun, and at 1/400th its distance, enables educational perfect eclipses[xi]
  14. CENTRIFUGAL FORCE. If the centrifugal force of planetary movements did not precisely balance the gravitational forces – nothing could be held in orbit around the sun.
  15. 24 HOUR DAYS: The earth rotates once every 24 hours producing the interval of time called “day”. The Earth’s spin rate on its axis provides for a range of day and nighttime temperatures to allow life to thrive.   If the earth rotated more slowly, we would have more extreme day and night temperatures. Other planets have “days” which are many times that of the earth, producing scorching daytime heat followed by freezing nighttime cold. The normal daily routine of plants and animals would be impossible if the earth day were much shorter than that of the present. The 24-hour day seems to be optimum, serving to evenly heat the earth (somewhat like a turkey turning on a barbecue spit).[xii]
  16. HYDROGEN: The Sun must continually convert .007 of hydrogen’s mass to helium to sustain human life.  .008 – no life on planet earth.  .006, no life on planet earth!  [xiii][xiv][xv][xvi]
  17. OXYGEN: Our atmosphere is 21% oxygen. Earth is the only planet in the solar system, or universe as far as we know, with an atmosphere that can sustain life.  The blanket of gases not only contains the air that we breathe but also protects us from the blasts of heat and radiation emanating from the sun. It warms the planet by day and cools it at night.[xvii]
  18. PLANET SIZE: Our planet is just the right size to possess an oxygen rich atmosphere. If it were much larger or smaller it would not be able to maintain and atmosphere because it would have either too large a gravitational pull or too small.  Only a planet the size of the earth will work.
  19. CARBON DIOXIDE: Important as carbon dioxide is to the present earth and life, it comprises only a mere 0.03% of our atmosphere! This small amount, however, seems to be at the optimum value. If we had less carbon dioxide, the total mass of terrestrial and marine plants would decrease, providing less food for animals, the ocean would contain less bicarbonate, becoming more acidic, and the climate would become colder due to the increased transparency of the atmosphere to heat. While an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide would cause plants to flourish (a beneficial circumstance for the farmer), there would be some unfortunate side effects. A fivefold increase in carbon dioxide pressure (the optimum level for organic productivity) would alone cause the average world surface temperature to be a few tens of degrees Fahrenheit warmer! Also, a large increase in carbon dioxide would so accelerate the chemical weathering of the continents that an excess of bicarbonate would form in the ocean, leading to an alkali condition unfavorable for life.[xviii]
  20. – The Earth’s just-right ozone layer filters out ultraviolet radiation and helps mitigate temperature swings.
  21. – the atmosphere’s composition provides for life’s high energy requirements
  22. – if Earth’s oxygen content were higher, forest fires would worsen; at 30%-40% the atmosphere could ignite
  23. – the atmosphere’s pressure enables our lungs to function and water to evaporate at an optimal rate to support life
  24. – the atmosphere’s transparency to allow an optimal range of life-giving solar radiation to reach the surface
  25. – the atmosphere’s capacity to hold water vapor provides for stable temperature and rainfall ranges
  26. SALINITY: Our oceans are 3.4% salt, which is the exact percent of salt in our blood stream. 4% salt in the ocean or in our body, – no life on planet earth.  2%, no life on planet earth!  If the oceans were 50% less salty all marine plants, sea weeds corals to all marine fish including all invertebrates would soon die.  When all phytoplankters die, it would still lessen Oxygen to such a low extent that life on Earth would come to an end – that is because most of the world’s Oxygen is produced by these phytoplankters.[xix]  Even small variations in ocean surface salinity can have dramatic effects on the water cycle and ocean circulation.  One of the features that stand out most clearly of our own oceans is a large patch of highly saline water across the North Atlantic. This area, the saltiest anywhere in the open ocean, is analogous to deserts on land, where little rainfall and a lot of evaporation occur.  That is the future of the world if the oceans were too salty.[xx]
  27. PRESENCE OF AN OCEAN: Water is an extremely rare compound in space. A permanent reserve of liquid water, a very unlikely occurrence in space, is known to exist only on the earth. Our planet possesses an abundant supply estimated at some 340 million cubic miles of liquid water. Water = life, no Water = no life.[xxi]
  28. THE CONTINENTS: The continents which cover 29% of our planet’s surface have a mean elevation of about 2,750 feet above sea level. The world ocean which covers 71% of the earth’s surface has an average depth of some 12,500 feet! Why do we have such lofty continents along with such deep ocean basins?  If we were to scrape off the continents and place them in the deeper parts of the ocean to make an earth of common elevation, we would have an earth covered with approximately 8,000 feet of water! No land areas would be exposed and terrestrial life could not exist. There would be no shallow coastal seas providing ecological zones in which most marine creatures could thrive. The ocean with a constant elevation earth would be nearly void of life.  There are two main reasons why the continents remain elevated above the sea floor. First, the continents are made up of rocks which, as a whole, are less dense than the rocks of the ocean bottom. Second, the continental crust is usually over twice as thick as the oceanic crust. The difference in density and thickness between continental and oceanic crust is just the right amount to maintain the present “freeboard” of the continents above the ocean bottom! To the evolutionist this is a peculiar accident. To the creationist, however, these facts show God’s design.[xxii]
  29. the Earth’s surface gravity strength prevents the atmosphere from rapidly losing water to space
  30. Ratio of Electrons: Protons deviation of 1 to 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (37 0s) if this was larger or smaller, molecules could not form.[xxiii]
  31. all electrons in the universe are identical as are all instances of each fundamental particle
  32. The electromagnetic coupling constant binds electrons to protons in atoms. If it was smaller, fewer electrons could be held. If it was larger, electrons would be held too tightly to bond with other atoms.[xxiv]
  33. Ratio of Electromagnetic Force: Gravity. A large chunk of modern physics is precariously balanced on a whopping coincidence” for, regarding gravitational and inertial mass, “these two masses are always numerically exactly the same. The consequences of this coincidence are profound…”[xxv] A variation of 1:1040 would mean no life at all.
  34. Expansion Rate of Universe. A variation of 1:1055 would mean no life at all.
  35. Mass Density of Universe. A variation of 1:1059 would mean no life at all
  36. Cosmological Constant. . A variation of 1:10120would mean no life at all.

(30, 33-36) One part in 1037 is such an incredibly sensitive balance that it is hard to visualize. The following analogy might help: Cover the entire North American continent in dimes all the way up to the moon, a height of about 239,000 miles (In comparison, the money to pay for the U.S. federal government debt would cover one square mile less than two feet deep with dimes.). Next, pile dimes from here to the moon on a billion other continents the same size as North America. Paint one dime red and mix it into the billions of piles of dimes. Blindfold a friend and ask him to pick out one dime. The odds that he will pick the red dime are one in 1037.[xxvi]

  1. STRONG NUCLEAR FORCE CONSTANT: the strong force (which if changed by 1% would destroy all carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and heavier elements).[xxvii] If larger: no hydrogen would form; atomic nuclei for most life-essential elements would be unstable; thus, no life chemistry. If smaller: no elements heavier than hydrogen would form: again, no life chemistry. The strong nuclear force (the force that holds atoms together). The Sun “burns” by fusing hydrogen (and higher elements) together. When the two hydrogen atoms fuse, 0.7% of the mass of the hydrogen is converted into energy. If the amount of matter converted were slightly smaller—0.6% instead of 0.7%— a proton could not bond to a neutron, and the universe would consist only of hydrogen. With no heavy elements, there would be no rocky planets and no life. If the amount of matter converted were slightly larger—0.8%, fusion would happen so readily and rapidly that no hydrogen would have survived from the Big Bang. Again, there would be no solar systems and no life. The number must lie exactly between 0.6% and 0.8% (Martin Rees, Just Six Numbers).[xxviii]
  2. WEAK NUCLEAR FORCE CONSTANT: if larger: too much hydrogen would convert to helium in big bang; hence, stars would convert too much matter into heavy elements making life chemistry impossible. if smaller: too little helium would be produced from big bang; hence, stars would convert too little matter into heavy elements making life chemistry impossible
  3. GRAVITATIONAL FORCE CONSTANT: if larger: stars would be too hot and would burn too rapidly and too unevenly for life chemistry. if smaller: stars would be too cool to ignite nuclear fusion; thus, many of the elements needed for life chemistry would never form
  4. ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCE CONSTANT: if greater: chemical bonding would be disrupted; elements more massive than boron would be unstable to fission. if lesser: chemical bonding would be insufficient for life chemistry
  5. RATIO OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCE CONSTANT TO GRAVITATIONAL FORCE CONSTANT: if larger: all stars would be at least 40% more massive than the sun; hence, stellar burning would be too brief and too uneven for life support. if smaller: all stars would be at least 20% less massive than the sun, thus incapable of producing heavy elements
  6. RATIO OF ELECTRON TO PROTON MASS: if larger: chemical bonding would be insufficient for life chemistry if smaller: same as above
  7. RATIO OF NUMBER OF PROTONS TO NUMBER OF ELECTRONS: if larger: electromagnetism would dominate gravity, preventing galaxy, star, and planet formation. if smaller: same as above
  8. ENTROPY LEVEL OF THE UNIVERSE: if larger: stars would not form within proto-galaxies. If smaller: no proto-galaxies would form.
  9. MASS DENSITY OF THE UNIVERSE. If larger: overabundance of deuterium from big bang would cause stars to burn rapidly, too rapidly for life to form. if smaller: insufficient helium from big bang would result in a shortage of heavy elements
  10. VELOCITY OF LIGHT. if faster: stars would be too luminous for life support if slower: stars would be insufficiently luminous for life support
  11. AVERAGE DISTANCE BETWEEN GALAXIES: if larger: the universe would be hampered by lack of material. if smaller: gravitational tug-of-wars would destabilize the sun’s orbit
  12. DENSITY OF GALAXY CLUSTER: if denser: galaxy collisions and mergers would disrupt the sun’s orbit
  13. FINE STRUCTURE CONSTANT: (describing the fine-structure splitting of spectral lines) if larger: all stars would be at least 30% less massive than the sun. If larger than 0.06: matter would be unstable in large magnetic fields. if smaller: all stars would be at least 80% more massive than the sun
  14. DECAY RATE OF PROTONS: if greater: life would be exterminated by the release of radiation. if smaller: universe would contain insufficient matter for life
  15. 12C TO 16O NUCLEAR ENERGY LEVEL RATIO: if larger: universe would contain insufficient oxygen for life. if smaller: universe would contain insufficient carbon for life
  16. GROUND STATE ENERGY LEVEL FOR 4HE: if larger: universe would contain insufficient carbon and oxygen for life. if smaller: same as above
  17. DECAY RATE OF 8BE: if slower: heavy element fusion would generate catastrophic explosions in all the stars. if faster: no element heavier than beryllium would form; thus, no life chemistry
  18. RATIO OF NEUTRON MASS TO PROTON MASS: if higher: neutron decay would yield too few neutrons for the formation of many life-essential elements. if lower: neutron decay would produce so many neutrons as to collapse all stars into neutron stars or black holes
  19. POLARITY OF THE WATER MOLECULE: if greater: heat of fusion and vaporization would be too high for life. if smaller: heat of fusion and vaporization would be too low for life; liquid water would not work as a solvent for life chemistry; ice would not float, and a runaway freeze-up would result
  20. SUPERNOVAE ERUPTIONS: if too close, too frequent, or too late: radiation would exterminate life on the planet.
  21. WHITE DWARF BINARIES: if too few: insufficient fluorine would exist for life chemistry. If too many: planetary orbits would be too unstable for life.
  22. RATIO OF EXOTIC MATTER MASS TO ORDINARY MATTER MASS: if larger: universe would collapse. If smaller: no galaxies would exist.
  23. NUMBER OF EFFECTIVE DIMENSIONS IN THE UNIVERSE: if smaller: electron, planet, and star orbits would become unstable. if larger: same result
  24. MASS OF THE NEUTRINO: if smaller: galaxy clusters, galaxies, and stars would not exist. if larger: galaxy clusters and galaxies would be too dense
  25. SIZE OF THE RELATIVISTIC DILATION FACTOR: if smaller: certain life-essential chemical reactions will not function properly. if larger: same result
  26. UNCERTAINTY MAGNITUDE IN THE HEISENBERG UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE: if smaller: oxygen transport to body cells would be too small and certain life-essential elements would be unstable. if larger: oxygen transport to body cells would be too great and certain life-essential elements would be unstable
  27. COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT: if larger: universe would expand too quickly to form solar-type stars.[xxix] Fine tuning of the cosmological constant to one part in 10 to the 120th. This is so very precise that if the entire universe had as much additional mass as exists in a single grain of sand, it would all collapse upon itself.[xxx]
  28. The carbon atoms astounding capabilities. As Cambridge astronomer Fred Hoyle wrote: “Some super-calculating intellect must have designed the properties of the carbon atom, otherwise the chance of my finding such an atom through the blind forces of nature would be utterly minuscule. A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super intellect has moneyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.”[xxxi]

And there are hundreds of these unbelievably precise numbers that all add up to life on planet earth.  Yet, it isn’t just that there are hundreds and hundreds of them, and somehow, someone has adjusted them just perfectly, it’s the haunting truth that if just one of them was slightly turned in either direction, it would render the accuracy of all of the others irrelevant.  If you just messed with one of them there would be no life at all! [xxxii]

Life is so complex that you can’t just tune one of these at a time: They all have to come together simultaneously just like the hardware, the software, the electric current, the operating system of a computer or you just don’t have life.  If you were to come across a computer in the forest, would conclude that the parts had somehow come into existence due to random chance or dumb luck.  The computer has evolved over the years due to thousands of brilliant engineers and scientists who have made hundreds of incredible discoveries that have eventually led to an amazing piece of technology.  The universe is even more finely tuned than the most sophisticated computer.  Fine tuning requires a fine turner.

 

 

Some resources:

[i] http://theconversation.com/the-sun-wont-die-for-5-billion-years-so-why-do-humans-have-only-1-billion-years-left-on-earth-37379

[ii] http://kgov.com/fine-tuning-of-the-universe

[iii] http://creation.mobi/the-universe-is-finely-tuned-for-life

[iv] http://kgov.com/fine-tuning-of-the-universe

[v] http://www.icr.org/article/planet-earth-plan-or-accident/

[vi] http://www.zionclarencecenter.com/sermons/view/886/___3_16_14_creation__how_did_we_get_here_

[vii] http://www.icr.org/article/planet-earth-plan-or-accident/

[viii] https://cosmosmagazine.com/geoscience/no-moon-no-magnetic-field-no-life-earth-study

[ix] http://kgov.com/fine-tuning-of-the-universe

[x] http://kgov.com/fine-tuning-of-the-universe

[xi] http://kgov.com/fine-tuning-of-the-universe

[xii] http://www.icr.org/article/planet-earth-plan-or-accident/

[xiii] https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/09/05/the-suns-energy-doesnt-come-from-fusing-hydrogen-into-helium-mostly/#2bd36d7470f9

[xiv] http://vimeo.com/13651464 (Rob Bell) “Why Little Things Matter.”  2010

[xv] http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/ita/07_2.shtml

[xvi] http://www.zionclarencecenter.com/sermons/view/886/___3_16_14_creation__how_did_we_get_here_

[xvii] https://www.space.com/17683-earth-atmosphere.html

[xviii] http://www.icr.org/article/planet-earth-plan-or-accident/

[xix] https://www.quora.com/What-will-happen-if-there-is-no-salt-in-sea-water

[xx] https://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/oceanography/physical-ocean/salinity

[xxi] http://www.icr.org/article/planet-earth-plan-or-accident/

[xxii] http://www.icr.org/article/planet-earth-plan-or-accident/

[xxiii] http://creation.mobi/the-universe-is-finely-tuned-for-life

[xxiv] http://creation.mobi/the-universe-is-finely-tuned-for-life

[xxv] http://kgov.com/fine-tuning-of-the-universe

[xxvi] http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/designun.html

[xxvii] http://kgov.com/fine-tuning-of-the-universe

[xxviii] http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/designun.html

[xxix] http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/designun.html

[xxx] http://kgov.com/fine-tuning-of-the-universe

[xxxi] http://kgov.com/fine-tuning-of-the-universe

[xxxii] http://vimeo.com/13651464 (Rob Bell) “Why Little Things Matter.”  2010