Intelligent Design is a theory which provides an explanation for the beginnings of life. It argues that only the existence of an intelligent Designer can satisfactorily explain the extremely complex biological structures that exist in nature and the enormous amounts of information they contain. Some scientists claim that life began on earth suddenly by a process called abiogenesis; however, living organisms cannot easily be explained by chance or natural processes alone. In 2004, Anthony Flew, who up until that point had been a leading atheist, announced he was no longer an atheist. One of the reasons he gave was the incredibly complex information implanted in the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)molecule. Even assuming that the nucleotides that make up DNA were formed in a ‘primordial soup’, how could they arrange themselves randomly to form a highly complex and encrypted molecule such as DNA? Enzymes are chemicals that speed up chemical reactions in living organisms. Specific enzymes called polymerases play an important role in building DNA. It is problematic to explain how primordial conditions which ‘knew’ nothing of DNA structure could facilitate the formation of DNAutilising DNA polymerases. When we reflect on this problem, another fundamental question is raised as to where and how DNA polymerases originated. DNA plays an important biological function as a carrier of information, especially across generations of reproducing organisms. DNA can be compared to an instruction manual from which living organisms are constructed, and many people, quite naturally, find it unlikely that an instruction manual could alter itself to create something new. Bold statements are often made on the back of experiments, claiming how life could possibly have originated. However, the origin of the information that is encoded in DNA has no plausible explanation that can be provided by Darwin’stheory of evolution. Information is transferred to matter, which is secondary, but the information itself is primary, and the source of the original information has never been explained. Chance and necessity seem to fall very short as a plausible explanation from a scientific point of view. In the last half-century, DNA structure has been unravelled and genetic engineering now allows manipulation of DNA, but, to date, all inorganic chemicals remain incapable of assembling by themselves to form even a simple single living cell. Scientists, despite huge technological advances, have not been able to successfully create a simple living cell, although artificial cells have been attempted. There is no evidence to show that molecules have a ‘mind’ that guided them thousands of years ago to form complex biological molecules like DNA, let alone a simple living cell. It can be concluded, therefore, that, with closer examination and in the absence of any expert scientific explanation about the origin of life, there appears to be strong and plausible scientific evidence for an intelligent Designer.
For more information on this topic, contact Pastor Wilfred Masih: wilfred@adventist.scot.
