Living By Faith Blog

God gives us evidence

Too many people think faith should not need evidence.

But that’s not what the Bible teaches.

For example, Paul says God has shown everyone who He is through what He has created —

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.  Romans 1:19-20

So God does not call us to believe by blind faith.

God has given us evidence for His existence through what He created.

Which means God wants us to notice this evidence — and strengthen our faith with this evidence.

How Michael Behe helped

Darwin said everything came — not from God — but from natural selection.

He said species undergo random mutations, and when a mutation is helpful, it is passed on to succeeding generations — and random mutations over millions of years produce every species that exists.

But according to Michael Behe’s book “Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge To Evolution” — there’s a problem with that.

The mousetrap

The problem is that there are organisms which are too complex to have arisen one incremental change at a time.

He uses a mousetrap as an example.

For a mousetrap to have any use it has to have five pieces all in place and working at the same time —

• the wooden base,
• the metal hammer,
• the spring,
• the catch that releases the hammer,
• the metal bar that holds the hammer back until the catch releases it.

So could something like a mousetrap have arisen by natural selection — one incremental change at a time?  No.

Because if you start with just the wooden base — which mutates a metal hammer — that metal hammer gives no advantage to the wooden base.

And even if the base and the hammer mutate a spring — the resulting contraption would do nothing.

Something like a mousetrap only functions if all five parts are all in place and working at the same time.

And Michael Behe says the world is full of organisms like that — which can’t be explained by natural selection because they need all their parts in place to have any function at all.

So where do these organisms come from — if not from natural selection?

The only reasonable explanation is that they come from a Designer — from a being who designed these organisms, and who created them so all their pieces were put in place at the same time.

The amazing eye

One example is that of the human eye.

Could the human eye have arisen one random, incremental change at a time?

No. For the eye to work at all — there have to be dozens of parts already in place.

Here’s what Michael Behe says is happening right now as you read these words (slightly edited) —

When light first strikes the retina a photon interacts with a molecule called 11-cis-retinal, which rearranges within picoseconds to trans-retinal.

The change in the shape of the retinal molecule forces a change in the shape of the protein, rhodopsin, to which the retinal is tightly bound. 

The protein’s metamorphosis alters its behavior.  Now called metarhodopsin II, the protein sticks to another protein, called transducin.

Before bumping into metarhodopsin II, transducin had tightly bound a  small molecule called GDP.  But when transducin interacts with metarhodopsin II, the GDP falls off, and a molecule called GTP binds to transducin.

GTP-transducin-metarhodopsin II now binds to a protein called phosphodiesterase, located in the inner membrane of the cell.  When attached to metarhodopsin II and its entourage, the phosphodiesterase acquires the chemical ability to cut a molecule called cGMP.

When the amount of cGMP is reduced, the ion channel closes, causing the cellular concentration of positively charged sodium ions to be reduced.

This causes an imbalance of charge across the cell membrane that, finally, causes a current to be transmitted down the optic nerve to the brain.  The result, when interpreted by the brain, is vision.  (pp.19-21)

Could this have come about one incremental change at a time?

Impossible.

This can only be explained by a Designer — an astonishingly wise and creative and powerful Designer.

God.

Let this strengthen your faith

The world is full of complex organisms which can only be explained by a Designer.

This is one way God has shown Himself to us.

So use evidence like this to strengthen your faith.

You have every reason to know that there is a God.

He revealed Himself to us in His Son Jesus Christ.

Trust Him today.

How does this impact you?

I’d love to hear.  Leave a reply below — thanks!

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And here’s some related posts you might find helpful —

• Why Trust Jesus Christ?
• What Is faith?
• How To Strengthen Your Faith
• God Is Huge (a 3-min video)

(Pictures are from Microsoft Publisher.)