Molecules on the Backs of Crystals
Romans 1:22: Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools…
Michael Ruse famously told Ben Stein that complex lifeforms could have begun as “molecules on the backs of crystals”. The reason for his comments was that Stein was questioning Ruse on how the information in life could have arisen by chance. The conceit offered is that crystals show a remarkable regularity, which can be reproduced. New crystals will have molecules in the same arrangement as a previous crystal. Therefore, it is said, the regularity of information in a DNA crystal could have arisen in the same way.
However, this is not a comparison of like with like. The shape of a crystal is determined by the arrangement of the atoms or molecules within the solid structure. DNA is not like this. The four bases, which link the strands of DNA, act in a manner similar to letters. Their arrangement can be considerably different, causing different information to be carried. The information thus carried is not dependent on the necessary and inevitable arrangement of molecules within the DNA structure. The idea of the regularity of crystals giving rise to the information in DNA is a popular misconception, fostered by scientists, who do not want to face up to the inevitability of the application of information science to DNA; that the information in DNA could not have arisen by chance, but had to have been put there by a higher intelligence.
That intelligent designer is not just any designer. The information in DNA was put there by God, who is the true designer, and whose attributes are revealed in the Bible.
Prayer: Father God, thank You that You are the source of all life and breath. Thank You that this creation is sustained by Your wisdom and power. Amen.
Notes: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (DVD: 2008), Ben Stein
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