The Beginning and More
This is a major deviation from what I usually write about, but it is a major topic for me lately. Please follow with an open mind.
If you are reading this, chances are that you have at some point thought about how the universe came into existence, and most importantly, where you came from. Yes, you came from your parents, but where did the first parents in the series come from? As with every other thing we know today, science has provided—or attempted to provide—answers to these questions through a couple of theories and concepts: the Big Bang, abiogenesis, evolution, etc. There is another view that essentially believes that there is a powerful, supernatural, and intellectual entity who created everything (creationist view).
Let’s talk about the underlying scientific theories and concepts behind the beginning and everything after.
The Big Bang Theory[1]
The Big Bang Theory explains that the universe started with an infinitely hot and dense single point (a point of infinite denseness and heat) that inflated and stretched over the next 13.7 billion years to the still-expanding cosmos that we know today. Existing technology doesn’t yet allow astronomers to literally peer back at the universe’s birth; they have largely relied on mathematical formulas and models.
This all happened within just the first second after the universe began, when the temperature of everything was still insanely hot, at about 10 billion degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 billion Celsius), according to NASA. The cosmos now contained a vast array of fundamental particles such as neutrons, electrons, and protons — the raw materials that would become the building blocks for everything that exists today.
Drake’s Equation[2]
Frank Drake in his probabilistic argument has something to say about how life started.
A quick extract from the equation:
- Abiogenesis is the formation of life from non-living components
- For abiogenesis to happen on a planet, key factors include planet’s conditions, the ingredients or building blocks needed to form life on the planet, the availability of those building blocks during a given time and the probability of that assembly happening during that time.
- Even with the right mix of ingredients/building blocks of life in a million test tubes, it may take a 100 million years for everything to fall into place to create life – but the probability of success may be higher if the test tubes are replaced with something as huge as a planet.
The equation considers the average expected number of origin-of-life events for a given planet. To get there, it considers some potential “building blocks” for life on the planet, the average number of building blocks needed to create a living system, the availability of those building blocks during a given time and the probability of that assembly happening during that time. On earth, building blocks for life take the form of amino acids, lipids, and certain essential metals.
Evolution[3]
Evolution is the change in heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations (any change in heritable traits within a population across generations). Evolution occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection (including sexual selection) and genetic drift act on genetic variation, resulting in certain characteristics becoming more or less common within a population over successive generations. The process of evolution has given rise to biodiversity at every level of biological organization.
Evolution by natural selection is established by observable facts about living organisms:
- more offspring are often produced than can possibly survive
- traits vary among individuals with respect to their morphology, physiology, and behavior
- different traits confer different rates of survival and reproduction (differential fitness)
- traits can be passed from generation to generation (heritability of fitness). In successive generations, members of a population are therefore more likely to be replaced by the offspring of parents with favorable characteristics for that environment.
The modern evolutionary theory combines a couple of evolution theories. Here, the basis for heredity is in DNA molecules that pass information from generation to generation. The processes that change DNA in a population include natural selection, genetic drift, mutation, and gene flow. All species are related and gradually change over time (all life on Earth—including humanity—shares a last universal common ancestor (LUCA), which lived c. 3.5–3.8 billion years ago).
Simply put, everything that existed or exists (plant and animal) came from one common organism, but over time through random genetic accidents and adaption to different environments, we have several progenies from the first organism who are now different but better suited for their environment.
Tying them altogether
The Big Bang tries to explain how the universe came about. Drake’s equation (abiogenesis) talks about how life started in the universe. Evolution theory tries to explain how the first life (LUCA) evolved into different species through natural selection, mutation, and genetic drift.
This blog post is meant to ask questions or discuss some gaps in some of these theories and concepts.
Where do the dense materials that expanded to form the universe come from?
Derived from Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, the idea is that the universe expanded from a miniscule dense collection of energy called a singularity. The challenge with this theory that supposedly explains the beginning, however, is that it does not know where singularity came from. It’s like saying that I can explain to you everything on how a certain cake is baked—or more like “came into being”—but I have no idea where the flour, sugar and the other ingredients came from. As a matter of fact, the process of combining all the ingredients to produce cake has never been observed. However, I can take a tiny piece of the cake and tell you that flour and sugar are present. Science supposedly explains everything after the beginning, but not the beginning itself.
The choice of the line “came into being” is deliberate because apparently no one can create a universe; it’s just about explaining the creation of the already existing one.
The Big Bang, arguably the leading explanation of the creation of the universe has no clarity on how the building blocks appear, yet it stands. If matter and energy cannot be created, but we know that there is a beginning, where then did singularity come from? What’s the source of matter? It appears that we cannot really answer that question without considering a supernatural phenomenon —the miracle of something coming out of nothing. A miracle is in the realm of the supernatural, beyond the boundaries of science. That’s anti-science and unwelcome, right?
A missing link is the part where something came out of nothing. Unfortunately, the assumption/position that an entity was present pre-singularity or responsible for everything before the supposed dot, messes up the whole argument for singularity and existence of life by chance. This makes a case for a creator and lies within the forte of the creationists, but science does not want us to go there. A creator is more like forbidden.
Scientifically speaking though, which is easier to believe: that there is a creator who intelligently created life and put everything together, or that life came from non-life elements randomly?
The probability of abiogenesis
For abiogenesis to hold, the ingredients needed to form life must be present in the right amount and in the right condition. Unguided, that’s a huge number of coincidences and probabilities. Drake explained that even with the right mix of building blocks of life in a million test tubes, it may take a 100 million years for everything to fall into place to create life. I believe this may be the reason why the evolution needs to have billions and millions of years in the mix, else it will be difficult to sell the idea that a lot happened and changed over a considerably shorter time. In plain English, without guidance, the probability of life self-starting is almost impossible, but when you throw in a universe (extremely bigger than test tubes) and unobserved millions of years, maybe it’s not a mathematical nightmare.
I can’t wrap my mind around an unintelligent and unguided mixing of ingredients, but let’s take an example involving test tubes and petri-dishes that may be easy to understand. In in vitro fertilization where egg and sperm are deliberately combined in a carefully controlled process, the best-case success rate today is less than 60%. Let’s look at a scenario where the IVF technology, egg, sperm, temperature, pressure, etc. are all available but without a doctor/specialist. If we bring all the ingredients together a billion times, the outcome will be the same: failure. Those are the odds against abiogenesis without an intelligent process or entity behind it. Adding a long time to randomness does not necessarily solve anything.
If the presence of ingredients, in the right mix and condition are all it takes to create anything, why then do we need builders, sculptors, painters, engineers and scientists? Why don’t we just bring these ingredients together in the ideal condition and give them time? The presence of several colors, brushes and canvases in the most conducive temperature-controlled art studio will never support a claim that the Mona Lisa appeared by random combinations of colors and strokes. You will most likely ask about the painter when you see a painting; you will not imagine that it came from several iterations of random explosion of colors. Isn’t it interesting that just the human eye is more complex than the Mona Lisa, yet the former is credited to probabilities and chances? You can replace “Mona Lisa” with “Eiffel Tower”, or “Statue of Liberty” in the example and it will pass the same point – that nothing extremely intricate and complex happen accidentally.
The complexity of a cell
It would interest you to know that with all the advancements in science, not one single cell has been created in the lab without recourse to another existing cell. What is so complex about a cell that it hasn’t been recreated from scratch in the lab even in this century? It turns out that cells are extremely complex molecular machines with several parts doing different functions. The parts are so intricately woven to drive sustenance, reproduction, etc., that it would be crazy to think that the first cell was created in small incremental changes over time. The first one will simply not even live because it wouldn’t have survived without the absent parts.
If the first car was just the body frame and no engines it wouldn’t be a car. If it has a body frame, engine but no tires and fuel, it wouldn’t be a car.
Charles Darwin in his book, The Origin of Species, wrote that “if it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.” A cell requires all its parts to function as one, so it is impossible for it to have come about by incremental additions of its parts over time. If this is true, I wonder why we are still stuck with his positions.
It appears that the Big Bang, abiogenesis and evolution are not making much sense, at least not convincingly. What if there is indeed a Creator? Is science and the existence of a Creator really mutually exclusive?
Links and credits:
[1] https://www.space.com/25126-big-bang-theory.html
[2] https://www.space.com/33374-odds-of-life-emerging-new-equation.html
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution
[4] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/energy-can-neither-be-created-nor-destroyed/
photo credit: https://tripkimball.com/
I am @jossef69 on twitter
http://www.facebook.com/senorjoesblog
Would you like to share this?
Let your friends read too.
It’s just a click away↓
The Great Intervention
I have a quick message. Okay, maybe not so quick. Please don’t be in a hurry.
I once read a very profound almost unbelievable story that led to many questions. As it turns out, it is very important that you understand what the story means to you too. I’ll try to make it simple.
Let’s hit the nail on the head.
According to Wikipedia, crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthaginians, and Romans, among others. Many have studied the science of crucifixion and concluded that it is one of the most excruciating ways to die. Essentially, it is not the best way to go. Any sane person will definitely avoid it.
But the plot thickens.
SOMEBODY WILLINGLY SUBMITTED TO CRUCIFIXION!
But why?
Why would anyone submit to being mocked, flogged, hung, nailed to a cross and left to die?
Will you willingly do that for your kids, spouse, relatives, etc.? Even if you somehow submit to it, are you able to see it through? Will you not change your mind along the way?
Someone submitted himself and endured all that. Again, why? That’s easy – you. You are the reason. You may be wondering why anyone would die for you. What have I done to require all that? Was it necessary? Am I that important?
It doesn’t make sense without a catch, right?
The simple catch–
Someone died for you because He loves you. He paid the ultimate price for you. That person is Jesus Christ. He bridged the gap so you can choose life and not be in A BAD PLACE BY DEFAULT.
What default bad place?
Imagine two countries A and B constantly at war for years. All things equal, Joe and Jane born into the countries 100 years since the beginning of the enmity will by default inherit the fight, even though they knew nothing about it. They will be in the situation by default because of their country/origin. It’s not fair – they have done nothing wrong; but it is what it is.
We are in a bad place by default because we all have sinned. We all came from a sinful source. The same way you’re made of the DNA of your parents, you have also inherited the sin of Adam and Eve – God’s creation and our ultimate parents. Their sin became ours too. Even if you’ve been a good and kind person since you were born, you’re still not without sin.
Pathetic, right? It gets worse.
Unfortunately, sinners go to a bad place called hell. It’s a protocol. We won’t spend much time here. Just imagine hell as a place of perpetual fire and torment. God did not create man (Adam and Eve) to be sinners. Hell was never the plan for man. Lucifer (Satan – the Devil) and his demons rebelled (sinned) against God and they became destined for hell, but until an appointed time. So, the scorned angry liar tricked man (Adam and Eve) to also disobey (sin against) God so they can end up just like himself. God created man, put him in a beautiful garden and gave him the free will to choose, but Satan tricked him to disobey God and separated man from God. By that singular act and without any intervention, man was unfortunately destined for death and hell…
…but God so loved the world.
God loved the world so much that He gave us His only son. He loved you while you were yet a sinner. Because there’s no remission of sin without the shedding of blood (an established protocol), God sent Jesus His son as the ultimate sacrifice. He left His glory in heaven, became a man, lived without sin, suffered, endured crucifixion, shed His blood and died to atone for our sins. Your sins. My sins. He died to save us. Now we don’t need to shed the blood of animals; they don’t measure up anyway. The precious blood of Jesus has been shed for you over two thousand years ago. It is settled and done!
Beyond dying, He also resurrected. He is not a dead God and Savior. A deity who cannot save self from death clearly has no business saving others from same. His resurrection gives you the assurance that you’ll also be resurrected with Him when you die and drop your earthly body. Because Jesus died and resurrected, you can also be sure of what happens to you after death. It’s no longer an unknown or a reason to be scared.
What do you have to do now?
All that is left is ridiculously simple: acknowledge the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and accept Him as your Savior and Lord. It only makes sense to make the one who saves you your Lord. God loves you so much that He made the provision for your detour from your hell-bound journey to return you to Him in heaven, but like He did for Adam and Eve, it is by choice. You must choose. Even though He really wants you to choose Him, He created a man that can make choices, not a robot. Choice is a privilege Joe and Jane didn’t have in their case. If it could be imposed, all men will be save already. The price is that great.
So, choose Jesus Christ today. He is not just highly recommended; He is the only option. He is the way.
- You will die someday. You don’t want to hear it and I hope it won’t be soon, but you’ll eventually die.
- You will be dead (out of this world) for a LONG time! 10,000 years won’t scratch the surface. Abraham Lincoln has only been dead for less than 200 years!
- There’s life after death. Death only ends your existence in this world – the dimension of your body. You are a spirit-being, you have a soul (mind and emotions), and you live in a body.
- The life after death can be better than the best life anyone can have here, or worse than the cruelest pain anyone has gone through here. It does not last for a long time; it is for eternity. It doesn’t end.
- You can only choose where you’ll spend that eternity while you’re here, not after death. You can only book a flight before the flight; not during or after. It is appointed for a man to die once, after which is judgement.
- If you want to spend eternity with Christ in Heaven (an archetype of the lost Garden of Eden, but even better), choose Jesus Christ today. He is the Way; He paid the price with His blood.
Do not be deceived, your existence is not attributable to the Big Bang and evolution. Think about it; does it make sense to you? What banged? Who/what created it? By itself? Science is great, but it certainly didn’t get the creation story. Your consciousness and intelligence could not have come from an explosion, rocks, or random permutations and advancement of bacteria. God created you and He loves you. You only have to accept Him as your Lord and Savior.
You can do it today. You can choose Him right now. You only have to say this simple prayer to accept Jesus Christ and follow Him.
Dear Lord Jesus,
I admit that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead. You did what I could not do for myself and saved me. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life today. I want to trust and follow You. I accept You as my Lord and Savior.
From this day forward, transform me and help me to live every day for You and in a way that pleases You.
I love You Lord, and I thank You that I will spend all eternity with You.
Amen.
Once you have said this prayer you have become a new being. You have taken a great detour of eternal significance. Locate other followers of Christ around you; we are called Christians. Join them in fellowship and let them walk with you to grow in faith and in the knowledge of Christ.
photo credit: Google images
I am @jossef69 on twitter
http://www.facebook.com/senorjoesblog
Would you like to share this?
Let your friends read too.
It’s just a click away↓
Conqueror
Will this be a problem—a persistent one to sadly end years of beating the odds?
Or just another prey—a satisfying one soon to join the list of wins?
Sheeila deploys her skill at wriggling and squeezing, precursors to a lethal strike; she was made for this.
She will hold Feathery on all sides and launch one venomous dose; just the right amount to silence ten of her kind.
The muscled grip will threaten blood flow and deal some pain.
But Feathery cannot be bothered; she understands what should be done.
The long stretch of Sheeila’s muscled length still holding, gripping…
Yet, Feathery will not be troubled – no be today!
Songs have been sung of mighty elephants in times past—not for their fame, memory or strength; but of the kinds of slithery Sheeila who brought them to knees in fatal strikes, never to rise again.
Is this any of Feathery’s concern? Precedence and records of mortality mean nothing, for we are not moved by what we see—or feel, right?
The squeeze and discomfort are what they are: distractions, passing pain.
The end to the problem is within focus, and that’s all that matters…
Not the unease to the leg, the subtle strain on the wing, or the terrifying thought that the end is near.
For after all is said and done, a snake without its head is just a worm.
Another meal. Another victory. Another trophy.
I am @jossef69 on twitter.
photo credit: http://www.w3.org
Would you like to share this?
It’s just a click away ↓
Señor Joe's Blog 