Introduction…The Evolution Model begins with Seven Assumptions (none of which have ever been observed in the field or demonstrated in the laboratory):

1. Non-living elements gave rise to living material…
2. Spontaneous generation occurred only once…
3. Viruses, bacteria, plants and animals are all related…
4. Single-celled life forms gave rise to multiple-celled life forms…
5. Various invertebrate phyla are related…
6. Invertebrates gave rise to vertebrates…
7. Fish gave rise to amphibians to reptiles, to birds, to mammals, to primates, to man…[1]

In contrast…The Creation Model begins with One Assumption (which is consistent with laboratory experiments in microbiology and life-sciences):

1. The overwhelming complexity found in living systems throughout nature requires a Designer for its origin. (Living material may be re-arranged in its order, but it has never been observed to increase in complexity from the original stock.)

I.  The Living Cell…

“There are more than twenty different sections in a cell…a single flaw in the cell’s protein transport pathway is fatal. Unless the entire system were immediately in place, our ancestors would have suffered a similar fate.”[2] “Only whole cells…contain all the necessary machinery for ‘self-replication’…without the protein-forming machinery nothing can be made.”[3] The chance assemblage of the 60,000 proteins in a single cell is one in 10 to the 4,478,296 power![4]

II.  The Bacterial Flagellum…

The marvelous irreducibly complex Bacterial Flagellum is powered by an electric motor, with the following features: self assembly and repair, water-cooled rotary engine, proton motive force drive system, forward and reverse gears, operating speeds up to 100,000 rpm, direction-reversing capacity within ¼ of a turn.[5]

III.   The Eyes of the Trilobite…

At the bottom of the Geologic Column lies a fossil organism that is so complicated in its structure that it defies evolutionary explanation at its roots. Appearing full-blown in the Cambrian Explosion is the Trilobite with its ecological fitness and its compound eyes, demonstrating ultimate optics in exquisite design.

The lens of the trilobite eyes represents a marvel of design in correcting for “spherical aberration” in its crystalline shape. This problem is seen where light is distorted along the edges of lenses. Rene Descartes and Christian Huygens invented correcting lenses in the 1600’s. But the trilobites already possessed the correct shape from the beginning!

IV.  The Human Brain…

The physical brain is comprised of over 100 billion cells, each with up to 50,000 neuron connections to other brain cells.[6] This structure receives over 100 million separate signals from the total human body every second. Stanford University professors Stephen Smith and E.A. Moore authored a recent study showing that “[T]he brain’s complexity is beyond anything [we had] imagined…the total number of synapses in a brain roughly equal the number of stars in 1,500 Milky Way galaxies!

...Memory patterns and tiny on/off switches, which were long thought to reside in the larger neuron bodies, were instead found to be smaller than the tiny synapse connections. Each of the neurons imaged in the study serves thousands of synapses…One synapse may contain on the order of 1,000 molecular-scale switches. A single human brain has more switches than all the computers and routers and internet connections on earth.”[7]

V.  The Original Earth…

The marvelous design of Earth’s original structure provided optimal benefits to all living systems, especially Man who was placed in charge of the planet. Of special significance was the “firmament” (raqiya) that was divinely set in place on Day Two. It is seen as beginning at the watery Earth and extending throughout space as a universal macrocosm expanse of lattice structure, consisting of charged subatomic particles. These particles formed the structure that would later stabilize the universal arrangement of stellar bodies and various atomic elements.

Simultaneously, in order to focus the benefit of universal radiation, the firmament formed locally as a thin microcosm complex of crystalline structure suspended directly above Earth. Dr. Edward Boudreaux has demonstrated that crystalline materials, such as silicate sugilite, can be held in a suspended canopy lattice by the earth’s magnetic field.[8] The firmament, locally and universally, was essentially one seamless whole in structure.

Conclusion…Intelligent Design is observed in all areas of scientific investigation. Any interpretation of these marvelous phenomena as coming about by natural processes represents a willful disregard for the established laws of science and lack of appreciation for the mercies of the Creator Himself.

[1] G.A. Kerkut, Implications of Evolution, (New York: Pergamon Press, 1960) Ch. 2, p. 6

[2] Michael J. Behe, Darwin’s Black Box (New York: The Free Press, 1996), pp. 103,114

[3] Richard Lowontin, “The Dream of the Human Genome,” New York Review of Books, May 28, 1992, p. 33

[4] Joseph Mastropaulo, “Evolution is Biologically Impossible,” Impact #317 (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research)

[5] Jonathan Sarfati, Ibid., p. 136

[6] The Brain, Our Universe Within, PBS broadcast

[7] E.A. Moore, Human Brain has more switches than all computers on Earth, CNET News, news.cnet.com November 17, 2010

[8] Edward Boudreaux and Eric Baxter, God Created the Earth, Rocky Mountain Creation Fellowship, P.O. Box 3451, Littleton, CO 80161

Compiled by David V. Bassett, Creation Evidence Museum

"…Speak to the Earth, and it shall teach thee;...Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?" Job 12:8a, 9

Of all the lessons which the Earth continually teaches us, perhaps the most obvious and profound is that it alone among the worlds framed by the Word of God (Heb. 11:3) is divinely crafted, sculpted, and engineered to sustain life. In fact the more we learn about our solar system and the universe, the more unique our Earth becomes. As home to over one million different species of life, each with its own special criteria for survival, the Earth repeatedly reinforces the fact that God orchestrated each detail necessary for terrestrial existence. "For thus saith the LORD Who created the heavens, God Himself Who formed the Earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited; I am the LORD, and there is none else." Isaiah 45: 18

The Creator's matchless formula for life on Earth involves a multitude of planetary parameters working together in a specific and delicate balance. So precise is this prescription, a mere absence or slight alteration in any one of the countless interrelated factors and mutually-dependent variables upon which life hinges could prove cataclysmic. Consider these more noticeable requirements upon which all life on our world depends:

(1) Abundance of Liquid Water --- This flowing treasure is unique in the combination of physical and chemical properties it manifests as the only possible solvent and medium for living cells. More than 70% of the planet is covered by some 326 million cubic miles of liquid water, enough to submerge a perfectly smooth and spherical Earth to a depth of 8,500 feet (over 1.6 miles!!). [Gen. 1:2, 10b / Job 38:34 / Ps. 33:7 / Rev.14:7b; see also Gen. 7:10 & Ps. 104:6]

(2) Cleansing Ocean Tides --- The ebb and flow of Earth's tidal circulation (in response to the lunar gravitational pull) purifies the world ocean and the continental shorelines which serve to enclose its waters. [Prov. 8:29a / Job 26:10; 38:11 / Ps. 104:9]

(3) Ideal Planetary Size and Mass --- With an equatorial diameter of 7,927 miles (Job 38:18 / Isa. 40:22a) and a mass equal to nearly 6.588 sextillion (10 ^ 23 = billion trillion) tons, the Earth is able to provide the perfect gravitational attraction and optimum atmospheric pressure for living organisms. [Job 28:25 / !sa. 40:12]

(4) Life-Sustaining Atmosphere --- It has been said of the Earth that "the existence of its inhabitants hangs upon a thin and delicate sheath of gas that envelops the planet like the skin of an apple." Though over 99% of our atmosphere (composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases) lies below 50 miles in altitude, it still is able to (a) provide the necessary oxygen crucial for animal and human respiration, (b) preserve acceptable temperature ranges while avoiding life-threatening extremes of heat and cold, and (c) protect from incoming extraterrestrial debris and (UV) solar radiation. [Gen. 1:20b / Job 37:18 / Ps. 104:3,13]

(5) Protective Magnetic Field --- Supplemented by the Van Allen radiation belts, the ionosphere, and the ozone layer as interior shields of defense, the Earth's magnetic field not only protects us from cosmic bombardment of harmful particles and high-frequency waves, it is also responsible for facilitating cellular communication and directional location. [Prov. 8:27; cp. Ps.5:12]

(6) Proper Orbital Shape --- With a circumference of almost 600 million miles, the Earth's orbit around the Sun is nearly circular in order to minimize extreme temperature variations. [Ps. 19:4b-6]

(7) Perfect Orbital Radius --- Earth's 93 million-mile-average distance from the Sun (typically referred to as one astronomical unit or 1 A.U.) allows our planet to have an ideal surface temperature of 58 degrees Fahrenheit and an average ocean-water temperature of 45 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, in terms of insolation (i.e., incoming solar radiation), this orbital radius positions our world at the optimum location for life in the entire solar system. [Gen. 1:14-18 / Ps.74:16]

(8) Orbital Speed and Duration --- With an orbital period of exactly 365.256 days, which the Earth can accomplish by racing through space at an incredible 66,600 mph (over 18 miles/sec !!), our planet's seasonal length is conducive for agriculture. [Gen. 1:14]

(9) Angle of Rotational Axis --- Also playing a role in Earth's favorable pattern of climate, the 23.5 degree tilt on its planetary axis permits the four annual seasons and, in the northern hemisphere, increases the amount of suitable land area and fertile soil needed for summer cultivation of crops. [Gen.8:22 / Ps. 74:17]

(10) Rate of Planetary Rotation --- Earth's sidereal day of 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.09 seconds allows for proper, uniform heating and cooling of its spinning surface (Job 38:14 / Gen. 8:22), as well as the re-circulation of its atmospheric winds and ocean currents in the global hydrologic cycle. [Eccl. 1:5-7 / Ps. 135:7 / Isa. 55:10]

The tolerances for life are extremely narrow, and if there are any other planets in the universe, it is very unlikely that any of them could have life, due to the extremely rigid conditions necessary for life to exist. The mathematical odds that all of these and other essential conditions happened by random chance are indeed astronomical -- in fact, beyond all probability. The ideal combination of prerequisites and requirements crucial to life observed only on Earth surely testifies to intelligent, purposeful design. "The LORD by wisdom hath founded the Earth; by understanding hath He established the heavens." --- Prov. 3:19

To believe that this beautifully balanced life-support system is a mere accident requires invincible faith in the power of blind chance. Would not any honest observer have to admit that the Earth alone appears to have been designed for us to live on, just as the psalmist said?: "The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's: but the Earth hath He given to the children of men." ---Ps. 115:16