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TeacherAide The First Epic SESSION 1 ILLUSTRATING
THE POINT Random Creation? Do the Math A chance of
1 out of 1,000,000,000,000,000 (quadrillion, 10 with 14 zeros) is considered a
virtual impossibility. But when DNA co-discoverer Francis Crick calculated the
possibility of a simple protein sequence of 200 amino-acids (much simpler than a
DNA molecule) originating spontaneously, his figure was 10 with 26 zeroes after
it. Those who remember one fad of
the past will appreciate British scientist Fred Hoyle's view of the odds against
evolved life. "Anyone acquainted with the Rubik's cube," he wrote,
"will concede the impossibility of a solution being obtained by a blind
person moving the cube faces at random." Mr. Hoyle's best-known analogy, however, has a tornado
in a junkyard taking all the pieces of metal lying there and turning them into a
Boeing 747. It might be possible for two pieces to be naturally welded together,
and then two pieces more in a later whirlwind, but production of even a simple
organic molecule would require all of the pieces to come together at one time. Citation:
Marvin Olasky, "Things Unseen," World (4-14-01) God’s Great Creation God's
creation is amazingly diverse and is completely overwhelming to man. Why? Only a
tiny fraction of all the species on earth (animals, plants, insects) have been
discovered and named. Biologists have cataloged a total of between 1.5 million
and 1.8 million species. Estimates of the true number of living species range,
according to the method employed, from 3.6 million to more than 100 million.
What is more astonishing is that scientists estimate that more than 95 percent
of all the species that have ever existed are extinct! Two amazing examples of God's
infinite creativity: In one 2.5 acre area of Brazil's rain forest, there are 425
kinds of trees. In one small corner of Peru's Manu National Park, there are
1,300 butterfly species. Citation:
Jerry De Luca, Montreal, Canada; source: Time, special Earth Day
2000 edition (Spring 2000) THE
MORE YOU KNOW Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 states when,
who, and what of our world and beyond. “In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth.” The when: “In the beginning”; the who: “God”;
and the what: “created the heavens and the earth”. From very first words
that God gives us is foundation to build why we believe and what we hold as the
very truth of God. This truth gives us confidence as we are confronted with a
plurality of differing views of our world today. From this verse, a believer has
everything he or she needs to defend their faith in their world of diverse
beliefs. This verse also states of a personal, infinite God who transcends time
and the universe. For an atheist who believes there is no God, it states that
Creation was the work of God. For the polytheist who believes there are many
gods, it states there is only one God. For the pantheist who believes that God
is apart and within his creation, it states that God is apart from and
independent of his creation. To the evolutionist who believes that our world has
evolved over time to its current state, it states that the universe was created
and did not evolve. To the materialist who believes that things will last
forever, it states that matter is not eternal but was itself created. To the
existentialist who believes that life has no purpose, it states that creation
has a purpose. Take Genesis 1:1 and build your
foundation of truth in our world filled with untruth. I
THOUGHT I HEARD YOU SAY “I have found little that
is ‘good’ about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are
trash, no matter whether they publicly subscribe to this or that ethical
doctrine or to none at all.”
Psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) “When God said, ‘Let there be light,’ he did not
speak in order that some subordinate might hear, understand what the speaker
wanted, and go and perform the task. This is what happens in human affairs. But
the Word of God is creator and maker, and he ‘is’ the Father's will.” Citation:
Athanasius in The
Wisdom of the Saints. Christianity
Today, Vol. 31, no. 9. “I invent nothing. I rediscover.”
Auguste Rodin “When Harvey Breitt of the New
York Book Review asked Tolkien in 1955 what made him tick, the
then-relatively obscure author responded: ‘I don’t tick. I am not a
machine’.” Citation:
Bradley J. Birzer, author of J. R. R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth |