Jan,
Thank you for your kind words and for your well thought out and well written reply. Upon thorough consideration of your various rebuttal arguments I now agree with much of what you wrote concerning many aspects of the "evidence of a Creator from apparent design" argument.
However, I take issue with some of what you said. For instance, you wrote, "If the fantastic properties of nature could only exist if it was created by a wise Designer, what then about the even more fantastic Designer himself? Would not the argument require a Super-Designer that was even more powerful, and so on, with an eternal regress of Designer-Designers? Indeed it would. So the only rational conclusion is that the one entity we know about, the universe, does not require a designer, even though it may appear (to some) to do so."
Those making this argument fail to keep in mind the fact that we know our universe had a beginning. Our universe began with a Big Bang some 12 - 20 billion years ago. Thus, since we know our universe had a beginning, it is fair to suggest that it may have had a "beginner." However, if it did, it is not possible that the Creator of our universe had a beginning. For science tells us that time is only a dimension of our physical universe. And they tell us that time did not begin until our physical universe began. Thus, if our universe was created by a Creator, it must have been created by a Creator who existed before time began, or completely outside of the dimension of time. If this is the case, such a Creator could not have had a beginning. For any beginning occurs at some point in time. Interestingly, this is the type of Creator the Bible tells us that our universe had. The Bible identifies Jesus Christ as the Creator of our universe. (Colossians 1:16,17) And it describes His origins as being "from everlasting," and "from the days of eternity." (Micah 5:2 KJV, NAS)
You wrote: It is a fundamental principle of science that a theory that describes a phenomenon must be falsifiable ... It must be possible to postulate a universe not created by a Designer, and then explain how this universe differs from the universe we have. It would then follow, if the arguments were sound, that ours was a universe created by an Intelligent Designer.
I believe doing so is possible. A universe not created by a Designer would not have signs in the sky over the only planet now known to be inhabited by intelligent life clearly telling all of its inhabitants, in an internationally recognizable language, "This entire universe was created by Jesus Christ."
As you may recall, I contend that not only did Jesus Christ create our universe but that He, in effect, "signed" His name "in the sun, moon and stars" to all of His cosmic creations. And I contend that He did so in a way that not only identifies Himself as their Creator, but also identifies Himself as our Savior. To support these contentions I offer the following evidence, evidence which I believe clearly connects the Jesus Christ of Scripture with the design, and thus the designer, of our universe.
1. The Bible often uses the # 40 in connection with highly significant people and events.
Most readers of Scripture are aware that the Bible often makes special use of the # 40. Rain fell from the sky for "40 days and 40 nights" causing the flood of Noah's day. (Genesis 7:11,12) Moses was on Mount Sinai communicating with God on two separate occasions, each time for "40 days and 40 nights." (Exodus 24:18; 34:28) Afterwards the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for "40 years" before entering the land God had promised them. (Numbers 32:13; Joshua 23:5) The first three kings of Israel, Saul, David and Solomon, each ruled for "40 years." (Acts 13:21; 1Kings 2:10,11; 11:42) Jonah, best known for spending "three days and three nights" in the belly of "a great fish", was ordered by God to prophesy that the city of Nineveh would be overthrown in "forty more days".(Jonah 1:17; 3:1-4) Before beginning His ministry Jesus fasted for "40 days and 40 nights."(Luke 4:1,2) These are only a few of the times the Bible uses the # 40 in a prominent way.
2. The # 40 was meant to point to Jesus Christ.
It is my belief that the # 40 was used so often and so prominently in the Bible for the purpose of directing our attention to Jesus Christ. Like the 40 days of rain which washed away all wickedness from the land in Noah's day, Christ's coming was prophesied to also be "like showers watering the earth." For, like the rains which cleansed the land in the days of Noah, the Bible tells us that the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ "cleanses us from all sin." (Genesis 6:11-17; Psalms 72:6; 1John 1:7)
As Moses mediated the Old Covenant between God and the Israelites during 40 day periods of time, Jesus Christ now acts as the Mediator of the New Covenant which He, by His death, established with Christians.(Exodus 19:3-9; Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 8:6; 9:15)
As the Israelites wandered aimlessly in the Sinai wilderness for 40 years prior to the time God gave them their promised land, all mankind was lost in a spiritual wilderness before God gave us our promised Savior.(Luke 19:10)
As Saul, who ruled for 40 years, was Israel's first king, Jesus Christ is "the First and the Last" "King" of "the Israel of God." (Revelation 1:17; 1Timothy 6:15; Galatians 6:16)
Long after David Had ruled Israel for 40 years Isaiah prophesied that the promised Savior, Jesus Christ, would "reign on David's throne and over his kingdom." For this reason Jesus was called "the son of David."(Isaiah 9:6,7; Luke 1:32; Matthew 1:1)
Many spiritual connections can be found in the Bible between Solomon, who ruled all Israel for 40 years, and Jesus Christ. Solomon, for instance, built God's Temple in Jerusalem. While Jesus Christ built God's spiritual Temple.(1Kings 6:1-38; Matthew 16:15-18; 1Corinthians 3:11,16) For this reason, and others, the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is "greater than Solomon."(Matthew 12:42)
The spiritual connection between Jonah, who prophesied that Nineveh would be overthrown in "40 more days,” and Jesus Christ was firmly established by Jesus Himself. For He said, “as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish," so Christ would "be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth,” after His death and before His resurrection.(Matthew 12:40)
Just before He began His ministry Jesus Christ fasted for 40 days. At the end of those 40 days "He was hungry." And so were those who had been eagerly anticipating the arrival of mankind's long awaited Savior. For their "hunger" had been "for righteousness", a hunger which only Jesus Christ could satisfy, and a righteousness which only Jesus Christ Himself could give them.(Matthew 4:2; 5:6; John 6:35; Romans 3:21,22)
3. Just as the biblical # 40 points to Jesus Christ, so do the biblical #s 4 and 400
The #s 4 and 40 can both easily be seen as abbreviated forms of the # 400. It is not surprising then to find that the Bible also uses the #s 4 and 400 in the same way that it does the # 40, to point to Jesus Christ.
For instance, in regard to the # 4, the Bible's creation account tells us that the sun, moon and stars first appeared in earth's skies on the 4th creative day. And the Bible, which tells the story of Jesus Christ in 4 "gospels", connects this 4th "day" of creation with Jesus Christ by calling Him "the light of the world."(Genesis 1:14-19; John 8:12)
One well known example of the Bible's use of the # 400 involves the period of time that Abraham's descendants were "enslaved and oppressed" before being set free from their bondage in Egypt. The Bible tells us that period of time was "400 years." The Bible also says that, much like the Israelites, all mankind had once been enslaved and oppressed for a long period of time. However, this slavery and oppression was by sin and death, from which, the Bible tells us, Jesus Christ came to set us free. We are told Christ did so by buying with His own life both God's forgiveness and immortality for all who will accept Him as their Lord.(Genesis 15:13; Matthew 20:28; Luke 4:18; Ephesians 1:7; John 3:16; 1Corinthians 15:54) Interestingly, the Bible tells us that the Israelites' 400 years of oppression and slavery came to an end immediately following a plague in which God took the life of every firstborn son in Egypt. It also tells us that all mankind was offered freedom from the oppression and slavery of sin and death immediately following the death of God's Firstborn Son, Jesus Christ.(Exodus 11:4,5; Hebrews 11:28; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:5,6)
A thorough examination of the Bible's symbolic use of the #s 4, 40 and 400 shows that the Bible always uses these #s to point to Jesus Christ.
4. The # 400 which fills the Bible (often in abbreviated forms) for the purpose of directing attention to Jesus Christ also fills "the sun, moon and stars."
The Sun and the Moon
The sun's diameter is exactly 400 X the size of the moon's diameter. (864,000 mi. vs. 2,160 mi.) But remember, it makes no difference whether you measure their diameters in miles, meters or toothpicks. This 400 X ratio will always be the same. (1998 edition of The World Almanac, pages 290 and 291)
The sun's distance from the earth is also always about 400 X greater than the moon's distance from the earth. And despite the fact that the earth and the moon both have elliptical orbits, this 400 X sun vs. moon distance ratio is exact twice every lunar month. (Dance Of The Planets, Version 2.71s, A.R.C. Science Simulation Software,1994)
Solar Eclipses
Because the moon's diameter is 1/400 the size of the sun's diameter and because the moon is 1/400 as far away from the earth as the earth is from the sun, the moon is precisely the correct size to cover the face of the sun as seen from the earth. It is because of this relationship, which the earth, sun and moon have with the # 400, that we are able to observe what has been called "the greatest spectacle in nature," a total eclipse of the sun. Consequently, when a total eclipse of the sun occurs, and the moon then covers the sun in the sky as perfectly as a lid fits its own jar, all who have a basic knowledge of astronomy have their attention immediately drawn to the # 400. ( See National Geographic, May 1992, page 41 )
It is also interesting to note that, "The average time between total eclipse paths crossing one location (being able to observe a total eclipse of the sun from any one spot on earth) is about 400 years." (See The Sun - Our Star, Robert W. Noyes, 1982, page 145)
The Stars of our Galaxy
Carl Sagan, in his books Cosmos (1980, page 299) and The Demon Haunted World (1995, page 330), estimated the # of stars in our galaxy at "400 billion."
The Galaxies of our Universe
Astronomers also tell us that it is possible that the # of galaxies in our universe may actually equal the # of stars in our galaxy.(See The Left Hand Of Creation: The Origin And Evolution Of The Expanding Universe, John D. Barrow and Joseph Silk, 1983, Page 25)
5. These cosmic 400s serve as "signs" directing our attention to Jesus Christ.
I believe that God was referring to these 400s in the sun, moon and stars when He spoke the words recorded in Genesis 1:14. There we are told God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years."(New American Standard Bible) I am also convinced that Jesus Christ was referring to these astronomical 400s when He said, "There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars." (Luke 21:25) And I believe that Jesus spoke of these same cosmic 400s, when He told us,"The sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky."(Matthew 24:30)
Keep in mind that the Greek word then used by Christ, which is translated into English as "appear", according to An Expository Dictionary Of New Testament Words by W.E.Vine, refers not just to what appears to the eye, but also to "what appears to the mind." It should also be here noted that Jesus Christ often used the title "the Son of Man" when referring to Himself. This was an obvious reference to the prophet Daniel's well known and powerful Messianic prophecy.(Daniel 7:13,14)
Since the # 400, and abbreviated forms thereof, fills both our sky and the Bible, it seemed reasonable to this reader of Scripture to at least consider the possibility that if a Supreme Being designed and created the universe, that same Supreme Being may have also inspired the Bible. After considering this possibility I became convinced of something even more compelling. For I now firmly believe that the Creator of the Universe incorporated the # 400, and abbreviated forms thereof, into both His cosmic creations and into His Word the Bible for the specific purpose of personally identifying Himself as Jesus Christ.
How do the #s 400, 40 and 4 personally identify Jesus Christ as both the Creator of the Universe and the God of the Bible? They do so because they are short forms, or sign forms, of the # 4000, the exact # of years that passed between the creation of Adam and the earthly birth of Jesus Christ, according to the Bible's own very precise chronological, historical record. Serving as "signs" of the exact time of His birth, the #s 400, 40 and 4 were, I believe, meant by Jesus Christ to remind us of Himself in much the same way that many people are now reminded of the United States of America when they hear someone mention the year of that nation's birth, 1776.
And because these long and short form "signs" of Jesus Christ, in effect His signature and His initials, fill "the sun, moon and stars" and the Bible, we have strong reason to believe that He is the Author of both.
Why would Jesus Christ choose to identify Himself with # signs representing the time of His earthly birth as counted from the time of Adams creation? For two reasons. First, because it was in Eden, Adam's garden home, that God first promised to send mankind a Savior.(Gen. 3:15) And second, because from the time of Adam an elaborate chronological, historical record was kept, which has been preserved in the Bible, that we can now use to confirm the time of Christ's birth, as counted from the time of Adam's creation.
Please do not misunderstand me. I am certainly not suggesting that human beings have been on earth for only 6,000 years (4,000 years from Adam to Christ plus another 2,000 years from Christ to the present). For paleontologists, anthropologists and archcheologists all assure us that mankind has lived on earth far longer than 6,000 years. And I believe them.
6. Was Adam the "first" Man?
This seeming conflict between Bible chronology and well established human history is easily resolved by understanding that the Bible does not tell us that Adam was, in an absolute chronological sense, "the first man." I believe that God simply used Adam, and orchestrated the events in Eden, to illustrate the unrighteous condition of all mankind.
The only place in Scripture Adam is referred to as the "first" man is in 1 Cor.15:45-47. There Adam is called "the first man." But there we also find that Jesus is called "the second man." The context shows that the writer of those words was referring to Adam as the "first" man only in his relative chronological position to Christ. In other words, since Adam came "first" and Christ came "second," Adam came before Christ.
Traditional thinking Christians will no doubt also raise other objections to this understanding of Scripture. I am fully prepared to answer any and all such objections. However, to do so here would detract from the subject at hand, evidence of the Christian God.
7. 4,000 years from Adam to Christ
With this understanding of Scripture in mind, we have no reason to insist that Adam was the first man. For, as we have seen, the Bible does not tell us that Adam was the first man in an absolute chronological sense. And since the Bible does not say that Adam was the first man who ever lived we have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the Bible's chronological, historical record which tells us that Jesus Christ was born only 4,000 years after God created Adam.
And, since the Bible's chronological, historical record tells us that Jesus Christ was born exactly 4,000 years after God created Adam, we have every reason to believe that the 400s, 40s and 4s which fill both our sky and the Bible do so for the purpose of personally identifying Jesus Christ as both The Creator of the Universe and The Savior of the World.
8. Jesus Christ is "the light of the world."
That Jesus Christ chose to put signs identifying Himself as our Creator and Savior into the sun, moon and stars, rather than into something else, like earth's land or sea, seems quite fitting. For Jesus Himself boldly declared, "I am the light of the world." (John 8:12) With this in mind it seems appropriate to here mention what I believe to be one more occurrence of "the sign of the Son of Man" in the sun and the moon. For "The Sun is 400 thousand times as bright as the full moon." (1998 edition of The World Almanac, page 290)
9. God's design or unmatched coincidence?
If I am wrong, and Jesus Christ did not put these #s into the Bible and into "the sun, moon and stars" to direct our attention to Himself as both our Creator and our Savior, then atheistic astronomers must be right. For they maintain that the relationship which the earth, sun and moon have with the biblical # 400 is simply "a coincidence unmatched in the solar system." See National Geographic May 1992, page 41)
The thoughts here presented will be discussed in much greater depth and detail in a book I am now writing. It will contain a thorough study of both biblical history and ancient secular history. Together they will be shown to document the fact that exactly 4,000 years passed between the creation of Adam and the birth of Jesus Christ. This book is tentatively entitled The Sign Of The Son Of Man.
Mike
