25 Years, 25 Reasons to Believe – Fazale Rana

25 Years, 25 Reasons to Believe – Fazale Rana

People frequently ask me for the main reasons I think life must stem from the work of a Creator and why I am skeptical of biological evolution. Here are my answers, in no particular order.

Fuz Rana’s Top Five Reasons

1. “Bad designs” turn out to be good. Biological systems that seem poorly designed present a significant challenge to the case for design. Why would an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good Creator produce “bad designs”? Yet, in nearly every instance, as researchers gain new insight, what initially appears to be a faulty design turns out to be a well-put-together system. 

2. Convergence is widespread. Based on its mechanisms, evolution should never generate the same outcome, independently, multiple times. In other words, the evolutionary process is historically contingent. Yet, when viewed from a naturalistic perspective, it looks as if evolution did indeed repeat itself time and time again. Widespread convergence is incompatible with the evolutionary paradigm, and yet it makes sense if a Creator repeatedly used the similar designs as He shaped life throughout its history.

3. Close analogy between human designs and biochemical systems. One of the most intriguing insights biochemists have gleaned from their research into the nature of biochemical systems is the remarkable similarity between these systems and designs made by human engineers. This analogy logically compels the conclusion that life is the work of a Creator.

4. Extreme optimization in genetic code.

The genetic code, which lies at the heart of the cell’s biochemical functions, is a highly optimized system. This optimization provides powerful evidence that the genetic code, and consequently life, is the work of a Creator.

5. Intelligence required for creating life in the lab.

The emerging discipline of synthetic biology, with its accompanying goal of creating “artificial” cells, provides incontrovertible evidence that life cannot originate without the involvement of intelligent agency. Scientists cannot just rush into the lab, throw nucleotides, amino acids, and lipids haphazardly into test tubes, and produce life. Instead, they have devoted painstaking effort to their synthesis strategy. Each stage of this process demands detailed planning and exact execution, as well as knowledge of the intended outcome. This scenario implies that a Creator invested the same kind of care and thoughtfulness into the emergence and history of life.