Over-simplifying science

This week’s trumpeted science news—that habitable Earth-like planets are abundant—is not what it appears. You’ve heard the expression, “The devil is in the details?” Here’s one more example of how the opposite is true when we’re discussing the evidence for intelligent design: God is in the details.

The Huffington Post had a typical lead announcing the supposed good news about lots of Earth-like planets. Much further down came the caveat:

“The researchers were quick to point out that the fact that these planets are Earth-size and lie in the habitable zone does not mean they could support life. The planets might have scorching-hot atmospheres, or no atmospheres at all, they said. Even if the planets have all the basic ingredients for life, scientists don’t know the probability that life would ever get started.”

Size is so significant only if we believe that planets are like interchangeable little wooden balls. In reality, Earth is incredibly fine-tuned to support life, and books like Rare Earth and The Goldilocks Planet point this out. The more we learn, the more evidence we have for a Creator.

The advance of our knowledge concerning planets is parallel to the advance of our knowledge concerning cells: In the 19th century the cell was Darwin’s Black Box, to quote another book title, but in the 21st century we know what astoundingly complex little machines they are. If cells were like Lego blocks macroevolution could still make sense, but their irreducible complexity is another pointer to God.

Too bad the press headlines reflect atheistic ignorance.