A SATISFYING LIFE How to Attain It

4. The Author of the Unique Book

Although some 96  percent of Americans claim to believe in God, the percentage is far lower among people in Europe and Asia. Even in countries where the majority  profess disbelief in a personal God, however, quite a few accept the idea that some unknown force caused the material universe to come into being.  The well-known Japanese educator Yukichi Fukuzawa, whose portrait is on the 10,000 yen note, once wrote:  "It is said that heaven does not create one  man above or below another man."  By using the word "heaven," Fukuzawa was referring  to a principle of nature that he felt produced humans.  Many accept the idea of such an abstract "heaven," as did  Nobel laureate Kenichi Fukui.  He expressed belief in a great framework int he universe-equivalent to "God" in a religious terminology-but called it the "idiosyncrasy of nature." 

Such intellectuals believed that something or someone eternal put into motion everything in the universe.  Why? Well, consider this:  The sun is a star so large that it can hold a million earths inside, but it is only a speck in the Milky Way galaxy, in turn, is only one of billions of galaxies in the universe.  Scientific observations seem to indicate that those galaxies are moving away from one another at great speed.  To put the universe into motion, vast dynamic energy must have been involved. Who or was was the source of such energy? "Raise your eyes high up and see.  Who has created these things?" asks the Bible.  "It is the One who is bringing forth the army of them even by number, all of whom he  calls even by name. Due tot he abundance of dynamic energy, he also being vigorous in power, not one of them is missing."  (Isaiah 40:25, 26) This text indicates that there was someone who put the universe into motion-the Source of the "dynamic energy." 

Think also of life on earth. Could life have originated on its own, as evolutionists claim? Biochemists Michael Behe states:  "Science has made enormous progress in understanding how the chemistry of life works, but the elegance and the complexity of biological systems at the molecular level have paralyzed science's attempt to gain  their origins. . . .Many scientists have gamely asserted that explanations are already in hand, or will be sooner or later, but no support for such assertions can be found in the professional science literature.  More importantly, there are compelling reasons -based on the structure of the [biomolecular] systems themselves -to think that a Darwinian explanation for the mechanisms of life will forever prove elusive." 

Next time: A SATISFYING LIFE How to Attain It - 4. The Author of the Unique Book

From The Watchtower magazine