Sermons From Science -- July 2017 科学布道 -- 2017 年 7 月

Sermons From Science -- July 2017科学布道-- 2017年7月 Sermons from Science have been published in both YouTube under the name “Pastor Chui” and their PowerPoint slides and corresponding videos in the website http://ChristCenterGospel.org since 2011. Just type “Pastor Chui” in Google Search. The contents of this presentation were taken from different sources and in the Internet. May God have all the glory. Pastor Chui http://ChristCenterGospel.org ckchui1@yahoo.com 12/19/2019 1

The Mystery of Earth's Magnetic Field地球磁场的奥秘 • The Institute for Creation Research website published an article written by Dr. Russell Humphreys. I now quote his article below: • “The earth's magnetic field has been a mystery to man ever since 13th-century philosophers first noticed lodestones (magnetic rocks) turning north.1 In 1600, A.D. William Gilbert, Queen Elizabeth's physician, shed light on the mystery by showing that "the terrestrial globe itself is a great magnet."2 Today, scientists think the earth is an electromagnet; the source of the magnetic field is probably a large electric current—billions of amperes—circulating in the earth's fluid core. But there is still a mystery today: How did the current get started, and what keeps it going? Scientists, who assume that the earth is old, conjecture that complicated flows of the fluid in the core somehow started the current and have maintained it for billions of years. However, such "dynamo" theories are complex, implausible, and incomplete. In the last two decades, they have run into serious problems from magnetic observations on earth3 and in the solar system.4 12/19/2019 2

The Mystery of Earth's Magnetic Field地球磁场的奥秘 • “In 1971, Dr. Thomas Barnes, a creationist physicist, proposed that nothing keeps the current in the core going except its own inertia.5 His simple and rigorous "free-decay" theory would mean that the current is running down slowly, like a flywheel without a motor; thus the strength of the earth's magnetic field would be steadily decreasing over the centuries.6 Barnes cited some historical data7 (not well known at the time) showing that the overall strength of the earth's field has indeed steadily declined by about 7% since 1835, when it was first measured. 12/19/2019 3

The Mystery of Earth's Magnetic Field地球磁场的奥秘 • “The decay rate depends on the electrical resistance of the earth's core, and the observed rate is consistent with the estimated resistance of materials at core temperatures and pressures. 6,8 The field strength should decrease by a constant percentage each year, and the data are consistent with such a decrease, implying that the field loses half its strength every 1400 years. Such a rapid decay could not have continued for more than about 10,000 years; otherwise the initial strength of the field would have been impossibly high. Since the field probably started when the earth was formed, the present rapid decay of the field is strong evidence for a young earth. 12/19/2019 4

The Mystery of Earth's Magnetic Field地球磁场的奥秘 12/19/2019 5

The Mystery of Earth's Magnetic Field地球磁场的奥秘 • “Old-earth proponents, however, correctly point out that the earth's magnetic field has not always decayed smoothly.9-10 Archaeomagnetic (magnetism of pottery, bricks, etc.) data indicate that the present steady decay started around 500 A.D. For several millennia before that, the overall strength of the field had fluctuated up and down significantly. Paleomagnetic (magnetism of geologic strata) data provide persuasive evidence that the field reversed its direction scores of times while the fossil layers were being laid down.11 Since the field has changed so violently in the past, old-earthers ask, how do we know the present decrease in the field is a decay, not a fluctuation or a reversal? Furthermore, if a "dynamo" process did not start up the current in the core (as is becoming obvious by the problems with the theory), then how did the current originate? 12/19/2019 6

The Mystery of Earth's Magnetic Field地球磁场的奥秘 • “History of the Field • “This article summarizes five technical papers I have published to answer such questions. The discriminating reader will want to read them to understand more fully the model which is only summarized below. 12/19/2019 7

The Mystery of Earth's Magnetic Field地球磁场的奥秘 • Figure 1 shows what I think is the history of the earth's magnetic field. It can be divided into the following five episodes: 12/19/2019 8

The Mystery of Earth's Magnetic Field地球磁场的奥秘 • “(1) Creation. In 1983, I pointed out that when God created the earth's original atoms He could have easily created the earth's magnetic field also, merely by bringing the atoms into existence with the spin axes of their nuclei all pointing in the same direction.12 Many atomic nuclei spin, and thereby generate tiny magnetic fields. There were so many spinning nuclei in the earth at creation that, if aligned, their fields would have added up to a large field of sufficient magnitude. As thermal collisions disoriented the nuclear spins, the laws of electricity predict a startup of an electric current within the core of the earth to sustain the field. The resulting initial field strength is consistent with the present geomagnetic data and a 6000-year age for the field. Thus we have a plausible explanation for how the current in the core got started. 12/19/2019 9

The Mystery of Earth's Magnetic Field地球磁场的奥秘 • “In 1984, I extended my theory to the sun, moon, and planets,13 explaining the magnetic fields measured by the space probes of the last few decades, and predicting the approximate strength of the fields of Uranus and Neptune. In 1986, Voyager 2 verified the Uranus prediction,14 and we should find out about Neptune in early 1990. • “(2) Pre-flood decay. After creation (and the Fall), the electric current in the earth's core would decay slowly, as would the field, for 1656 years, until the Genesis flood. During this period, the field would have been more than ten times stronger than it is today, thus shielding the earth from cosmic ray particles more effectively, reducing the production of carbon 14 in the pre-flood atmosphere, and making the earth a healthier place.5 12/19/2019 10

The Mystery of Earth's Magnetic Field地球磁场的奥秘 • “(3) Rapid reversals during the flood. In 1986, I suggested that there was a powerful release of energy in the earth's core at the beginning of the Genesis flood, and that the resulting strong movements in the core field produced rapid reversals of the earth's magnetic field, about one per week, during the year that the flood was laying down the fossil layers at the earth's surface. General physical laws allow rapid reversals, a likely physical mechanism exists to cause the reversals, and observations of the sun's magnetic field demonstrate reversal cycles in nature today. This rapid-reversal model not only explains the general features of the paleomagnetic data, but also some specific features which have puzzled evolutionists.15 12/19/2019 11

The Mystery of Earth's Magnetic Field地球磁场的奥秘 • “(4) Post-flood fluctuations. The disturbances in the core fluid during the flood would disrupt the electric current, chopping much of it up into small swirls oriented in different directions. Then the earth's field during and after the flood would not have the simple "dipole" (two poles, north and south) shape it has today. Instead, it would have a more complex shape, with strong "higher-order" components: quadrupole (four poles), octopole (eight poles), etc. Paleomagnetic data confirm the existence of such components in the field in the past. Standard electromagnetic theory predicts that, after the flood, the higher-order components would die away faster than the dipole part. Because the higher-order components can have either polarity, the strength of the field would fluctuate up and down, as different components died away at different rates. 12/19/2019 12

The Mystery of Earth's Magnetic Field地球磁场的奥秘 • “Figure 2 shows world-averaged archaeomagnetic data.16 Since the dates conventionally assigned to the data points are based on radiocarbon dating, I have plotted the data on a time scale crudely corrected for changes in the percentage of carbon 14 in the atmosphere since the flood. The curve shown is a statistical fit using just the three simplest of dozens of possible components. The data need to be re-analyzed, allowing for a more complex field shape, but the curve fits the main features of the data, in particular, an initial rise and fall, the broad maximum at about the time of Christ, and the subsequent, steady decay.15 12/19/2019 13

The Mystery of Earth's Magnetic Field地球磁场的奥秘 • “Figure 2 shows world-averaged archaeomagnetic data.16 Since the dates conventionally assigned to the data points are based on radiocarbon dating, I have plotted the data on a time scale crudely corrected for changes in the percentage of carbon 14 in the atmosphere since the flood. The curve shown is a statistical fit using just the three simplest of dozens of possible components. The data need to be re-analyzed, allowing for a more complex field shape, but the curve fits the main features of the data, in particular, an initial rise and fall, the broad maximum at about the time of Christ, and the subsequent, steady decay.15 • “(5) Recent decay. Around 500 A.D., the last remaining higher-order component became small compared to the main dipole component, and the field decayed smoothly after that. 12/19/2019 14

The Mystery of Earth's Magnetic Field地球磁场的奥秘 • “Conclusion • “Though complex, this history of the earth's magnetic field agrees with Barnes' basic hypothesis, that the field has always freely decayed. I have merely made explicit two features which were always implicit in the free-decay theory: (a) that motions in the core fluid can disturb the field, and (b) higher-order modes of decay are possible. Both of these features have a firm basis in theory, experiment, and natural phenomena. In contrast to dynamo theories, the reversals and fluctuations I picture dissipated energy. The field has always been losing energy despite its variations, so it cannot be more than 10,000 years old. We now have simple explanations for the field's origin, history, and present state. In this light, the earth's magnetic field is no longer a mystery; it is a testimony of God's handiwork.” Thank God for the contribution of Dr. Humphreys. 12/19/2019 15

Gloria Deo 愿荣耀归上帝 12/19/2019 16

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • The Institute for Creation Research website published an article written by Dr. Donald B. DeYoung. I now quote his article below: • “At last count, our moon was just one of three dozen planetary satellites in the solar system. Jupiter has at least fourteen; Pluto and many of the asteroids apparently also have orbiting moons. However the moon which dominates the earth's night sky has many created distinctives of its own. Furthermore all efforts to explain our moon's existence by natural physical processes have failed completely. This lack of understanding of origins also continues on the larger scale of the universe itself. Astronomers are perplexed by the missing mass of the galaxies, the missing neutrinos of the sun, and the missing mechanisms for formation of stars and planets. One is reminded of the prophet Jeremiah's counsel that the creation itself is in the end unfathomable: the heavens can never be fully measured, nor the foundations of the earth searched out (Jeremiah 31:37). Only the special revelation of God through His Son and His Word provides final answers in matters of origins. God was, after all, the only One there! 12/19/2019 18

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “The Lord knew that men would attempt to account for the moon by natural evolutionary mechanisms. Thus there are forty lunar references in Scripture, many of which declare the moon's supernatural origin and beneficial design. The moon is compared with the Lord's covenant with David: • “’It shall be established forever like the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven (Psalm 89:37).’ • “The moon above serves as a constant reminder of God's faithfulness and of the creation event. 12/19/2019 19

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “Natural Lunar Origin • “Evolutionary ideas for the source of the moon divide themselves into three areas: formation from the earth (fission), formation independent of the earth (capture), and formation simultaneously with the earth (condensation). These three mechanistic alternatives are sometimes respectively called the daughter, wife, and sister theories of lunar origin! A brief consideration of each will demonstrate their total inability to naturally explain the moon's existence. 12/19/2019 20

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “The fission theory assumes that the earth rotated very rapidly during its early history. A moon-size chunk of material broke loose from the earth's equatorial region due to the rapid spin, together with resonant vibrations. The lunar material went into a low earth orbit and has been slowly spiraling outward ever since. This theory was first proposed in 1898 by George H. Darwin, one of Charles Darwin's ten children. However the fission theory is completely ruled out today on the basis of three mechanics considerations. First, the combined earth-moon system today has less than half of the required angular momentum or circular motion needed for fission to actually occur. To become unstable the earth would have to rotate with a period of just three hours instead of the present 24 hours. Angular momentum is a conserved or constant quantity in nature, and such a large amount of angular motion does not exist today. 12/19/2019 21

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 12/19/2019 22

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “Secondly, a moon flung off from the earth would leave from the vicinity of the rapidly moving equator, and assume an orbit in the earth’s equatorial plane. However the actual lunar orbit is tilted by as much as 28.5° to the earth's equator. Thirdly, the large disruptive tidal effects of a moon initially in the vicinity of the earth would be catastrophic for both objects. Frictional effects would raise the earth's temperature to 1000° with consequent melting and partial vaporization of the crust. The moon would fare even worse as it passed through the earth's breakup distance, or "Roche's Limit." Extending 18,500 kilometers outward from the earth's center, a massive satellite within this boundary would be unstable against the large disintegrating gravitational force. 12/19/2019 23

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “An origin by capture requires the moon initially in its own solar orbit to drift close to the earth. The earth's gravitational attraction then deflects the moon into a permanent earth orbit. Of course this theory does not actually explain the initial origin of the moon. Furthermore there are strong arguments against capture, including the low probability of the event and the actual mechanism of capture. • “For example, how is the speed of the initially unbound moon reduced to permit capture? There is simply no known means by which the moon's velocity could be largely dissipated on a single pass. 12/19/2019 24

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “The condensation or nebular theory calls for an independent growth of the earth and moon from dust and gas in the same region of space. The fundamental assumption made here is that condensation will actually occur. However, force calculations and entropy considerations rule out such a collapse process unless extreme initial conditions of a highly dense gas already exist. Some suggest that a supernova explosion in the solar system's neighborhood compressed the gas. Others propose an initial abundance of gravel-sized particles with an inherent "stickiness" to aid gravitational collapse. Condensation of either moons, planets or stars is clearly an enormous problem for natural astronomy! 12/19/2019 25

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “It was hoped that the impressive series of Apollo visits to the moon would provide final answers to the embarrassing scientific dilemma of lunar origin. However the conclusions drawn from the vast new reservoir of data are still ambiguous with respect to origins. One research leader summarized Apollo findings at the conclusion of the $25 billion project:1 • “’In spite of everything that we have learned during the last few years, we still cannot decide between these three (lunar origin) theories. We still need more data and perhaps some new theories before the origin of the Moon is settled to everyone's satisfaction.’ 12/19/2019 26

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “Supernatural Lunar Origin • “The common assumption of the previous explanations is that the moon formed slowly by random, accidental processes. Scripture, in direct contradiction to man's futile reasoning, states that the moon was created instantly (Psalm 33:6), out of nothing (Hebrews 11:3), and as a fully functioning satellite (Genesis 1:16). • “Does the earth's moon actually reveal purposeful design and uniqueness? Consider the following five examples selected from the vast store of lunar physical data. 12/19/2019 27

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “1. The earth has only one natural satellite! Furthermore the mass or size ratio of the earth-moon pair is more than ten times that for any other known planet-satellite pair in the solar system.2 That is, while several other satellites are heavier than the moon, no other planet possesses a satellite having a mass which is such a large fraction of the planet's mass. Thus it is significant that the earth, true to scripture, has just one substantial moon to provide its evening light. • “2. The moon does provide the earth with adequate night illumination. In contrast with the sun, it is a gentle, passive ruler of the night sky. Of course the moon's large size is essential for it to provide significant reflected light on the earth. If its mass were reduced by 99% to make an "average size" solar system moon, then the evening light received on earth would be severely decreased by twenty times its present amount.3 12/19/2019 28

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “The Book of Genesis states: "And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night ... " (Genesis 1:16). The Hebrew term translated light (or) in this passage is flexible enough to include light reflectors such as the moon and the planets. The fact that the moon, which is a reflector, and the sun, which is far from being the largest star, are named "two great lights" is perfectly consistent with the language of appearance which is used throughout the Bible. • “3. Throughout history the moon's cycle of phases has provided man with an accurate time record. During Old Testament times the nation of Israel based their calendar month on the moon. They celebrated the first appearance of the waxing crescent moon with a festival of reconsecration to God.4 The 29.5 day lunar calendar is still in use by the Islamic world, and even today we base the date of Easter on the moon's phase. 12/19/2019 29

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “The combination of size and distance of the moon from the earth results in the special situation that the 0.5° angular size of the sun and moon as seen from earth are the same. The moon is 400 times smaller than the sun but it is likewise 400 times closer to the earth. Because of this purposeful situation the moon is able to occasionally eclipse the sun exactly, providing a precise time record. Computer studies furthermore show that this perfect eclipse condition is unique among all the known moons of the solar system.5 The significance of eclipse data for Biblical studies is great, for it provides confirmation that the chronological systems employed by Old Testament scribes were perfectly accurate. 12/19/2019 30

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “The tides provide a final example of the moon's orderly motion around the earth. Earth tides are caused primarily by the gravitational attraction of the moon. These tides have inestimable value in prospering ocean life, cleansing shorelines, and even providing a potential non-polluting energy source.6 These tidal efforts vary as the inverse distance cubed between the earth-moon system. Thus if the moon were just 30% closer to or further from the earth, the tidal effects on earth would be respectively doubled or halved. Either alternative would greatly upset our way of life. As is always the case, any proposed readjustment of the physical creation leads to degeneration. 12/19/2019 31

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “4. The moon's orbit is stable. It is in no danger of burning up in the earth's atmosphere, as for instance the artificial satellite skylab. The moon is a safe twenty earth diameters away and yet is large enough to be seen clearly. Actually the earth-moon separation is slowly increasing. Tidal drag is decreasing the earth's rotation rate and days are becoming longer. Meanwhile the moon is spiraling outward from the earth as it gains the earth's lost angular momentum. However the very small changes involved reveal the actual long-term stability of the system. Eclipse records show that the earth rotation period of 24 hours has decreased by only 0.075 seconds in the past 3000 years! Simultaneously the moon is leaving the earth at the rate of 5.8 centimeters/year, or only 174 meters in 3000 years! 12/19/2019 32

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “Recent fossil data have been used to "prove" that the moon was 60% closer to the earth 400 million years ago.7 The fossils considered are those of the chambered Nautilus. As Nautilus grows it incorporates two repeating structures: first, new chambers in which it lives, and secondly, growth lines within each chamber. It is assumed that growth lines occur daily, and further that a new chamber is tidally induced with each lunar cycle. If true, then Nautilus does indeed preserve a historical record of the number of days per lunar month. The number of growth lines is found to decrease sharply for fossil shells, from 29 down to only 9 days/lunar month. 12/19/2019 33

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “Thus the conclusion drawn is that the fossils reveal short lunar months in the past. That is, the early moon which regulated the fossil Nautilus was close to the earth and revolved three times more rapidly than at present. Of course the assumption is made that Nautilus behavior and tidal effects have remained unchanged for nearly 0.5 billion years! Furthermore, it remains an unproven hypothesis that Nautilus actually grows according to daily and lunar cycles. Finally, the lunar records derived similarly from banding in corals and from other Nautiloid species do not agree with the chambered Nautilus results!8 Therefore this marine fossil evidence involves a vast extrapolation with inconsistent results. 12/19/2019 34

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “5. No hint of life has been found on the moon, nor anywhere beyond the earth in the solar system or universe. How fair the earth is to look at in comparison with the lifeless, cratered surfaces of our neighbors! The first two Apollo teams were quarantined upon their return to earth, but this was quickly realized to be unnecessary in view of the sterile moon. The moon definitely provides multiple benefits for life on earth. However it remains secondary to the earth with no life of its own because none was created there! 12/19/2019 35

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “6. The fission-capture-condensation theories each requires the moon to be billions of years old. However, several lines of evidence continue to point to a recent lunar creation on the scale of thousands of years. First, a growing catalog of transient lunar phenomena (moonquakes, lava flows, gas emissions) show that the moon is not a cold, dead body. It is apparently not yet in thermal equilibrium and is still adjusting to tidal stresses. Secondly, the lunar dust problem won't go away! A uniformitarian extrapolation of present dust accumulation leads to a moon that should be covered with a vast sea of dust. Efforts have been made to reevaluate dust accumulation rates and to find a mechanism for lunar dust compaction, but the dust's absence remains unexplained on a billion-year time scale. Thirdly, the analysis of lunar soil has cast doubt on long ages of time. The lunar surface simply does not reveal the extent of soil mixing that long ages predict. Also, the radiometric dating of lunar soil shows it to be a billion years older than the adjacent rocks. However, the soil and rocks had previously been assumed to be of the same age! 12/19/2019 36

The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky月亮：天空中的忠实见证 • “Conclusion • “The evidences of the value and beauty of the moon are not meant in themselves to prove the truth of Christianity or creation. The witness of nature was never intended by God to be a substitute for special revelation. Its function is to remind men of what they already know about God and to activate their consciences with respect to their spiritual responsibility. (Rom. 1:18-23). This presentation has contrasted the failure of natural origin theories with the positive evidences of lunar creation. May it provide a basis for the further study of creation and the perfect Creator, to whom the moon owes its perfect design and whose faithfulness it eloquently declares.” • Thank God for the contribution of Dr. DeYoung. 12/19/2019 37

Gloria Deo 愿荣耀归上帝 12/19/2019 38

Microscopic Masterpieces微观杰作 • The Institute for Creation Research website published an article written by Dr. Larry Vardiman. I now quote his article below: • “One of the most beautiful wonders of nature God has given us is the amazing variety of shapes of snow crystals that fall from the sky on a cold winter's night. Johann Kepler, the famous astronomer known for his laws of motion of the earth around the sun, conducted a study he titled A New Year's Gift, or On the Six-Cornered Snowflake when he was a young, aspiring scientist. Kepler was crossing the Karlsbrücke (Charles Bridge) in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on his way to a New Year's Eve party at the home of John Matthew Wacker when he noticed specks of down falling on his coat, all with six corners and feathered radii. He was embarrassed to appear before his patron without a New Year's gift and decided that a study of the pattern of a snowflake that "comes down from heaven and looks like a star"1 would make a perfect present. 12/19/2019 40

Microscopic Masterpieces微观杰作 • “Kepler's study was done entirely without a microscope or other equipment that could have allowed him to observe the microscopic structure of snow crystals and how they form. He was limited to optical observation, analogy, and logic in trying to explain why the snow crystals all had six corners. He considered the stacking of cannonballs, beehives, flowers, and other spacefilling geometries that later proved fundamental to the field of crystallography. He finally concluded after considerable exploration of many possible explanations that a "formative faculty" exists within the essence of ice that causes it to form in hexagonal patterns. Seldom has a mind of the first order so charmingly articulated an approach to solving a problem. 12/19/2019 41

Microscopic Masterpieces微观杰作 “Modern Approaches “Hallet and Mason2 offered a modern explanation of why snow crystals exhibit hexagonal patterns. They found that water molecules are preferentially incorporated into the lattice structure of ice crystals as a function of temperature. Molecules from the surrounding vapor that land on a growing crystal migrate over its surface and are fixed to either the axial or basal planes depending upon four temperature conditions. For example, snow crystals will grow lengthwise to form long, thin needles and columns like Figures 1 and 2 when the temperature is between about -3°C and -8°C. 12/19/2019 42

Microscopic Masterpieces微观杰作 • “When the temperature is between about -8°C and -25°C, plate-like crystals will form as shown in Figures 3 through 10. Beautiful stellar and dendritic crystals form at about -15°C. In addition, the relative humidity of the air and the presence of supercooled liquid cloud droplets will cause secondary growth phenomena known as riming and dendritic growth. The small, dark spheres attached to the edges of the plate in Figure 5 are cloud droplets that were collected and attached to the snow crystal as rime as the crystal fell through these droplets on its way to the earth's surface. The dendritic and feathery edges of Figures 6 through 10 are produced by the rapid growth of snow crystals in a high-humidity environment. 12/19/2019 43

Microscopic Masterpieces微观杰作 12/19/2019 44

Microscopic Masterpieces微观杰作 • “A number of other scientists have also studied snow crystals in detail. Notable among these were Nakaya,3 and Magono and Lee4. In addition, many crystallographers have studied and written on the characteristics of crystal growth and why molecules and atoms form into a limited number of basic patterns. The modern explanation of the hexagonal symmetry of snow crystals is that a snow crystal is a macroscopic, outward manifestation of the internal arrangement of the molecules in ice. The molecules form an internal pattern of lowest free energy, one that possesses high structural symmetry. For the water molecule this is a type of symmetry called hexagonal close pack. Science is still searching for the genesis of this property that Kepler called the "formative faculty." 12/19/2019 45

Microscopic Masterpieces微观杰作 • “Evidence of the Creator • “Modern scientists have the advantage of sophisticated laboratory facilities for growing and observing ice crystals, high resolution photomicrographic equipment, and conceptual advances in understanding very small particles. However, the most basic principle of why the initial molecules in an ice crystal assemble in a hexagonal pattern has still not been fully explained. In his essay on Kepler's snowflake study, Whyte concluded: 12/19/2019 46

Microscopic Masterpieces微观杰作 • “’Yet a puzzle remains. For the fact which so impressed Kepler still constitutes a challenge: three-dimensional geometrical symmetry plays an important role in the visual world and yet it is not clear how it is generated in a universe supposedly dominated by random interactions and disturbances. We should not expect complete knowledge of highly complex systems, but it is reasonable to require of science a simple explanation of simple observations. If the hexagonal snowflake is highly complex, is there no short cut from the postulates of physics to our visual observations? What in the ultimate laws produces visually perfect patterns?5’ 12/19/2019 47

Microscopic Masterpieces微观杰作 • “Science always asks the questions of how and why. But in this case an even more basic question comes into play--how can order be explained in the context of a random, chaotic universe? In other words, if we don't believe in a Creator God, the universe should not be ordered. Where is this structure coming from? • “The issue could be turned around. Because we observe order and design in the universe, as exemplified by the six-cornered snowflake, doesn't this demand a Creator who supplies this order and design? Kepler basically concluded this when he proposed his term "formative faculty." That is, a basic tendency was built into the very atoms and molecules of our world to produce this order. The characteristics of the oxygen and hydrogen atoms were designed by God to combine in ways that produce the hexagonal close pack pattern and form the six-cornered snowflake. Unlike linear molecules like carbon dioxide, the water molecule is asymmetric. It is that asymmetry that favors the hexagonal arrangement. 12/19/2019 48

Microscopic Masterpieces微观杰作 • “Ice crystals are composed of simple, repeated internal patterns that produce beautiful, external shapes. And built into the laws that govern ice crystal growth patterns are temperature dependencies that add filigrees to the basic hexagonal form. Columnar shapes, needle shapes, plate shapes, stellar shapes, and dendritic shapes are just some of the additional patterns in which snow crystals grow. In fact, because of the myriad of possible combinations of the millions of individual molecules that make up a single ice crystal, it can truly be said that no two snow crystals are exactly alike! • “And if simple water molecules that form ice crystals exhibit the "formative faculty" of God's creative hand, consider how much more design is included in larger molecules such as the DNA molecule that determines life forms. The order and design we see in DNA and the laws of nature should forever put to rest the belief that God does not exist. The very molecules testify to God's existence and His love of order and beauty. 12/19/2019 49

Microscopic Masterpieces微观杰作 • “I corresponded with astronomer Carl Sagan for two years before his death and had conversations about such evidences for God's existence. In one of his letters he wrote, "The only 'Author' of Earth history that I see is the laws of Nature. Where they come from and why they are the way they are is another and of course very difficult issue." So, the evidence of order and design in our world is a very powerful witness, even to professed unbelievers. 12/19/2019 50

Sermons From Science -- July 2017 科学布道 -- 2017 年 7 月

Sermons From Science -- July 2017 科学布道 -- 2017 年 7 月

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