Manifesto of the theory of nanocreation and entropic evolution
The Theory of Nanocreation and Entropic Evolution is presented in The Steps of Creation, a book in three volumes.
The central idea of this theory is that God created at the microscopic, nanoscale level, and then allowed macrostructures to evolve naturally. Entities at the nanoscale level include such things as the hydrogen atom, certain elements, organic molecules and DNA. Macrostructures include such things as galaxies, stars, the Earth with its biofriendly environment and our own bodies. The term ‘nanocreation’ is adapted from the new science of nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology involves the control of the structure of matter on a scale below 100 nanometres. One nanometre is 10–9 metres or a millionth of a millimetre. Nanotechnology is performed using ultraviolet and X-ray optical techniques or an electron beam to position groups of atoms or molecules in an engineered material. I am proposing this human creative activity as an analogy for the creative activity of God.
Genetic engineers now make transgenic mice by inserting genes from humans into the mouse genome for the purposes of research. This feat of molecular manipulation is performed with pre-existing genes. It is proposed that God can equal human creativity, and better; He could make a new gene that would encode a new protein as a component of created life.
Entropic Evolution is inspired from the principle behind the Second Law of Thermodynamics. An increase in entropy is a move away from order towards a system characterized by disorder and inertia. The Laws of Thermodynamics relate to energy, whereas the entropy involved here relates to information. The term Entropic Evolution is used to convey the idea that, although evolution gives rise to interesting phenomena, it is in itself a winding-down process.
The Theory of Nanocreation and Entropic Evolution has some hypotheses which seek to define primary causes – the intervention of God in the universe at specific points in time and space, while other hypotheses seek to explain secondary causes – the working of natural evolutionary processes, and their limits. The combination of these primary and secondary causes gives rise to a global scheme. This science is unashamedly theistic science.
The Theory of Nanocreation accords with the essence of the creation account of Genesis, and its underlying truths. The essence of the Genesis story is that God is the Creator of both matter and life. The days of creation convey the idea that creation occurred as a sequence of acts of creation over time, culminating in the creation of humankind.
The Theory of Nanocreation and Entropic Evolution may be accepted as a scientific theory for the following reasons:
• It is based on data generated by modern, orthodox science and thus shares common ground with other current scientific theories.
• It is a theory composed of hypotheses, not only a literal reading of the Bible.
• It has generated predictions that are testable by science, and which lay it open to being proved wrong in part or as a whole; it is a falsifiable theory.
The theory incorporates an explosive beginning to the universe which I have named the Multi-Bang. The Multi-Bang has some important differences with the Big Bang Theory. Energy in the form of motion in created matter gave rise to an expanding universe.
In line with main stream science, the universe is accepted to be around 13.7 thousand million years old. The timescale for the appearance of the first life forms on Earth is counted in thousands of millions of years. It is accepted that radiometric dating places some of the earliest microbial fossils – stromatolites from the Precambrian era at 3.5 thousand million years old.
Evolution is viewed as something positive; its possibility incorporated in the original set-up. Evolution is natural in that it consists of unguided processes happening by chance. There is both cosmic evolution involving the ‘heavenly bodies’ and biological evolution occurring in the different forms of life.
Charles Darwin presented his Theory of Descent with Modification through Natural Selection in On the Origin of Species in 1859. The concept of the modification of pre-existing traits through Natural Selection giving rise to diversity in the organic world is fully incorporated into the Theory of Nanocreation and Entropic Evolution. Darwin mainly establishes the Theory of Common Descent to class level; this is also endorsed by the Theory of Nanocreation and Entropic Evolution. Another meaning of the term Natural Selection expanded by Darwin in the second half of On the Origin of Species is the step-by-step building-up of new structures and organs representing an increase in complexity, and couched in terms of usefulness. This strand of evolutionary thought is rejected by the Theory of Nanocreation and Entropic Evolution.
The concept of Entropic Evolution in the biological world rests on the well-documented observation that mutation causes dysfunction in the genetic system. Mutation tends to switch genes off such that they are not expressed. However, what is dysfunction in the genome often manifests itself in the organism as modification and variation. Where variation proves useful, it is preserved by Natural Selection. Many examples of evolution, including the classic examples, in fact, involve loss of structures and traits in the organism. Thus, the selection of variations does not build up complexity as Darwin claimed, but it does produce adaptation to the environment and a great diversity of species.
NeoDarwinism emerged in the 20th century by combining Darwinist theory with the laws of inheritance, and the discovery of genes and DNA. A new idea was added – that of the origin of life from non-life by natural processes involving selection. A new philosophy came to dominate science asserting the incompatibility of science and religion.
Mainstream science today has an ethos of rationalism and objectivity. However, many materialistic hypotheses offered within the context of science to answer the big questions are a matter of belief, not of scientific demonstration. They are deemed worthy of science textbooks purely on the basis that they do not involve any interaction between a Creator and creation; it is thought that their materialism makes them ‘scientific’. Science today follows the Philosophy of Naturalism – a philosophy unknown to the founders of modern science. Naturalism accepts only natural explanation for the working and origin of all phenomena, and excludes God from its definition of reality. This a priori stance does not make the many scientific theories necessarily objective, nor even rational.
The Theory of Nanocreation and Entropic Evolution is a rejection of purely materialistic science and the Philosophy of Naturalism. It is science which does not exclude God. To the debate that rages between Creationists and Evolutionists, the Theory of Nanocreation and Entropic Evolution offers a middle way: creation in the context of an evolving world.
October 2016
the steps of creation part i :life
First published in 2016
Third edition reissued in October 2021 ISBN 979-8490415442 Amazon price £11.02 / $15 (Previous editions are being sold by private sellers at a higher price)
The first four chapters of Part I describe what genes are and how the genetic system functions. This description would be useful for any layman who is unsure how it all works. Understanding the functioning of the system is crucial to understanding the ways in which mutations can modify the genetic system. This allows Entropic Evolution to take place, leading to speciation via Natural Selection.
Although adaptation and Natural Selection may lead to new and interesting phenomena, there is no building-up of higher levels of complexity through the selection of mutations which are genetic errors.
It is proposed that God created multicellular forms of life on Earth by the addition of genes to the eukaryotic genome in a way analogous to the insertion of genes into genomes by genetic engineers. But whereas genetic engineers only transfer pre-existing genes, God created new ones. The DNA code embodies complex information and this information comes from the mind of the Creator.
Humans are 98% genetically similar to higher apes. The Theory of Nanocreation can explain this similarity, while defining the clear break which took place between animal and human.
Different strands of evolutionary thought are discussed in Chapter 5, especially in relation to the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. Darwin was ambiguous in his definition of the concept of Natural Selection leaving at least three different interpretations of it.
This leads on to a history of classification systems and the presentation of the New Classification Scheme. The New Classification Scheme places organisms from seven kingdoms of life into up to 120 classes. These classes could be called ‘kinds’. It is an attempt at a simplified and balanced classification of all forms of life.
A basis for belief in Entropic Evolution is supported by hundreds of examples of reduced forms in the living world. A wide variety of species showing loss of structures is given in Chapter 7. The evolution of rudimentary organs was first outlined by Charles Darwin, in opposition to the views of Alfred Russel Wallace. It is interesting that the classic text-book examples of evolution generally involve loss of structures.
Chapter 8 gives an over-view of geological eras and a discussion of the ecological constraints on the succession of ecosystems on Earth. Each new class of organism was created only when ecological conditions allowed it. Increasing complexity in the succession of forms of life on Earth can be traced in the geological record over the past 500 million years and more.
The part played by recurrent floods in burying ecosystems and forming fossils is discussed in this chapter.
Chapter 9 addresses theories about the origin of life. The theories discussed range from the Primeval Soup to Emergence. Intelligent Design Theory and Irreducible Complexity are discussed in this chapter.
The book ends with the proposal that life created the conditions for life. A look at the microbiology of water shows that single cell organisms have the capability of forming an ocean given the thousands of millions of years that they have spent on Earth doing so.
In a nutshell this book is about created biological complexity and evolved diversity.
the steps of creation part ii : cosmos
First published in 2016
Third edition reissued in October 2021 ISBN 979-8491132904 Amazon price £8.45 / $11.50
It is proposed that life was created in all parts of the universe where conditions allow life to survive. The first forms of life, according to the Theory of Nanocreation, come from dust clouds in interstellar space. The evidence that interstellar dust clouds are the place to look for the first forms of bacterial life is the presence of water in these clouds in the form of ice.
Many places in the universe have undergone ecological disaster and so are not inhabited by viable life now. However, the fundamental elements of which life is composed are found everywhere in the universe and affect its processes.
According to this idea, the so-called ‘prebiotic’ organic building block molecules from space are, in fact, post-biotic break-down products from the debris of former extraterrestrial bacterial life.
Moving from the question of the location of the first forms of life to the heavenly bodies, stars are discussed in chapters 12 and13. Star formation and stellar evolution are outlined in these chapters.
Chapter 14 provides a good summary of the sub-atomic particles of particle physics for the layman. Hypothetical particles in this theory are not accorded the reality that many current theories in physics accord to them.
This chapter on the structure of matter sets the scene for the main hypothesis of Part II, namely the Multi-Bang Hypothesis presented in chapter 15.
According to the Theory of Nanocreation, God is the Creator of matter. Hydrogen is the universe. Energy came from matter; matter did not condense from energy as the Big Bang Theory claims. The early universe was flooded with light and this light came from atoms formed during the early multiple explosions phase.
The universe was formed, or in a sense ‘unwrapped’ by the interaction of matter in motion. Motion came not from one Big Bang, but from many bangs flinging matter outwards in all directions. At the intersections between streams of matter in motion, galaxies formed in the early universe.
In this way, time and space were created. While matter and its specific properties were created at nanoscale, the macrostructures of the universe evolved over time through natural processes.
The amassing of matter to form galaxies was initiated by the Multi-Bang within an expanding universe without the necessity of any dark matter.
Part II is a book about creation on a vast scale, and the cosmic evolution that has taken place over the past 13.7 thousand million years.
the steps of creation part iii : earth history
First published in 2016
Third edition reissued in October 2021 ISBN 979-8491834020 Amazon price £8.81 / $12
In the first chapter of Part III (chapter 17) it is proposed that the Earth was captured into orbit around the Sun. The solar system was formed by the capture of a diverse collection of planets over time. This is a total break from the Nebular Theory.
The Earth like other planets would have started its existence as a planetary core shot out of a supernova explosion into interstellar space within the galaxy. As it moved through interstellar dust clouds, it accreted a silicate mantle and this early surface was inoculated with unicellular life. Some of the life buried in the mantle survived capture and started to produce water in the craters on early Earth.
Disturbances in the solar system due to the capture of planets and various collisions have caused periodic mass extinctions of life on Earth. The immediate causes of extinctions were episodes of volcanism as well as tidal waves burying entire ecosystems in sediments. These sediments later became fossil-bearing rock strata.
Earth is different from other planets in that it has a crust and it has abundant life. In chapter 20 it is proposed that life forms such as protists have been instrumental in forming the rocks of Earth’s crust.
The Earth Shrinkage Hypothesis of chapter 21 portrays Earth’s crust as an over-sized jacket around the mantle and core. It has folded and faulted to reduce its size around a cooling and shrinking interior core. This thesis is proposed as an alternative to Plate Tectonics Theory.
The book ends with the proposal of a mechanism that would explain the Earth’s magnetic field and its reversals. This new understanding, if accepted, would confirm the mode of formation of planet Earth proposed in the first two chapters of Part III.
Part III is a secular, largely religiously neutral discussion of theories relating to Earth history. None-the-less these hypotheses provide vital links between concepts pertaining to the Theory of Nanocreation and Entropic Evolution, hence their inclusion in this series.
Part III presents Earth history in a few revolutions.
created life evolves
The Steps of Creation is a book about agreed facts, and debatable theories and concepts. It offers new scientific interpretations of the facts. It presents a reality behind which is God – Creator, Sustainer and Father of all.
Natural Theology, traditionally seeks to prove the existence of God through the observation of nature. This has been done through expounding the design found in nature, and the sense of balance and harmony in the natural order. I am not trying to prove that God exists. I am sharing my views on creation with fellow believers who believe in God for their own personal reasons, and because of their own experiences of spiritual things, and with anyone else who cares to listen.
God is Being, and so requires no justification for His existence other than Himself. Science cannot ultimately prove or disprove the existence of God, since God is beyond the physical realm. However, because God is a Person, He can prove His own existence, as and when, He chooses.
Thus, the existence of God is taken as given as regards the Theory of Nanocreation and Entropic Evolution.
I seek an understanding of nature as a search for truth and a valid enterprise in its own right, not to prove to anyone that God exists. I believe that God does not wish us to prove His existence with science, because if He had wanted us to do so, He would have made it easier.
My objective is to explain nature, but my scheme only makes sense if there is a Creator God. To Him be the glory.
Nanocreation
The Theory of Nanocreation proclaims that God created life.
DNA is not coded for; it is the code. I believe that God has created life through the infusion of information in the creation of the DNA code and in design of the first living cells.
The Theory of Nanocreation incorporates the notion that God created new classes of organisms by creating new genes and adding to the genetic code of existing genomes for each of the different branches of life. The New Classification Scheme has about 120 classes of organism (115 listed so far) representing increasing levels of complexity in the different branches of life.
I have called classes of organisms ‘kinds’. They represent new biological lines initiated by the addition of significant numbers of new genes and regulatory elements to the genomes of pronuclei (the genomes of gametes) at the moment of fertilization.
New biological lines would have been created as limited editions – the offspring of a single mating pair. These offspring being genetically isolated from the preceding species (the Genome-Provider Parent Species) would then be allowed to multiply and spread by natural processes of reproduction. Increase in numbers would lead to migration and adaptation to new ecological niches in new environments.
New kinds could only have been created when the ecological conditions of past geological eras allowed it. The creation of successively higher classes of plants and animals possessing new traits would have been subject to ecological constraint.
Entropic Evolution
The Theory of Entropic Evolution describes a running down of the genetic system involving loss of information through dysfunction in the system. The cause of this is mutation which is the occurrence of random errors in the replication of DNA.
The result of mutation, as far as physical structures, organs and traits are concerned, may be modification or reduction. Where modification or reduction is beneficial to the adult organism, it is preserved by Natural Selection as an ongoing trend.
Adaptation to unusual ecological niches has often led to specialization in species and the evolution of exaggerated structures. In other organisms there has been a progressive reduction such that fully developed organs have become rudimentary organs. There are many examples of reduced forms in every class of organism.
The Theory of Entropic Evolution states that switching-off mutations underlie most of the phenomena relating to the diversity of species. Entropy – the loss of information at the genetic level – underpins speciation and allows adaptation to the environment within the limits defined by the genetic system.
The Theory of Nanocreation and the Theory of Entropic Evolution are complementary theories, two sides of the same coin. Numerous examples and observations point towards confirmation of the Theory of Entropic Evolution. Entropic Evolution is ultimately a winding down of the genetic system. There cannot be a winding down, without an initial winding up. The winding up is embodied in the Theory of Nanocreation which proclaims that the DNA code of life was created by God in a sequence of acts of creation.
The Limits to Natural Selection
The definition of Natural Selection that is up-held here is as follows:
Natural Selection is the modification of organisms through the preservation of favourable traits. All populations carry variations in traits underpinned by genetic variations. Traits may be structures, organs or behavioural instincts. The result over time of this modification is adaptation to the environment and speciation.
Darwin and NeoDarwinists today believe that organisms have unlimited plasticity to change and diversify, and that the complexity of organic life is built up through Natural Selection. This notion of Incremental Natural Selection is rejected; it implies innovation, rather than modification.
Natural Selection has come to be conceived of as a force, rather than a mechanism:
- It is seen as a force for progression in life forms towards increases in complexity.
- It is seen as a force that brought life from non-life by the selection of molecules in a primeval soup. There is no known reason for selection in a non-living system.
In his introduction to The Origin of Species Bynum (2009, page xxxix) comments that in his chapters on the geographical distribution of plants and animals, Darwin repeated that so many phenomena could be explained by his general principles, “and how scientifically sterile was the assumption that things in nature are as they are simply because they have been created that way.” Ironically the same can be said today when you substitute ‘things are the way they are because they have evolved that way.’ The expression ‘because they were created that way’ may be an expression of ignorance, but so is ‘because they evolved that way.’ Today the invocation of ‘Natural Selection’ is treated as an explanation, but it is an explanation of anything and everything. The claim of NeoDarwinists is often, ‘It is there – therefore it evolved.’
My position with the Theory of Nanocreation and Entropic Evolution is that Natural Selection should not be applied to everything, but its application should be defined.
When Natural Selection is defined as working in certain ways within defined limits, it may be thought of as a mechanism of modification operating by natural means. Modification presupposes ‘from something into something else’. Natural Selection can only modify structures that are already present, it cannot innovate totally new structures.
Once a structure is present it can be modified by Natural Selection and it can be lost.
Natural Selection must have defined limits to be viewed as a mechanism rather than a force. These limits can be defined by the levels of functional complexity in the genetic system and the form of the genome.
A middle way
The main alternatives up to now have been that everything was created by God as we find it or everything has come to be what it is through processes of evolution.
By and large, in our society evolution has won the day with most Christians believing that evolution has been God’s method of creating everything and Atheists claiming that belief in God is superfluous.
In The Steps of Creation I have offered a new theory which is truly a middle way between creation and evolution since I do not claim that God has created everything by special creation nor that He has created everything by natural laws and evolution. I have proposed that God created matter and life at the microscopic nanoscale and allowed matter in the universe and life forms on Earth to undergo processes of evolution that have modified them, adapted them and given them the form that we now observe.
In this view the processes of evolution are entirely natural – they are not guided towards any end. There is no hidden purpose other than survival itself. The outcome of a phenomenon such as mutation may be genetic disease and death, or it may be genetic variation. The outcome of Natural Selection may be the evolution of parasites and disease-producing organisms or it may be exquisite adaptations. Catastrophes caused by geological processes or impacts from outer space occur sometimes and extinction may be the result; but this can give opportunity to other classes of organisms. God allows all this to happen, He does not cause it to happen.
The greatness of God is seen in the creation of matter with specific properties that allowed elements to interact and form a universe. The wisdom of God is seen in the complexity of the DNA code of life.
God created the universe through His word – taking this in a scientific sense – it means that God created through the infusion of information. Information is order, pattern and meaning. Just as a message is specific, God created specific things. Just as information can be lost, entropic processes represent a running-down.
The theory of Nanocreation and Entropic Evolution is truly a middle way since it gives complementary roles to creation and evolution, not claiming that everything came about by either one or the other.
In that which concerns evolution, Part I of The Steps of Creation contains numerous examples of modification by Natural Selection leading to diversity in species on the same level of complexity. Likewise, many examples have been given of the enormous numbers of reduced forms in the living world in which structures have been lost and organs reduced to a rudimentary state. This progressive loss of complexity in organisms of all types is again driven by Natural Selection. It has been shown that it is now possible to account for the reduction and loss of structures in the adult organism at the level of the genome where dysfunction can be identified in the genetic system down to the last DNA detail. The theoretical perspectives that I have given concerning the genome could serve as a guide for further observations.
This understanding of evolution gained from observation and involving organisms on the same level of complexity or with reduced manifestations of complexity is contrasted with explanations for increments in complexity in the living world. The explanations for increments in the complexity of life always involve belief. For NeoDarwinists it is an overriding belief in the role of chance or the spontaneous generation of complexity. For Theistic Evolutionists it is a metaphysical belief in a hidden guiding principle or purpose found in God. For Creationists it is belief in the design of living things by the Creator. Not all these views involve God, but they all involve belief. We are all believers in something or we do not think at all.
Reflections written in 2015
matter in motion creates the universe
There was a timeless moment before the beginning when the dimensions of space had not yet opened up and time had not yet begun. It was a moment of eternity when God alone existed because He is existence. I AM. I am Being, and Being has no need of any other justification than Himself.
Out of the void and the nothingness, God created matter.
God created subatomic particles and the void was not a void. The world was in deep darkness, and into this darkness came light. Light and heat energy flooded the universe and motion created space.
God created subatomic particles as different kinds; each with their own intrinsic motions which gave them different properties. He created positively charged particles and negatively charged particles. God set the quantity of matter and the mode of interactions between matter for the unfurling of future events. God created the atom; when the last ingredient was added it went BANG and this was the beginning. God saw that His creation was very good.
Nanocreation and the universe
The origin of the universe according to the Theory of Nanocreation is to be found in the creation of matter. The Big Bang theory proposes that matter condensed out of energy although this would involve a physics that does not exist today. My alternative proposal works with observable and known laws of physics.
The universe is essentially composed of hydrogen. The hydrogen atom is the simplest type of atom consisting of one proton orbited by one electron. The creation of the universe involved the creation of hydrogen.
The Theory of Nanocreation presents the view that the properties of matter are purpose-built and arise from the interactions of subatomic particles. The subatomic particles of which atoms are composed allow atoms to form by recombination. Recombination releases energy which can be absorbed by other atoms. Neutrons form in this way and atoms form chemical bonds as the components of molecules.
The properties of the subatomic components of atoms have allowed the spatial dimensions of the universe to develop through expansion – via matter in motion – and have duration through time. Nanocreation is the belief that these fundamental properties of matter were designed.
Cosmic evolution and the elements
The transformations that the universe has undergone since its beginning constitute what is known as cosmic evolution. Cosmic evolution comprises the formation of galaxies in clusters and stars within the molecular clouds of galaxies. Cosmic evolution also comprises the stages that stars go through before ending their lives in nova and supernova explosions. Stars end their lives as stellar corpses and black holes. The formation of planets which orbit stars in planetary systems is another process linked to stars.
According to the Theory of Nanocreation, the fundamental heavy elements have been created as catalysts in star formation and as the components of life. It is proposed that unicellular life exists in vast quantities in association with dust in interstellar dark clouds in galaxies. Interstellar dust clouds containing carbon are seen as the location of the first living cells.
Fundamental elements have specific properties that serve the different functions of structure and metabolism within cells. If elements had formed randomly within stars, this would be a strange coincidence. Also, the proportions of these elements in the universe reflect the roles they play in cells and their roles as catalysts.
On planets such as Earth, a large proportion of fundamental elements which may once have been components of life, are now found incorporated into rocks or as gases in the atmosphere. I propose that a large proportion of the 1 % heavy elements in the universe represent the debris of life that has ceased living.
There are rare elements in the universe that, according to the view presented, have evolved from the fundamental elements by processes such as neutron capture during events such as supernova explosion. These elements are radioactive and decay into other more stable elements.
Therefore, in the view of Nanocreation, cosmic evolution does not involve the evolution of the principle heavy elements within stars by nuclear fusion reactions; cosmic evolution does, however, involve the evolution of elements from fundamental, created elements.
The Theory of Nanocreation describes a universe – only one universe – that is free. The universe was created according to a purpose hidden in God, but it is not guided in its details. The natural processes of cosmic evolution follow a natural course: galaxies, stars and planets are formed by natural processes and they disappear (eventually) by natural processes.
The universe itself has undergone change, and the structures within it undergo modification over time. The universe will run down, ‘wear out’ and ‘grow old’. This sounds depressing unless you believe in a destiny to the created world.
God created matter
The Multi-Bang Hypothesis (proposed in The Steps of Creation Part II)proclaims that God created matter. God created the universe ex nihilo – out of nothing. (According to this notion, there is a realm not dependent on the material realm which exists according to the will of God).
The known physical universe contains an estimated 1080 elementary particles (Dembski 2002, page 21)[1]. It is proposed in the Multi-Bang Hypothesis that all the particles of the universe were created in one locality at saturation property density (this is the highest possible density of matter). The protons created had a temperature at or close to absolute zero. Electrons were created with high velocity, moving close to the speed of light. This very high energy is seen in quasars and it set the universe in motion.
Thus, protons combined with electrons to form hydrogen. Atoms can form at 3000-4000 K so this would be the temperature of the universe in its initial stages – a similar temperature to that of older stars. When atoms form light is released and it flooded the universe. ‘Let there be light’ has a fossil: it is the cosmic microwave background radiation. This is high-energy initial light released by atomic matter in the early universe shifted into a longer wave length by expansion of the universe.
Thus, the universe was formed by matter in motion. God set the amount of matter contained in the universe such that gravity would act within an on-going universe with extension and duration through time. (This sounds obscure but to someone who knows about the physics of the universe it is fundamental to state this).
The universe was created by God according to a plan. In this way the universe created was governed by order and is open to rational inquiry.
God created matter at the nanoscale with specific intrinsic properties. All the macrostructures of the universe evolved from this microscopic matter, by various interactions involving natural processes.
The currently accepted interpretation of Quantum Mechanics claims that at the subatomic level inside the atom there is a fundamental indeterminacy in the behaviour of subatomic particles (their location and velocity). Quantum Uncertainty has become a view of reality. Some have claimed that God can only act in the universe because matter is not completely determined by natural law. I believe that what for science is still uncertain is not uncertain for God. God does not require things to be uncertain or indeterminate at the quantum level to be able to act within the universe.
God acts in a quantum world that is known to Himself. An act of creation would occur through the reordering of atoms and molecules using energy – thus, the quantum world could be seen as providing the seam between nature and divine action.
The properties of matter were created such that interactions involving matter were possible. The properties of matter arise from the specific properties of subatomic particles. The interactions of matter in the universe may be described by the laws of physics and chemistry, but God did not create laws for matter, He simply created matter.
Reflections written in 2015
[1] Dembski, William A. (2002) No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased Without Intelligence Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
life creates the conditions for life
Did God create the Earth as a planet with the right conditions for life to exist and create life on Earth?
Did God survey the heavens and choose Earth as a planet already possessing the right conditions for life as a good place to create life?
These are possibilities which I considered.
But I reached the conclusion that life had created the conditions for life to exist on Earth.
A succession of life forms – especially unicellular life forms – have transformed planet Earth from being a barren place into a biofriendly place with liquid water, an aerobic atmosphere and continents formed of sedimentary rocks and granite.
I concluded that the Earth was formed; it was not created.
I combined the view that planets were formed by natural processes with a novel theory of how they came to form the solar system. I propose that stars such as the Sun capture planets through the attraction of gravity on small bodies moving through the galaxy. Other stars have formed planetary systems by capturing planets in a similar way.
Where did God create the first life?
I thought that life was probably not exclusively created on Earth. My first idea (on 15th December 1999) was that life may have been seeded everywhere in the universe where life is possible. If this were so, life was seeded on all the terrestrial planets, moons and even small bodies, but it only survives on a few of them.
Later I learned that water is abundant in space. If water is produced principally by microbial life, then there must be life in space. If water ice is associated with interstellar dust grains found in dark clouds, unicellular life possibly exists in these clouds.
I formed the idea that God created life throughout the universe in association with interstellar dust within the molecular clouds found within galaxies. If this were the case, the first microbial life on Earth found its way here by inoculation as the proto-planet passed through dark clouds of interstellar dust in its journey through interstellar space. Other planets and small bodies would also have picked up microbial life while travelling through interstellar clouds, and so microbial life or its former presence is likely to be found everywhere.
The Earth is always presented as an ideal place for life – ‘life evolved here because it was a good place for evolution to take place.’ I present the view that it is, in fact, life itself that made the Earth a good place for life.
The Earth like other planets was formed by natural processes. I present the view that the Earth picked up microbial life and the ecological conditions produced by this life were allowed to develop naturally. Many planets underwent ecological disaster and lost the life they carried. Mars is one such place. The Earth’s orbit in the inner solar system, the size of its molten core and its speed of rotation allowed life to survive on Earth.
I believe that God created life in all possible places in our galaxy or in the universe. As the Lord surveyed the heavens, He chose Earth as a good place for the continuing creation of life through acts of creation since it was well-placed in its distance from the star it orbits.
It may be that unicellular life continues to exist in interstellar dust clouds and on many planets, but others have lost the life they once carried. As far as higher forms of life are concerned, there is no information available on the possible development of multicellular life anywhere other than on Earth.
Part III of The Steps of Creation describes natural processes. The three hypotheses of Part III are not part of the Theory of Nanocreation and Entropic Evolution; they do, however, provide a link between life in the universe, life on Earth and the formation of the Earth.
The natural events described in Part III are contingent or fortuitous – they do not happen by design. Their occurrence is governed by chance. Any predictability in their occurrence is only a consequence of a chain of natural events each event influencing other events.
The Steps of Creation Part III proposes a radically new way of viewing the formation of planet Earth and of how this life has made the Earth into a bio-friendly place.
Reflections written in 2015
The Principles of Creation 