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The most basic, primal element in the universe is hydrogen. According to the big-bang theory, during the initial explosion of matter, there was only hydrogen at first, with its one proton, one neutron and one electron. At somewhere “between one second and five minutes [after the presumed initial explosion], conditions would have been suitable for nuclear reactions to have occurred. The major process would have been the fusion of hydrogen nuclei to form helium.…” 6 These two elements together even now still form most of the matter of the entire universe.
Cosmologists postulate that later, as outer temperatures of stars cooled, trace amounts of the other elements, formed by the fusing together of smaller nuclei into larger ones, massed together and spun off from stars into orbit around them. These still-molten specs (by comparison in size to their mother star) coalesced to form molten planets, on some of which the outsides cooled into the solid crusts we associate with planets like Earth.
As various elements were formed by nuclei of simple atoms merging to form more complex ones, conditions developed by which those elements necessary for life could form in just the right configurations and proportions.
One of these essential conditions is the ratio of the size of the proton (one of three main components of all atoms) to the electron. The proton is 1,836 times the weight of the electron. If the
ratio of the two were much different, the required molecules could not develop into the compounds necessary for life. According to cosmologist (and atheist) Stephen Hawking, “The remarkable fact is
that the values of these numbers seem to have been very much finely adjusted to make possible the development of life.” 7 We might ask Mr. Hawking, “Who did the adjusting? Do fine adjustments just
happen?”
As various elements formed, a phenomenon called “resonance” existed in the nucleus of each atom. Stable nuclei are normally in a state of “ground energy,” with the positive protons and negative electrons in balance. Collisions of nuclei produce “excitement” and lead to formation of other elements and compounds. The potential for this kind of excitement varies from one element to another.
As one helium nucleus collides with another in a star, it produces an unstable element called beryllium. Then, as Harvard astronomy department chairman Robert Kirshner describes it, “another helium nucleus collides with this short-lived target, leading to the formation of carbon….A delicate match between the energies of helium, the unstable beryllium and the resulting carbon allows the last to be created. Without this process, we would not be here.” 8 (Bold emphasis added.)
“Astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle is credited with the discovery of the resonances of carbon and oxygen atoms. Working with William Fowler, Hoyle discovered that, by all rights, the carbon atom, which seems to have been uniquely designed to make life possible, should either not exist or be exceedingly rare.” For a carbon atom to form, there needed to be just the right resonance. Hoyle predicted what that resonance would be before physicists corroborated it. They found it to be almost exactly what Hoyle had thought it would be. “When Hoyle then calculated the chances that such resonances should exist by chance in these elements, he said that his atheism was greatly shaken.” 9 (Bold emphasis added.)
How many cases of forces being in precise “balance,” proportions being “finely adjusted,” elements in a “delicate match,” and atoms being “uniquely designed” for life must we encounter before we question whether it all could have happened by accident, all by itself? If you haven’t seen enough yet, read on.
