Within one life time, we have moved from the space age, through the computer age, into the information age. YouTube presently uploads 24 hours viewing time of video every minute of every day. Along with this explosion of information has come the need to store it. No wonder technological knowledge and advancements double every 12 to 18 months.

Yet, with all this information that abounds, none is as impressive or complex as the information that is locked in every human cell. Yet many people firmly believe that something as complex as DNA could come about by mere chance. Many credit evolution with our existence and not an awesome God.

Let’s take a look at what information really is, and discover the amazing truth that lies at the heart of it…without God there would be no information.

Now, the question to ponder for a moment is, what is information? It is a big and complicated subject and this article only intends to highlight some issues. The fundamental purpose of information is to inform. For example, written instructions on how to build a model airplane. However, true information requires a number of criteria. There has to be intelligible information (semantics), a sender (transmitter) and a receiver. The receiver also has to be able to interpret the information correctly and respond to it. Furthermore, there needs to be a selected code (Eg. English, Morse code, Binary) and a method of transmission (Eg. Script, electrical, acoustical).1 In short, information involves much more than simply producing a string of words or computer code.

To use an everyday example, a friend might send you a letter requesting you to attend their wedding. The sender has a specific purpose and intends to achieve a specific response from the receiver. Hopefully that you will inform them that you would be delighted to attend. The method of transmission would be paper and ink, with the selected code being the use of letters (symbols) and the English language

Intelligent source required

It is for these reasons that Dr Werner Gitt, an expert in information technology, has stated on numerous occasions that it is impossible for random processes to generate true information. Furthermore, that true information never arises without an intelligent source. Yet, evolution states that all things arose by chance and there was no purpose nor direction in the process. This would have to include information.2

According to Norbert Wiener, the founder of cybernetics and information theory, information cannot be of a physical nature. He says, “Information is information, neither matter nor energy. No materialism that fails to take account of this can survive the day.” This non-material nature of information is supported by scientists such as Werner Strombach and Werner Gitt. Information is an intrinsic part in the essential nature of life and the transmission of information plays a fundamental role in everything that lives. From daily communication between humans to biological processes in living cells. The questions then arise, where did this information come from and how did it get into living organisms?

Two fundamental pillars of the theory of evolution are natural selection (survival of the fittest) and mutations. Yet these processes cannot create new information. Regardless of its validity, natural selection by definition, can only select from what is already there. So where does the additional information needed come from for a single-celled organism to evolve into a highly complex organism such as a human being? Evolutionists realise this serious weakness in their ideas and propose that additional or new information arises through mutations. Yet, millions of experiments have been conducted in labs around the world and in not one instance has entirely new information been added. Mutations in the DNA of living organisms lead to a loss of information. Furthermore, mutations are never beneficial in totality to the organism. So mutations lead to weaker and not stronger (survival of the fittest) organisms.

DNA molecule – astounding storage capacity

It was as recently as 1953 that Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the chemical structure of the DNA molecule where the information to build proteins (the stuff of life) is encoded. The knowledge currently stored in the libraries of the world is estimated at 1018 bits. If it were possible to store this information in DNA molecules, 1% of the volume of a pinhead would be sufficient. If, on the other hand, this information were stored with the aid of computer chips, it would require a pile higher than the distance between the earth and the moon. The DNA molecule stores information in a three-dimensional format, unlike the two-dimensional format of books or computer chips. DNA has a storage capacity 45 x 1012 times greater than that of computer chips. That is, 45 trillion times the storage capacity. The situation has improved since these statistics were formulated in 1996, but it is still no where near that of DNA.

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, wrote, “DNA is like a computer programme, but far, far more advanced than any software we’ve ever created.”3 Léon Brillouin, in his classic work on information theory, stated quite categorically, “A machine does not create any new information.”4 Nobel laureate Peter Medawar expounded on this by writing, “No process of logical reasoning – no mere act of mind or computer-programmable operation – can enlarge the information content of the axioms and premises or observation statements from which it proceeds”. Kurt Gödel, considered one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, felt that there was a definite law of conservation of information.5

Designer required

In the book Beyond Opinion, the opinions of renowned scientists Stephen Meyer and William Dembski, are summed up with these words, “DNA does not imply the need for an intelligent designer because it has some similarities to a software programme or to a human language. It implies the need for an intelligent designer because it possesses an identical feature (namely, information content) that intelligently designed human texts and computer languages possess.5 In other words, just as there is an intelligent mind or designer behind the information in computer programmes or human writings, there is an intelligent mind and designer behind the structure of the DNA molecule and its inherent information. There is no difference.

George Sim Johnson had this to say:

“Human DNA contains more organised information than the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

If the full text of the encyclopaedia were to arrive in computer code from outer space most people would regard this as proof of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. But when seen in nature, it is explained as the workings of random forces.” 6

Information does not arise from material properties. It stands apart from matter and energy. Scientists view matter and energy as fundamental elements in nature. Many now view information has a third fundamental element. A simple example of information’s independency is that you can send or receive the exact same information using different forms of matter or energy. For example, electronically via emails or on paper using ink.

Simply put, if you haven’t explained where information originates from then you haven’t explained life. It is information that makes living molecules, proteins, cells and biological systems into things that function.

Logos – more than just a word

Where does information initially come from? Evolutionists have no real answer. Yet, the Bible states plainly that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and that through this Word all things were created (John1:1-3). The Greek word translated “Word” is “Logos” and denotes more than just a word, but discourse, thought, reasoning, motive, intent, communication. In short, information. To answer the question of where does the information bound up in the DNA of living organisms originally come from?

It comes from the WORD.

 

We teach that the God of the Bible is the Creator. We believe in the inspired declaration of Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” We believe that God gave the scientific record for human instruction and knowledge and that there is no conflict between the Bible and scientific discovery. We believe that when the Bible and scientific discovery appear to conflict, that one or the other has been misunderstood. Therefore, we do not deny the evidence from science that indicates a long history of life on this planet, nor do we deny that God could have created an evolutionary process for the development of species. We believe that only God can create life, and that the Bible does not reveal exactly how he has done this. Therefore, if evolution is true, we believe God is the author of it.

References

1. Gitt, Werner. 1996. Information, Science and Biology. TJ10 (2). Pg.181-187. Aug. 1996. (Can be viewed/downloaded free of charge at http://creation.com)

2. Gitt, Werner. 2000. In the beginning was information. 2nd ed. Ebner Ulm, Germany. (Can be downloaded free of charge at http://www.werner-gitt.de/down_eng.html)

3. Gates, Bill. 1996. The road ahead. Blue Penguin, New York. Pg.228.

4. Brillouin, Léon. 1962. Science and Information Theory. 2nd ed. Academic Press, New York. Pg.269..

5. Zacharias, Ravi. (Author and general editor). 2008. Beyond Opinion: Living the faith we defend. Thomas Nelson, USA.

6. Strobel, Lee. 2004. The case for a Creator. Zondervan, USA.