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so just in terms of the topic I think
it's I think the first apropos you know
I've Rama V knew he came to understand
God the the essence of the the fact that
there is a God at a very young age
the Rambam discusses the idea that some
people can just look into nature some
people are more scientific some people
may be philosophical some people just
need some real guidance and through the
Torah itself so everybody is an
individual and everyone's going to come
to the Shem come to the recognition of
the Shem either on their own or not at
all and I guess that's part of the
tonight's topic the confused world of
modern atheism so I just want to read
real quick a to two small paragraphs
from a book called the discovery booklet
which I'm sure many people in this
audience are familiar with but these are
around two quotes short I'm gonna
shorten them up because they're quite
long
one is by Leo Tolstoy the other one is
by Mark Twain and really the the summary
paragraph so after the news that we
received this week this past week from
the president of the United States to
let's say tell like it is it's just the
reality so sometimes that's how people
see things and most of the world as we
mentioned many times it's an oiler
macheted so it's a world of illusion and
lies and sometimes we were able to see
feel experience or know what's real
you're much better off but everyone has
to come in their own journey to where
it's going to take that so these are two
famous people as many people that have
similar quotes as I'm about to read but
postally says at the very end of some
periodical Jewish world in London 1908
the Jews the M the Jew is the emblem of
eternity to whom neither slaughter nor
torture thousands of years could destroy
he whom neither fire nor sward nor
Inquisition was able to wipe off the
face of the earth he who is the first
the Oracles of God he has been for so
long the guardian of prophecy and who
transmitted it to the rest of the world
such a nation cannot be destroyed the
Jew is as everlasting as eternity itself
and the end of Mark Twain concerning the
Jews the Egyptian the Babylonian and the
Persians Rose filled the planet with
sound and splendor then faded to dream
stuff and passed away the Greek and the
Roman followed and made a vast noise and
they are gone
other peoples have sprung up and held
their torch high for a time but it
burned out and they sit in Twilight now
or her vanished the Jew saw them all
beat them all and is now what he always
was exhibiting no decadence no
infirmities of age
no weakening of his parts no slowing of
his energies no thawing of his alert and
aggressive mind all things are mortal
but the Jew all other forces past but he
remains what is the secret of his
immortality so look you could just say I
believe in God because the Jews are
round you know there's something is
unique miraculous supernatural trend
descend into go on and on something is
and I'm sure this is not what Rabbi
Moshe is gonna speak about I couldn't
even begin to think but I have a feeling
it's more on the scientific side anyway
so let me just give you his bio real
quick and then we'll get this over with
and put him on stage Robin Moshe Abra
has taught theology spirituality and
religious philosophy for nearly thirty
years many of the students have gone on
to become educators and rabbinic leaders
in North America England and Israel he
is known for a singular ability to
explain complex topics a clear
understandable language and to bar the
description of one University of Chicago
trained philosopher of science his
wicked sense of humor actually I'm
looking forward today
rabbi average grant educational programs
at the UCLA and Northridge University in
Los Angeles and then became one of the
founding faculty members of a stir on
tow and later the Shah beam a rabbinical
Seminary in Israel he's the proud father
and grandfather of eight children and
many grandchildren
well a avrech was also a floor trader in
the S&P pit at the Chicago
tile exchange in wrote and produced an
album the spiritual coup stick rock feet
on the ground he's the author of
nonsense of a higher order or the
confused world of modern atheism
distributed through help feldheim
and available on Amazon so please order
the book without any further ado
promotion okay thank you all for coming
I know that it's maybe it's a little bit
a little bit maybe not so poor des can
everybody hear me all right is there any
problem that all hearing okay great I
have a paranoia about people hearing me
I'll tell you where it came from it's
kind of stuck in my head and never left
back in the day I know it's hard for you
to imagine but but pretend you can see
me with long thick brown hair and back
in the day when I was an aspiring folk
singer I wanted to be a folk singer now
the knot of the younger people I don't
even know what a folk singer is you'll
have to consult with an anthropologist
of ancient American music but in any
case so I I was a one-man one guitar act
and I used to very carefully if I saw a
great one-man act I would go see it and
watch very carefully to pick up pointers
this is really I would just it did at
the time this was my my my great
ambition in life anyway the best one man
one guitar performer is aw my life was a
country performer he had traveled around
the country circuit he win the Triple A
so he never made it to the big time
triple a country circuit eight years
living in the back of like I got like a
UPS truck that's what he lived in eight
years
traveling around the country and he was
incredible arrey after the show I spoke
to myself waiting I like the master you
know the student sitting with the master
please tell me show me the secrets and
he looks at me like this is a true story
I think look see it he says shun your
show begins and ends with the sound
system that's what he said that was
eight years of distilled wisdom okay now
it may sound simplistic but I found and
this is true I found this was the most
consistent absolute
rule in in my performing that ever was
lousy sound system lousy show great
sound system lousy show so the reason
I'm telling you the story is so that you
understand why I'm an aging bald
Orthodox Rev right talking about God as
opposed to a inappropriately funcly'
dress for my age guy with the guitar
trying to sing blowin in the wind which
maybe if the talk doesn't go so well
maybe we'll we'll switch to folk music
in any case okay thank you for coming
again as I said it's very important that
we have to define what our topic is
tonight and it's also important to
define what the topic is not we are not
talking about divine revelation tonight
we're not talking about the first
chapter of Genesis aberration we're not
talking about science and Torah none of
that
that's all important stuff but not for
tonight tonight the topic is the
existence of God okay and particularly
the existence of God the Creator there's
a lot of ways of approaching the concept
of the existence of God we're going to
be speaking specifically about that okay
it's important to keep that in mind a
lot of times part of the reason why
there's so much confusion around this
topic is go people kind of conflate all
those things together and they they are
very very separate in any case I also
want to make it clear that although I am
unequivocally half a tenth in the my
position and I'm unequivocally confident
in the arguments that I'm going to
present and not only that I may speak
sharply and I may speak harshly even
about certain ideas of atheism and
certain proponents of atheism I don't
want to please that's one thing that's
my talk but when it comes to question
and answers I will I am very very much
be very very careful
I want answer honestly respectfully I
respect other people's opinions even if
I disagree so please nobody should feel
uncomfortable or intimidated if so be it
about asking questions please okay it's
very very important okay so now
yeah yeah yeah unless if there is a
really important point of information
like what you don't understand something
but you know questions will hold to the
end and stuff okay there are three
categories main categories of issues
that are dealt with in the book in terms
of the actual arguments if you will call
them in the first section is called
origin of life clear scientific evidence
of a creator the second section is
called man's search for meaning and
spirituality and the third section is
called atheism and morality now
obviously we can't cover everything
tonight we're really going to focus on
the first ones on that an origin of life
first of all because I think it's the
easiest to present and understand in a
form like this in a relatively short
time the second reason is is because I
have found and I have you know I've been
working thoroughly researching this you
know over the last eight or nine years
one of the things that that the modern
militant atheist love to do is to wave
the banner of science in the face of you
know uh you know what they look at is
primitive backward non-believers in
other words many times a person like you
know I'd say Richard Dawkins or Jerry
Coyne I'm not sure if you're all
familiar with these names they will
present themselves as rational
enlightened educated scientific edge
based thinkers whereas someone like
myself they will kind of portray as you
know dancing around a fire under a full
moon with animal bones wearing a hat
with buffalo horns now being very
serious and that's that's sorted
sometimes the way it's presented okay
and sometimes the biggest problem is
just leveling the playing field I don't
have no problem with somebody with
different points of views but you know
don't don't come at me with that type of
you know that type of attitude I'm not
speaking to anyone here I'm talking in
general so in fact what I'll try to show
you is that interestingly enough it's
really just the opposite in order to
embrace atheism I would propose to you
you must take giant leaps of faith not
only that you even have to be anti
science and deny certain basic sign
typical realities that may sound strange
but I hope as that as we go on it'll
become clear okay so without further ado
let's move right into the into the topic
the people like Authority in the world
of modern atheism is a gentleman by the
name of Professor Richard Dawkins he's
an oxford-educated biologist I would
imagine a very accomplished biologist in
fact if anyone has read some of his
books I've read a number of his books
his descriptions of the natural world I
actually am a little jealous of him he
has a grasp of the of the scope of the
of what's going on in the natural world
in a way that I'll probably never have
in my whole life and I wish I had some
of his descriptions of how different
parts of animals work like he has a
description of how a spider spins a web
it's mind blown in any case but he is
the one that many ideologically
committed atheists look to as sort of
this great authority figure now he wrote
a book about evolution called the blind
watchmaker and in the blind watchmaker
he says the following listen carefully
to what he says quote I could not
imagine being an atheist at any time
before 1859 when Darwin's Origin of the
Species was published I'm going to read
that again listen carefully I could not
imagine being an atheist at any time
before 1859 when Darwin's Origin of the
Species was published now some of you
might grasp immediately what he's
talking about but just in case I want to
I want to present you with something
very similar statement by another very
well known atheist ideologue he's also a
professor of biology he's a professor of
evolutionary biology at the University
of Chicago's name's Jerry Coyne he
happens to be Richard Dawkins is not
Jewish Jarek wins a nice Jewish boy he
writes like this he wrote a very
well-known book called why evolution is
true and then on the very first page he
writes the following quote if anything
is true about nature it is that plants
and animals seem intricately and almost
perfectly designed for living their
lives squids and flat fish tank change
color and pattern to blend in with their
surroundings
becoming invisible to predator and prey
bats have radar to home in on insects at
night hummingbirds are far more agile
than any human helicopter what does all
this seem to imply a master mechanic of
course Darwin himself raised a question
of design before disposing of it in 1859
so he also the Year 1859 when Darwin
published his theory was a was a
game-changer
okay now what exactly does he mean and
what he means is really very simple if
you if you didn't already
if you don't know really ready
understand it before 1859 before there
was this new explanation anyone looking
at the natural world
there wasn't any possible other
conclusion that it was a creator how
could you possibly explain something is
incredible as though as an eagle the
flight of an eagle or the Marmaray
shion's of starlings do you know that
that there is just as an aside I don't
want to get too off track there is you
have to realize that the the flight of
birds leaves our most advanced flying
machines in the dust the only thing that
we have done on birds is we can fly
higher and faster but in terms of actual
aerodynamic skill are meant iff an f-15
fighter bomber is positively primitive
so no one could honestly look at then
say I've just happened by itself until
Darwin's theory came out and then all of
a sudden everything changed as Dawkins
himself writes the following quote
Charles Darwin discovered a way in which
the unaided laws of physics could in the
fullness of geological time come to
mimic design it's an incredible idea it
mimics designed biology is the study of
complicated things that give the
appearance of having been designed for a
purpose - the sounding statement and
finally just to sum it up here is an
article by world-famous biologist by the
name of Francisco Ayala who also started
off as a priest
abandoned the act became a biologist and
a philosopher of science he wrote an
article for the National Academy of
Sciences called Darwin's greatest
discovery
design without designer it's an
incredible idea okay
you have to it's important to understand
the reason I'm emphasizing this you need
to understand that the entire edifice of
respectable intellectual scientific
academic atheism rests on Darwinian
evolution
you pull Darwinian evolution out of the
picture we're back in the old days where
as one writer put it every village had
its head its meshuggenah every village
hit its trunk and every village had its
atheist no there's Fred hey
yes that's Fred he kicks it all happened
by itself there was this one guy who was
ever Casey and though the village
atheist now it's respectable its
scientific it's the academic okay so now
I would imagine that any number of
people sitting here are assuming that
I'm going to launch into an attack on
Darwinian evolution nothing could be
further from the truth
remember our topic here is not the first
chapter abrasion of Genesis our topic is
the existence of God the Creator and
regarding that topic existence of God
the real evolution is completely
irrelevant and I say that again it has
zero relevance and zero bearing on the
whole question we don't need even talk
about it and as a matter of fact
although personally I happen to think
personally that what in evolution is a
hopelessly inadequate explanation for
the organized complexity of the living
world but for the purposes of our
discussion a few things for
straightforward and simple I am prepared
to totally concede for argument's sake
totally concede the theory of evolution
is being true I will consider it for the
purposes of our discussion and I do the
same thing in the book is the most
wonderful substantiated proven theory
that in the history of science okay so
we're going to assume the truth of
Darwinian evolution now why do I say
it's irrelevant why do I say it doesn't
matter for a very simple reason first
what's going to quick a thumbnail
description of Darwinian evolution now
we're in evolution is based on random
mutations in the replication of the DNA
of a living organism
now sometimes by pure luck DNA is
is digitally encoded information that
has all the information needed to build
the things yet the cell needs to live
and there's a lot this has to be copied
there's sometimes copying mistakes
they're called mutations and sometimes
by pure luck these mistakes confer a
slightly different you know
configuration for the the organism
giving it a slight survival advantage
ostensibly that will make it more likely
to pass it on to its offspring and
they're these little changes over
millions tens of millions hundreds of
millions of years they all add up and
from the original microscopic bacteria
here we are sitting on the havi Island
vodka okay that's in a nutshell okay so
now surprise Darwinian evolution is only
relevant and operative from the moment
life begins in forward ok it's very
important to realize that in other words
before Darwinian evolution can take
place and we've assumed that for
argument's sake you need a fully
functioning living cell with the DNA
based genetic system and all the the
molecular machinery that a cell needs to
live and then you can go forward and
evolve into all these different types of
life forms right
only after life begins and by the way
that is not a scientifically
controversial statement that everybody
understands Darwinian evolution does not
even pretend to account for the
existence of the first bacterial cell
which is the so called simplest and
oldest known living organism that exists
by the way did I mention that we're
going to assume we're not going to deal
with the issue of age of the universe
either we're going to sidestep that
we're just going to put as far as
tellers beyou we're just going to deal
with modern you know scientific
cosmology ok modern the way the the the
number of years that they talk about
so as Richard Dawkins says in his book
The God Delusion that was his magnum
opus he says like this quote Darwinian
evolution proceeds merrily once life has
a rigid
but how does life get started end of
quote
yes professor Dawkins that's the
question how does life get started and
that is not a small question at all
because when you understand what a
bacterial cell is when you understand
that a bacterial cell contains
technology beyond anything that is it is
within the capabilities of our
technology today to reproduce it could
be one day they will build us we will be
able to build a cell but not today where
did it come from I'm gonna reach you
very briefly I don't want to take up too
much time but just too you have to have
and understand what the issue is here
this is a this is written by dr. Paul
Davies of Arizona State University
he is a non-believer I think he recently
came out of the causes in there as a
natural atheist as opposed to a deist he
believed that God created things but
then left it alone I don't know what
exactly his theology is and also dr.
Michael Denton who is an Australian
geneticist and microbiologist quote the
living cell is the most complex system
of its size known to mankind its hosts
of specialized molecules execute a dance
of exquisite fidelity orchestrated with
breathtaking position
how can mindless molecules capable only
pullian pushing their immediate
neighbors cooperate to form something as
ingenious as a living organism
scientists have fabricated invisible
cogwheels motors the size of a pinhead
and individual and electrical switches
as Tiny as individual molecules the
burgeoning field of nanotechnology
building structures and devices measured
on a scale of billions of a metre
promises to revolutionize our lives but
we should not lose sight of the fact
that nature got there first
the world is already full of nano
machines they are called living cells
each cell is packed with tiny structures
that might have come straight from an
engineer's manual miniscule tweezers
scissors pumps motors rubbers veils
pipes chains and even vehicles abound
although the tiniest living things known
to science bacterial cells are
incredibly small each is a veritable
micro miniaturized Factory containing
thousands of elegantly designed pieces
of machinery more
complicated than any machine built by
man and without parallel in the
nonliving world what we would be
witnessing would be an object resembling
an immense automated Factory however it
would be a factory that which had one
capacity not equal in any of our own
machines for it would be capable of
replicating its entire structure and dr.
Denton goes on to describe the cell as
quote the complexity of a jumbo jet
picked in respect of dust invisible to
the naked eye moreover it is a speck
size jumbo jet which can duplicate
itself quite easily now you have to
realize what this means a Xerox machine
you put a bit of color photograph it
gives you a perfect copy of a color
photograph what we're talking about here
is a Xerox machine that makes another
Xerox machine now wouldn't that be
something right you put up you leave up
you'll leave a airplane in the hangar
and next morning you come back this two
of them that is that that is beyond the
wildest engineering dreams that we have
today and yet it happens trillions and
trillions of times a day on a
microscopic level okay so that's what
we're talking about when we talk about
the the how the living cell got there I
just want to make also one comment most
people don't really understand what DNA
is besides all this nanotechnology DNA
is the genetic the genetic code which
contains the information how to building
the machinery that the cell needs let me
give you this quote again these are from
people who by the way all disagree with
me I wouldn't want to tell you something
no I'm serious I I when I wrote the book
it when I started doing the research for
the book as soon as I discovered that
somebody agreed with me I would refuse
to read anything that he wrote I only
did research based on people who are on
the other side of the argument okay it's
very important this is dr. Paul Davies
who although is a world-renowned expert
on origin of life he's devoted the last
35 40 years of his life to it he's the
head of the origins Institute at Arizona
State University listen to what he
writes about DNA quote the living cell
is best thought of as a supercomputer in
information processing and replicating
system of a
dashing complexity DNA is not a special
life-giving molecule but a genetic data
bank that transmits its information
using a mathematical code most of the
workings of the cell are described as
information or software trying to make
life by mixing chemicals in a test tube
is like soldiering switches and wires in
an attempt to produce Windows 98 it
won't work because it addresses the
problem at the wrong conceptual level
and to and finally just to quote Bill
Gates in his book the road ahead he said
DNA is like a software program but far
far more advanced than anything we've
ever created
DNA is literally in fact if anything I'm
understanding it is the most
sophisticated digital information
processing system in the known universe
so now where did it come from in other
words what you have to understand now is
that once this machinery is in place the
reading evolution can move forward so
what we get what happens here is there's
a paradigm shifting insight because what
it turns out is that not only is
Darwinian evolution not the cause and
not the explanation of the staggering
complexity and sophistication on life of
this planet Darwinian evolution is a
process which is the result of the
staggering complexity and sophistication
of life on this planet
in other words once you have in place
fantastic machinery fantastic things but
the notion that fantastic machinery can
do fantastic things was never really a
point of contention was it what is the
question that with that that is the
point of contention where this fantastic
machinery come from in the first place
Darwinian evolution does not answer the
question at all and by the way it is a
bitter pill to swallow sooner or later
of the non-believers are going to have
to accept this there right now they're
protected by a by a heavily atheistic
academic establishment but they're going
to have to eventually accept this bitter
pill that
all the writings of guys like Richard
Dawkins and Jerry Coyne and PZ Myers and
Victor stator and all the rest touting
Darwinian evolution is the solution to
not believing in God they have done
nothing but present us with the grandest
of tautologies in other words they have
explained the amazing complexity of
living organisms by invoking processes
that are based on the amazing complexity
of living organisms that's all it is so
now by the way what you know I'm not the
only one to notice this ok here is
Thomas Nagel Thomas Nagel is a highly
distinguished philosopher in New York
University and avowed atheist also a
nice Jewish boy and happens if he had
known he obviously a very candid atheist
by the way very honest very
straightforward but as 100% he says I am
just as much an outsider to religion as
Richard Dawkins he writes like this
quote the entire apparatus of
evolutionary explanation therefore
depends on the prior existence of
genetic material with these remarkable
properties since the existence of this
material or something like it is a
precondition of the possibility of
evolution evolutionary theory cannot
explain its existence we are therefore
faced with a problem we have explained
the complexity of organic life in terms
of something that is itself just as
functionally complex as what we
originally set out to explain so the
problem is just pushed back a step how
did such a thing come into existence dr.
Paul Davies quote there a purgative
machinery of life is based on the DNA
molecule which is itself is structurally
complicated and intricately arranged as
an automobile assembly line if
replication requires such a high
threshold the complexity in the first
place how can any replicative system
have arisen spontaneously end of quote
and one last one
dr. hardy prossies professor of
chemistry ben-gurion University quote
despite the widespread view that
Darwinian evolution has been able to
explain the emergence of biological
complexity that is not the case
Darwinian Theory does not do
what the question how life was able to
come into being the Troublesome question
still in search of any answer is how did
a system capable of evolving come about
in the first place by the way it's only
a troublesome question if you assume
that somehow it happened by itself if
you assume what might be the obvious
intuitive reaction then it was created
well it's not a troublesome question at
all it's obvious right okay so now now
the question not that we have to ask is
the the the issue of where this original
life came from is the domain of a
fundamentally and conceptually separate
area of science called origin of life
research okay how a scientist doing in
the origin of life research well how
would you expect them to be doing you
know the example I always give people is
you know the lego set for the Brooklyn
Bridge contains 853 pieces each of those
pieces is specifically designed and
engineered to build a model of the
Brooklyn Bridge let's say a Nobel Prize
winning scientist announced these
undertaking a project I'm going to
investigate how it's possible to find a
path from these 853 pieces to a model of
the Brooklyn Bridge using only natural
unguided forces wind rain lightning
cosmic rays volcanoes running water
thermal energy whatever you anything you
want to guess what would you think if
somebody announced such an investigation
you think they'd lost their mind
probably and they're doomed to failure
there's no way you're gonna do it you
know that if it can't possibly happen so
now what would you expect if somebody
says I'm investigating how it's possible
to entirely unguided naturalistic of a
process to come up with the most
sophisticated nano technology in the
universe and the most sophisticated
digital information processing system in
the known universe how are they doing on
this project and the fact is the
progress in origin of life research is
exactly what you'd expect for
undertaking a project that is so absurd
and so ridiculous and so nonsensical as
they think that life could start by
itself I'm just gonna read you again in
the book I have 83 quotes running from a
18:59 to-night 2015 which which covered
and with many Nobel prize-winning
scientists but I'm just gonna give you a
few 2016 professor James tor a lecturer
at University of Waterloo
James Tour happens to be he's a
professor of chemistry Rice University
he's one of the top 10 most cited
chemists in the world he is a
world-class synthetic chemist quote
there is collective ruthlessness those
who say this is well worked out they
know nothing nothing about chemical
synthesis those who think that
scientists understand the details of
life's origin are wholly uninformed
nobody understands when will the
scientific community confess to the
world that they are clueless on life's
origin that the emperor has new clothes
Eugene Koonin who is a very respected
microbiologist in Washington also has
been for the last several decades
working on origin of life he wrote in
his book in 2011 quote the origin of
life field is a failure end of quote
Lee Hartwell Nobel Prize winner 2011
quote with respect to the origin of life
I find the more we learn about cells the
more complex they seem they're just
incredibly complex things and to go from
what we can see today and try to reason
where it came from I think is really
impossible
Paul babies who I mentioned several
times in a lecture at 2010 quote how he
says he was speaking to the audience he
says how meaning how did life begin we
haven't a clue
end of quote Franklin Herald molecular
biologist colostate
Colorado State University 2001 quote the
origin of life appears to me as
incomprehensible as ever a matter for
wonder but not for explication and
finally Hubert yaki physicist renowned
information theorist 1981 quote since
science does not have the faintest idea
how life on Earth originated it would
only be honest to confess this to other
scientists to granters and to the public
at large not only has origin of life
research been a complete failure not
only has it not literally not progressed
at all since 1859
it's that doesn't tell you this story
it's gone backwards by many orders of
magnitude and if we plot origin of life
prot us
investigate research on an XY graph the
the X graph represents the understanding
of how life could begin through a
naturalistic process 1859 0 2017 0
cluelessness but that doesn't tell the
whole story on the y graph were plotting
the understanding since 1859 of the
magnitude of the problem you're trying
to solve see in 1859 it was down near
the near zero because they didn't really
have a profound understanding of what a
living cell was but with the
breakthroughs in biochemistry and
microbiology in genetics in 2017 the
y-axis is off the graph which means
they're getting further from the answer
not closer to the edge you understand
now why John Horgan who was a senior
writer for Scientific American an anti
intelligent design person by the way he
wrote the following quote he said if I
were a creationist I would cease
attacking the theory of evolution and
focus instead on the origin of life this
is by far the weakest strut of the
chassis of modern biology the origin of
life is a science writers dream that
abounds of exotic scientists and exotic
theories which are never entirely
abandoned or accepted but merely go in
and out of fashion now when he says by
the way the chassis of modern biology
what he means of course is the chassis
of a theistic biology a review of
biology that leaves God entirely out of
the picture that's what he means it's
the weakest trunk but in fact that's not
accurate it's not true that it's the
weakest drug it is a strut it doesn't
exist at all which leaves its coolest
--mess there is no understanding of
origin of life which means the entire
edifice of atheistic thought rests on
thin air and wishful thinking you have
to take a leap of faith that somehow
that happens somehow ok in the question
and answer period we can talk about it
more so where does this leave us and
with this we're going to conclude it
leaves us really right back where we
started
from it leaves us with molecular
machinery that is so fantastic that in
the words of University of Chicago
microbiologist James Shapiro quote it
outstrips scientific description it
leaves us with this astoundingly complex
molecular machinery of life with no clue
to explain its origin in other words for
Jerry Coyne and Richard Watkins it
leaves us in 1858 evolution didn't
change anything we're right back we're
looking at an incredible complexity of
life no explanation nothing to explain
in other words where it leaves us is
that for the rational truth seeker there
is only one possible conclusion and that
is that life what's created now what
I've presented here is this kind of a
scaled-down version of the argument in
the book the origin of life section is
well over a hundred pages but in any
case I now the most important part of
evening I look forward to any comments
and questions and I thank you very much
for listening tries to show that it's
impossible there hasn't been enough time
in the world and we talk about five
thousand years right it's impossible but
even then right in other words what I do
what I think Gerald I'm not talking what
we're gonna leave evolution aside here
I'm talking about what Gerald Schroeder
was talking about is that the amount of
time to for the first living cell to
form because the earth cooled off only a
certain amount of you know years ago the
oldest life is somewhere they have
discovered between three point three 3.8
billion years ago what's a few hundred
billion years between friends but and
the Earth only cooled down a little bit
before that there was a very
any window of time for that first living
cell to form and of course it's absurdly
improbable we'll get into them it may be
depending on what questions is we'll get
into more of that how because obviously
I'm not the only one to notice these
things the other side the other side the
atheist you know polemicists also are
very aware of this and obviously they
have their approach to dealing with it
but in any case the other a bit more
quite yes this gentleman right
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if you want to recognize or you want to
design a robot that they will walk very
simple very simple principle that if we
give it enough time and only
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okay so I mean you said a bunch of
different things you mentioned a
different a bunch of different points
the first thing is all the algorithms
and all the thing your solution you're
talking about you're the one doing it an
intelligent creator you're writing the
program you know what what you're
looking for you know that you're looking
for a solution to a particular problem
when you have a swamp with a bunch of
chemicals in it they don't know anything
you're just mixing up chemicals one
after the other so you cannot you can't
even begin to compare and by the way you
you can't compare that you're talking
about a cook you are talking about a
completely random process dump a bunch
of chemicals in a swamp and therefore
and tell me how you're going to get end
up with a with a the most methodical
information processing system loaded
with a digitally encoded information how
are you how are you filing another way
wait let me I'm answer no I heard what
you said that's the first thing it's it
can only come from a completely random
process which of course is absurd it's
absurd it's absurdly improbable secondly
you didn't realize that's the reason
why I wrote I read in the beginning I
could not imagine being an atheist
before 1859 that the idea that living
organisms could happen by themselves
before Darwinian evolution was
incomprehensible only a few like I said
you had the village atheist
scientifically it made no sense
whatsoever yeah yeah what's your name
Tuvia okay Tuvia go tell it to Richard
Dawkins he was the one who said it Jerry
what is Jerry what did Jerry Coyne who
is a zealous atheist he said before
Darwin the obvious implication was a
master mechanic of course what else
would you conclude now you should also
know something you should also know
something else there is a there is a
very interesting you you haven't really
grasped in my opinion you haven't really
faced up to the fact that what you're
what you're that all the things you're
talking about are after you have complex
systems in place to perform all the
things that you want you don't realize
you're starting with a swamp
Robert Shapiro's who was the professor
of chemistry at NYU he said the
following he said I don't I don't I
don't know that much about he's a he's a
world-class chemist and an expert in the
origin of life he says I don't know that
much about there with evolution but I
have no reason to doubt my other
scientific colleagues who talk about it
as if it's really true so I'm going to
assume that they're right he said
however the debate about intelligent
design is not really focused on Darwin
evolution it is the origin of life where
the real problem comes in he said
because the gulf between a mixture of
similar simple chemicals even with a
bunch of amino acids the gulf between
that and no bacterium is much more
profound than the gulf between a
bacterium and an elephant lynn margulis
said the exact same thing she said that
it is a bigger step to go from a mixture
of chemicals to a bacterium than it is
to go from a bacterium to you would
think oh I didn't finish I didn't finish
my answer to you I may finish my answer
there is a very well-known philosopher
of science called doctor named
iris Frye she's at Tel Aviv University
and the Technium she wrote a seminal
paper called about or the philosophy of
origin of life research she said there's
basically two camps okay
she said there is the camp that what she
calls the continuity thesis meaning that
there's the camp of researchers who hold
that there is a there must be an
unbroken gap between nonliving things
and living things meaning there is some
natural process we haven't discovered
yet that inevitably will lead to a
living organism that's one camp okay the
other camp she says that's a
philosophical position it has no it has
no experimental basis it has no evidence
for it it's a philosophical
presuppositions she calls it okay number
two the other kin she calls the other
you know she calls the other camp the
almost miracle camp okay who are some of
the by and who are some of the the
proponents of the almost miracle camp
Francis Crick Nobel Prize winning
scientist the one who discovered DNA
Jacques Monod Nobel Prize winning
biochemist Ernst Mayr one of the most
famous evolutionary biologists end of
the 20th century Sir Karl Popper okay
and others the almost miracle camp
what's the difference okay why is it
that what what is that what is the basis
for the for the people who say that
there is this continuity thesis that
there there must be I pad look what I'm
what and what is it based it's not based
on any experimental evidence at all
because as we've seen the origin of life
field is a complete failure you know
what it's based on only a faint
that's what a philosophical
philosophical presuppositions is it's a
leap of faith it's it oh it's a it's an
article of faith I accepted no evidence
I accept it because that's what the way
I want it to be it's an article of faith
and what about the almost miracle camp
she says why did they hold it's almost a
miracle because they have concluded if
there is no way that there's a natural
process to go from a living to go from
chemicals to living so therefore the
only possibility is what is blind chance
and therefore like America we got it we
got lucky yeah you know Jack Munoz said
he said lucky for us our number came up
in the Monte Carlo game that's what he
said
you know what free it's his Creek said
he said to say happy accident
we got lucky that's all there is to it
which of course is ridiculous
so now because astoundingly improbable
things don't happen so you take your
choice you you you have your degree in
neuroscience I'm talking about the
people actually doing the origin of life
research you have two choices you either
take it as an article of faith and by
the way you think that you think that
scientists don't take leaps of faith
Harold Urey you know what Harold Urey
was Nobel Prize winning chemist you know
who his student was Stanley Miller you
know who Stanley Miller was Harold Urey
was the mentor of Stanley Miller Harold
Urey 1962 this is nine years after the
famous experiment he said those of us
who study the origin of life we can't
believe that it ever actually could have
possibly happened
we all accept it as a literally as an
article of faith that is the term that
he uses you don't think that scientists
have faked article faith you know
Chandra Wickramasinghe said when he
undertook for the Sir Fred Hoyle
to study the origin of life in sir Fred
Hoyles later years he said if he had
started off as an atheist he realized
it's impossible there's no way it could
have happened by itself you know what he
said he said I was brainwashed as for my
earliest days as a scientist you can't
talk about God you can't talk about
creation he says I'm very uncomfortable
but there was no choice there's no way
out of it so you wanted to stay in
neuroscience that's perfectly fine you
want to go into origin of life
take your pick take an article of faith
or believe in almost miracles believe an
astoundingly improbable climb up those
are the two choices anyway yes
I'll give you one last chance to make a
comment I don't want to I will give you
the last word
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when I when I was saying is I basically
hold the same thing as Richard Dawkins
and Jerry Coyne once you don't have
evolution you're stuck with the obvious
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it could happen what they could come up
with a perpetual motion machine to I
mean you don't know right maybe you see
you're saying maybe maybe answers all
questions maybe means you don't have to
ever make a decision because maybe
right right I I'm not gonna twist your
arm if you think if you're willing to
live with maybe maybe this astoundingly
improbable event happened maybe you
wouldn't say what I would suggest is you
would never save for anything else but
for this people are prepared to say this
watch happened by itself would you say
it no what do you mean a bacterial cells
is a million times more complex and
sophisticated why it's not different at
all it's not different at all how is it
different you know I'm gonna give you
one last you tell me how it's different
how is it different how how is the
complexity of a bacterial cell why is it
fundamentally different than the
complexity of a watch but you don't know
what the origin of a bacterial cell okay
I mean you're saying that our betrayal
II but I don't that's what I think it
just you're making an arbitrary
difference and there really is no
difference a digital information
processing system is a digital
information processing system okay so
I'll be reality so we disagree and you
know look we got to think about it I
would suggest you read the book because
really see this is what you're bringing
up is really most of the objections of
some of a theists are not scientific
because science has no answer whatsoever
they're all philosophical like you're
bringing up and I deal with the
philosophy I didn't have time to go into
it I deal with the philosophical
objections it's important but any case I
hear what you said we're going to take
some other questions so thank you very
much yes
learn about the god particle visits both
I don't know anything about the Higgs
boson and so therefore I can't really
talk about it I don't know that I don't
really I don't know that much about it I
don't know what to tell you III don't
really know I'm I I'm not up I'm not
enough up on physics to to make any any
meaningful comment yeah it's I think it
perfectly
after reading you know I have an article
here called atheists are waiting for the
Darwinian origin of life Messiah every
so often the science writers are into
hype they've got to sell their articles
and they usually overhyped things a lot
of times when you actually know what's
going on it's not really as big a deal
as the science writers make it out to
seem you should know that there was a
very famous case with a guy named Jeremy
England how many people have heard of
Jeremy England okay you haven't heard of
I'm happy to talk about it yeah everyone
yes you have a question what yes yes so
they claim had come up with this theory
that was completely gonna well if you if
you if you actually read what he what he
said and what actually was going on it
was it was like you wouldn't even know
that that that he hip was talking about
the origin of life at all but in any
case that's so a lot of its hype I'll be
very honest with you I've discovered
there yeah any other did you want to say
something oh this gentleman let me just
jump back yet
right right well in other words like
this in other words I'll try to briefly
give you a fan of the philosophical you
know the syllogism here everyone in this
room is absolutely certain that this
watch was made by a watchmaker everyone
in this room okay in fact you are so
certain that this watch was made by a
watchmaker you are as certain that this
dad is true as two plus two equals four
which is about a certain agent get about
anything in this world right so the
question is why are you so certain how
are you so certain of it okay now one
second you didn't see this watch being
made there's some people say experience
though they sort of they have this
philosophical idea it's experience it's
not experience there's no one in this
room who experienced this watch being
made so how do you know what's true well
I know from experience that there are
watches that are made by watchmakers so
what then you're saying it that's in
philosophy called an argument from
analogy you're saying since I know there
are watching people who make watches
there and this one is like those other
watches and must be that this one was
also made maybe in philosophy an
argument from analogy is one of the
weaker arguments it's sort of all in the
eyes of the beholder so then it's
certainly not two plus two equals four
so then how are you so certain two plus
two equals four that this was made by a
watchmaker and the answer is very simple
and I'm gonna read to I I'm trying to
answer your question I normally wouldn't
do this but I'm going to I'm going to
read you a the perfect the actual
explanation written by an atheistic
physicist by the name of dr. Leonard
Susskind he said Stanford University
listen carefully this is how you know
that this was made by a watchmaker as
certain as to us
to Eagles for listen quote Oh bill by
the way this isn't a book that Bret
Leonard Susskind wrote it's called the
black hole war my battle was Stephen
Hawking to make the world safe for
quantum mechanics that's quite a
mouthful huh
okay he writes like this quote it would
be a bad idea to park your BMW in the
rain forest for five hundred years when
you came back you find a pile of rust if
you left the pile of rust for another
five hundred years you could be pretty
sure it wouldn't turn back into a
working BMW then in short is the second
law of thermodynamics by the way he's
one of the fathers of string theory he
is a very prominent physicist okay both
the BMW and the rusty are collection of
about 10 to the 28 atoms that means 10
multiplied by self 28 times a 1 followed
by 28 zeros that's a very big number 10
to the 28 atoms mostly iron imagine that
you took those atoms and threw them
together randomly meaning you just
applied natural forces to them what is
the likelihood they would come together
to form a working automobile meaning a
functionally complex machine I think we
can all agree it would be extremely
unlikely
if you imagine all the possible ways you
could assemble the atoms the
overwhelming majority of the
arrangements would look like rust heaps
if you shook up the atoms of a car you
would be much more likely to get a pile
of rust because there are so many more
rust pile Arrangements than car
arrangements and just one last paragraph
here is another example ok this is not
me this is Leonard Susskind here is
another example an ape banging away to
typewriter will almost always type
jibberish very rarely will we type a
grammatically correct sentence what's
more if you take the letters a
meaningful sentence and shake them up
like tiles in a Scrabble game the result
will almost always be gibberish the
reason there are a lot more nonsensical
ways to arrange 20 or 30 letters than
there are meaningful ones if you want to
just get an idea of how many ways let's
say you have a sentence that consists of
50 letters okay at each of those 50
letters how many different letters could
you put in each of those spaces 26 dip
letters how many different combinations
are there 26 to the power of 50 the
number 26 to the power of 50 is beyond
our comprehension okay if you want to
understand how big that number is that
number the number of atoms in the entire
universe is 10 to the power of 80
that's atoms in the whole universe 26 to
the power of 50 is in that type of
category it's certainly more atoms than
there are in the Milky Way galaxy that's
how many combinations you are that's why
you know by the way when you walk into a
kitchen and you have magnetic letters
and it says I'll be home late dear I put
meatloaf in the freezer you know that
somebody arranged those letters you know
why because there's for it to have hip
and randomly there's just too many
possible combinations for an effort to
come out like that that's how you know
and you want to know something what
second I'll just conclude and then you
can come and that's why you are
absolutely certain that this watch was
made by a watchmaker because if you took
the parts of this watch and you applied
random forces to them what would be the
probability that they come together to
form a working watch almost essentially
zero exactly what would be you know how
many atoms there are in a bacterial cell
you're talking about a trillion atoms
what is the possible but what is the
like impossible nonsense it is complete
nonsense to assume that's how you know
and that's why this gentleman I forget
to view there is no difference between
it's the same principle there's just too
many parts too many different
combinations and by the way you want to
know something even more the first one I
noticed who actually identified the
argument properly was Richard Dawkins he
said it's the argument from a
probability that is the biggest
challenge to atheist the argument that's
what this is that's all okay so another
that's how you know it was a creator
because functionally complex machinery
doesn't happen by itself it's too
improbable yeah go ahead please
I'm coming at it from a rational point
remember remember what I said at the
beginning what's our topic the existence
of God the Creator I we're not here to
talk about divine revelation yeah and
I'll tell you something else I'll tell
you something yeah it's highly
improbable that life could have happened
by itself yeah and I'll tell you one
last story and then we'll give her but
see we're gonna ask you a question in
other the first time I ever spoke about
origin of life I was invited by the
secular student Society of Elmhurst
College okay now I had never spoken
about this I was in the middle of
writing the book and I sent out some
emails because I wanted to get some
experience talking and when the truth is
I went was they invited me to speak I
went with a little trepidation I didn't
really know what was going to happen
okay
and I thought it was going to be for the
public it turned out to be it was a
closed meeting of the secular student
society I spoke for about 45 minutes
okay and I said now you know please I
wanted the most important part of the
evening your questions dead silence now
I've been a teacher I you know for over
30 years I know there's different types
of silences and Romano's does also okay
sometimes there's a silence in the room
because you've put everyone to sleep
okay that's true it happens once in a
while sometimes there's a silence
because nobody really knows what you're
talking about and their eyes are kind of
glazed over and they're out there bored
they want to go eat watch sometimes
there's a silence because everybody's
very uncomfortable they don't know what
to say you just said now ask questions
and nobody knows what to say finally
this guy one guy sort of raised his hand
very uncomfortably he said to me like
this he goes he goes but the first the
first question that I was ever asked on
the topic he goes okay rabbi maybe God
did create life I said my god
the sister I didn't expect to hear that
he goes maybe God did create life but it
doesn't
you mean eight years inverses believe
what they're saying is the Nazis may be
right that there is no creator but we
ought to be acting in this period and so
what what we have to ask is what's wrong
with burning people into so you have the
consequences of what makes it as well
because we are all naturally driven with
the concept of what I want to do as a
thorough servant do I will do the wrong
thing consciously but we should
understand that I'm the question of what
makes it right a wrong turn people into
bars of soap I would say the Nazis are
right the Jews does hoodwinked us now
let's understand that everything we've
done
morality is irrelevant now we have the
Jews are right it's not reciprocated
again what we're saying is all that we
do consider biology irrelevant human
beings have nothing again in effect the
biology crated human being to ever drive
for sex in order to have babies we will
create condom condoms are not sins
against nature
right
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I think I think what Mattias is pointing
out is I'll give you a quote there was a
there was a British writer in a 19th
century author by the name of Samuel
Butler and he said the following he was
talking about and from an atheistic
world point the world of the point of
view he said morality is the custom of
one's country and the current feelings
of one's peers cannibalism is moral in a
cannibalistic country in other words -
via your right you can come up with all
kinds of systems any system you want
except that it doesn't obligate it
doesn't have any significance beyond
your own head in other words let's say
you come up with a system of morality I
say to you I have an idea instead of me
listening to your system why don't you
listen to my system it's just as good as
yours so in other words you're right you
can come up with systems he's pointing
out that your system has no real
significance if you want to listen to it
be my guest you don't want to listen
good
be my guest it's up to you whatever
floats your boat really is what it boils
down to that's a very it's a very good
question
and if P I don't know how patient people
are I could sit here and talk about that
all night I might but but your data
question is very important what
obligates you to listen to God it's what
[Laughter]
ultimately ultimately that in other
words ultimately ultimately because and
again if this doesn't do that the
subject justice at all the question is
an incredibly important question the
answer is an incredibly important answer
ultimately only one thing is that doing
what God asked to do connects you with
the only reality of existence that there
is and that's God Himself
anything else is a connection to
nothingness in illusion if you don't
want reality if you want your illusion
be my guest and live any way you want if
you want reality if you want what's
actually real then you then you listen
to God but that's even that doesn't
really do it justice you really need to
work it through by the way I'm sure
you've heard you've ever heard of the
Euthyphro dilemma okay you throw the let
have you heard of it the Euthyphro
dilemma is this is a philosophical
challenge that's that is put out by
non-believers to this argument that
remedy was talking about about morality
okay and ultimately when the answer to
the fifth dilemma and there's what I've
got a whole chapter on in the book is
really the answer to your question and
most people don't eat no and not
everybody even realize how important the
question is so I if I can tell you
please read the book okay and then call
me and we can argue about it I mean
argue we can discuss it because really
you know this really is important so I'm
a little hesitant to go what do you
think are there anyone else have any
comments questions anyone want to bring
up anything else right I feel like I
would love to really address to this
question I thought we just we it would
be it would be for another hour at least
just to really even get into the
question I don't think everyone else is
is is ready to handle that I don't know
if it's appropriate
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yeah okay anyway in case anyone wants to
buy the book its back there in case and
I've got a list of articles if you want
to and if you want to be in touch I'm
more than happy to discuss to talk any
rate you should everyone whether you
believe it or not god bless you all okay
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you