Christian Union: The Magazine Summer 2017 | Page 25
Lennox pointed to the improbability of random-
ness producing biologically significant materials,
given the astronomical number of possible sequenc-
es of the components of a DNA molecule and the
simultaneous extreme specificity and precision of
the sequence for biological functionality. Likewise,
proteins require a “high degree of molecular sensi-
tivity” and the mere substitution of a single amino
acid can produce catastrophic results, according to
God’s Undertaker.
“Indeed, only a very tiny proportion of all pos-
sible sequences on the DNA molecule will exhibit
the specified complexity of biologically significant
molecules,” Lennox wrote.
“Math seems to be incredibly powerful
for describing God’s creation. Physicists
have thought this for a while.”
—Matt O’Rourke
2
Essentially, it is unreasonable to expect that mere
random chance produces complex biological mol-
ecules that only function within rigid parameters.
“It would be way easier to win the Powerball every
day for the rest of your life,” O’Rourke quipped.
That points to a key question for scholars and
students alike. “Where does the seemingly under-
lying intelligence come from?” O’Rourke asked.
O’Rourke remains awed by the precise nature
of mathematics and its ability to convey large subsets
of information. “In principle, there is no logical
reason why this abstract study of pattern should so
perfectly and unfailingly describe God’s natural cre-
ation,” he said.
“There are an infinite number of frameworks/
perspectives through which one could view and
interpret the natural world. The fact that we know
of one and only one that does so with such radical
success is completely remarkable.” | cu
including technology, social media, pop music, and
films. “Our hope is that these conversations will
help students continue to develop a robust faith in
Jesus Christ, while also equipping them to share the
Gospel in a compelling way,” Antlitz said.
During his segment, O’Rourke, who plans to
pursue doctoral studies in theoretical physics at the
California Institute of Technology in the fall semes-
ter, noted that mathematics can be remarkabl y de-
scriptive of natural phenomena.
O’Rourke pointed the students in the audience
to the reflections of the late Eugene Wigner, a No-
bel Prize-winning Princeton professor of mathemat-
ical physics.
In his classic article on the philosophy of math-
ematics and physics, Wigner noted the “enormous
usefulness of mathematics in the natural sciences is
something bordering on the mysterious and that
there is no rational explanation for it.”
In The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics
in the Natural Sciences, Wigner explored how math-
ematics and physics are so well matched that the
coincidence is uncanny. The Hungarian-born athe-
ist went on to ponder “why the success of mathe-
matics in its role in physics appears so baffling.”
In 1963, Wigner won the Nobel Prize in physics
for his insight into the fundamental mathematics
and physics of quantum mechanics. With a math-
ematic approach to the atom, Wigner became one
of the first to apprehend the deep implications of
symmetry, which later emerged as one of the key
principles of theoretical physics, according to Princ-
eton documents.
O’Rourke, a native of Massachusetts, also point-
ed to some of the philosophical insights from John
Lennox, a University of Oxford emeritus professor
of mathematics and a Christian apologist.
In God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?,
Lennox highlighted the apparent divine program-
ming embedded throughout the universe, including
in the enormously complex, but simultaneously
precise, human genome.
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