Other Worlds

The final discovery that is hoped for with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is that of finding other worlds capable of supporting life. It has long been a dream of mine to be a part of discovering extraterrestrial life. It might seem strange to some that a person who believes the Bible is the true history of the formation of our universe also just happens to believe in life on other planets. However, one of the greatest Christian authors, C.S. Lewis, happened to also agree with me. I share the belief held by Lewis that the Creator of the Universe created a variety of life throughout the Universe. There are two main reasons for my belief.
The first is the extreme size of the Universe and the utter smallness of our earth. God is a logical and practical creator and I just have a hard time believing He created all of the Universe for just our enjoyment. I also understand wanting to feel that way; we were created in His image after all, and that leaves us wanting to feel special.
That brings up the second reason I believe in life on other planets; there are just too many creative stories about life throughout the Universe. If we as created beings are able to create extra-terrestrial life in our imagination, then surely God has done it in reality.
JWST gives us the ability to not only detect planets in orbit around distant stars known as exoplanets, it also gives us the ability to know the composition of the planets and their atmosphere. JWST has the ability to capture images of these distant exoplanets using its onboard coronagraph. The coronagraph was developed to block the light of a star’s surface so the corona, or surrounding region, of the star can be observed. As of December 2021, only 104 of the nearly 20,000 known exoplanets have been directly imaged. We now have the ability to make discoveries never possible before and answer age-old questions. Are there planets orbiting other stars in the habitable zones, where it is possible to have liquid water? Was there ever life on Mars? What is the source of water and other organic material to support life? We may never be able to answer these questions through pure observation, but it is the hopes of the scientific community. There is great hope that we will discover and observe planets in many stages of evolution.
There is another major issue for evolution science in the formation, or origin of water. For all practical purposes, the formation of oxygen by the current supported theories of nuclear evolution would require that a majority of the hydrogen be consumed in the process. The problem arises from the fact that water requires that there be two times as much hydrogen available than oxygen for the formation of the water molecule. The very existence of even the simplest chemical compound of water defeats the current theories of the formation of new elements by the combination of smaller less complex elements. This theory would result in a shortage of material in the lowest form.
The next issue with evolutionary theories is a much larger problem. Even if water were to randomly originate on the exoplanet, now we have to have the evolution of all the other elemental compounds to form life. The creation scientists at creation.com have stated, “We can confidently predict that the JWST observations will further contradict and complicate evolutionary theories on the origin of the universe, the origin of stars, the origin of planets, the origin of water on Earth, and the origin of life.”
The hope of the creation scientist is that JWST will open many eyes to the glory of God, He who fashioned and made the earth. He founded it, He did not create it to be empty but formed it to be inhabited. He says: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.” – Isaiah 45:18. Maybe our latest eye in the skies will point us to the truth, but I expect many will reject it. Until next week, stay safe and learn something new.
Scott Hamilton is an Expert in Emerging Technologies at ATOS and can be reached with questions and comments via email to sh*******@te**********.org or through his website at https://www.techshepherd.org.