Article #398
by Bill Nugent
You’ve all seen the dramatic headlines in the media about the discovery of water on Mars. Read further into it and you’ll see the claim that water could have enabled evolution to happen and simple life forms could have been produced. It’s an extremely far-fetched claim that’s easily refuted.
Of all the planets, Mars is most similar to earth. This is why there’s such zeal in seeking life on Mars.
The Mars explorer, Mariner IV was launched on November 28th 1964. It was very early in the space age and this was the first close up fly-by to take accurate pictures of the surface of Mars.
Scientists eagerly awaited for the first photographic transmissions from Mariner IV. Some of them fully expected to see the Martian surface covered with forests and meadows and inhabited by animals of a bizarre unearthly nature. What they saw was a barren, dry lifeless landscape.
Three Rovers on Mars
Let’s fast forward 40 years to 2003 when there were three rovers (surface exploration vehicles) on Mars at the same time exploring different areas of the surface.
The United States NASA landed two rovers named Spirit and Opportunity. The European Space Agency landed its rover on Christmas Day 2003. It’s rover was named Beagle 2. The name Beagle 2 is significant because Charles Darwin’s ship on his 1831-36 around the world exploratory tour was named the Beagle. This seems to indicate that the European Space Agency was interested in seeing if Darwinian evolution could have taken place on Mars.
All the data received from the rovers on Mars was discussed in the context of a secular atheistic evolution worldview. If any of the researchers were creationists they kept it quite safely hidden in the closet.
These three rovers didn’t find any evidence of life. Of course, there were headlines saying they had discovered some organic molecules. Organic molecules contain carbon. Small organic molecules can be formed by natural geological means quite apart from any kind of biological origin.
For instance, the organic molecule methane is not evidence for life because it can be formed either by bacteria or nonliving geologic processes. Methane is a gas that is emitted from volcanoes when carbon containing rocks interact with hot water.
Curiosity on Mars
On August 5th 2012 the rover named Curiosity was landed on the surface of Mars. It was the 8th Mars landing by NASA. Curiosity was like a little self-contained scientific laboratory that could analyze sediment, rock samples and even drill beneath the surface. Curiosity had traveled 352 million miles over 8 months. It cost 2.5 billion dollars. It found no hard evidence of life or fossil evidence of microbes.
They were looking for long chain organic molecules. By long chain they mean 10 or 12 carbon atoms. This is minuscule compared to protein which is organic and is produced in the cells of living organisms. Even a small protein would consist of a chain of 200 carbon-containing amino acids all properly sequenced.
Evolutionists are constantly looking for some explanation of how the first living cell could be formed from non-living atoms randomly churning in a sterile environment.
The Search for Large Organic Molecules
Life is composed of protein. A simple bacterium cell is composed typically of several hundred different varieties of protein each of which is composed of hundreds of amino acids all precisely sequenced. Proteins are the building blocks of life.
These proteins are manufactured in the ribosomes of the bacterium through the process of receiving instructions by messenger RNA (mRNA) from the DNA of the bacterium. This is an extremely complex, sophisticated process.
I’ve often mentioned the work of Francis Crick, Harold Morowitz and other scientists who’ve done probability calculations on the potential of nonliving unguided formation of even one protein molecule.
Let’s consider the work of Francis Crick (1916-2004), Nobel prize winning co-discoverer of DNA. Crick did a probability analysis on the possibility of one simple protein forming by chance. The protein would consist of just 200 amino acids in a polypeptide chain. He describes this analysis in his book Life Itself: Its Origin and nature on pages 51–52.
Crick found that the number of possible sequences of the 200 amino acids was ten to the 260th power which is a one with 260 zeros after it. That number, ten to the 260th power, is far more than the number of atoms in the known universe. In other words to get the right sequence to form the protein by chance would be far less of a probability than randomly choosing the right atom out of all the atoms in the universe.
That’s a study of the possible unguided formation of just one protein. Random formation of the hundreds of proteins needed to build the first living cell could essentially never happen in a trillion years on a million earths.
The evolutionist also claims that once the hundreds of proteins form by chance, they have to then be assembled into a “simple” bacterium cell. Again, impossible!
The Laws of Physics Don’t Eliminate Randomness
Evolutionists often object and say “Atoms don’t move randomly but they move in accordance with the laws of physics.” No one denies that atoms move according to physical laws but that doesn’t eliminate randomness.
The dice a gambler throws in in a casino also follow laws of physics. Try throwing two dice and have them come up two sixes a hundred times in a row. That won’t happen, on average, in a hundred trillion attempts.
To say that the first cell assembled randomly and purposelessly with no intelligent designer or creator is so remotely improbable that it’s implausible. All scientists should admit that the unguided assembly of life from nonlife (chemical evolution) could never happen.
Evolution, the Secular Origins Myth
Evolution has become the origins myth of our secular society. The teaching of evolution in the government run schools has caused multitudes of young people to reject God as creator. Every society has a concept of purpose or meta-narrative that gives it a reason for being. The meta-narrative of traditional western civilization has been Christianity.
Now that Christianity has been largely banished from public education and evolution installed in its place, western civilization has gone into a death spiral of drugs, abortion, crime and suicide. Children who are taught that they are soul-less descendants of apes grow up to act like animals!
The west thrived and expanded when Christianity was its civil religion. Christianity is, however, much more than just a civil religion. It’s precious truth.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 NASB).
Christ Died for Our Sins
Jesus Christ came in fulfillment of over 300 Messianic prophecies written in the Old Testament centuries before his birth. Even His death by crucifixion and His resurrection from the dead were foretold. In His suffering and death on our behalf, Jesus took upon Himself the punishment we deserved for our sins, thus making atonement. This is called substitutionary atonement.
“He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. . . . . .By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities”
(Isaiah 53:5,11 NASB, written 700 years before the birth of Christ).
Additionally, Jesus worked miracles before eyewitnesses that proved He is the promised Messiah of Israel. Christ came to live a perfect, sinless life and then suffer and die, taking upon Himself the punishment that was due to us because of our sins. I invite you to turn to Christ today to receive forgiveness of sins!
Steps to salvation:
Jesus said “You must be born again” (John 3:7).
1) Believe that God loves you and sent the Messiah (Messiah is Hebrew for Christ) to redeem you.
2) Believe that Jesus Christ came to die for you, to take upon Himself the penalty of your sins (Isaiah 53:5-6, John 6:29, Romans 4:5, First Peter 2:24 & 3:18).
3) Repent of your sins and call on Jesus Christ to ask for forgiveness of sins (Romans 10:13).
4) Receive Jesus as Savior and experience the new birth (John 1:12 & 3:3, Acts 2:38).
5) Follow Jesus Christ as Lord and be baptized (John 14:15, Acts 2:38).
Prayer to receive salvation:
To receive the salvation which Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:
“Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I’m a sinner. I repent of my sins and I ask you to forgive me on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen.”
If you prayed this prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart, then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!
William (Bill) Nugent, Overcomer Ministries of Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
(C) 2025 William Nugent: permission granted to translate, email or republish for Christian outreach. <>{
Christian books, “Lawful or Legalistic” and “The Cross, Self-Denial and the Manifestation of the Sons of God” by Bill Nugent are available on Amazon.
Back issues of Defending the Faith are archived on our website atwww.bnugent.org
Steps to salvation:
Jesus said “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).
Prayer to receive salvation:
“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).
To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:
“Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner. I repent of my sins and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen.”
If you prayed this prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!