The Science of Life Points to GodÀpẹrẹ

Image of God

I believe in human exceptionalism. I believe that human consciousness, creativity, intellect, imagination and other characteristics are emergent qualities with no true analogy in the animal world. I believe this as a matter of religious faith (imago Dei) but even more so as a scientific principle. In fact, I have always believed that human beings were special, even when I was an atheist.

In recent years, being pro-human has gone out of style. We now hear that humans are nothing terribly special, that various animals can do everything we can do and more. Some even state that humans are essentially bad: greedy, uncaring, destructive, and dangerous to the planet. They say that other living things are special, too, in their own way; that there is no human behavior that hasn’t been found among animals; that there are too many of us, and being selfish and short-sighted, we’re destroying the very environment we and other living things need to survive.

This line of thinking easily slides into the absurd, it’s easy to show the contradictions of this way of thinking. What does it mean that the Earth would be “better off” without us, and for whom? And who will make that determination? Will wolves and seagulls call a conference to discuss their different takes on the matter? Will they write tomes or dissertations to elucidate the truth of their respective positions? Will the wolves hold a grand celebration with hors d’oeuvres and a new symphony written for the occasion, while the seagulls (and the rabbits that do not end up on the wolves’ table) compose elegies in iambic pentameter about the good old days?

The origins of humans are as unknown as the origins of life and the universe. A good case can be made for the evolution of our bodies from primate ancestors, but it is much harder to invoke a naturalistic argument for the evolution of human consciousness, behavior, and the ability to write dissertations or symphonies. Even such basic human specialties as complex language and falling in love seem outside convincing evolutionary explanations. Most attempts to explain away human morality and human-specific abilities turn out to be nothing more than just-so stories that sound logical (sometimes) but have no basis in actual evidence.

I believe there is no doubt that human beings are the way we are—creative, exceptional, thinking, moral creatures—thanks to our creation from the “dust of the Earth” by a loving God. This is why I often say, “If you want evidence for the reality of God, just look in the mirror.”