NASA, astronomers, and science geeks around the world are celebrating today.
Far beyond the moon and out of view of any human observer, the $10,000,000,000 (that’s ten billion!) James Webb Telescope has successfully taken shape. It had to be folded up and secured to fit into its rocket casing and to keep it safe from damage while being launched from the earth. Once in space, hundreds of movable pieces all had to work precisely as it unfolded or the telescope would be worthless. Its location in space put it beyond the reach of any repair crews. There were a multitude of ways in which things could go wrong and render the telescope useless. There was a long series of precise ways in which things had to go right. And so far, everything has gone right.
A large, tennis-court sized solar shield with five layers had to be unfolded to allow the telescope to cool down to its frigid operating range. Communication antennas had to be deployed and function correctly or it would be unable to send images back to earth. The secondary mirror on its long boom had to be put into place. And then the large left and right sides of the primary mirror had to unfold. A heat radiator had to be deployed and various temporary covers had to be removed. You may learn more about the many steps (called deployments) here:
For so many parts to work together so perfectly to achieve one big overall goal (being able to take images of items in our universe that so far we have not been able to see) obviously took a great deal of engineering and design. The telescope has layers of systems that all work together to achieve its goal: propulsion systems, navigation systems, heat shield and heat radiator systems, communication systems, optic systems, and instrument systems each contain many parts and each are necessary. The engineers and scientists have built a truly amazing tool and deserve to be congratulated.
Yet, for all its complexity, the James Webb telescope unfolding in deep space pales in comparison with the marvel of every human baby that forms in its mother’s womb. The division of a single cell is a marvel that easily surpasses the complexity and wonder of the James Webb telescope. Yet, by the time that baby becomes an adult it will consist of some 37 trillion cells!
Those trillions of cells are formed into numerous body systems that all work together to allow a human to live and think and learn and walk and talk and dance and worship. Among the body’s systems are our circulatory system that includes a pump that must work continuously without breaks for our entire 80 or 90 or 100+ years. It includes a respiratory system and a digestive system that both integrate closely with the circulatory system. It includes a skeletal system with over 200 precisely shaped and positioned bones. Our bodies also boast a vast and complex range of muscles that move everything from our feet to our eyes. We have an amazingly complex immune system to protect us. And then we have our amazing sensors: for optics, for sound, for touch and temperature sensing, and for taste. All these systems (and there are more) are overseen by a nervous system that connects to what may be the most functionally complex physical object in the universe: the human brain.
All those cells making up all those systems unfold precisely inside the womb out of our sight. Comparing the marvel of human development and design to the Webb telescope would be like comparing the Webb telescope itself to a Lego model (yet even a child’s Lego model would require intelligent design to come together properly). If the Webb’s human designers deserve to be congratulated (and I think they do), the Designer of the human body and the processes that produce beautiful babies deserves so much more. In fact, He deserves to be worshiped.
For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made.
Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.
(Psalm 139:13-14 CSB17)
Related Material:
Three YouTube video on scientific evidence for God related to (1) the fine tuning of the universe, (2) the origin of life, and (3) the beginning of the universe.
A whole collection of blog posts on scientific evidence for God.
Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .
