Our Wonderful Home

Please reflect upon the unique nature of the planet upon which we live, and do so with the proper awe and reverence which we should have for our wonderful Creator. Scientists and engineers seem to get all puffed up when they are able to design, build and maintain a spacecraft (i.e., the American Space Shuttle) which enables several people to stay alive in outer space for a couple of weeks. Or, to be able to keep a few people alive for several months at a time in the International Space Station.

Yet we live on a spaceship which was originally designed and created 6,000 years ago - PERFECT! Even in its degenerating condition, this spaceship is a self-sustaining spacecraft capable of maintaining about 6,800,000,000 astronauts alive year after year; without replenishment of supplies, without new oxygen bottles, etc. Yet most people just take it all for granted and believe that such a spaceship just happened to happen.

Evolutionists tout that there must be many other habitable planets in the Universe; indeed, perhaps millions of them scattered throughout the Universe.  Because of their adamant faith in evolution, evolutionists fund projects like S.E.T.I., the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. They believe that if they can find life on other heavenly bodies inside or outside of our solar system that this will prove evolution true and creation false.

In June of 2015, the number of known extrasolar "exoplanet candidates" was 8,662, found in nearby solar systems within the Milky Way Galaxy.  The number continues to increase almost monthly. Only about 300 are within the habitable zone of their stars. The smallest (and not visible) extrasolar planet found so far is COROT-Exo-7b, found by its shadow as it transits in front of its star. It is located 450 light-years from Earth; it is twice the size of Earth; it has a surface temperature of 1,000 to 1,500 degrees Celsius; and, it has an orbit around its star that takes only 20 hours.

Almost all of these extrasolar planets are “inferred” discoveries; meaning that while they may indeed exist, they were “found” using indirect rather than direct observational techniques.  The number of "confirmed" exoplanets is now 5,005. Of the 8,662 candidates, the number of extrasolar planets that had actually been optically “seen” was less than 3%. The rest were detected indirectly using one of six methods.

The first method is Radial Velocity - This method uses the variations in the speed with which a star moves towards or away from Earth as an unseen planet orbits the star. This displacement may be measured utilizing the Doppler Effect applied to light. This has been by far the most productive technique used.

The second is Astrometry - If a star has a planet orbiting it, the gravitational tug of the planet may be detected optically by the star and planet “solar system” moving in a circular motion around a common center.

The third is Periodic Light Variance - These planets are inferred by measuring the percentage of light emitted by a star fluctuating as a planet transits in front of their star during its orbit and he transit causes consistent periodic “shadows.”

The fourth is Gravitational Microlensing - This method is based upon the gravity of a star bending light and acting as a lens. Unseen planets orbiting a foreground star can cause detectable anomalies in the lensing event light curve.

The fifth is Consistent Periodic Timing Events - These inferred planets are found utilizing a method usually associated with Pulsars.

The sixth is Dust Disk Voids - Clouds and disks of dust are found around some stars. If an unseen planet is orbiting such a star, it may leave a visible circular shaped void as the planet plows through the dust cloud.

Even by their own admission, if these results are in fact proof of planets orbiting other stars, then these planets certainly do not have the environmental conditions to support life. All the extrasolar planets found so far are uninhabitable: they are either gas giants (like Jupiter and Saturn); they are orbiting too “close” to their star (too hot); or, they are orbiting too “far” away from their stars (too cold).

Evolutionists are experts at the false method of proof called The Proof by Word Meaning Switch. For example, evolutionists say that if there is or was water on a planet or a moon, then there is or was life on that planet or moon. This belief is irrational nonsense. The existence of water now or in the past simply means that water is or was present, nothing more; water is not the same thing as life. Water may be needed for life, but water is not equal to life.

If God wants to create other planets around stars outside our solar system, that is His business.  God is sovereign; He may decorate the Universe to suit His own good pleasure; and, He does not have to give us a reason for having done it. God created planets that orbit other stars; God may have created plant and animal life on those other planets, we do not know, He has not revealed that knowledge to us; but, God definitely tells us that this is the only planet in the Universe where people, made in His image, possessing free will, live. (Psalm 115:16) The New Testament also tells us that Jesus Christ came here and died once for all. If there were free will creatures, made to reflect the triune nature of God, located anywhere else in the Universe, then Jesus would have had to go where they exist and die for them, too, but Jesus cannot be put to death twice.

What then are some of the factors that make our planet such a unique, special and wonderful place? While this only a partial list, the following conditions are not known to exist anyplace else in the Universe.

To start with, the Earth is just the right size. The Earth is about 25,000 miles around and about 8,000 miles across. If the Earth were even 10% smaller (7,200 miles across) the lower gravitational pull would allow most of the atmosphere to escape into outer space, leaving the heavier gases behind - like carbon dioxide and argon, neither of which would benefit our health. The much thinner atmosphere would cause the Earth to cool rapidly and become an ice planet; not a nice planet. If the Earth were only 10% larger (8,800 miles across) the higher gravitational pull would pretty much nail everything to the floor - an equally unpleasant prospect.

Second, there is the Earth’s rotation rate of about 24 hours. What would happen if we were spinning significantly faster or slower? What if the rotation rate were slower, say 240 hours per day? (Venus spins at a rate of once every 243 days.) During our 120 hour “day” the surface temperature would reach +200 F, while during the 120 hour “night” the temperature would fall to -200 F. We know of no organism which can survive a temperature fluctuation of 400 degrees. If the spin were faster, then the wind velocities on the surface would blow us all away. (Saturn rotates once every 10 ½ hours, and its winds are phenomenal, routinely exceeding 300 mph.)

Third, we all know from our high school science classes that the rotation rate of the Earth is slowing down over time. This is caused primarily by gravitational friction with the Moon. The rate of slowing amounts to between 1.4 to 1.8 seconds per 1,000 years. This is definitely a small number, but one with great significance. If we go back in time a supposed 4.6 billion years ago, the Earth would be rotating at about 460 days per year. This is a rotation rate approximately 26% faster than today.

If the Earth were spinning much faster in the past, then the centrifugal force would force all the dry land masses (continents) to form a thick belt along the equator. Today, because of the Earth’s spin, the Earth’s equator bulges out 13 miles in radius compared to the polar radius. If the Earth were spinning significantly faster as we go back in time, the equator would bulge out farther and farther while there would be a corresponding reduction in the polar radius.  The current geophysical evidence on the surface of the Earth, however, clearly and conclusively demonstrates that the dry land masses (continents) have moved north and south away from the equator in the recent past.

Fourth, we all take breathing for granted while failing to realize that our atmosphere is a wonderful creation. In our solar system the other eight planets either have atmospheres with only traces of oxygen or they have atmospheres which are made up of highly poisonous gases. Our basically 78%-21% mix of nitrogen and oxygen is an ideal proportion for life on Earth. If we had an atmosphere containing 50% oxygen, then one lightening strike would cause an entire forest to explode in flames, and we could not breathe without causing ourselves irreparable damage. If our atmosphere contained only 10% oxygen then there would be no fires. What would that do to our ability to warm ourselves in the winter, to conduct industry or to transport ourselves quickly (no cars)?

Our 21% oxygen atmosphere has another benefit. You have to have oxygen to make ozone. The ozone layer protects us against the deadly ultraviolet light that is streaming into our atmosphere from outer space. Ultraviolet light kills organic organisms. Barbers used to use ultraviolet lamps to sterilize their combs and scissors to prevent the spread of disease from one customer to another. Now, they must use chemicals to sterilize implements, or use disposables, because ultraviolet light also causes cataracts. If there is no ozone layer around the Earth, then there is no life on Earth.

This is one reason that we know evolutionists are lying about inorganic chemicals forming living organisms by random chance sometime in the past, when they claim that there was no oxygen present on the Earth. If there was a time when there was no oxygen present, then any organic compounds that might have been formed by random chance would also have been destroyed quickly by the ultraviolet light coming from the Sun.  This is a Catch-22 situation for the evolutionist: no oxygen means no ozone, and organic chemicals might possibly form that would otherwise be destroyed by the presence of oxygen; but, no oxygen means that there will be ultraviolet light and any organic compounds that might form would be immediately destroyed. You cannot have it both ways!

Finally, consider the implications of the decay of the Earth’s magnetic field. The axis of the Earth’s magnetic field almost lines up with the axis of the Earth’s rotation. This is not true of the other planets in our solar system. The Earth’s magnetic field protects us from the harmful radiation of the solar winds, coming mostly from the Sun. This deadly radiation is held in place, away from the surface of the Earth by the Earth’s magnetic field, contained in the Van Allen Radiation Belts. The Earth’s magnetic field holds this dangerous radiation away from Earth’s populated areas and dumps it, more or less harmlessly, at the frozen poles. In the past, the magnetic field would have been significantly stronger, holding this deadly radiation much further away from the Earth. This is a very beneficial design.

Let us rejoice as King David did: "Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which Thou hast done, and Thy thoughts toward us; there is none to compare with Thee; if I would declare and speak them, they would be too numerous to count." (Psalm 40:5)