I was once full of confidence that Darwinism justified my atheism. I felt I had investigated the issue sufficiently, having studied biology, chemistry, geology, anthropology, and other sciences. No doubt about it--natural selection acting on random variation had put God out of a job. But then I began to go beyond the obvious, to set aside my prejudices, to ask questions I had never posed before, and to pursue the clues of science and history wherever they led. Instead of letting naturalism limit my search, I opened myself to the full range of possibilities. Frankly, I wasn't prepared for what would happen. The facts of science systematically eroded the foundation of Darwinism until it could no longer support the weight of my atheistic conclusions. After two years of intensive scientific research I came to a startling conclusion--the data of the physical world points powerfully toward the existence of a Creator. POSSIBILITY #1--DARWIN As I considered the evidence afresh, I tried to honestly weigh which hypothesis--Darwinism or Design--best accounted for the most current data of science. Looking at the doctrine of Darwinism, which under- girded my atheism for so many years, it didn't take me long to conclude that it was simply too far-fetched to be credible. I would have to believe that: - Nothing produces everything - Non-life produces life - Randomness produces fine-tuning - Chaos produces information - Unconsciousness produces consciousness - Non-reason produces reason Based on this, I was forced to conclude that Darwinism would require a blind leap of faith that I was not willing to make. The central pillars of evolutionary theory quickly rotted away when exposed to scrutiny. For example, naturalistic processes have utterly failed to explain how non-living chemicals could somehow self-assemble into the first living cell. In addition, the overall fossil record has stubbornly refused to confirm the grand claim of Darwinian transitions. The majority--or, according to some experts, all--of the world's forty phyla, the highest in the animal kingdom, virtually sprang forth with unique body plans more than five hundred million years ago. The sudden appearance of these radically new life forms, devoid of prior transitions, has turned Darwin's Tree of Life on its head. POSSIBILITY #2--DESIGN One has to consider many different issues and see whether they point toward or away from the existence of an intelligent designer. Consider some of the evidence that was adduced in my investigation: The Evidence of Cosmology As described by William Lane Craig, the argument is simple yet elegant: first, whatever begins to exist has a cause....second, the universe had a beginning....therefore, the universe has a cause. Even once-agnostic astronomer Robert Jastrow conceded the essential elements of Christianity and modern cosmology are the same: "The chain of events leading to man commenced suddenly and sharply...." The Evidence of Physics One of the most striking discoveries of modern science has been that the laws and constants of physics unexpectedly conspire in an extraordinary way to make the universe habitable for life. For instance, physicist-philosopher Robin Collins has said, "gravity is fine-tuned to one part in a hundred million billion billion billion billion billion." The Evidence of Astronomy Similar to the fine-tuning of physics, Earth's position in the universe and its intricately choreographed geological and chemical processes work together with exquisite efficiency to create a safe place for humans to live. "If the universe had not been m