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complexity"), like the base letter sequence in human DNA — except that the DNA contains more information than a thousand volumes of literary works! 10
    Occasionally, naïve evolutionists argue that crystal formation demonstrates that order can appear spontaneously, without "supernatural" help.
Crystal order, yes; specified complexity, no.
A crystal is a beautiful but simple repeat pattern produced by the shape and charge of its constituents. At 32°F (O°C), for example, the areas of partial plus and minus charges on water molecules attract them with a force greater than the thermal motion that keeps them apart at higher temperatures. The exquisite shape of the ice crystal is an automatic consequence of the shape and charge distribution ("design features") of the water molecules. (Incidentally, ice crystal formation is driven by decreasing electrostatic potential, an illustration — not a contradiction — of the famed second law of thermodynamics.)
    The "specified complexity" in a DNA sequence is nothing like the "ordered simplicity" or repeat pattern in the ice crystal. Breaking a big ice crystal produces little ice crystals, each with structures and properties like the original. Breaking a DNA chain produces fragments that are dissimilar in structure and lose their function entirely. A child at home can make ice crystals; it takes a team of chemists using expensive equipment to produce a specific DNA sequence from scratch.
    The
specified complexity
in a DNA gene sequence has very
high information content
. Scientists know two things about information. First, information is independent of the material that carries it. The phrase "In God We Trust" can be written in pen or pencil, typed onto paper or a computer screen, embroidered in lace, etched in stone, impressed on American coins, etc. The message is the same in any case, and it is obviously not produced by the material that conveys it. In other words, informational messages — including genetic messages — have the "exherent" kind of design, reflecting plan, purpose, and special acts of creation. Thus, the
meaning of a message lies with its Creator, not its carrier
.
    Second, information comes only from pre-existing information. Much more information on information can be found in the landmark 11 book by internationally respected information theorist Werner Gitt,
In the Beginning Was Information
. Biblically, that concept is expressed as "In the beginning, God . . ." (Gen. 1:1) and as "In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1). The word "Word," identified as Jesus Christ in John 1:14, is the Greek word "
Logos
." Logos is a grand word in Greek, connoting divine plan, reason for being, etc., and means "study of" as the suffix "ology" attached to the various academic disciplines. Wow! Our DNA ties us back to the ultimate source of meaning and purpose for the whole universe!
    Creation thus stands between the classic extremes of mechanism and vitalism. Mechanists, including evolutionists, believe that both the
operation
and
origin
of living things are the result of the laws of chemistry which reflect the inherent properties of matter. Vitalists believe that both the operation and origin of living systems depend on mysterious forces that lie beyond scientific description. According to creation, living things, including their DNA codes,
operate
in understandable ways that can be described in terms of scientific laws, but such observations include properties of organization that logically imply a created origin of life.
    In this sense, the Bible proved to be, as it often has, far ahead of its time. Into the 1800s, most scientists and philosophers believed living things were made of something fundamentally different from non-living. Genesis 1–2 tells us living things, human beings included, were just made of "dust of the ground." Indeed, scientists now recognize that living cells are composed of only a few simple elements. It's not the stuff ("dust") we're made of that