IS THERE AN INTELLIGENT DESIGNER?
& Is that Designer the God of Israel?
By David

Israeli Chemist Discovers God Exists

Doron Aurbach is a professor of chemistry at Bar Ilan University in Israel.¹ He is a leading Israeli scientist and a recognized innovator in the field of electrochemistry and new battery technologies. Aurbach grew up in an atheist Israeli home with Holocaust-survivor parents. He received a normal, secular, pro-evolution education. The Bible was seen as a wonderful cultural and literary achievement of the Jewish people, but with no actual, binding influence on modern life.

After serving in an infantry reconnaissance unit and becoming an officer, Aurbach recounts, “I studied in an Israeli university, advancing to obtain a doctorate in chemistry. While learning biochemistry for my doctorate, it became unequivocally clear to me that the universe and especially life, could not have come about by chance evolution as I had been taught. I came to the conclusion that the world view upon which I had been raised was mistaken… During this time…I began reading the Hebrew Bible deeply for the first time, and perceived that the history of the Jewish people is pointing to something, leading and converging onto something. My heart began thumping, as I realized the Bible is much more than just a cultural and literary document.”

Today Aurbach is a practicing Orthodox Jew. He expresses an interesting appreciation for, and measure of identification with, great Christian scientists: “Many of the great pioneering scientists of the past were convinced of the existence of the creator. Many of them, such as Isaac Newton, were ‘Gentile believers – goy ma’amin’ [in the God of Israel]. And we see that many great leaps forward in science were sudden insights ‘with heaven’s help’ (si’at dashamaya), which were then proved out by careful research and measurement.”

He gives an analysis of why many are happy to believe there is no God: “As life becomes easier and the desire to be free of moral obligations becomes greater, ‘progress’ for humanity has brought many to the selfishly motivated conclusion that if they can convince themselves there is no creator, then they will be free to do what they want. On the other hand, the existence of a supreme being brings limitations and obligations on our life…Even if someone has no family upbringing which would point him in this [non-evolutionary] direction, and as long as other factors are not “bribing” him in a different direction, a person should be able to look at nature and come to the conclusion that there is a Creator [same message as Romans 1:19-20]. But in the hurried pace of life people don’t have time to stop, nor the motivation to think, and it doesn’t seem to bother them.”

Professor Aurbach does not mince words in his treatment of materialistic evolution: “As a scientist, I am revolted by the fact that they have been able to stupefy humanity and fill encyclopedias with claims that have no basis of scientific proof.”

“A green leaf takes basic elements and, working against the natural tendencies of chemical reactions, succeeds in precisely engineering these elements into complex sugars and other biological molecules. [Ironically,] Nobel prizes have been given to many scientists – and rightly so – for having the intelligence and insight to be able to imitate even the simpler biochemical processes that plants make. These scientists take kilograms of raw reactants through dozens of steps, leaving laboratories full of sooty test tubes and piles of waste byproducts to get tiny traces of the desired end product weighing milligrams -quantities barely large enough to be detected. On the other hand green leaves do it much more elegantly and precisely – among other means with the help of highly efficient enzyme catalysts.”

“Whoever designed the eye has utter mastery of the laws of physics [optics] and chemistry – including the adjustable lens and projection screen with light sensitive film – to perceive images changing in fragments of a second while performing hundreds and thousands of biochemical processes in the same amount of time.”

“As science progresses, soon more and more scientists are going to begin understanding that science is not a tool to help deny the existence of a creator,but rather a tool to help generate wonder and excitement about the creator.”

New Discoveries Lead To Doubts About Darwinism

From the 16th through the 18th centuries, legendary scientists of the scientific revolution, such as Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton saw clear evidence in nature for the Creator described in the Bible. Then, from the late 19th century onward, Darwinist evolution has reigned as “official” dogma in science and biology, with its conclusion that atheism/materialism can explain all things including the origin of all creatures and of man, and its claim that therefore there is no Creator.

Now at the dawn of the 21st century, painstaking scientific research has succeeded in uncovering many of the details of how life actually works at the molecular level – the chemistry of life (“bio-chemistry”). The miniature world scientists are uncovering is too small to see with even the strongest visible-light microscope. It is a fantastically elegant and complex cellular nano-universe, made up of DNA, proteins, cellular machinery, and the like. Its systems easily rival and often surpass the greatest engineering achievements of mankind. “…the cell represents a level of complexity that is orders of magnitude greater than the most sophisticated computer system…”²

In light of these discoveries, scientists around the world (and in Israel) have begun to lose confidence in the absolute truth of the evolutionary paradigm. They have concluded that these things are too fantastic to have happened by chance flukes of nature. There must have been a designer! The conclusion that there is a designer, while so simple and to many of us obvious, is beginning to make waves in the scientific community and in the public arena.

In addition to Professor Aurbach, there are at least six other Israeli PhD scientists who openly express skepticism about evolution. Two of them recently presented lectures I attended at the Israel College of the Bible. Some of these scientists are Orthodox. Some of them are believers in Yeshua. They are part of a growing group of international scientists who feel the same way and are beginning to make their voices heard, even in the face of prejudice, ridicule and persecution. These brave individuals can be broadly termed proponents of “intelligent design”. This movement – “intelligent design” – is remarkable in that it only seeks to provide an answer to one question:

“Does an Intelligent Designer exist?”

Yet this question is only the beginning. It should lead us to seek answers to the following life changing questions:

“Who is the Intelligent Designer?”
“How can I live my life as it was designed to be lived?”
“What are my obligations to the Designer?”

¹Taken from Wikipedia’s Hebrew article on Doron Aurbach and a dynamic translation of a 55 minute Hebrew talk given by Professor Aurbach and published on YouTube; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDVtlUN2aAQ

²A comparative approach for the investigation of biological information processing: An examination of the structure and function of computer hard drives and DNA” – David J D’Onofrio and Gary An, Theoretical Biology and Medical Modeling Journal, 2010, 7:3

From Generation to Generation

“One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts” (Psalm 145:4).

Within the last few months Tents of Mercy congregation has bid farewell to three of our esteemed matriarchs: Stella, Miriam and Diana. All of them were born and raised in the Soviet Union during the time of the Second World War when their nation was caught up in a life or death struggle with the Nazi war machine. In addition to the general threat of Nazi victory, Jews and Christians were also faced with the risk of being singled out by the Soviet government of Stalin for special persecution.

At the age when most grandmothers are retiring and relaxing these women chose to leave their homes in the former Soviet Union and make aliyah (immigrate) to Israel together with their families. Over the years, Stella, Miriam and Diana became an integral part of our congregation. Their children and grandchildren are among the “pillars” of Tents of Mercy, thanks in no small part to the character and values that these ladies carried and instilled in their families.

The lives and personalities of each of these women were very different from the other. Each was a unique soul – precious to God and her family. We will sorely miss them, but rejoice in the knowledge that they are now in the presence Lord they loved and served so faithfully here on earth.

Stella was the only child of a Jewish couple that lived in a Jewish community in Ukraine. In her late teens she traveled to another city to study at university. This decision miraculously saved her life because during her time away, the Nazis invaded her town and killed all of the Jews who lived there. This left Stella tragically alone and without family. Over the years she married and had a son, but she remained essentially a lonely and isolated person.In 1992 her son and daughter-in-law shared their new found faith in Yeshua and after some time, she too became a believer and in 1997 came to Israel together with her children and grandchildren. Here she at last found a home and a community of faith and had the joy of seeing her family become established in their ancient homeland.

Miriam had the unique blessing of being born and raised by believing parents (unusual in the FSU). She married Natan in 1953 and together they raised nine daughters! Early in their married life, she had to forego her husband’s company for many months while he was imprisoned in a Communist jail for believing in Yeshua. In spite of persecution, the Rabin family persevered in their faith. Eventually the opportunity arose for them to come to Israel. Here they grew and prospered, with Miriam providing loving spiritual guidance to them all.At Miriam’s memorial service, Miriam’s husband, daughters and grandchildren described her as an “example of gentleness and pure love from God. She brought people together. She knew how to listen. She did not speak ill of others. She spoke the truth in love and taught her daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren to follow the Lord.

Diana was from St. Petersburg , the eldest of three children born to a poor Jewish family. Like many others, they survived the Nazi invasion by waiting out the war in Siberia. Diana grew up to be a wife, mother of two and a teacher of literature. She loved to read and to impart her passion for books and literature to the young people that passed through her classroom during 39 years of teaching.In 2000, Diana and her husband joined their children in Israel and that very same week attended Shabbat services at Tents of Mercy with their daughter. They became faithful members of the congregation and were immersed in the Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee). After a lifetime of atheism, Diana discovered a love for God and the Land that He promised to His people.

 A Page from our Congregational Calendar

February 7th: Ygal and Lilya’s WeddingFifteen years ago, a 13 year old Ygal stood and read from the Torah scroll before the members of the newly founded congregation of Tents of Mercy and declared His faith in the God of Israel on the occasion of his Bar-mitzvah. Today Ygal is a member of the young adults leadership team, works as our “media man” and runs a small computer business. That evening in February our congregation rejoiced as Ygal and his bride, Lilya, celebrated the official beginning of their new life together. It has been a privilege to watch these two young people grow in faith and maturity in our midst.

Ygal breaking the glass

Some members of the cast posing for the camera

February 24th: Celebrating Purim with a PlayIn the time honored tradition of Papa Moshe (Morrison), Tents of Mercy once again celebrated the holiday of Purim with a Purim play based on a well known movie/story. This year our talented teens and young adults presented us with an entertaining rendition of Alice in Wonderland…with a twist.

Andrey: youth leader, director and temporary Mad Hatter

Bags of food packed and ready for distribution

March 14th: Preparing Passover Food Baskets“Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8b). We have been given so much that we are motivated to pass on our blessings, both spiritual and material. It is a joy to do so by contributing to our local community in the form of food baskets during the holidays of Rosh HaShanah and Passover. Putting together 700 bags of food is no small task and this time around we were blessed to receive the packing assistance of volunteers from our sister ministry “Gateways Beyond” in Cyprus as well as members of our congregation who came to help.

The assembly line staffed by our visiting volunteers

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