[Blurb on page 18]

Famed scientist Isaac Newton, after studying the design of the human thumb, wrote, “In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.”

Evidence of a Designer Who Cares

His existence and care can be seen in the way our bodies are designed. For instance, take a good look at your hands. Do you see how easily they can hold this magazine and turn its pages? Each day you use your hands to perform over 1,000 functions! Your hand can be a twister, bender, pusher, puller or a firm grabber. A grown man can exert a pressure of 150 pounds (68 kg) with his right hand. But something else makes our hands unique.

Did you know that only human hands​—your hands—​are able to do precision work such as thread a needle or write with a pencil? Yes, only the human hand is designed with an opposing thumb that can touch the tip of the finger next to it. This ability enables you to use skillfully an artist’s brush, a wood-carver’s knife or a mathematician’s calculator. Isn’t such adeptness evidence of a Designer who wants us to be able to develop the ideas of our creative minds? How discouraging it would be if our minds could conceive beautiful artwork, but our hands couldn’t use a delicate artist’s brush! Have you ever tried to use an artist’s brush or a pencil by holding it without your thumb?

Because of its versatility and amazing capacity, the human hand has been described as the “instrument of instruments.” Does it seem reasonable to you that such a superbly designed instrument came about by blind chance or accident? Recently, highly skilled engineers developed an electrical artificial hand, which operates from the tiny impulses of the muscles in the arm stump. It imitates some of the movements of a normal hand. This was no small task! Much money, time and sophisticated technology were needed to create this as well as other substitute body parts. A number of body parts have been imitated by a relatively new science called bionics, making use of highly developed computer science. Yet one biomedical reporter stated in Science Digest: “In size, efficiency, sophistication and variety of functions there is no comparison between the best artificial device and the natural organ.”

“No comparison”! Just think, if the best of humankind’s modern technology is unable to produce a synthetic body part that can match the capability of the organ we are born with, doesn’t it seem obvious to you that the original must have been the product of a Designer with more than human wisdom?