The recent announcement that scientists have deciphered the human genome is not a threat to a Christian worldview, but another vindication of its coherence. The human genome – the molecular-biological blueprint of the human body – is written in the language of four letters, A, C, T, and G, which represent the amino acids that produce the proteins that ultimately make up our biology. It turns out that the arrangement of these letters in the genome account for things like eye colour, hair colour, and a host of physical traits. Even the ignominious and ubiquitous condition of male pattern baldness has a genetic link. Furthermore, misspellings in the genome account for as many as 4,000 genetically-linked illnesses. Much to the amazement of the translators of our genetic code, instead of the human genome consisting of 100,000 genes that code for our biological traits, the human blueprint is only around 30,000-50,000 genes in number.

Scientists thought that since the fruit fly possesses between 13,000 and 14,000 genes, in order to account for the incredible differences between a fruit fly and a human, our genome would have to be tens of times larger. Not so. If the measurements are accurate, the human genome is just over twice the size of the fruit fly’s. In other words, the language of the genome is much subtler than we thought previously. More nuanced information is contained in fewer sentences, as it were. This ought not surprise us.

The fact that our biology is written in a decipherable language testifies even more brilliantly to a God who speaks. That God created all living things from a relevantly similar blueprint is likewise not surprising. It should not trouble us, then, that the human genome is similar to that of other species.

The latest research indicates that chimpanzees share 98.8 percent of our genes, mice share 85-90 percent of our genes and bananas 50 percent of our genes. For people whose worldview includes the affirmation that we were made from the dust of the earth, this hardly comes as unsettling information. To go on to conclude, as evolutionists such as Stephen Jay Gould do, that the similarities between genomes point to Darwinian evolution as the explanation for human existence requires an act of faith that is simply breathtaking. Subtle differences in the language of our genomes results in profound differences between us and other species — and vive le difference! The point is, interpreting the information in our cells requires a set of worldview lenses through which to view the information.

A Darwinian sees through Darwinian lenses. The more we understand about our DNA, the more difficult it becomes for naturalistic Darwinism to explain what it sees. So Darwinians often talk about “blind watchmakers” and other oxymorons. Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of the double helical nature of the DNA molecule has even declared, “Biologists must constantly keep in mind that what they see is not designed, but rather evolved” (Crick, What Mad Pursuit, 1988, p.138). It is as if reminding themselves of their own dogma will convince them that the evidence for a Designer is a mirage in the desert of scientific explanation. We know, of course, that a Designer leaves fingerprints everywhere and that the God who speaks has, in infinite wisdom, uttered a language which brought all of us into existence.