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The customs of Easter involving bunnies, colored eggs, candles, and lilies were all adapted from pagan religions, as was the name Easter itself. None of these things have anything to do with the resurrection of Jesus, which Easter purports to represent. Does it matter? Yes. God’s Word commands us to separate ourselves from false religion and to “worship the Father with spirit and truth.”—John 4:23; 2 Corinthians 6:17.

The customs of Easter involving bunnies, colored eggs, candles, and lilies were all adapted from pagan religions, as was the name Easter itself. None of these things have anything to do with the resurrection of Jesus, which Easter purports to represent. Does it matter? Yes. God’s Word commands us to separate ourselves from false religion and to “worship the Father with spirit and truth.”—John 4:23; 2 Corinthians 6:17.

Deuteronomy 18:10-13 states: “There should not be found in you . . . anyone who employs divination, anyone practicing magic, anyone who looks for omens, a sorcerer, anyone binding others with a spell, anyone who consults a spirit medium or a fortune-teller, or anyone who inquires of the dead.” Why not? The scripture further states: “Whoever does these things is detestable to Jehovah . . . You should prove yourself blameless before Jehovah your God.”

Genesis 3:1-6

Romans 5:12

That is why, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin,+ and so death spread to all men because they had all sinned+—.

A SPECIAL PLANET

“The special conditions on earth resulting from its ideal size, element composition, and nearly circular orbit at a perfect distance from a long-lived star, the sun, made possible the accumulation of water on the earth’s surface. It is difficult even to imagine the origin of life without water.”—Integrated Principles of Zoology, Sixth Edition.

Consider: While it appears solid, the calcium-rich shell of a chicken egg can have up to 8,000 microscopic pores. These allow oxygen to enter and carbon dioxide to escape—an important exchange if the embryo is to breathe. Yet, the shell and several membranes prevent bacteria from infecting the embryo. Albumen—a gelatinlike substance with a high water content—gives the egg its ability to absorb shock.

Researchers would like to imitate the structure of the egg to create products with better shock protection and a film coating that could protect fruit from bacteria and parasites. However, “copying nature is not so easy,” writes Marianne Botta Diener in Vivai magazine. Attempts thus far, she notes, have not been environmentally friendly.

What do you think? Did this “miracle of packaging,” the bird’s egg, come about by chance? Or was it designed?

According to the Bible, please give examples and scriptures to support your answer.

Deuteronomy 30:19

I take the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you today that I have put life and death before you, the blessing and the curse;+ and you must choose life so that you may live,+ you and your descendants,

Marvelously, light from the sun, carbon dioxide from the air, and water and minerals from fertile soil combine to produce food for earth’s inhabitants. Did it all come about as a result of some uncontrolled explosion in space? Science News admits:“It seems as if such particular and precise conditions could hardly have arisen at random.” (August 24 and 31, 1974, p. 124)

When we feel a gentle breeze, bask in the warmth of the sun, taste a succulent fruit, or hear the soothing song of birds, we are delighted. Do these gifts not reveal our Creator’s thoughtfulness, tenderness, and generosity?

So many good ideas have come from nature that researchers have established a database that already catalogs thousands of different biological systems. Scientists can search this database to find “natural solutions to their design problems,” says The Economist. The natural systems held in this database are known as biological patents. Normally, a patent holder is a person or a company that legally registers a new idea or machine. Discussing this biological patent database, The Economist says: “By calling biomimetic tricks ‘biological patents’, the researchers are just emphasising that nature is, in effect, the patent holder.”

Jw.org

In recent years, scientists and engineers have, in a very real sense, allowed plants and animals to instruct them. (Job 12:7, 8) They are studying and mimicking the design features of various creatures—a field known as biomimetics—in an effort to create new products and improve the performance of existing ones.

Learning From the Whale’s Flippers

As the whale slices through the water, these tubercles increase lift and reduce drag. How? The journal Natural History explains that the tubercles make the water accelerate over the flipper in an organized, rotating flow, even when the whale is rising at very steep angles.

What practical applications does this discovery promise? Aircraft wings based on the design would evidently need fewer wing flaps or other mechanical devices to alter airflow. Such wings would be safer and easier to maintain. Biomechanics expert John Long believes that someday soon “we may well see every single jetliner with the bumps of humpback whale flippers.”

Abraham was the focus of some of the earliest prophecies recorded in the Bible—prophecies that even involve us today. (See the box “A Blessing for ‘All Nations.’”) According to the Bible book of Genesis, these predictions include the following: (1) Abraham’s offspring would become a mighty nation. (2) In the process of becoming such, they would be enslaved in a foreign land. (3) They would be delivered and would take possession of the land of Canaan.

Micah 5:2

2 And you, O Bethʹle·hem Ephʹra·thah,+

The one too little to be among the thousands* of Judah,

From you will come out for me the one to be ruler in Israel,+

Whose origin is from ancient times, from the days of long ago.

Deep inside the center of the earth is a core that is made mostly of hot melted iron. The outer core creates a powerful magnetic field that is all around us and reaches far into space. This field protects us from the sun and its harmful explosions. These explosions send dangerous radiation toward the earth. But because the earth is protected, the sun’s radiation does not burn up life here on earth. Instead, the magnetic field absorbs this harmful radiation or sends it back into space. We can see evidence of this invisible magnetic field in the colorful lights of the night sky near the North and South poles. Jehovah is truly “vigorous in power.”—Read Isaiah 40:26.

The atmosphere not only provides us with air to breathe but also protects us. How? Big pieces of rock that move quickly through space could cause great damage if they hit the earth. But this usually does not happen because they burn up when they enter earth’s atmosphere. As they burn up, they create beautiful shooting stars that move at great speed across the night sky.

These traits are not needed for survival. The only explanation that makes sense to me is that we were put here by someone who wanted us to enjoy life.

Suppose you had a box containing balls of different colors. You shake the box, thoroughly mixing the balls. Then you throw them out onto the ground all at once. Would you expect the balls to land grouped according to color—the blue balls together, the yellow likewise, and so on? Of course not! Uncontrolled actions always tend to result in less order, not more. That fact is accepted as a fundamental law of nature.

YOU have probably heard of the Italian painter and sculptor Michelangelo. Though you may never have seen the original of any of his masterpieces, you most likely agree with the art historian who called the Italian genius a “marvellous and incomparable artist.” Michelangelo’s talents cannot be denied. Who would try to separate appreciation for Michelangelo’s art from acknowledgment of him as an outstanding artist?

Now think of the mind-boggling complexity and diversity of life that thrives around us on earth. Appropriately, The New York Times quoted one professor of biological sciences as stating: “The physical marks of design are visible in aspects of biology.” He added: “Life overwhelms us with the appearance of design.” Is it intellectually honest to admire the design without acknowledging the designer?

Thoughtless speech is like the stabs of a sword.—Prov. 12:18

Consider: The brain enables us to breathe, laugh, cry, solve puzzles, build computers, ride a bicycle, write poetry, and look up at the night sky with a sense of reverential awe. Is it reasonable—indeed, consistent—to attribute these abilities and capacities to blind evolutionary forces?