The Body Continues to Take Shape
In the first days the embryo takes the nourishment
it needs only from the mother's blood. Now, in order
to nourish its own body and send oxygen to its cells,
the embryo needs its own circulatory system. So, in
order to bring this system into being, a number of cells
make an instant decision to cooperate, and begin to
form the circulatory system. This cell activity is a
clear proof that they are directed by an eternal intelligence
and knowledge.
On about day 13, a group of cells moves into position
where the chest will be to form the heart. Arranging
themselves into a U-shaped tube, with a great level
of awareness they first establish the basic structure
of the heart. Then, as if they had heard that the formation
of the heart had begun, thousands of other cells begin
to construct the blood vessels that will extend all
around the body. So, with their conscious deployment
to the appropriate places, the formation of the blood
vessels is completed around day 21. Now, the circulatory
system is ready to function, and after its first beat
about day 25, the heart will maintain a rhythm of 60
beats a minute during its first month of development.35
The first contractions move
throughout the whole length of the heart like a wave,
but when the formation of the heart is finished, the
contraction is distributed among the different chambers.
The heart begins to beat, but there is no blood yet.
For this also there are the appropriate cells. These
cells, in fact, calculate in advance that the newly
formed human body will need a substance called "blood",
and they turn into blood cells. Before long, blood starts
to flow in the blood vessels. At the end of four weeks,
blood begins to fill the heart and the blood vessels
completely. Indeed, the formation of the heart, the
circulatory system and the blood is in itself an astonishing
thing. While none of these yet existed, the cells, executing
a perfect plan and going to the right place at the right
time, construct the circulation system indispensable
for human life. None of the stages we have outlined
here is the result of any chance operation; this perfect
plan of construction cannot possibly be made by cells
which came into being from one single cell. At this
point too, what confronts us is the evident truth of
creation.
Not only the formation of the circulatory system but
also the characteristics possessed by every element
of it are created in an astonishing balance. The blood
of a baby developing in its mother's womb has many more
special qualities than that of a mature individual.
For example, the haemoglobin in the baby's blood is
able to hold more oxygen than that of an adult. The
number of red blood cells in one cubic centimetre of
the blood taken from an embryo is higher than that found
in the same volume of blood from a newly born baby.
At fourth months, the cord can carry a circulation equivalent
to 24 litres a day between the baby and its own placenta.
This circulation flows in constant round trips, bringing
supplies to the baby from the placenta, and returning
wastes to the placenta, so swiftly that a round trip
is completed in about thirty seconds.36
In this way, the blood begins
to take the required oxygen and nutrients from the placenta
and carry them to the cells. At the moment the kidneys
are formed, the blood begins to be purified by taking
waste gathered from baby's cells to the kidneys.
Let us pause here to consider: Is it possible that
such a perfect system could one day come into being
by chance, perfectly and by itself? Is it possible that
the special quality of a baby's blood, the blood vessels
that carry the blood to the heart and from the heart
to the appropriate areas, and the elements that bind
the blood cells to the placenta came about in the course
of time by chance? Is it possible that all these elements
in the system constructed themselves?
It is surely not. This system, of the utmost importance
for human beings, must come into being perfectly and
in one moment, because any problem with the formation
of the blood or the blood vessels will cause the development
of the embryo to cease. If the heart pumped the blood
before the formation of the blood vessels, the blood
would flow uncontrolled and there would be no circulation.
Or, if the heart did not begin to beat at the right
time, blood would not circulate through the body. This
means that the embryo would die without developing in
the mother's womb. However, in every one of the millions
of people who have lived throughout the ages until today,
there has been no problem with these operations; the
heart makes its first beat at exactly the right time
and pumps just enough blood to the developing body.
This makes the question we posed earlier nonsensical:
"Could it have happened by chance?" The fact that a
system, a living being or an organism comes into being
in a moment is clear proof that it has been created.
This is a plain truth that every intelligent person
will affirm.
The Creator of all these perfect systems is God, Who
created man together with everything he needs and gave
him the best of forms.
35. Eldra Pearl
Solomon, Linda R. Berg, Diana W. Martin, Claude V. Willee,
Biology, 3rd ed., Saunders College Publishing, p. 1069.
36. Geraldine Lux Flanagan, Beginning
Life, Dorling Kindersley, London, 1996, p. 73
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The
Miracle Of Human Creation
