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W.R. STOEGER S.J.
70
1 (2008) 64-77
events, each relying essentially on those before it. The organs which make up our bodies
are composed of cells, which in turn are constituted by billions of large complex molecules.
As we have seen earlier, the atoms which make up those molecules were manufactured
in generations of stars before the birth of the Sun from the hydrogen and helium,
which in turn originated in the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang 13.7 billion years
ago. A hierarchy of extremely fine-tuned regularities, processes, relationships and fundamental
features of material reality has orchestrated these innumerable interlocking
events from the very beginning. Within this overall framework of order, chance and
uncertainty have also played essential roles. God works through these freedoms as well,
at both the quantum and the classical levels. Without such cosmic and biological evolution,
our Sun, our Earth and we are ourselves would not exist. Nor anything even vaguely
resembling them. The universe would be dominated by chaos – and by sterility.
Indeed, it is likely that there are many other universes associated ours, most of which are
devoid of complexity and life – just as there are trillions of trillions of stellar systems,
most of which are also probably devoid of life.
As generations of researchers have probed the intricacies of material reality, important
general patterns have become very clear. First of all, as we have already seen on the
physical and cosmological level and is also obvious on the biological, psychological and
sociological levels as well, there is an overall evolution towards more complex and diversified
structures and systems. Elementary complexification and diversification set the
stage for higher and more advanced levels. We saw earlier, for example, how elements
heavier and more complex than hydrogen and helium were necessary before nature
could evolve complex molecules. And stars are essential for synthesizing those heavier
elements. At a later stage of evolution, certain complex molecules and relatively cool,
stable and molecularly rich environments were necessary before nature could synthesize
nucleic acids and amino acids, which in turn are essential for replicating molecules
like DNA and RNA, and proteins – and thus for all living things. Obviously, too, complex
multi-cellular organisms with neural systems and brains were necessary before the
emergence of conscious, thinking beings was possible.
This evolutionary process in pre-biotic chemical and in biological systems would
have been impossible without the continual operation of the processes of natural selection
and replication – replication of naturally selected structures and organisms. This is
exemplified in very impressive ways in the evolution of the cell and of its hundreds of
thousands of genetically managed functions. The intricate biochemical controls which
are so essential for living things are the result of billions of years of development. During
that incredibly long time increasingly sophisticated and refined physical and especially
chemical processes fashioned innumerable successions of closely related but very
diverse entities and organisms under the guidance of both definite regularities and relationships
and chance events (mutations) – selecting some intermediate combinations,
discarding many others and preferentially replicating those which were better adapted
to the given environments and contexts. Gradually even greater diversification and complexification
occurred, along with more specialized and more flexible behavior.
At each level of organization and evolution, structures and processes relate to other
structures and processes to provide the basis for entirely new entities with completely