Recently, a self-described “humanist, skeptic” attempted to disprove the common claim that an atheistic universe cannot explain the design we see in the universe, especially the complexities of life. Posting on X, the skeptic shared a video of a jumbled container of nails being shaken until all were perfectly lined up, insinuating that disorder can evolve to order.

Rather than a cunning critique of a theory of creation, the user seemed unaware of obvious holes in his theory. For example, who made the nails? Where did the container come from? Who put the nails in the container? And, who did the shaking?

The entire demonstration, in fact, required an intelligent designer that imagined the experiment, provided the materials in a particular order, and then acted toward a particular goal. Also, as our former colleague Shane Morris observed, nails in a box fail to approach the complexity of DNA, and the skeptic’s experiment only worked because of the underlying order in the universe, an order that his worldview cannot explain.

Back in the mid-twentieth century, students were taught a more complicated version of the nail experiment. In the Miller-Urey experiment, scientists claimed to have made amino acids in a lab, a small step from creating life from non-life. As it turns out, the experiment had too many faulty variables to be proven valid. Even so, had the amino acids been “created” with proper controls, Drs. Stephen Meyer and James Tour point out that complex chemicals are a long way from life.p

The real tragedy of these claims about amino acids and ordered nails is that people believe them. Many still believe that “science” has proven God does not exist or is at least unnecessary. Shallow, misleading claims from skeptics are old, common, and persistent. But they are also convincing to people unaware of the other side of the argument. Like the nail guy in X, atheists and exvangelicals often make arguments that were dismantled ages ago, or that never made sense to begin with.

The faith of too many Christians, especially young people, is shipwrecked by these flimsy arguments. And yet, we live in a “golden age” of Christian answers. From apologetics to social issues to biblical skepticism to critical thinking, we have access to more quality biblical thinking about more things than maybe any other generation in history.

Part of the job of parents, grandparents, pastors, and teachers is to prepare students for the questions and criticisms they will face. In this time and place, it is part of what Proverbs 22:6 means by “train a child up in the way he should go.” The resources available for the patient discipling of the next generation by families and churches are many: podcasts like Alisa Childers and Sean McDowell; books such as A Practical Guide to Culture; studies such as Truth Rising or Person of Interest by J. Warner Wallace; and events like The Reality Apologetics Conference from Stand to Reason.

The gold standard of such training for students, according to Chuck Colson, is the Summit Ministries student conferences. These two-week events take place in the summer in Colorado and South Carolina. As the Summit website states:

. . . the Christian worldview speaks clearly to the hardest questions our culture asks. In a world filled with confusion, doubt, and shifting beliefs, we stand firm—providing space for honest questions, thoughtful exploration, and meaningful dialogue.

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