The Limits of Assembly: Why the Creator Still Matters

The introduction of Assembly Theory has prompted many to assert that we no longer need a divine Creator to explain the origin of life. This position, however, not only overstates what Assembly Theory (AT) achieves but misunderstands the nature of the argument for God. While AT provides a promising framework for understanding how selection may work in chemical and biological systems, it presupposes a kind of constraint and memory that it cannot itself account for without appealing—implicitly or otherwise—to a designer or transcendent source of order.

Understanding the Dissenter’s Claim

The dissenting position is that we do not need a Creator because AT demonstrates how small, favorable changes over time are selected, increasing the likelihood of complex objects like the ribosome. Through recursive steps, AT models how objects build upon previous assemblies, and thus how molecular complexity can grow over time without divine intervention. As one proponent puts it: “Each 'change' is constrained by what came before it... evolution doesn't need to design a ribosome all at once.” The copy-paste mechanism of biological evolution is used as evidence of randomness constrained by prior structure—not divine intention.

Why This Still Doesn’t Eliminate God

This sounds appealing until one pauses to ask: what constrains the assembly process in the first place? The AT paper itself acknowledges:

"More objects exist in assembly space than can be built in finite time with finite resources because the space of possibilities grows super-exponentially with the assembly index."

— Sharma et al. (2023)

Without constraint, the space of possible assemblies becomes unsearchable. The paper states that for complex objects to emerge, they must be guided by objects in the environment that act as constraints—like enzymes—but those enzymes must themselves already exist. This is not a problem solved by AT; it is merely restated in new mathematical language. What selects the selectors? What creates the constraints that allow non-random assembly paths to emerge?

The paper asserts:

“There must be objects in its environment that can constrain the steps to assemble the object.”

— Sharma et al. (2023)

But if one is explaining the origin of those very constraints—say, ribozymes capable of catalyzing replication—then AT runs into the same problem it seeks to overcome: that the likelihood of generating such a molecule randomly, even over vast periods of time, is super-exponentially small. For example, if it took only five recursive steps to build the ribosome, the number of competing molecular forms that could emerge instead is on the order of 10⁶⁴. The chances of hitting the one path that leads to a self-replicating molecule become vanishingly small.

Faith in Time vs. Faith in God

Some argue that given enough time, complexity is inevitable. But we must be honest—this is a form of faith. As Christians, we acknowledge mystery, but our mystery is grounded in a Person: a Creator who reveals Himself not only through Scripture but through the intelligibility and order of the universe.

To rely on chemical reactions alone to explain life's origin—without a mechanism for preserving, copying, or shielding the assembly—is not science without God, it’s speculation without substance. The belief that we will eventually understand how to build a ribosome through abiotic conditions is not unlike believing a tornado could assemble a Boeing 747 from a scrapyard—except the ribosome is orders of magnitude more complex.

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

— 1 Corinthians 1:20-21 (NIV)

But What About Selection?

Even if one grants that recursive selection processes can guide assembly, the question remains: who or what selects? AT suggests that certain objects in the environment “persist” to guide new assembly steps. But persistence itself implies survivability, replication, and shielding from degradation—all things that are impossible without a cell. In fact, the very conditions that may generate prebiotic molecules (like UV light or hydrothermal vents) are also the conditions most likely to degrade them. The Creator is not needed merely to jumpstart biology but to establish a universe where such pathways are even possible, let alone stable.

The Real Tension Is Not Between Science and Faith

The mistake is thinking that pointing to order in biology or physics disproves the need for God. On the contrary, it proves our deep desire to make sense of the ordered patterns we see. That desire itself is a reflection of the image of God in us. The scientific project does not undermine faith; it depends on it. The very concept of Assembly Theory is predicated on intelligibility, constraint, recursion, and selection—all signs of design, not chaos. The Apostle Paul writes:

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.”

— Romans 1:20 (NIV)

Completeness, Not Blind Complexity

Assembly Theory brings new mathematical clarity to the problem of molecular complexity, but it does not solve the foundational problem of origin. We must go further. We must ask why there is order at all. Why there is any constraint. Why the universe allows recursive processes to create beauty, structure, and life. That is where Christianity speaks with power—not to the mechanisms of molecules, but to the meaning behind them.

Ultimately, our understanding—whether through AT or any future theory—will always be partial. As the Apostle Paul so beautifully reminds us:

“...where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.”

— 1 Corinthians 13:8–10 (NIV)

The completeness is not found in the atom, the molecule, or the recursive step. It is found in Christ. Science may teach us how life works, but only God reveals why life is worth living. That, above all else, is why the Creator still matters.