Dr. Kheir grew up in a Christian home and loved Jesus, but he always desired to know more. He had a fear that his faith would become childish when he went into the world and met more intelligent people and learned more about science.Quite the opposite, however, occurred; he met many intelligent believers at college. He joined a group in college called Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and met with other members of the group in a chapel at 7 a.m. to pray and fellowship. He did this every week day for his first two years in college, and it was when he grew the most in his faith journey. It helped him to have a solid foundation in God, and an intelligent faith based community.
Dr. Kheir loved ambulance and paramedic work. That’s when he fell in love with medicine. A moving experience with a baby girl who died taught him that medicine is not perfect, but it led him to discover his calling to try his best to make medicine better. A few of his words of wisdom to aspiring students were: “It is critical, critical, critical to be able to communicate your ideas in order to be successful in the world.” He also shared that: “The key to being a scientist is being willing to change your mind.”
Dr. Kheir loved chemistry and loved how it showed him the elegance of this world. He shared an experience where he was stuck for ten years trying to get a solution right, and that made him realize that the fact that the world works is a miracle. So many factors have to be perfect.
He proceeded to give six amazing things that prove God’s existence and why he believes in Him. Amazing thing number one is the universe. The universe is beautiful, and the size of it is beyond our comprehension. He described Jupiter as “magnificent,” and commented that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on Earth. He stated: “I think that’s flabbergasting.” He also pointed out that only one planet in the universe has us humans on it, and we are those humans! He reminded us that on the Apollo 8 mission when humans saw the Earth with their own eyes in space, they read Genesis 1. It was the only thing that could fit the moment, because the greatness of God’s creation could only be described to us adequately in God’s own book.
Amazing thing number two is the Precision of the Beginning. He showed this through many complicated giant numbers, all in an attempt to explain that many factors had to be perfect or else life on Earth would be impossible. This suggests that the universe had to be designed, it could not be merely by chance.
Amazing thing number three is the fact that matter exists. The law of Conservation of Mass says that matter cannot be created or destroyed. Well if that’s true, then how did all the matter get here? It must have been created by a supernatural God.
Amazing thing number four is the Cell. To show this example, Dr. Kheir showed an insane map of all the reactions that happen in the cell. All of those reactions occur inside a cell which is so small that we can’t even see it without powerful microscopes. He said: “To me it [the cell] is the greatest testimony to God.”
Amazing thing number five is your Brain, no, your MIND. Your mind can do things that AI will never be able to do, such as think, imagine, create and nurture curiosity. No human could create a true mind that has imaginative liberty. Only God could create the mind.
Finally, amazing thing number six is Life itself. Nothing and no one could ever create life. Only God can do that. The fact that we are alive is a gift from God. Scientifically there are basically one in a billion chances to be alive.
He concluded his presentation with the reason God created us, which shows us that He loves us. God has also created us to gain knowledge and be curious about both him, and the world around us. Therefore, Dr. John Kheir instructed us all to seek truth in our lives, to not be afraid to seek truth, and look to God with open eyes and an open mind. Dr. John Kheir inspired everyone, by showing the intricacy of faith and science and how they are intertwined and lead to each other. He bestowed this awe upon us through his list of six amazing things ranging from the expanse of the universe itself down to the smallest building blocks of human life, the cell.
By Elisabeth Halberstadt ‘27, Faith Editor; and Tvesha Patel ‘27, Science Editor
