By: Curtis Evelo | September 20, 2026
The other day I was walking through our apple orchard and at this time of year our apple trees are full and ready for harvest. I stopped and picked a really smooth apple and started to take some bites. As I was enjoying a very tasty fruit that was produced from our 100+ year old apple and plum orchard, a thought hit me about the apple seed. As I took one last bite, more seeds became visible, that thought deepened, and I became more in awe of our Creator.
The Information in the Apple Seed
You see in that apple seed is all the information needed to produce the trees standing by where I walked. When planted right, nurtured with the right amount of water, and powered by the right amount of warmth from the sun, the seed will sprout and start growing into a little sapling. Eventually, the sapling produces more seeds that grow into other trees that produce more apples with seeds continuing the process.
Apple Seeds and DNA
I started reflecting even more about that seed. This very seed has all the genetic information in its DNA to be another apple tree. Yes, of course no one will dispute that. But we should think deeply about this. What is DNA? DNA is a string of information code carrying all the instructions necessary for building and maintaining an organism all stored up in the nucleus of a cell. Yes, a cell. You can’t even see a cell with a naked eye and all of the organism's information is in there!
The Apple Seed, Computers, and Their Programmer
This apple seed when planted is directed by that coded information to become an apple tree not a willow tree or a wildflower. It is coded in such a directional way that you and I can know for certain it will eventually become what we planted and produce fruit that we expect to enjoy with a crisp snap as we bite into it. When you see this type of directional coding, do you ever question where does this coding come from?
We all know this computer I’m writing this article on has coding and information on it. In fact, as I type, I’m putting information in it for you to read. This information has direction, a purpose, it may even stir you to look differently at an apple.
Why would we look at a computer and say, “Oh yes, someone put the coding into it,” but yet look at a seed and say, “That was a product of deep time and chance”? Logically, I would think if we recognize a computer that has coding in it to perform a certain way, then that the very person installing that coding has all the information in themselves to become the person they were designed to be as a computer coder.
The Apple Seed and Biblical Considerations
Back to the seed. Let's give this even more consideration as we think biblically about it. Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes. or fig thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:15, New King James Version).
In this current age, we are seeing a lot of bad fruit being put out in so many ways: books, internet, podcasts, tv programs and so on. Could this be what started as a small seed and grew into a tree but was corrupted at the root? I believe Jesus gives us all a great way to walk confidently through this life by examining the fruit. In my apple orchard if I see bad rotten apples I don’t blame the fruit. I think to myself that there is something wrong with the tree. What Jesus is telling us is to be diligently rooted in Scripture enough to spot the bad trees and help those around us stay focused on the one thing—Him.
This all circles back to us as believers in Christ and spreading the “seed of the gospel.” We aren't responsible for the outcome, but we are to be spreading those seeds into our sphere of influence to the people we encounter. As Paul wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Cor. 3:6). Just like the apple seed the “seed of the gospel” has all the right DNA to grow into a tree for fruit to be seen and harvested. And just like that apple seed only God knows how many more seeds will be produced from that one single seed that was planted. We get to take part in God’s redemptive plan for humanity without us bearing the burden of the results. To GOD be all the glory.
Editor’s Note
Editor’s Note: A good case for God is made in the information argument. The information argument is found within this article. An overarching information argument could be constructed as follows:
- Information is a fundamental feature of reality.
- Information cannot arise from purely physical processes.
- The universe contains vast amounts of irreducible information.
- Therefore, the best explanation for the information in the universe is an intelligent Mind.
- Therefore, this Mind responsible for this information must be prior to and independent of the physical universe.
Adapted to this article, the following syllogism can be deduced:
- Information cannot originate from purely physical processes; physical processes can only transmit or rearrange existing information.
- Apple seeds contain vast amounts of structured, functional DNA information.
- Physical processes involved in producing apple seeds only copy or express this information; they do not generation new semantic content.
- Therefore, the information in apple seeds must originate from a source beyond the physical processes that produce the seed.
I don’t know about you. But Curtis’s article has me craving a nice, crisp apple.
Enjoy! -Dr. Brian Chilton, Editor
About the Author
Curtis Evelo, "The Cowboy Apologist"
Curtis Evelo is a cattle rancher at the E6 Hereford Ranch in St. Ignatius, Montana. He has served in various functions for Bellator Christi. He often teaches and speaks at conferences and churches in and around northwestern Montana. Curtis provides a common-sense approach to Christianity as he contemplates the wonders of God’s creation in Big Sky Country. Curtis's research interests include Jewish studies in the New Testament, Old Testament typologies, and studies on free will.
