About

From age ten I intended to become a biologist. I collected shells, gathered the egg cases of rays on the beach, pinned wasps, and owned a microscope of my own as a child. At secondary school, chemistry proved equally compelling: while classmates were still learning to distinguish insects from arachnids by counting legs in biology class, I undertook an independent study of budgerigar genetics. By the time of my final examinations, I knew precisely what field of study I wanted to pursue — one in which biology and organic chemistry intersected.

Before beginning university studies, I spent several months in Israel, on a kibbutz. The history of the region, and of the Middle East more broadly, affected me considerably, and I arrived at the conviction that a Creator exists. I became a theist.

Wageningen followed. At the Agricultural University I studied environmental science, specializing in microbiology, where I developed a particular interest in an organismal group often given limited attention: bacteria. Bacteria are neither plants nor animals, nor an intermediate form; they constitute a separate class of organisms, of which plants and animals together represent only a minor fraction. Despite their structural simplicity, bacteria are capable of adapting to nearly any environment. This interest has persisted since.

The fourteen years following my studies were devoted to a different subject: understanding the functioning of business organizations. I began at a large company, working at the intersection of business administration and IT rather than as a biologist, and studied business administration concurrently. I have been self-employed since 2008.

Theism, in this context, denotes the position that reality extends beyond the visible world and the observable universe — that a Creator brought time, space, matter, and the laws of nature into existence. My own point of departure is the Supreme Being as described in the Bible.

The premises that are self-evident to a believer are not self-evident to others. What follows is directed, in the first instance, at readers without religious belief, with the aim of setting out the reasoning and evidentiary basis for theism. This inquiry begins from the classical question of why anything exists rather than nothing. It is directed, secondarily, at fellow believers, as a resource for examining what religious texts and tradition ask of practitioners.

The aim of this work is to share information, establish connection, and offer clarity — an invitation to dialogue rather than debate, intended to support each reader’s own further inquiry.

Since 2024, I have participated in the Messianic congregation Bracha, in Apeldoorn. Outside of work, I play bass guitar and photograph nature, and value time spent with friends and family.

Werner Vorstman lives in Epe. His career is on LinkedIn.