Play

Evolution Today

Mark Dunagan
06/25/17 - Sunday Evening

Evolution Today

Is Belief in Creation a Science-Stopper?

Some people seem to think that believing in the Biblical account of Creation would put an end to scientific research or advancement. Yet most people do not realize that modern science was founded by men who believed that nature could and should be studied for the very reason that it follows the laws given to it by the great Lawgiver (Colossians 1:16). Johannes Kepler, one of the founders of astronomy, said that science is simply “thinking God’s thoughts after Him”. The very founders of a range of scientific disciplines were believers such as Bacon, Newton, Kepler, Galileo, Pascal, Boyle, Dalton, Linnaeus, Mendel, Maxwell, and Kelvin.

From the beginning, the Bible has advocated scientific advancement when man is told to exercise dominion over the Creation (Genesis 1:28). Man is commanded to “fill”, “rule” and “subdue”, and that is exactly what science does. To give us a leg up in this mandate, the Bible gives us accurate information about the world in which we live. Hundreds of years before science confirmed it, Scripture informed us that we live on a planet that is a circle (Isaiah 40:22), that is not supported by anything underneath it (Job 26:7), and that the creation of new matter has ceased (Genesis 2:1), and that the material universe is running down (Hebrews 1:10-12). 

Who Really Has The Closed Mind?

The popular claim is that Christians are closed minded while the evolutionary scientist is quite open minded. Think again. The perspective behind evolution is anything but neutral or unbiased. The theory of Evolution is the relatively resent result of science being hijacked by people who say that only matter and energy exist and that all causes and explanations must conform to a completely physical explanation. Thus, they have closed their minds to a large part of reality, that is, the Spiritual dimension, a position that produces for them more far more questions than answers. The Christian has his mind open to answers and evidence coming from both the physical world and the spiritual world.

The Limitations of Science

"It is useful to divide science into two different areas: operational science and historical (origins) science. Operational science deals with testing and verifying ideas in the present and leads to the production of useful products like computers, cars, satellites, etc. Historical (origins) science involves interpreting evidence from the past and includes the models of evolution and special creation… Because no one was there to witness the past (except God), we must interpret it based on a set of starting assumptions. Creationists and evolutionists have the same evidence – they just interpret it within a different framework. Evolution denies the role of God in the universe, and creation accepts His witness account – the Bible – as the foundation for arriving at a correct understanding of the universe” (Evolution Exposed, Roger Patterson, p. 20).

The above quote has some valuable points and observations:

• The subject of origins is something had happened in the past. The past, of course, is not directly observable, testable, or repeatable. Both Creationists and Evolutionists look at the same physical information – fossils, etc. It is inconsistent to say that evolution qualifies as a scientific theory while creation does not.  Those who believe in creation take the same date available to evolutionists and interrupt it within the more consistent framework or worldview.
• Evolution is based on some assumptions: There is no God, everything came from nothing by accident, life came from non-life, as well as the assumption of uniformitarianism (that the physical processes in the universe have always been occurring at a relatively constant rate.) Of course, from a biblical perspective this isn’t true – there have been big interruptions in the life of this planet (2 Peter 3:4ff), interruptions that explain much of what baffles scientists, such as large quantities of seashell fossils on the tops of mountains, etc. Creation simply accepts what Evolution cannot: an eyewitness account of what happened (Genesis 1-2).

The Same Evidence

One good example of how both Creationists and Evolutionists see the same evidence but come to different conclusions is the evidence of mass fossil beds. Everyone agrees that the facts present mass extinctions of almost all life in the earth’s past. Evolutionists believe that a mass extinction, wiping out 90% of the planet’s species, occurred about 250 million years ago. One popular speculation is that an asteroid collided with the earth. Creationists see the same evidence and point to what the Bible has said all along, that is, the Flood (Genesis 6-9; 2 Peter 3:4ff). We should note that the asteroid theory is relatively recent, while the explanation offered by the Bible was around long before man even discovered that fossil beds existed. Thus, once again, the Bible had the answer long before men even knew what the question was. 

Understanding the Type of Change We See

Obviously there is change in the world. We see all sorts of different breeds of dogs and cats, we see bacteria that is resistant to certain drugs and we see different varieties of various animals in the wild. The assumption that some people make is that they see such changes or diversity within a species (horizontal change) and assume that such proves that evolution is true, that is, vertical change from nothing to eventually mankind.

The Example of Bacteria Resistance to Antibiotics

Some think that when bacteria becomes resistant to a drug, that evolution is taking place, but the bacteria remains bacteria, pre-existing resistance genes do exist, and all known examples of antibiotic resistance via mutation resulted in the loss of pre-existing cellar systems. Again, horizontal change does not prove vertical change.

The Biblical Account – In Harmony with the Most Recent Evidence

• There are many creatures living today that are virtually identical to the remains of their ancestors found in the fossil record. These include many insects, Ginkgo trees, crocodiles, and many marine invertebrates. How could such species remain unchanged if Evolution happened?
• The Bible teaches a huge change upon the face of the planet (the Flood) and while those believing in the theory of Evolution have finally accepted this premise, they've simply given it another explanation: A meteor.
• With the eruption of Mount St. Helens, and the subsequent formation of the Toutle River canyon within our lifetime, and the 120 feet deep, 1500 feet long canyon in Walla Walla Washington that was formed in six days, many have been rethinking how long it takes to form a river canyon, such as a Grand Canyon, and thus how old the earth really is.
• A number of different discoveries equally contradict the idea that the earth is billions of years old. “Galaxies wind themselves up much too fast to be billions of years ago. Comets disintegrate too rapidly and have no mechanism for reform. There is too little sediment on the sea flood to account for billions of years.  The earth’s magnetic field is decaying too rapidly. Rock layers are bent to extreme degrees, suggesting they folded rapidly while still soft. DNA and other biologic materials should decay and not be found in fossils – bacteria alleged to be 250 million years old should have no intact DNA left, yet they were able to grow..Carbon 14 is found in diamonds and coal that are supposed to be millions or billions of years old. There are too few skeletons of Stone Age humans to support the alleged 200,000 year time span. Agriculture and historical writings have been around for too short a period” (Humphreys, www.icr.org/article/1842).
• What we know about genetic mutations only confirms the Biblical viewpoint. If God wisely created all things, then we would predict that mistakes in the DNA of an organism would have harmful effects. We now know that the vast majority of mutations are either neutral or harmful or cause a loss of information in the genetic code of an individual.
• What we now know about the formation of DNA prohibits that idea of life originating from a primordial soup. According to Evolution, at some point in earth history, the molten earth cooled and oceans formed. Chemicals in these oceans warmed by volcanic activity and were energized by lightning, and formed proteins. These molecules then organized into cellular structure-like proteins, such as DNA. The problem with this story is that chemistry contradicts it. DNA contains a specific code that must be copied from another strand of DNA. Proteins cannot form in water because the water breaks the bonds that hold the amino acids together.

The more we learn about our complex world, the more the evidence is piled upon evidence that all we see is indeed the product of vast intelligence. Let's determine to be honest enough to accept this reality and live in a way that honors our Creator.

Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net