Information Related to "10 Questions to Ask About Evolution,Part 3"
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10 Questions to Ask About Evolution, Part 3 By Dr. Allen Stout Can science prove the spiritual realm does not exist? Can it prove that Darwinian evolution has occurred? Can evolution discover a purpose for your life? What does God have to say?
ast time we examined four fundamental issues about what science is and what it can and cannot prove about the truth of the Bible and the biblical accounts of two worldwide floods. We also addressed the assumptions involved in age dating methods. Now let's look at three more fundamental questions to ask. 8. Can science prove that Spirit, angels and evil spirits don't exist? Scientists recently postulated that the universe is made up of about 95 percent "dark" energy and "dark" (invisible) matter. They have never observed it directly, but they observe its effects on what they can observe. The Bible reveals that spirit is also invisible, not observable directly by man or his scientific instruments, and therefore is a mystery to scientists. They may reject or ignore it, but science cannot disprove the existence of spirit (Romans 1:19-20) or of angels and demons, which are spirit beings (Hebrews 1:7,14). They should be at least as open-minded about the existence of spirit as they are about the existence of dark energy! The existence of God's Spirit and angels is revealed by God in the Bible. "God is Spirit" (John 4:24). "The first man was named Adam, and the Scriptures tell us that he was a living person. But Jesus, who may be called the last Adam, is a life-giving spirit" (1 Corinthians 15:45, Contemporary English Version). Spirit is the power of God (Acts 1:8; Romans 15:13,17-19; 2 Timothy 1:7), much like electromagnetic energy is the power of the universe.
Scientists could prove the existence of God and the spirit realm through observation of the effects (evidence) and logic, similar to the way they discover invisible forces such as electromagnetic energy, electricity and dark energy and matter. Intelligent design scientists use observation and logic to do just that. But the adversary of man and God blinds scientists who are biased against God and the Bible (Revelation 12:9; 2 Corinthians 4:4). Though they may ridicule and distort the truth, they cannot disprove the existence of spirit and spirit beings. Such evidence as true faith, miracles, answered prayers, fulfilled prophecies, the "fruit of the Spirit" (the manifestation of godly virtues in the lives of people who have God's Spirit dwelling in them), etc. are all manifestations and proofs of the workings of God's Spirit (see Hebrews 11:6; John 3:2; 1 Kings 18:30-39; Matthew 1:20-23; Galatians 5:22-23). 9. What evidence does science have that proves living organisms gradually evolved from simpler to more complex forms of life, changing into different more advanced species through mutations and natural selection or that man evolved from lower life forms as proposed by Darwin and his followers? Evolution theories date back to ancient times. Anaximander (611-547 B.C.), a Greek philosopher, developed a theory that man evolved from fish. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) published his theories in his books Origin of Species in 1859 and The Descent of Man in 1871. Since then great progress in the science of biology and molecular genetics has revealed that DNA is the genetic material accounting for the highly complex design and development of every living cell and organism, and that DNA is what transfers hereditary characteristics from one generation to the next.
How much genetic information does it require to create a perfect bacteria or a human? A human cell has about a thousand times more DNA than bacteria. Human cells have 23 sets of paired chromosomes containing approximately 3 billion nucleotide pairs (6 billion code letters) on its DNA, which if stretched out would be about 3 meters in length, all of which is cleverly packed into each tiny cell. Scientists have determined the human DNA genome has about 30,000 genes, which carry the design code for all the proteins, enzymes, etc., essential as building blocks of cells, tissues, organs and secretions of the body. In addition to the 30,000 genes, more than 80 percent of the DNA is in noncoding regulatory sequences (regulating the process of turning genes on and off to provide what's needed during various stages of development, growth, activities and adaptation to changes in the environment, etc.). As stated in Biology: Concepts and Connections, by Campbell, Mitchell and Reece, "The sheer quantity of DNA in our cells is truly astonishing, but consider what is contained in the approximately 3 billion (paired) nucleotide human genome. Every nucleus in every...somatic cell contains a full inventory of instructions for building and maintaining a complete human being" (2000, p. 230). If we consider that the Bible is written with approximately 5 million letters, then the 6 billion code letters of the genetic master plan on the human DNA would, if written in a book, take more than 1,000 volumes the size of the Bible. Improbability What would be the probability that a monkey sitting at a typewriter could have written the Bible in any amount of time? How much less would be the probability that particles of dust could come together into molecules and form a genetic code and then organize over millions of years into a chain of DNA of 3 billion paired nucleotides with a perfect design for building and maintaining the 70 trillion cells of a complete functioning human being with brains capable of scientific inquiry and designing complex computers and analyzing our own DNA? Then consider, what are the astronomical odds that all this came about through random mutations and natural selection? Yet this is what many evolutionists believe as a philosophic tenet of their Darwinian faith. Richard Dawkins rejects any idea of design in nature, calling it just an illusion of design, for design would requires a Designer. He writes, "We live on a planet where we are surrounded by perhaps ten million species, each of which independently displays a powerful illusion of apparent design. Each species is well fitted to its particular way of life... We really need Darwin's powerful crane to account for the diversity of life on earth, and especially the powerful illusion of design... "We can deal with the unique origin of life by postulating a very large number of planetary opportunities. Once that initial stroke of luck has been granted...natural selection takes over: and natural selection is emphatically not a matter of luck. [We must ask: Not even the random mutations required for it to work?]
"Events like this might be explained by the anthropic principle, along the following lines. There are billions of planets that have developed life at the level of bacteria, but only a fraction of these life forms ever made it across the gap to something like the eukaryotic cell... The anthropic principle states that, since we are alive, eukaryotic and conscious, our planet has to be one of the intensively rare planets that has bridged all three gaps." Where are the proofs for the assumptions of this theoretical anthropic principle? Dawkins continues, "Natural selection works because it is a cumulative one-way street to improvement. It needs some luck to get started, and the 'billions of planets' anthropic principle grants it that luck. Maybe a few later gaps in the evolutionary story also need major infusions of luck, with anthropic justification. But whatever else we may say, design certainly does not work as an explanation for life" (The God Delusion, pp. 139-141). In summary he points out, "One of the greatest challenges to the human intellect, over the centuries, has been to explain how the complex, improbable appearance of design in the universe arises... In the case of a man-made artifact such as a watch, the designer really was an intelligent engineer. It is tempting to apply the same logic to an eye or a wing, a spider or a person." And why not? According to the scientific method, logic includes the natural universal principle of cause and effect that applies to all things equally, which only the supernatural can possibly defy. Still Dawkins presses on. "If the argument of this chapter is accepted, the factual premise of religion -- the God Hypothesis -- is untenable. God almost certainly does not exist" (pp. 157-158). When this appeal to luck and the so-called anthropic principle is weighed in the balance with the wondrous evidence of creation explained in the Bible and intelligent design books, we would say that the evolution hypothesis is untenable! (See for more on this, including a list of excellent scientific works showing the intelligent design of the universe.) Illusions If evolution is not true, why do so many scientists accept it? The answer in part is in the illusion of evolution fostered by man's intellectual need to classify, explain and organize everything into neat categories. However, the main reason is, if there is a Designer and Creator, He is also the lawgiver and they reject those laws, therefore they must reject a Designer and accept evolution. Then there is also an illusion created by the variations of living things in nature, which actually result from the multiplication of living organisms through the natural recombination of genes to form many variations of the created kinds according to the laws of heredity described by Mendel and others. Darwin observed that plant and animal breeders created new varieties and breeds by artificial selection and mating methods and postulated the same thing could occur in nature by natural selection, which is true. But it has never been proven that any higher life forms ever evolved from lower life forms.
The system for scientific classification of living things plus the evolutionary tree of life created by scientists also presents a very graphic illusion of evolution. According to Biology: Concepts and Connections, "Decisions about classification often involve heated debate... Ever since Darwin, systematics has had a goal...to have classification reflect the evolutionary connections among species" (p. 305). Species are often assumed to be the same as kinds in the Bible, but it should be noted that species in this artificial classification system do not specifically relate to biblical kinds. In most cases genera and families would probably relate closer to the Genesis kinds (Genesis 1:21,24-27), whereas species are the many variations, like variations of the dog or cat kinds and Darwin's finches, classified as different species. Scientists, now doing genetic engineering in the lab, are able to transfer genes from one kind to another, but this does not create new genes, which would be required for evolution to occur by natural selection. Natural and induced mutations, caused by radiation, chemicals, faulty transcription, etc., do cause changes, mostly damage or errors in genes, but there is also a backup system designed to correct errors. The change of just one letter of a gene code can have disastrous effects resulting in death or serious genetic diseases. Some mutations have little effect, but the great majority of them are detrimental, resulting either in death, cancers or genetic disorders, but most aren't inherited. However, over 1,000 human genetic disorders, including cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia, are from mutations that are inherited. Some mutations have resulted in the loss of traits, such as hornless cattle, seedless oranges, etc., but none have ever been proven to evolve upward, adding new beneficial features, as proposed by evolutionists.
Fossils and a classification system do not prove progressive evolution from lower to more complex organisms as presumed by evolutionists. "Analysis of DNA found in mitochondria (mtDNA) of human cells indicates that mtDNA is extremely uniform in today's human population. Supporters of the monogenesis hypothesis maintain that such uniformity could only stem from a recent origin of modern humans" (ibid., p. 749). The fact that many genetic traits of the various kinds of living organisms are shared, does not prove any evolutionary connections. The discovery of the highly complex DNA code for genetic traits reveals a highly intelligent design for all living organisms, which can only be accounted for by the unfathomable intelligence of the Creator who designed it (Psalm 139:13-16; Isaiah 55:8-9). Though billions and trillions of each kind have lived and reproduced through sexual recombination of DNA, none are identical genetically (except for identical twins), nor have they upgraded into different kinds that are more advanced. Evolution is simply an illusion created by evolutionists. Scientists have discovered that organisms can adapt to major differences in environmental conditions because they carry adaptive genes that can be turned on or off depending on need and environmental conditions. The very complex genes created in each kind and the laws of genetics created by God, and natural variation through sexual reproduction, eliminate the need for such changes to occur by the extreme improbability of evolutionary means. Ecology, the interdependence in living things in nature, provides more clear overwhelming evidence of special creation by the Creator. The many highly complex components of a postulated first living cell could not have evolved and survived and mysteriously come together to form a living cell, any more than a tornado could sweep through a junkyard and put together a Boeing 747 from the scraps. Nor could the fragile first cell have survived until an interdependent biological ecology and environment had evolved to support it. And with the complexity of life's requirements, no living forms could survive waiting thousands or millions of years for all the essential functional components necessary for life to evolve and thereby survive.
The lack of intermediate links in the fossil record has remained a centerpiece in the debate over origins for 150 years. "Darwin tried to explain the gaps in two ways: (1) the geologic record and fossil collections are imperfect, so it will be difficult to discover many transitional forms; and (2) despite so many known gaps at almost every stage of the evolutionary tree, new transitions are sure to be found (or, he argued, in rare cases, had already been found)... "Worse still, from Darwin's point of view, the lowest fossil-bearing rocks were filled with vast numbers of complex marine fossils that lacked any hint of their origin or transitional forms from one kind of creature to another. What is now called the 'Cambrian Explosion' was wedged into Darwin's thoughts on gaps. Such a sudden appearance of so many different groups of marine invertebrates, Darwin lamented, was 'inexplicable; and may be truly urged as a valid argument' against his theory" (http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v4/n1/god-of-gaps). It appears that Dawkins' Darwinian delusion is the illusion that evolution can be supported and proven! The wording of the apostle Paul rightly describes such theorizing: "philosophy" and "profane and vain babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge" (Colossians 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:20). One more question. 10. Why were you born? Can evolution discover or give a purpose for human life? Theories of evolution are based on the precept that there is no purpose in the universe for anything, but that it all just happened and evolved by random chance, "luck," mutations and natural selection. If that is true, then we might as well say, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" (1 Corinthians 15:32). What science cannot discover, God has revealed in His written Word, the Bible -- the Creator's revelation to man (2 Timothy 3:15-17). It reveals that though man was created from the dust as flesh and blood and may share many genes with other beasts (Genesis 2:7; Ecclesiastes 3:18-21), man is special, created "in the image of God" and given abilities way above the animals (Genesis 1:26-28; 1 Corinthians 2:7-14). We have the potential to become the children of God and to rule over animals and in the future over angels and all things assisting God in His rulership (1 Corinthians 6:2-3; Hebrews 2:1-10). Is there a future destiny for you beyond death? God, who is eternal, offers eternal life to all mankind. God is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). Though "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). God has a master plan for the salvation of all (1 John 3:1-3). See for more on this inspiring subject. Dr. Stout was trained as a scientist and has worked as a veterinarian, college professor, researcher and consultant. Copyright 2009 by United Church of God, an International Association All rights reserved. |
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