< Back | Home: Writings
Evolution, Fact or Fiction
November 24th, 2009 is the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s book, “The Origin of Species”. Richard Dawkins, in his book, The God Delusion, wrote "if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid, or insane."1 Can I appeal to you: are you humble enough to explore alternative viewpoints on the origin and meaning of life with an objective, open mind? If so, read on… Is there a solid case for the theory of evolution as the origin of species, or is evolution a “Theory in Crisis” as scientist and agnostic Michael Denton purports in his book entitled such? What are the moral implications of evolution vs. the belief in a Creator who created the universe? We’re going to briefly look at 3 issues regarding evolution: missing links, the first single-celled organism, and the beginning of the universe and then look at an alternative world-view to evolution…
1. Missing Links:
There
must be strong evidence for missing links for evolution to be a valid
theory. Charles Darwin in Origin of Species expressed some concern
about this (p.133-134), acknowledging the absence of intermediates, but
attributed it to the relative scarcity of fossils at the time,
believing they would eventually be found. Have they?
Ape Men
Human evolution is the premiere icon of Darwin's
theory. Here are some of the frauds and misinformation that have been
reported over the years as firm evidence for the evolution of man from
lower primates:
Piltdown Man- (remember the Scopes trial?) A
modern ape jaw was connected with a modern human skull. The fraud went
undetected for decades until the perpetrator confessed.
Neanderthal Man
was proclaimed to be a human with a disease by the first qualified
person to study the first specimen. Since then, some evolutionists
have tried to portray 'him' as an intermediate by giving him a stooped,
ape-like reconstruction. Only recently, as evidence has begun to pour
in proving his humanity, has Neanderthal Man, like Cro Magnon Man, been
'rehabilitated.' Neanderthals had jewelry, ritual burial, a bone
flute, chain-mail armor, controlled use of fire, and many other
artifacts that show 'he' was no dummy. Fossils clearly show that he
and Homo erectus mated together and with Homo Sapiens.2
Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis)
is the most famous 'missing link.' Fossils show clearly she was a
tree-swinging, knuckle-walker with an ape head. Museums currently show
her with human hands, feet and breasts as well as a human expression on
a near human head. Some evolutionists have already stated, "The
australopithecines are rapidly sinking back to the status of peculiarly
specialized apes."3
Dinosaurs and Birds
There have been numerous reports of
missing links found between dinosaurs and birds, all of which have been
discredited. In a National Geographic magazine article in November 19994
it was stated, “This fossil is perhaps the best evidence since
Archaeopteryx that birds did, in fact, evolve from certain types of
dinosaurs.” Evolutionist Storrs Olson, Curator of Birds at the
National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution
stated, “With the publication of “Feathers for T. Rex?”… National
Geographic has reached an all-time low for engaging in
sensationalistic, unsubstantiated, tabloid journalism.” Evolutionary
Biologist Alan Feduccia (UNC) wrote in Discover Magazine,
“Archaeoraptor is just the tip of the iceberg. There are scores of
fake fossils out there…. these fossil forgeries have been sold on the
black market for years now, for huge sums of money.”5
The
proof of evolution is in the pudding. If evolution is a valid theory
of origins, there should be sound evidence of missing links. 150 years
after Darwin’s theory, we now have over 100 million fossils with
250,000 different species, but no missing links. Agnostic scientist
Michael Denton stated, “The universal experience of paleontology…is
that while the rocks have continually yielded new and exciting and even
bizarre forms of life…what they have never yielded is any of Darwin’s
myriads of transitional forms.”6
2. The First Cell
Could
the first cell have come into existence without a Creator? Bruce
Alberts, Biochemist and president of the National Academy of Sciences,
wrote, “The entire cell can be viewed as a factory that contains an
elaborate network of interlocking assembly lines, each of which is
composed of a set of large protein machines.”7 Imagine an
automotive factory with the incredible complexity of millions of man
hours of machining, assembly, quality control, maintenance, engineering
and supervision. Now imagine such a factory running itself with no
human intervention and multiplying itself. Such is the complexity of
the simplest single-celled organism! Would we willingly choose to
believe this came about by random chance? Darwin himself gave us a
litmus test of how to disprove his general theory of evolution: “If it
could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not
possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight
modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.”8
Microbiologist James Shapiro of the University of Chicago wrote, “There
are no detailed Darwinian accounts for the evolution of ANY fundamental
biochemical or cellular system, only a variety of wishful speculations.”9
Evolutionist
and Nobel prize winner Francis Crick who discovered DNA even admitted,
“An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could
only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment
to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had
to have been satisfied to get it going.”10 How complex is DNA? “Human DNA contains more organized information than the Encyclopedia Britannica.”11
Truly our bodies are a work of art with over 30,000 genes and 20,500
different proteins, and scientists haven’t been able to come up with
any details for a valid mechanism for evolving even one of these
proteins! A typical protein requires 1200 to 2000 bases, all
left-handed, in a set sequence. To create the simplest protein of 75
bases in a soup of building blocks of Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and
Thiamine and their right hand equivalents by random chance would have
the mathematical odds: 1 x 10125 - yet even the simplest cell needs
three hundred different proteins.12 Here’s a challenge for
scientists: violate the law of biogenesis, which states that life comes
from life: puncture the cell walls of many cells, empty the contents
into an aqueous solution, then find a way with all these ingredients to
make a cell. Humpty-dumpty simply can’t be put back together again!
3. From Single-Celled to Multi-Celled
Thus,
to form the first cell by random chance is a grown-up fairy tale, but
let’s say it were possible. How could a single-celled organism
possibly evolve into a multi-celled organism? Interestingly, other
than parasites (organisms that live off other organisms), there have
not been found any multi-cellular organisms either living today or in
the fossil record with less than 20 cells in them. That’s an
insurmountable gap! Another is going from asexual reproduction to
sexual reproduction. Evolutionist Michael Rose wrote, "The evolution
of sex is one of the major unsolved problems of biology. Even those
with enough hubris to publish on the topic often freely admit that they
have little idea of how sex originated or is maintained. It is enough
to give heart to creationists."13
From things that are
merely small and alive and things that merely reproduce, we go to large
groupings or types of 'early' animals, called, 'phyla.' The word phyla
is in the same system for describing things as species, it just defines
very large groups, rather than the smallest. Instead of the species we
belong to, Homo sapiens, the phyla we belong to is 'vertabrates'. The
"Cambrian Explosion" is, simply put, the lowest layer of fossils. All
50 or so different phyla that have ever existed have been discovered in
the Cambrian layer, but without transitions leading up to them, no
transitions in between them, and no new phyla in higher layers. This
is the opposite of what evolution would predict. One prominent
evolutionist, Douglas Futuyma, writes: "It is considered likely that
all the animal phyla became distinct before or during the Cambrian, for
they all appear fully formed, without intermediates connecting one form
to another."14
Smaller groups exist between 'phyla'
called 'class' and 'order' and the gaps between them are just as
insurmountable. Evolutionist R. L. Carroll put it this way, “...All of
us can immediately recognize animals as being birds, turtles, insects,
or jellyfish, and plants as conifers, ferns, or orchids. Even with
millions of living species, there are only a very few that do not fit
into readily recognizable taxonomic categories. ... Even among the
hundreds of thousands of recognized insect species, nearly all can be
placed in one or another of the approximately thirty well-characterized
orders.”15
4. The Origin of the Universe
Finally,
let’s look at the beginning of the universe. If you believe in
atheistic evolution, you’re saying that everything came from nothing,
you’re saying that there was no initial cause, nothing that exists
outside this material universe. There is overwhelming evidence in each
of the physical sciences that points away from a natural, materialistic
explanation for the origins of life and the universe. Geophysicist
Stephen Meyer wrote, “There are more than thirty separate physical or
cosmological parameters that require precise calibration in order to
produce a life-sustaining universe.”16 Cosmologist and Nobel
Prize winner Arno Penzias said about the Big Bang, “The best data we
have are exactly what I would have predicted had I nothing to go on but
the first five books of Moses, the Psalms and the Bible as a whole.”17
Even leading atheists tend to waffle a little bit on this point.
Atheist Kai Nielsen said, “Suppose you suddenly hear a loud bang…and
you ask me, ‘what made that bang? And I reply, ‘Nothing, it just
happened.’ You would not accept that.” Atheist Quentin Smith admitted,
“[that] we came from nothing, by nothing, and for nothing seems
intuitively absurd.” Richard Dawkins said, “Biology is the study of
complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed.”18 It sure takes a lot of blind faith to deny there is a Creator!
The Moral Implications of Evolution:
Darwinism is
portrayed as a science, however it is better described as a philosophy
with terrible consequences. Atheist Bertrand Russell stated that
science presented us with a world that was “purposeless” and “void of
meaning.”19 Evolution leads us into a moral vacuum. If God
doesn’t exist, then the concept of sin is outdated; the idea of a
Judgment Day, of ultimate justice, punishment and rewards, heaven and
hell is irrelevant and I can choose to live my life any way I deem
fit! Like an animal, I should thus be most concerned about how to
maximize my pleasure before I die- and if someone gets in my way, well,
survival of the fittest!
God Weighs in on Evolution
Look for a moment in the mirror
and repeat one of these two statements: if you believe in evolution as
the explanation of origins, say to the image in the mirror, “You are
pond scum that evolved into a higher life form. Your birth, life and
death are all meaningless. Therefore, maximize your pleasure, stay out
of prison and eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you will die. Life
is devoid of meaning, so I must lie to myself, use some imagination and
create my own meaning with my own rules and my own god, or I’ll go
insane.” Or, if you believe in the God of the Bible, look in the
mirror and say, “I am created in the image and glory of God with
meaning and purpose in life- to glorify God and rejoice in my
relationship with my Creator who has made a way for me to experience
His glory. I’ve been created wonderfully- my body, soul and spirit
reflect the glorious Creator who created me in wisdom, power and
creativity for an eternal purpose.” While we’re busy believing in
fairy tales that deny God’s existence, God has a lot to say about all
our foolishness: “The fool says in his heart, ‘there is no God.’ They
are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The
Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any
who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have
together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
(Psalm 14:1-3) Those are honest words from your Creator about us apart
from anything of redeeming value that He does in us.
God also
explains why we choose to deny His existence and struggle so much with
acknowledging His authority and power in our lives, “The wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of
men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known
about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For
since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities- His eternal
power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from
what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they
knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but
their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the
glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and
birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the
sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of
their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a
lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the
Creator-who is forever praised, Amen.” (Rom 1:18-25)
There are two
choices in life: worship and serve the creation, or worship and serve
the Creator. In our sophistication today, we don’t make physical idols
of reptiles or birds, but we do make idols of theories on how such
reptiles and birds evolved, which rob God of all glory and replace that
glory with an idol: ourselves. A six year old child could tell you
there’s a Creator. Point to any building and you know that there’s an
architect and a builder. Point to any painting and you know there’s a
painter. Point to creation and you know there’s a Creator. To say
otherwise is not only an act of ignorance but as the scripture says, is
a suppression of the truth with a specific motive: to deny sin and the
resulting judgment to come, and to not have anyone reign over us- to
live for our own selfish desires according to our own selfish rules.
The Laws of Nature and Morality
All around us we see laws
that govern nature. For example, how do we predict the path of motion
of an object? F = m x a, where the sum of all forces on an object at
any instant in time will result in the acceleration of the mass of the
object in the direction of the force. This is a universal, absolute
law that can be used to accurately predict the acceleration of a car,
rocket, ship or person. We see similar, absolute laws in Biology,
Chemistry and all other sciences- laws of incredible complexity. Where
did these laws come from? If there are universal physical laws, why is
it so difficult to see that there is a Lawgiver, who not only created
physical laws, but moral laws that govern the universe?
The Bible
says there is the “Law of Sin and Death” that applies to each of us.
Let’s explore this. Have you ever had a sense of justice well up
inside of you when someone lied to you, stole from you, gossiped or
slandered you, or flirted with your spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend?
Have you ever judged someone as being arrogant, pompous,
self-righteous? Now let’s take a test to see your own goodness: Have
you ever experienced guilt, that inner voice: your conscience, tell you
that you have violated one of the following moral laws? Have you ever
experienced guilt for lying, for stealing or cheating, for lusting
after someone or something (coveting)? Have you ever lost control of
your anger? Have you ever turned to gossip, slander, cursing or name
calling? Have you ever wished you could take back something you said,
because it was damaging? If you’ve done these things, your conscience
bears witness: you’re a covetous lying thieving adulterous murderer at
heart. Jesus said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.
For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual
immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit,
sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things
come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:20-23) You’re
under the Law of Sin: you’re a defiled, corrupt sinner.
Secondly,
you’re under the Law of Death, the consequences of sin: you’re cursed.
The Bible says, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things
written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” (Galatians 3:10).
Finally, you’re under God’s wrath: “Because of your hard and impenitent
heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when
God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” (Romans 2:5) Indeed, “God
is a just Judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” (Psalm
7:11). You may say to yourself, “Well, if there is a God out there, I
do a lot of good things in my life- surely God will take that into
consideration.” Try that in a court of law. Say you robbed a bank at
gunpoint, were caught red-handed and hauled into the courtroom.
“Judge, please don’t sentence me. I have done many good things in my
life…” A just judge must sentence you, or he/she would be corrupt.
Your good deeds have nothing to do with the violations of the law that
you have committed. Likewise, you are in a heap of trouble on Judgment
Day and your conscience bears witness to a multitude of violations of
God’s laws.
Thankfully, not only is the Law of Sin and Death a universal Law,
but there is another universal Law that trumps the Law of Sin and
Death. Imagine you’re in court and the judge sentences you to 30 years
or a million dollars, and you’re broke. What would happen? You’d be
sentenced to 30 years. Imagine an amazing thing happens- the Judge
takes off his robe, steps down from the bench, hugs you and with tears
of compassion in his eyes, pays your fine in full. Justice has been
served- the fine has been paid, and mercy prevails. Because of God’s
great love, that’s what God did 2000 years ago. God became a man, the
Lord Jesus Christ, lived a sinless perfect life and died for all of
your sins on that cross in your place. The Bible puts it this way:
God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) This Law trumps
the Law of Sin and Death, “There is therefore now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus. For the Law of the Spirit of Life has
set you free in Christ Jesus from the Law of Sin and Death.” (Romans
8:1-2)
So how do we escape the requirements of the Law of Sin and
Death and receive the Law of the Spirit of Life? Jesus said, “If
anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross
and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it [living
for yourself leads to eternal condemnation], but whoever loses his life
for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a
man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:34-37)
Receive the Law of the Spirit of Life. Deny yourself- agree with God
you’re a wretched sinner deserving condemnation. Follow Jesus Christ,
being willing to let go of any and all things that are offensive to
Him. The promise is yours: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord
Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) The proof that you truly have
repented (have had a change of heart) and believed is that the Lord
will send His Holy Spirit into your heart to take up permanent
residence and your life will be changed. The Bible describes this
change: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have
passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Repent and believe today- you’re not guaranteed tomorrow, there are no
divine do-overs come Judgment Day (Hebrews 9:27, Luke 16:26) and hell
is eternal (Mark 9:48). Start reading God’s Word, the Bible and obey
what you read. God will never let you down.
For footnotes to this writing and more evidences for the Faith: www.RedeemedScoundrels.com .
To order this or other tracts, go to www.OneMillionTracts.com.
1 Chuck Colson’s “Breakpoint Commentary, October 12th, 2007, www.breakpoint.com
2 Lubenow, Marvin, Bones of Contention, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2004.
3
Matt Cartmill, David Pilbeam, and Glynn Isaac, "One Hundred Years of
Paleoanthropology," American Scientist 74, (July-august 1986): 419.
4 National Geographic, November, 1999, Feathers for T.Rex , Christopher Sloan and USA Today cover story, vol. 18, no 98.
5 Discover, “Plucking Apart the Dino Birds”, 2/03
6 Michael Denton, Evolution, A Theory in Crisis, 1986, p. 162
7 Bruce Alberts, “The Cell as a Collection of Protein Machines,” Cell 92 (February 8, 1998)
8 Charles Darwin, Origin of Species, p. 154
9 James Shipiro, “In the Details…What?” National Review 9/16/96)
10 Life Itself, 1981, p. 88
11 George Sim Johnson “Did Darwin Get it Right?” Wall Street Journal, 10/15/99
12 Lee Stroebel, ibid, quoting Biochemist Stephen Meyer, p. 229
13 Slap and Tickle in the Primeval Soup, New Scientist magazine, 1986
14 Douglas Futuyma, Evolutionary Biology, 2nd ed., 1986, p. 325. http://tellall.org/fossils.htm
15 Carroll, R.L., Patterns and Processes of Vertebrate Evolution, Cambridge University Press, New York, p. 9, 1997
16 Science and Evidence for Design in the Universe, 2000, p. 60
17 NY Times 3/12/78 “Malcolm W. Browne, “Clues to Universe Origin Expected”
18 Richard Dawkins. The Blind Watchmaker, p.1.
19 Bertrand Russell, Why I am Not a Christian, p. 106
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
www.trueorigin.org/camplist.asp
http://Creation.com/creation-magazine-articles
***************************************************************************************
Positive Examples of Evidence for Biblical Stories Found Outside Scripture
Flood!
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v23/i1/flood.asp
The Tablet Theory of Genesis Authorship
www.trueorigin.org/tablet.asp
Table of Nations: The Sixteen Grandsons of Noah
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v20/i4/noah.asp
Searching for Moses
www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v15/i1/moses.asp
Egyptian History and the Biblical Record: A Perfect Match
www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4857
Joshua's Long Day
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v19/i3/longday.asp
The Wall's of Jericho
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v21/i2/jericho.asp
False History: 'out with Daivd and Solomon!'
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v24/i4/history.asp
********************************************
Articles Dealing With Creation Questions
How can we see distant stars in a young universe?
www.answersingenesis.org/docs/405.asp
Bishop Bells Brass Behemoths
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v25/i4/bishop.asp
Warped Earth
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v25/i1/warped.asp
Coal: Memorial to the Flood
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v23/i2/coal.asp
Those Gaps in the Seidmentary Layers
www.grisda.org/origins/15075.htm
Some Questions About Geochronology
www.grisda.org/origins/13064.htm
Radiometric Dating Breakthroughs
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v26/i2/radiometric.asp
Evidence for a young world
www.answersingenesis.org/docs/4005.asp
Eroding Ages
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v22/i2/ages.asp
Neandertal: The Changing Picture
www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/0217neandertal.asp
Preliminary comments on the PBS-TV series "Origins"
www.answersingenesis.org/docs2004/0929PBSOrigins.asp
Early Galaxies Don't Fit!
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v25/i3galaxies.asp
Problems for 'giant impact' origin of moon
www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v14/moon.asp
The Galileo 'Twist'
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v19/i4/galileo.asp
The Battle for the Cosmic Center
www.icr.org/article/304/
Who invented the flat earth?
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v16/i2/flatearth.asp
Dinosaur National Monument
www.icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-370.htm
Living in a Bubble
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v25/i3/bubble.asp
Ice-Bound plane flies again!
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v26/i1/plane.asp
Shifting Sands
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v24/i1/shiftingsands.asp
To make a tail for a whale
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v7/i1/whaletail.asp
Ligers and Wholphins...What next?
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v22/i3/ligers_wolphins.asp
What about the ice age?
www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/answersbook/ice-age16.asp
The Mystery of Ancient Man
www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v20/i2/ancient.asp
The Days that changed America (scopes trial)
www.answersingenesis.org/docs2005/0711scopes.asp
How did the animals fit on Noah's Ark?
www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/answersbook/arksize13.asp
The Abraham Affair: Fired For Disbelief
www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2007/12/10/abraham-affair
Refuting Evolution (vl. 1 and 2)
www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/RE1/index.asp
www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/RE2/index.asp
One Blood (Book online)
www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/OneBlood/Index.asp
The Answers Book-Revised and Expanded
www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/answersbook/index.asp
For more great articles, search on these titles on www.answersingenesis.org
> Blood Brothers
> Designed by Aliens
> A lady of Distinction
> Chimp Genome Sequence Very Different from Man
> The Enigma of Living Fossils
> Gladiator--An 'Extinct' Insect is found alive
> The Amber Mystery
> Fossil turtles confound evolutionists
> What about continental drift?
> How fast? (an article on the rapidity of fossilization)
> Saturn's Rings: Short-lived and young
> Transient Lunar phenomena
> The Lies of Lynchburg: How Evolutuionists Helped the
> Nazi's
> Are Look-Alikes Related?
> The Plant Kingdom: Defying Evolution
> Comets: Portents of Doom or Indicators of Youth?
Other Resources:
Scientists: (note that the theological views of these scientists
are at times in contradiction to the Bible and are in these instances
mistaken- but all demonstrate serious problems with Evolution):
William Dembski & Jonathan Wells (Intelligent Design): http://www.designinference.com/
Michael Denton, Agnostic, “Evolution, A Theory In Crisis”
Michael Behe (Catholic): Darwin’s Black Box
Lee Stroebel, A Case for Creation