“In grammar school they taught me that a frog turning into a prince was a fairy tale. In the university they taught me that a frog turning into a prince was a fact!” – Ron Carlson, Professor and Author, U.C. Irvine
As I began to investigate the claims of Christianity I wanted to find a way that I could reconcile God creating with evolutionary teaching as a means for the origin of life. I had been taught that evolution was no longer just a theory but a solid science fact (but that is not true). This “indoctrination” began as early as elementary school and was embedded throughout my educational experience not only in science classes but across the curriculum in history, literature and the arts.
After some careful thought Creation and evolution really cannot be reconciled because, according to the ‘law of non-contradiction,’ either God created everything at the beginning (ex nihilo) as the Bible teaches, or life came about by a series of undirected random processes over eons of time as evolution teaches at its core. They cannot both be true at the same time, especially since they tell completely different stories from radically different foundations, so which one is true?
What is taught in your local schools?
Common Core State Standards require our children to have proficient knowledge in subject matter that include evolution, but these are not stand-alone in Science, they are embedded across the standards in the other fields of study such as History, English and the Arts. Because evolution has completely taken over the mindset of academia we find the language of evolution on TV, documentaries, news reports and all over the textbooks in public education. Evolution (used as the answer to the origin of life) is the only science theory that is treated as factual, yet it does not follow the highly esteemed ‘Scientific Method’ which states that for a theory to become fact it must be observable, testable and repeatable.
Definition of science: “The systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experimentation.” -Oxford
We must keep a few things in mind two when considering theories about the origin of life:
1. Presuppositions:
- The preconceived ideas scientist hold can affect their research methods (atheism, agnosticism, theism)
- The assumptions scientists make based on current paradigms (if the evidence does not fit the models in place it is often thrown out)
2. The role and limits of science:
- Science studies and reports on how things observably work
- The laws of nature are descriptive, not prescriptive
- Science does not (will not) give metaphysical answers even if the evidence points in that direction
3. We must understand the word Evolution:
- Evolution is a misleading term because it is overarching and broad in its scope and definition:
- When we discuss and debate the origin issue keep in mind the difference between microevolution (observable changes within species that we can see) and macroevolution (the assumption by evolutionists that species evolve from one completely different kind into another).
Microevolution:
- All scientists, including Christians, agree on observable microevolution.
- Microevolution is better referred to as adaption or natural selection where we find species altering their characteristics based on environmental conditions, food source needs or disease but we never see it resulting in a change of one kind to another.
- Microevolution is evidenced in the diversity of life that is measurable and observable.
- Humans can manipulate changes within certain species by selective breeding, but again there is no change of kind.
Does this observable evidence lead to the next conclusion?
Macroevolution:
- Taking the observable evidence of microevolution and inferring that the diversity of life we see today has evolved through a gradual series of changes creating new and better lifeforms. For example: humans and monkeys have evolved and branched from extinct ape-like creatures, or amphibians evolved from fish-like creatures, or birds from reptiles etc.
- Darwinian Evolutionists claim that you can take this assumption back to where all life began as single cell bacteria-like organisms in a primordial fluid (although admittedly they do not know where this primordial fluid came from). This fluid is said to be the foundation by which random chance conditions were able to produce the first building blocks of life (amino acids).
- The fact is that macroevolution is unobservable and untestable. It is not a conclusion using the scientific method, and contrary to popular belief, it does not have the required evidence in the areas that it claims to – such as the highly regarded fossil record and genetics.
To summarize:
Microevolution: Changes within species (or kinds) better known as adaptation, and this is true based on observation.
vs.
Macroevolution: A change from one “kind” of living thing into a new “kind” of living thing, and this is false because it cannot be, and has never been, observed.
The problem with the assumption of Macroevolution is that there is no evidence to support it and there is a landslide of evidence against it. For example, the requirements for the information code in the DNA of humans, the most complex living organism, cannot come from something less complex. If it did you would have to add, out of thin air, codes and parts previously non-existent. In addition, evolutionists must answer the genesis question: Where did the first of anything come from?
Watch this three minute clip that hits these two very important facts that evolution cannot answer:
Amazingly God, from His Word in the Bible, warns us that deception is the number weapon of Satan. I often wonder why people believe the things they believe, and I look back to the time I held the same sincere beliefs, but I was sincerely wrong. Often belief is based on sincere feelings, not evidence or truth, and that is why it is so important to know what you believe and why concerning the big questions of life (origin, purpose, morality and destiny).
The Apostle Paul wrote this warning to the young pastor Timothy:
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 1 Timothy 4:1
The Apostle Peter wrote this to the early Church facing persecution:
Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 2 Peter 3:3
The Bible also gives us some insight to the reason why evolution from one “kind” to another is not possible:
Pay special attention to the word “kinds” as given in the Bible. Evolutionists do not like this word and try to make you feel ignorant when you use it, but the fact is one “kind” of living thing has never evolved into another “kind.” This word falls close to the family-genus category in the taxonomy of living things. However, it is interesting to note that taxonomists never agree on what belongs in these categories anyway. Just try searching out what organisms belong in which category and you will find a variety of opinions and speculations!
And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27
In the New Testament the Apostle Paul said…
Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 1 Corinthians 15:39
Watch this 38 minute documentary by Ray Comfort called “Evolution vs. God” to get the full impact of how people in higher education have bought into the deception of evolutionary theory as the answer for the origin of life:
Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. Colossians 2:6-8
Join us next week as we answer these questions: Who was Darwin? What does the evidence really show concerning the origin of life?
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You will not find this material in the public school curriculum even though it is based on solid evidence and grounded in research. It is ironic that following the evidence to where it leads stops at the door of our public schools as they will not let a “Divine footprint” in! Join us as we examine evidence for Christianity and learn how to become a thoughtful defender and ambassador of your faith.
Click into the resource page of this website to view many of the top Christian thinkers and apologists along with some of their work; connecting to these types of resources is essential in your Christian growth.
Please let me know what you think: Give feedback, ask questions or send concerns in the comment section of the blog.
Teri Dugan
TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com
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