|
WHAT ABOUT EVOLUTION?
In 1859, Charles Darwin. Theories of evolution had
been suggested before Darwin's The Origin of
Species set the stage for a radically new way of
thinking about the way in which life began on earth
and how it can change from one form into another.
Written after completing a five-year
voyage as a naturalist aboard the British ship
Beagle, Darwin's book made three basic statements:
New forms of life have arisen during the earth's
history.
All forms of life can be traced to common ancestors.
This process of evolution is guided solely by the
survival of the fittest, or "natural selection",
over long periods of time.
It is easy to see why Darwin's theory
aroused immediate controversy, since it does not
mention the creating and sustaining hand of God. In
time, Darwin even regretted that his theory had
caused his devoutly Christian mother so much
anguish.
Variations on The Theme
Darwin predicted that, over the years,
many so-called "missing links" would be found to
substantiate his theory. He also confessed that one
of the most difficult things to explain by natural
selection is the existence of the eye. How could a
sightless organism suddenly develop the urge to see,
to say nothing of ending up with the amazing and
intricate mechanism of sight?
No significant progress has been made
since Darwin's time in discovering the fossils of
any missing links. This has led some evolutionists
to modify Darwin's theory and even to replace large
parts of it with radically new ideas. One of these
is the Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium of Harvard
University's Dr. Stephen Gould. In essence, Gould
says that the reason for the missing links is that
evolution often proceeded in sudden jumps rather
than in a gradual procession. Other scientists have
attacked Gould's theory as evasive and have proposed
new theories of their own.
Over the years, a battle has also raged
over the nature and geographical location of the
first human-like creatures, or "hominids." For a
time, fossils from East Africa were winning the
fight, largely because of the efforts of the Leakey
family. Then arguments were made for fossil
fragments in China and elsewhere. Another theory
has it that humans descended from an entirely
different branch of the evolutionary tree than did
the apes. Whether a specific fossil fragment is
that of an ape or a human is also frequently
disputed.
How much simpler and more reasonable it
is to believe that life, in all its complexity and
variety, was created by the almighty God when He
spoke the words, "Let there be ... ", as we are told
in Genesis 1.
Evolution And Daily Life
It is difficult to overestimate the
impact that the theory of evolution has had over the
last century and a half. Although Darwin's original
theory has been modified many times and radically
different theories have been proposed, the idea that
nature is all there is (naturalism) has grown to be
a dominant force in modern life. It is, in fact,
very difficult for a person to advance
professionally in most colleges or universities
today, or to publish articles in professional
journals, if he or she does not espouse naturalism.
The pervasive effect of this thinking
can readily be seen in today's public schools, where
the theory of evolution plays a prominent role in
the science curriculum and the consideration of
creation by a divine being is prohibited by law.
Many of today's court decisions are, in fact, guided
by the idea that human beings are no more than
random collections of atoms without the "divine
rights" that motivated America's founding fathers.
This is not to say that all
evolutionists are atheists. But the percentage of
'"theistic evolutionists" is quite small, and the
predominant view in science today is that everything
can be explained without invoking so-called
"intelligent design" of any kind.
What modern evolutionists do not like to
mention is that Darwin even predicted that the most
advanced humans (Europeans in his thinking) will
eventually annihilate all other people on earth as
well as the intelligent apes.
In his later book, The Descent of Man,
Darwin also said some things about women that modern
evolutionists would rather forget. Here is a
sample:
"The chief distinction in the
intellectual powers of the two sexes is shewn by
man's attaining to a higher eminence, in whatever he
takes up, than can womanwhether requiring deep
thought, reason, or imagination, or merely the use
of the senses and hands We may also infer that if
men are capable of a decided pre-eminence over women
in many subjects, the average mental power in man
must be above that of woman."1
The Big Bang
Biological evolution is, however, not
the only kind on the market. Long before the first
cell emerged from the primordial soup, or so the
story goes, there had to be some other form of
matter already in existence. The theory that is
currently in vogue to explain this situation is
called The Big Bang. In this scenario, an
unimaginably small particle of matter exploded some
20 billion years ago and expanded into what we see
today as a cosmos of countless galaxies stretching
billions and billions of miles into space.
To the embarrassment of most
evolutionists, however, the Big Bang theory requires
an origin in time, as well as somebody to create the
original particle and set off the explosion. This
gets uncomfortably close to saying that "in the
beginning, God created the heaven and the earth"
(Genesis 1:1).
To get around this seeming impasse, a
new theory has it that matter came into existence
through a "quantum fluctuation in a vacuum." When
the objection was raised that this is the same thing
as saying that something came out of nothing, the
reply was that even though it is very unusual, it
had to happen only once! Sometimes it is difficult
to tell whether the proponent of such a theory is
really serious or is just having fun trying to fool
people. At any rate, a person who takes the
vacuum-fluctuation idea seriously is certainly a
good candidate for buying the Brooklyn Bridge.
Also to the discomfiture of Big Bang
proponents, it was recently announced that some
stars are seemingly older than the universe! As of
now this untenable contradiction has not been
resolved. Some astronomers have suggested that the
Big Bang theory should be replaced by the idea that
the universe is eternal. If God can be eternal,
then why not the universe?
God's Role In The Universe
Because they are born with sinful
natures, human beings do not want to have anything
to do with God. The Bible says that "the carnal
mind is enmity against God" (Romans 8:7). So it is
not surprising that many scientists want to keep God
out of their theories because they are afraid that,
if He exists, they will have to be accountable to
Him for their thinking and their actions. In this
respect, of course, scientists are no different from
the rest of unconverted mankind.
But once a person has come to faith in
Jesus Christ, the fear of God changes into love of
God and eagerness to study His word and do His
will. To the Christian, many of today's godless
theories in science and other fields are best
described by St. Paul when he says that "the wisdom
of this world is foolishness with God" (I
Corinthians 3:19).
This does not mean, however, that the
Christian should refrain from studying scientific
theories and other intellectual propositions. After
all, the Bible does not say that the converse of the
above passage is true and that the stupidity of this
world is wisdom with God. God wants us to use the
intellect He has given us to find out as much about
His marvelous universe as possible. But we should
do so with the understanding that all human theories
are open to debate and may someday be replaced by
better ones. In this respect, textbooks often err
by presenting theories as irrefutable facts. The
history of science shows that this is a very shaky
approach, at best.
The Bible says emphatically that a
rational human being should be able to detect the
creating hand of God in the universe. The writer of
Psalm 19:"1 says:"The heavens declare the glory of
God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork." And
Romans 1:20 makes it even stronger: "For the
invisible things of (God) from the creation of the
world are clearly seen, being understood by the
things that are made, even his eternal power and
Godhead; so that they are without excuse." Yes, it
takes a real effort to deny intelligent design in
the universe, which is what most evolutionists and
textbooks do today.
Glimmers Of Hope
In recent years, the bastion of
naturalism and atheistic evolution has been
effectively challenged by several courageous and
highly qualified individuals. Very prominent in
this movement are the books and lectures of Dr.
Phillip E. Johnson, a professor of law at the
University of California at Berkeley. His book,
Darwin on Trial, it first appeared in 1991 and has
caused considerable anguish among atheistic
evolutionists ever since. Simply stated, Johnson
shows that the evidence for Darwinian evolution is
insufficient to stand up in a court of law.
Contrary to what many scientists and textbook
writers would like to think, the theory of evolution
is far from being proved the way the law of gravity
has been proved, for example. The second edition of
Johnson's book includes some of the vitriolic and
decidedly unscientific attacks on the author by
otherwise level-headed scientists.
In a sequel, its titled Reason in the
Balance, Johnson goes on to show that the naturalism
that pervades science in today's schools can also be
seen in other fields, especially modern American
law. Johnson's books are highly readable and
extensively annotated. They should be required
reading in our schools. If your public library does
not yet have copies, you should politely ask them to
acquire them. Some of Johnson's lectures and
debates are also available on videotape through
Reasons to Believe, P.O. Box 5978, Pasadena CA
91117.
Another excellent source of material in
the struggle against scientific atheism is the
Institute for Creation Research, P.O. Box 2667, El
Cajon CA 92021. The institute was founded by Dr.
Henry Morris, who was formerly a department chairman
at the Virginia Polytechnic University. Two other
members of ICR are Dr. Duane Gish, a biochemist, and
Dr. John Morris, Jr., a geologist. The debates of
these scientists against prominent evolutionists
draw huge audiences around the country. An
excellent pamphlet published by ICR is entitled
"Summary of Scientific Evidence for Creation."
What Can We Do?
God's Word says that "the effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much"
(James 5:16). We should support the work of Dr.
Johnson and of the ICR and other champions of
scientific honesty and the Gospel with our prayers.
The majority may rule when it comes to politics, but
the majority does not necessarily prevail in the
long run when it comes to the struggle against
atheism and naturalism. The Bible tells many
stories where a small group or even a single
individual triumphed with the help of God.
And our prayers should be followed by
actions. We should speak out against the
indoctrination of our children into the cult of
naturalism. Recently, the Supreme Court even made
it possible for Christians to witness openly in the
public schools. This decision was the result of
concerted efforts by members of The Lamb's Chapel, a
Christian church on Long Island.
We must tell as many people as we
possibly can that, instead of being the evolutionary
products of blind chance, we are all the creatures
of a loving God, who has destined us to be
caretakers of His creation and heirs of eternal
life. We thank God that we can do all this "through
Christ, which strengtheneth (us)" (Philippians
4:13).
Dr. Trinklein has taught science for
more than forty years, most recently at L.I.
Lutheran High School and Nassau Community College.
He is the co-author of widely used textbooks in
physics and astronomy and his articles on scientific
and religious topics have appeared in numerous
journals. He and Mrs. Trinklein have five children
and 12 grandchildren and live in Shoreham, New
York. The Trinkleins are members of Grace Lutheran
Church in Mastic Beach, New York
For Additional Information Contact
True Light Educational Ministry
P.O. Box 310
Shirley, NY 11967
Telephone (631) 395-4646
|
TLEM