Two Men Who Changed the World!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      By Dennis Edwards:

On February 12th, 1809 two men were born who would change the course of history. Abraham Lincoln was one of them. He once said, “I can see how it is possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say, there is no God.”[1] He also made a comment about the Bible: “In regards to this great book (the Bible), I have but to say it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man´s welfare, here, and hereafter, are found portrayed in it.”[2] We all remember Lincoln as President during the American Civil War and his famous Gettysburg address and the emancipation of the slaves.

But born the same day as he, in Shrewsbury, England was another man, who´s life and writings have had a far greater affect on mankind than that of Lincoln. This man once wrote, “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.”[3] He also said, “The mystery of the beginning of all things is insolvable by us; and I for one must be content to remain agnostic.”[4] Charles Darwin who´s Origins of the Species has had a greater impact on modern man than perhaps any other idea. His theory has affected every aspect of our thinking including education, psychology, sociology, science, history, political science, economics, philosophy and religion. Charles´ book was published in 1859. In it, he presented his idea of the descent of life from a common ancestor, the idea that all life goes back to a common origin.

                                                                                                                                                              The General Theory of Evolution or “molecules to man” evolution is the idea that life formed spontaneously about 3.5 billion years ago. Slowly by the process of natural selection, together with beneficial mutations, the first living cell eventually evolved into all the different life forms that we see alive today. Darwin was famous for suggesting that natural selection or nature acting upon a living organism would act like a selective breeder.

Even though Edwin Blythe wrote about natural selection earlier in 1831, it is Darwin who has received the credit. The truth is that nature does act upon organisms and cause them to change. For example: look at a pack of wolves. In the pack, some wolves have short hair, some medium and some long. Some wolves have thick hair, some thin and some in between. If the wolves migrate into a colder climate, natures affect on the pack would be to favor those with the longer and thicker hair. The wolves with shorter or thinner hair would be selected against. In time, the shorter/thinner hair wolves would die out, leaving just the long/thicker haired ones. Natural selection is this process and it does happen.

However, Darwin assumed natural selection had creative power. He saw that another “species” could be developed slightly different from the original one. Thus, he postulated that with enough time, millions of years, for example, a completely new animal type could evolve. A bear or a wolf could eventually evolve into a whale given enough time. Time became the master of the plot.

Darwin´s idea, oddly enough, was quite quickly accepted by the religious community. Many churches and religious leaders had already accepted Charles Lyell´s idea of millions of years and the uniformitarian interpretation of geology. James Hutton back in 1788 had published his book The Theory of the Earth reinterpreting the geological column into millions of years instead of the traditional Biblical 6000 years. In 1830 Lyell had published his Principles of Geology convincingly arguing in favor of Hutton´s reinterpretation of the geologic record. Lyell´s mantra was to get Moses out of science.

Up until that time, scientist had generally interpreted the geological evidence in terms of the creation and the flood. Kepler, Newton, Pastuer and Mendel, to name a few, were all creationists. In 1658 Archbishop James Ussher´s Annals of the World had been published and traced the history of the world back to the flood and then to creation on the 23rd of October 4004 BC. The flood was believed to have occurred some 1650 years later in 2350 BC. Most scientists, until the 1800´s, had believed in a rational God who had created a rational world for us to live in. Therefore, by the careful studying of life and of nature, one could discover the how and the why to the way God had done things. As the famous early scientist and astronomer Johann Kepler said about his research, “I was merely thinking God´s thoughts after Him.”[5]

The religious community was already accepting the ideas of millions of years. In 1855, four years before the publishing of Charles book, we find that even the famous evangelist Charles Spurgeon had succumbed to the idea of millions of years. “Can any man tell me when the beginning was? Years ago we thought the beginning of the world was when Adam came upon it. But we have discovered that thousands of years before that God was preparing chaotic matter to make it a fit abode for man, putting races of creatures upon it, who might die and leave behind the marks of his handiwork and marvelous skill, before he tried his hand on man.”[6]

Once you deny the authority of God´s word you are left with believing man´s word over God´s word. Since the Garden of Eden, the enemy´s method has been to try to get God´s people to doubt God´s word. “And the serpent said unto the woman, ´Has God said?´”[7] Doubting the truth of God´s word led to Eve´s and Adam’s ultimate disobedience. By accepting the millions of years of Hutton and Lyell, by accepting Darwin´s General Theory of Evolution, modern man has eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and has been deceived. As Michael Denton Australian biologists and agnostic wrote in his book Evolution: A Theory in Crisis in 1985, “Today it is perhaps the Darwinian view of nature more than any other that is responsible for the agnostic and skeptical outlook of the twentieth century.”[8]

Even though there was no proof in the fossil record in 1859, Charles postulated that later generations would find the missing fossil links to prove his theory. However, the links have never been found.

Scientists know today that neither natural selection nor beneficial mutation can add new genetic information to the genome. Dr. Jonathan Wells, molecular biologist has said, “There is no evidence that DNA can provide the sorts of variation needed for evolution. There is no evidence for beneficial mutations at the level of macroevolution, but there is also no evidence at the level of what is commonly regarded as microevolution.”[9] Therefore, “molecules to man” evolution doesn’t have a mechanism. Rather than reveal the truth to the general public, the evolutionary scientists try to cover up the facts. As they themselves have admitted, “we cannot allow one divine foot in the door.”[10] Even though the scientists know evolution has no mechanism, they hold to the theory because the only other viable possibly is divine creation. To them, creation is intolerable.

But don’t dinosaurs and fossils prove the earth is millions of year’s old, one may ask? All the dinosaur’s bones prove is that dinosaurs once existed and have become extinct. The bones do not come with labels and dates on them. What most people do not understand is that every scientist has preconceived ideas. Scientists are not neutral. Why is there such a difference in opinion between the evolution scientist and creation scientist? Either one can be highly decorated scientifically, yet both will interpret the evidence, the fossils, differently. The reason is they have different mindsets and their mindsets, or belief systems, cause them to interpret fossils or geological events differently.

One might also ask about carbon dating and radiometric dating. Haven´t these proven the earth is millions or even billions of years old? Remember, evidence is always interpreted. Creation scientists have good answers to these questions which we do not have room to discuss now. But there are good logical scientific answers. Remember, science is done by fallible men and women who always start their science with assumptions. Depending on their assumptions, they come up with different conclusions. In his book The Young Earth, Dr. John Morris goes over many of the physical evidences that seem to indicate that the a young earth perspective makes better sense than a "millions of years" perspective.[11]

I believe, we can trust God´s Word, always, over man´s word. Even though you may be intimidated by the scientific jargon and reasoning, God has an answer. Creation scientists and apologetics are doing all they can to get the tools to you so you can answer questions about science, evolution and faith. With a little study and research, you will soon be able to defend the faith, as Peter has admonished us to do. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts (you´ll need to spend time with the Lord): and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”[12] God bless you as you “study to show yourself approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth.”[13] Amen!

More information about the creation/evolution debate can be found at these websites: Creation Ministries International at www.creation.com or Answers in Genesis at www.answersingenesis.org or the Institute for Creation Research at www.icr.org or www.creationtoday.org .

Footnotes:

1. Lincoln, Abraham; http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/131220-i-can-see-how-it-might-be-possible-for-a.
2. Lincoln, Abraham; http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/392563-in-regards-to-this-great-book-the-bible-i-have
3. Darwin, Charles; The Origins of the Species, 1859; http://www.bartleby.com/11/6005.html
4. Darwin, Charles; Life and Letters; http://www.millthorpeschool.co.uk/departments/re/Y10%20Powerpoints/Christian%20beliefs%20about%20God.pdf
5. Kepler, Johann; 1571-1630, http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Johannes_Kepler
6. Spurgeon, Charles; C.H. Spurgeon, “Election,” The New Park Street Pulpit 1-from 1855-56 sermons (1990): 318.
7. Genesis 3:1
8. Denton, Dr. Michael; Evolution: A Theory in Crisis; http://www.exampleofgrace.net/evolution-is-a-false-relgion.php
9. Wells, Dr. Jonathan; The Design of Life, 2008; with William Demski..
10. Lewontin, Prof. Richard; Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds - Page 81, by Philip E. Johnson, 1997.
11. Morris, Dr. John, The Young Earth, Master Books, 2007. or see the following link: http://www.temcat.com/L-4-Topical-Library/Creation/TheYoung-Earth.pdf
12. 1Peter 3:15
13. 2Timothy 2:15