Darwin and Evolution .......... Parables 646

June 29, 1999

During a recent writer’s meeting, one author read her well-researched article about Charles Darwin. She told how this man set down his theory of evolution without a thought that it would become today’s “fact.” At the end of his life, he lamented what he had done and turned to God for forgiveness. He spent his last years praising the Lord for His marvelous creation. (This is considered an urban myth by many historians. Only God knows for sure.)

The story brought out that Darwin had a fine mind. It is doubtful he would argue with logic because, if challenged, he seemed willing to rethink his ideas. Today’s evolutionists are not so open, but then, I also once believed in their theories. After becoming a Christian, my heart, and the Bible, told me evolution was not the way things came to be. After thinking about it, I could see a few basic flaws.

For one, the theory of evolution postulates that order comes from chaos. That is, the primaeval “soup” or disordered mixture of various basic ingredients, eventually fell into order and this hodgepodge slowly (or with a bang) made a world. This basic flaw is challenged by a basic law. The second law of thermodynamics states all things tend toward deterioration. Even my desk proves it. No matter how hard I try, it slides again and again into a mess. Actually, this law does not require much proof. All things do tend toward deterioration. Homemade or crafted by nature, if left alone, rust or weeds eventually win.

A second flaw in evolution is the idea that time and chance produce progress. That is, given enough years and enough accidents, the ingredients in the primaeval soup crashed together in just the right combination to produce life. Another law challenges this flaw. It is best illustrated by the fact that you cannot shake a bag of watch parts and expect them to make a watch. Whatever accidently comes together comes apart with the next shake. While an evolutionist might claim that millions of years give time for the accidents to occur and the “shaking” to stop at the right moment, life is simply too complex for that option.

A third flaw is that the so-called evidence for evolution is questionable. Some of it falls into the same category as statistics. That is, you can make of it whatever you want to make of it. If you want to prove Darwin’s theory, some of the evidence will seem to support it. The challenging law is common sense, both from Scripture and experience. Not everything is what it appears. We can assume explanations but that does not make them valid. For instance, a universal flood could have done what has been attributed to an ice age.

Another flaw is the way this topic is approached. Science tipped off its moorings when it followed Darwin’s supposition because origins are not strictly a science. The scientific method opens with theories but never allows theories to prove anything. Instead, experiments are done to affirm them. Evolution assumes the theory is right then only allows evidence that supports it.

Since no one can duplicate how the world began, what we believe about it is a matter of faith. We either believe in the evidence or in the source of it. We can look at the stacks of bones and listen to those who stacked them, or we can check out the Word of Someone who was there.

The Bible says, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” What we see was not created the way we think it was. God says so and unless we believe Him, the best we can do is speculate.

The Bible is more up-to-date than most people think!