Can you trust the Bible? - Life
When it comes to the origin of life, the possible options
are limited. We either came from
something or we came from nothing. If we
came from nothing, then life is just a meaningless, purposeless, aimless
accident. Typically, this flows from thinking that embraces Darwinian
evolution & supposes that non-living matter exploded from a “big bang”
& somehow over unimaginable eons of time, things slowly changed to produce
all living & non-living things we see today. However, this view takes micro-evolution (change
within existing organism types – a.k.a. natural selection) & claims it as
evidence for the theory of
macro-evolution (change into entirely new
organism types – i.e. reptiles to mammals).
And before that, there’s an assumption that there was some sort of basic
organism which somehow made the vast leap from non-living matter to living
matter – non-life to life. The only
problem is that we have never observed life arising from non-life in the
physical universe. Living organisms have
never just sprung up from non-living minerals on their own. Life always
comes from existing life. This is known as the Law of Biogenesis.
And we know living organisms simply have not just always existed because of things like entropy (tendency towards disorder) & other scientific facts that show the universe is running down, indicating that it must have had a finite beginning or start at some point. And all the matter in the universe had to come from somewhere. This leads us to the option of life coming from something… or rather, someone. The Bible claims that God is the Creator of all things & that He created living things alongside non-living things at that finite starting point (Gen 1.1, 20, 24, 2.7, Neh 9.6). God is the source of all life!
This is what God the Lord says— he who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it - Isa 42.5
For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. - Jn 5.26
In fact, the Bible explains that God is eternal & is the source of life. The Biblical account of creation states that God created several categories of living things – vegetation (Gen 1.11-12), water creatures, flying creatures (Gen 1.20-21), land creatures (Gen 1.24-25) & mankind (Gen 1.26-27). Except for mankind, within each of these categories creatures were made “according to their kinds”. For instance, within the land creature category, dog & stegosaurus kinds were created & then various species descended from those original kinds.
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 people are without excuse. - Rom 1.20
God made each of the original kinds of creatures with specific & vast sets of genetic DNA that instructed their cells to produce certain types of features in certain arrangements. Over the course of time as the kinds reproduced, some of the genetic information was lost or corrupted (mutated). As a crude example, say a pack of dogs migrated to a region that was very cold & the short-haired dogs died off – some refer to this as natural selection or survival of the fittest; nonetheless, the DNA for short hair was lost in that group of dogs. But contrary to the claims of Darwinian evolution, this was not genetic progress – it was a step down because genetic information was lost. Such natural selection is never able to create new genetic information; such an undirected process merely strips out genetic information that doesn't survive in a given environment.
The Darwinian theory of evolution not only claims that through such processes “new” species (micro-evolution) are created, but also that new “kinds” are created (macro-evolution), such as a reptile turning into a bird. The latter is a scientific impossibility since we now know that specialized genetic information is necessary for individual “kinds” of creatures & their associated traits to be produced. In his defense, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) did not know about DNA, as it was discovered in the 1950’s. However, many “scientists” & educators since the 1950’s have known & still perpetuated this unscientific theory. Yet, the questions remain: Where did that genetic information come from & why was it organized in such a way in the first place? The Bible answers that it was God who created that genetic information & He organized it to make special creature kinds. Below are some books that explain all this in more detail as well as delve more into the creation/evolution debate – remember: both sides look at the same evidence, but start with different presuppositions & beliefs about certain things.
And we know living organisms simply have not just always existed because of things like entropy (tendency towards disorder) & other scientific facts that show the universe is running down, indicating that it must have had a finite beginning or start at some point. And all the matter in the universe had to come from somewhere. This leads us to the option of life coming from something… or rather, someone. The Bible claims that God is the Creator of all things & that He created living things alongside non-living things at that finite starting point (Gen 1.1, 20, 24, 2.7, Neh 9.6). God is the source of all life!
This is what God the Lord says— he who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it - Isa 42.5
For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. - Jn 5.26
In fact, the Bible explains that God is eternal & is the source of life. The Biblical account of creation states that God created several categories of living things – vegetation (Gen 1.11-12), water creatures, flying creatures (Gen 1.20-21), land creatures (Gen 1.24-25) & mankind (Gen 1.26-27). Except for mankind, within each of these categories creatures were made “according to their kinds”. For instance, within the land creature category, dog & stegosaurus kinds were created & then various species descended from those original kinds.
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 people are without excuse. - Rom 1.20
God made each of the original kinds of creatures with specific & vast sets of genetic DNA that instructed their cells to produce certain types of features in certain arrangements. Over the course of time as the kinds reproduced, some of the genetic information was lost or corrupted (mutated). As a crude example, say a pack of dogs migrated to a region that was very cold & the short-haired dogs died off – some refer to this as natural selection or survival of the fittest; nonetheless, the DNA for short hair was lost in that group of dogs. But contrary to the claims of Darwinian evolution, this was not genetic progress – it was a step down because genetic information was lost. Such natural selection is never able to create new genetic information; such an undirected process merely strips out genetic information that doesn't survive in a given environment.
The Darwinian theory of evolution not only claims that through such processes “new” species (micro-evolution) are created, but also that new “kinds” are created (macro-evolution), such as a reptile turning into a bird. The latter is a scientific impossibility since we now know that specialized genetic information is necessary for individual “kinds” of creatures & their associated traits to be produced. In his defense, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) did not know about DNA, as it was discovered in the 1950’s. However, many “scientists” & educators since the 1950’s have known & still perpetuated this unscientific theory. Yet, the questions remain: Where did that genetic information come from & why was it organized in such a way in the first place? The Bible answers that it was God who created that genetic information & He organized it to make special creature kinds. Below are some books that explain all this in more detail as well as delve more into the creation/evolution debate – remember: both sides look at the same evidence, but start with different presuppositions & beliefs about certain things.
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth... He himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
- Acts 17.24-27
- Acts 17.24-27
And then there are ideas such as “irreducible
complexity”. This fancy phrase has to do
with the fact that scientific research has shown that even “simple-celled”
organisms have very complex features (let alone not-so-simple creatures like humans). Such complex features have many
intricate parts that are also very critical.
So critical, in fact, that if any one of the parts hadn’t evolved yet or
didn’t evolve just right, then the whole organism would cease to function &
die out. These biological “machines”
have all the marks of intentional design.
With so many complexities of living organisms, evolutionary chance seems
an unlikely candidate for generating such diverse life.
Often in similar discussions, the term Intelligent Design (ID) comes up. The ID movement claims that there is an intelligence behind the design of life, but stops short of identifying just who it is. Creationism goes on to tell us that it is the God of the Bible. The video & teaser shown here are largely ID in nature, but these findings all point to a Creator God.
Often in similar discussions, the term Intelligent Design (ID) comes up. The ID movement claims that there is an intelligence behind the design of life, but stops short of identifying just who it is. Creationism goes on to tell us that it is the God of the Bible. The video & teaser shown here are largely ID in nature, but these findings all point to a Creator God.
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But not only is there life on Earth, there are diverse kinds of life. And if it’s a scientific impossibility to get any life from non-life, how about a vast array of life systems, each with complex genetic codes to generate & maintain their specific organs? For instance, there are external skeletons (insects) & internal skeletons – some are rigid bone, some are soft cartilage. There’s skin, fur, scales & feathers. These are no small differences, but each require specific genetic instruction.
Then there’s the diversity of hot & cold blooded circulatory systems. Cold blooded animals get their heat from their environment (ectothermic) while hot blooded creatures, such as people, generate their own heat energy (endothermic). In fact, the human body’s thermo-regulation is a truly intriguing design that is integrated into the entire body. Such integrated systems can never be a random after-thought or add-on, but must be considered at the onset of their design & creation or they could never work at all, let alone so masterfully – see the article in the link below for more.
http://www.icr.org/article/4558/
Then there’s the diversity of hot & cold blooded circulatory systems. Cold blooded animals get their heat from their environment (ectothermic) while hot blooded creatures, such as people, generate their own heat energy (endothermic). In fact, the human body’s thermo-regulation is a truly intriguing design that is integrated into the entire body. Such integrated systems can never be a random after-thought or add-on, but must be considered at the onset of their design & creation or they could never work at all, let alone so masterfully – see the article in the link below for more.
http://www.icr.org/article/4558/
Another critical feature of life is its ability to reproduce itself. But again, if developing life from non-life is so improbable, then how about developing 2 different sexes of the same species that are similar, but have unique organs? These would not only have to develop at roughly the same time, but also survive to maturity & find each other. Then reproduction - a miracle in & of itself - could take place. Apart from a few exceptions, we know from Scripture that people & most creatures were created “male & female” & were to “multiply” (Gen 1.27-28). This DVD tastefully reveals how marvelous & miraculous the creation of a new human life really is. We are, as Ps 139.13-18 states, “fearfully & wonderfully made”!
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One feature that Mr. Darwin seemed to struggle with was the intricate design of the eye & in one case he even said it was “absurd” that it “could have been formed by natural selection”. And though he was faced with this contradiction, he was ultimately committed to his evolutionary theory which forced him to believe certain things to the point of denying the obvious. Again, we have learned so much more about the complexities of the eye since his time & the eye’s wonderful design points to its wonderful Designer (Ps 94.9, Pr 20.12).
Ears that hear and eyes that see—the Lord has made them both. – Pr 20.12 Here is a link that discusses some fascinating eye movements: http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v16/n4/eye |
It’s always amazing to think about how God has made the body to heal. Here is a video excerpt from the Truth Project that reveals the amazing (& practical) design feature of blood clotting:
Life is not an accident... and neither are you!
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made
your works are wonderful, I know that full well. - Ps 139.14
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made
your works are wonderful, I know that full well. - Ps 139.14
Related Page: Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI)