4 minute read
Four Myths of Evolution
By Rev. Michael McCoy
Myth #1: Evolution is a scientific theory
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In order for something to be a scientific theory, there must be observation, testing, and duplication. A scientist has to be able to measure it, test it, and make it happen again. That’s the scientific method of investigation described in your biology text. No one has observed evolution and no one could ever test it. That would take millions of years. Evolution, like creation, can’t be duplicated.
Evolution is a model. A model is a description of something that people believe to be true. The evolution of life is a model. The creation by God is also a model.
Did life evolve on its own or did God create it? Which model best fits the facts?
Myth #2: Life began before intelligence
Which came first: the chicken or the egg? Here’s another one—which came first: intelligence or life? Evolution says life came first; Christianity believes God came first. Which is more likely?
How likely is it that this world started on its own and evolved into every living thing? Count all living things—all the different plants, birds, insects, fish, mammals, reptiles and, of course, the platypus. There must be hundreds of thousands of different living things!
Consider these odds: Bristlecone pine trees live to be 4,000 years old. Could this tree actually evolve? Or how many leaps from tall trees did the squirrel survive before it developed wings and became the flying squirrel? Or what are the chances that the mayfly (that lives three days) and the giant tortoise (that lives 150 years) are cousins? How likely is it that all living things came from one instance of evolution? What is the probability that all the hundreds of thousands of different livings things spontaneously evolved separately and are here today? Obviously, the odds are too enormous to overcome. Intelligence must have preceded life and is responsible for life. In other words, “In the beginning, God...”
As a Christian you believe that God created everything in six days. God created light, the universe, time, earth, air, and water. The Creator also created everything that lives—plants, animals, birds, fish, the platypus, and the flying squirrel. Then the Lord created Adam and Eve. And behold, it was very good. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). (And, by the way, the chicken came first.)
Myth #3: In evolution, things go from disorder to order
Entropy is a scientific law that says things go from order to disorder. You clean your room on Saturday and it’s a disaster by Friday. Windows don’t start out dirty and become clean by themselves. Bananas go bad quickly; the pyramids take longer. Entropy is all about disorder and decay.
Evolution maintains the opposite. Evolution contradicts entropy, saying things go from disorder to order. By themselves, things went from non-living to living and from simple to complex. Evolution says life began in a soupy pool and continued to progress until the human race happened with the simultaneous evolutions of a man and of a woman. Evolution contradicts this basic scientific law.
The Biblical record of history accepts entropy as a reality. God formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Man became a living being. Male and female He created them. It was good, but it didn’t remain that way. The fall of Adam and Eve into sin resulted in disease, degeneration, and death.
Myth #4: Life exists without the involvement of God
So you say that your room is clean on Friday. Why? It’s because you or someone else gets involved to keep it from becoming a disaster. It couldn’t happen on its own. Someone got involved and did what was needed.
God is needed to preserve His creation. Evolution is silent here. The Lord gets involved to sustain this world that is heading to the end of time. He doesn’t reverse entropy but does keep it from having its way with the world.
Then God does the unexpected. Christ comes into this world to be our Redeemer. Jesus is born in Bethlehem. One of the trees He created is used to crucify Him. Jesus dies for the life of the world and rises again on Easter. He does this so that you may be regenerated in Baptism and forgiven of all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. In Christ, you are a new creation.
Rev. Michael L. McCoy is pastor at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Emmett, Idaho and provides resources for the world at www.scholia.net. His email address is mmccoy19@earthlink.net.