Do
You Believe That Evolution Is True?
If so,
then provide an answer to the following questions. "Evolution" in this
context is the idea that natural, undirected processes are sufficient to account
for the existence of all natural things.
1. Something from nothing?
The "Big Bang", the most widely accepted theory of the beginning of the
universe, states that everything developed from a small dense cloud of
subatomic particles and radiation which exploded, forming hydrogen (and some
helium) gas. Where did this energy/matter come from? How reasonable is it to
assume it came into being from nothing? And even if it did come into being, what
would cause it to explode? We know from common experience that explosions are
destructive and lead to disorder. How reasonable is it to assume that a "big
bang" explosion produced the opposite effect - increasing "information", order
and the formation of useful structures, such as stars and planets, and
eventually people?
2. Physical laws an accident?
We know the universe is governed by several fundamental physical laws, such as
electromagnetic forces, gravity, conservation of mass and energy, etc. The
activities of our universe depend upon these principles just like a computer
program depends upon the existence of computer hardware with an instruction set.
How reasonable is it to say that these great controlling principles developed by
accident?
3. Order from disorder?
The Second Law of Thermodynamics may be the most verified law of science. It
states that systems become more disordered over time, unless energy is supplied
and directed to create order. Evolutionists say that the opposite has taken
place - that order increased over time, without any directed energy. How can
this be?
ASIDE: Evolutionists commonly object that the Second Law applies to closed, or
isolated systems, and that the Earth is certainly not a closed system (it gets
lots of raw energy from the Sun, for example). However, all systems, whether
open or closed, tend to deteriorate. For example, living organisms are open
systems but they all decay and die. Also, the universe in total is a closed
system. To say that the chaos of the big bang has transformed itself into the
human brain with its 120 trillion connections is a clear violation of the Second
Law.
We should also point out that the availability of raw energy to a system is a
necessary but far from sufficient condition for a local decrease in entropy to
occur. Certainly, the application of a blow torch to bicycle parts will not
result in a bicycle being assembled - only the careful application of directed
energy will, such as from the hands of a person following a plan. The presence
of energy from the Sun does NOT solve the evolutionist's problem of how
increasing order could occur on the Earth, contrary to the Second Law.
4. Information from Randomness?
Information theory states that "information" never arises out of randomness or
chance events. Our human experience verifies this every day. How can the origin
of the tremendous increase in information from simple organisms up to man be
accounted for? Information is always introduced from the outside. It is
impossible for natural processes to produce their own actual information, or
meaning, which is what evolutionists claim has happened. Random typing might
produce the string "dog", but it only means something to an intelligent
observer who has applied a definition to this sequence of letters. The
generation of information always requires intelligence, yet evolution claims
that no intelligence was involved in the ultimate formation of a human being
whose many systems contain vast amounts of information.
5. Life from dead chemicals?
Evolutionists claim that life formed from non-life (dead chemicals), so-called "abiogenesis",
even though it is a biological law ("biogenesis") that life only comes from
life. The probability of the simplest imaginable replicating system forming by
itself from non-living chemicals has been calculated to be so very small as to
be essentially zero - much less than one chance in the number of electron-sized
particles that could fit in the entire visible universe! Given these odds, is it
reasonable to believe that life formed itself?
6. Complex DNA and RNA by chance?
The continued existence (the reproduction) of a cell requires both DNA (the
"plan") and RNA (the "copy mechanism"), both of which are tremendously complex.
How reasonable is it to believe that these two co-dependent necessities came
into existence by chance at exactly the same time?
7. Life is complex
We know and appreciate the tremendous amount of intelligent design and
planning that went into landing a man on the moon. Yet the complexity of this
task pales in comparison to the complexity of even the simplest life form. How
reasonable is it to believe that purely natural processes, with no designer, no
intelligence, and no plan, produced a human being.
8. Where are the transitional fossils?
If evolution has taken place our museums should be overflowing with the
skeletons of countless transitional forms. Yet after over one hundred years of
intense searching only a small number of transitional candidates are touted as
proof of evolution. If evolution has really taken place, where are the
transitional forms? And why does the fossil record actually show all species
first appearing fully formed, with most nearly identical to current instances of
the species?
ASIDE: Most of the examples touted by evolutionists concentrate on just one
feature of the anatomy, like a particular bone or the skull. A true
transitional fossil should be intermediate in many if not all aspects. The next
time someone shows you how this bone changed over time, ask them about the rest
of the creature too! Many evolutionists still like to believe in the "scarcity"
of the fossil record. Yet simple statistics will show that given you have found
a number of fossil instances of a creature, the chances that you have missed
every one of its imagined predecessors is very small. Consider the trilobites
for example. These fossils are so common you can buy one for under $20, yet no
fossils of a predecessor have been found!
9. Could an intermediate even survive?
Evolution requires the transition from one kind to another to be gradual. And
don't forget that "natural selection" is supposed to retain those individuals
which have developed an advantage of some sort. How could an animal intermediate
between one kind and another even survive (and why would it ever be selected
for), when it would not be well-suited toeither its old environment or its new
environment? Can you even imagine a possible sequence of small changes which
takes a creature from one kind to another, all the while keeping it not only
alive, but improved?
ASIDE: Certainly a "light-sensitive spot" is better than no vision at all. But
why would such a spot even develop? (evolutionists like to take this for
granted). And even if it did develop, to believe that mutations of such a spot
eventually brought about the tremendous complexities of the human eye strains
all common sense and experience.
10. Reproduction without reproduction?
A main tenet of evolution is the idea that things develop by an (unguided)
series of small changes, caused by mutations, which are "selected" for,
keeping the "better" changes" over a very long period of time. How could the
ability to reproduce evolve, without the ability to reproduce? Can you even
imagine a theoretical scenario which would allow this to happen? And why would
evolution produce two sexes, many times over? A sexual reproduction would seem
to be more likely and efficient!
ASIDE: To relegate the question of reproduction to "abiogenesis" does NOT
address the problem. To assume existing, reproducing life for the principles of
evolution to work on is a HUGE assumption which is seldom focused on in popular
discussions.
11. Plants without photosynthesis?
The process of photosynthesis in plants is very complex. How could the first
plant survive unless it already possessed this remarkable capability?
12. How do you explain symbiotic relationships?
There are many examples of plants and animals which have a "symbiotic"
relationship (they need each other to survive). How can evolution explain
this?
13.It's no good unless it's complete
We know from everyday experience that an item is not generally useful until it
is complete, whether it be a car, a cake, or a computer program. Why would
natural selection start to make an eye, or an ear, or a wing (or anything else)
when this item would not benefit the animal until it was completed?
ASIDE: Note that even a "light-sensitive spot" or the simplest version of any
feature is far from a "one-jump" change that is trivial to produce.
14. Explain metamorphosis!
How can evolution explain the metamorphosis of the butterfly? Once the
caterpillar evolves into the "mass of jelly" (out of which the butterfly
comes), wouldn't it appear to be "stuck"?
15. It should be easy to show evolution
If evolution is the grand mechanism that has produced all natural things from a
simple gas, surely this mechanism must be easily seen. It should be possible to
prove its existence in a matter of weeks or days, if not hours. Yet scientists
have been bombarding countless generations of fruit flies with radiation for
several decades in order to show evolution in action and still have only
produced ... more (deformed) fruit flies. How reasonable is it to believe that
evolution is a fact when even the simplest of experiments has not been able to
document it?
ASIDE: The artificial creation of a new species is far too small of a change
to prove that true "macro-evolution" is possible. Developing a new species
changes the existing information, but does not add new information, such as
would be needed for a new organ, for example.
16. Complex things require intelligent design, folks!
People are intelligent. If a team of engineers were to, one day, design a robot
which could cross all types of terrain, could dig large holes, could carry
several times its weight, found its own energy sources, could make more robots
like itself, and was only 1/8 of an inch tall, we would marvel at this
achievement. All of our life's experiences lead us to know that such a robot
could never come about by accident, or assemble itself by chance, even if all of
the parts were available laying next to each other. And we are certain beyond
doubt that a canister of hydrogen gas, not matter how long we left it there or
what type of raw energy we might apply to it, would never result in such a robot
being produced. But we already have such a "robot" - it is called an "ant", and
we squash them because they are "nothing" compared to people. And God made them,
and he made us. Can there be any other explanation?