Thursday 20 September 2012

Is Creation a Myth?

God stretches the northern sky over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing. –Job 26: 7

Evolution is a widely accepted theory that claims that all higher forms of life such as human beings have evolved from primitive and lower forms of life such as unicellular bacteria. A key process in evolution is speciation, in which a single ancestral species splits and diversifies into multiple new species. There are several modes through which this occurs. Ultimately, all living (and extinct) species are descended from a common ancestor via a long series of speciation events. These events stretch back in a diverse "tree of life" which has grown over the 3.5 billion years during which life has existed on Earth. This is visible in anatomical, genetic and other similarities between groups of organisms, geographical distribution of related species, the fossil record and the recorded genetic changes in living organisms over many generations.

Regarding the origin of life the evolutionists believe that since most amino acids, often called "the building blocks of life", can form via natural chemical reactions unrelated to life (as demonstrated in experiments which involved simulating some of the conditions of the early Earth) in a scientific laboratory, these amino acids were formed on their own by various chemical reactions in the primitive earth. These amino acids were organized in to proteins and nucleic acids which in turn formed the first living things on earth the  protobionts (organic molecules surrounded by a membrane-like structure) which later evolved into single cell prokaryotes (which lack a cell nucleus). Many models and explanations have been suggested to prove various theories of chemical evolution but the problem with every explanation is that as of 2010, no one has yet synthesized a "protocell" using basic components which would have the necessary properties of life. Without such a proof-of-principle, explanations have tended to be short on specifics.

Evolutionists also believe in the Big-bang origin of the universe which suggests the sudden appearance of everything from nothing. The premise of the Big Bang is that the entire universe was compacted into a teeny tiny little ball, which, after randomly coming into existence for no apparent reason in the first place, exploded into all space, time, matter and energy in an instant. This theory suggests that nothing existed before the explosion. Time and space came into existence as a result of this explosion or bang.

Just because of anatomical, genetic and other similarities between groups of organisms, geographical distribution of related species, the fossil record and the recorded genetic changes in living organisms over many generations one cannot assume that every creature evolved from a basic creature. E.g. I have many books in my book shelf. All of them look alike and are made of similar quality of paper. All are arranged in alphabetical order, each one was made in different time period and the quality of paper used for each book has been improving with every generation but this does not necessarily mean that each book came out of another book.

Isn’t it possible that every creature was created by God one after another, in a simple to complex order using similar organic material, the amino acids? Isn’t it possible that God created living things in their basic form as particular species of microbes, plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals, and then directed the processes of natural selection and genetic mutation to determine the course of things according to his plan?

The creation account in the book of genesis clearly states that God created every living thing on the earth. Therefore the source and the material for all living things is the same, it could be the amino acids that are formed from basic elements found in the earth. This accounts for the anatomical, genetic and other similarities between groups of organisms as well as the geographical distribution of related species. God did not create all the organisms in a single day. Elsewhere in the Bible we can see that a day of God can be longer than 1000 lunar years. This in fact is a simile, as we all know, and this would mean that God’s year can be longer than what we think and hence can account for the fossil record which suggests that there was a huge time gap in between the creation of different kinds of species. Further, the bible does not say that there cannot be genetic changes in living organisms that God has created; in fact the Bible identifies different species of giants that were produced as a result of union between human beings and angels. So the Bible does not rule out the possibility of genetic changes in living organisms over many generations. Regarding the origin of life and the universe there is no room for confusion in the Genesis account because it clearly states that God created the universe (heavens and the earth) and all forms of life.

Imagine a potter designing pots out of clay. He chooses to make small pots before the larger ones and arranges the pots according to the time of production from first to last. An evolutionist who sees the clay, the pots and their arrangement without seeing the potter would say, “Since all the pots look alike, are made of the same material, are arranged according to their different sizes and since the smaller pots came before the larger ones we can easily conclude that the larger pots came out of the smaller ones in due course of time.” If you show him the changes taking place in the pots due to environmental factors like heat and stress he would say that it is an adaptation due to genetic mutation and if he sees some pots broken he will call it natural selection. If someone asked the evolutionist about the clay he would say, “There was a big bang; no- where, at no point of time and the clay somehow came into existence.” Or else he would say, “The smaller pots have an alien origin”. If you suggest the possibility of a potter he would say, “Since we have no evidence of the existence of a potter and because we cannot know who created the potter we should conclude that there is no potter and that everything that we see here, the clay and the pots are a result of a big explosion, no-where, at no point of time.”

For evolution to have some significance the scientists who propose this theory should create a human being out of a virus or at least out of a mango seed, a living cell out of non-living substances and something out of nothing. Even if scientists successfully create a human being out of a virus, a living cell out of non-living substances and something out of nothing it cannot be counted as an automatic process like evolution because it would need the work of human intelligence which would act as a designer, a guide and a creator. Even if man creates everything out of nothing it cannot be a conclusive evidence of evolution because human intelligence that directs this process will then become a starting point, a something!

Since God created man in His own image, with similar intelligence and ability it is very likely that man may create a "protocell" using basic components in the near future. Even if man creates a protocell, it need not necessarily be the only way it could have taken place in the beginning. It will only be one of the ways in which a protocell can be synthesized out of inorganic substances. Even this data won’t be sufficient to prove that life began through chemical evolution. If God permits, man may even create a universe out of nothing but this would only strengthen the faith in the Genesis account which states that ‘God created man in His own image’. Evolution can come closer to the truth if someday a monkey makes a human being out of a virus.

Written By: Dr. Manoj Kumar Khatore
Copyright © 2012 Dr. Manoj Kumar Khatore

http://shalomchristianministry.org/

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