The better we understand DNA, the clearer the evidence for intentional design becomes. God is very fond of the Truth, Eph 4:25, "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another." So, let us shine the light of Truth onto the question of origins.
Question 1: How did the first living cell come into existence?
a. The "Bible" says: God created all living things, Col 1:16-17, "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." And everything they would need to thrive, Phil 4:19, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
b. The "Theory of Evolution" says: Not sure, however, a single cell somehow formed when heat, water, and chemicals combined.
Question 2: How did that first cell evolve into the large number of complex forms of life we see today?
a. The "Bible" says: God created everything uniquely complex, with fully functioning systems, Ps 139:14, "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." that allow them to reproduce themselves, and to repair and replace individual cells, Gen 1:28, "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
b. The "Theory of Evolution" says: Not sure, however, we believe random mutations and natural selection occurred over billions of years.
Is there evidence for evolution? After reading many books, articles, and posts on evolution, it became apparent we would have to find a scientist who looks for the answer using pure science alone, without letting faith, or the lack thereof, get in their way. That scientist is Dr. Lee Spetner, an American physicist with a Ph.D. from MIT. He first became interested in evolution in 1963 while on a fellowship in the biophysics department of Johns Hopkins University. After retirement, he has continued his scientific study on the origins of life, and he is still looking for a scientifically verifiable answer. One of his goals is to free scientists from the straitjacket of religious propaganda that has long restricted their work. A religious agenda will only get in the way of good science.
Good science moves from theory to law by finding the formula that defines it, then testing that formula in the natural world, or lacking a formula, calculating the probability of the theory being true, then testing to verify it. Sir Isaac Newton had a theory about gravity, then he found a formula that defined it. Finally, he proved it by using that formula to correctly determine the elliptical orbits of the planets.
There is no proven formula for evolution; thus, searching began for a valid probability analysis of the current theory. Using genetic parameters only, Dr. Spetner determined evolution to be scientifically impossible. Dr. Spetner explains, "If we accepted the evolutionists' statement that a new species could develop from only a chain of 500 successful adaptive mutations, we have the problem that even if every one of them endured the numerous challenges of survival to the next generation and achieved a high enough acceptance rate to actually become the norm in that population, it would have to happen 500 times in a row. The chance of 500 successful steps is 1/300,000 multiplied by itself 500 times. This is more than 2,000 orders of magnitude smaller than the chance of the event being called impossible." In scientific terms, this means it is impossible. It would be like throwing 150 coins in the air and having them all come up heads, and doing it successfully thousands of times in a row. Most reasoning people would think that is impossible, and doing it for a billion years would not overcome the odds. So, how did we get so many people to believe in evolution and scientists to accept it?
In 1859 Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution, On the Origin of Species. Atheists, with an agenda, used it to claim science had finally dethroned the Biblical creation story. However, at the time of Mr. Darwin's work, the science of that day had not learned about DNA. This lack of knowledge allowed some scientists to accept Mr. Darwin's theory because they had been looking for a natural way to explain the origins of life and had not found a better answer. Since God told us in Genesis that He created everything in six days, Gen 1:31, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." atheists boasted this proved God did not exist.
So, what is DNA, and how does it invalidate the current theory of evolution?
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the chemical compound that contains the instructions needed to direct the activities of all living organisms. A genome is an organism’s complete DNA. In humans, a copy of the entire genome contains more than 3 billion DNA base pairs, and these pairs are included in every cell that has a nucleus. These base pairs are the coding required to instruct every function of the human body, including building, maintaining, repairing, and replacing cells, Job 33:4, "The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." God is trying to help us understand, we still do not know everything, Rom 1:20, "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:" however, ignoring the once invisible DNA will leave us without any excuse and lost in the lies intended to keep us from Him.
The current theory of evolution states that all present-day life is assumed to have evolved from a single primitive cell, which formed itself from simple chemicals. And, that this cell then gained the information needed to create all life as we know it. To prove evolution, someone would have to demonstrate that a cell could form itself from an existing inert chemical ooze and then acquire information from outside itself, thus making it more complex. Neither of these proposed ideas has ever been proven. Donald Batten, Ph.D. from the University of Syndey, reminds us, most attempts at proving the current theory of evolution rely on the informal logical fallacy of "argument from authority" instead of real proof. Since Dr. Batten is a professional biologist, an "argument from authority" doesn’t impress him in the least, nor should it influence us. "Only proof that genetic information can increase, defying the second law of thermodynamics, would do that. And, most evolutionists misunderstand the vital point that evolution from goo to you, via the zoo, requires changes that increase genetic information content."
Darwin promised abiogenesis, life from non-life, would be proved in the future. 100-years later, in 1960, a group of scientists, working in laboratories around the world, proclaimed they were close to demonstrating it. Today, another sixty years later, no scientist has ever created life from non-living elements, Rom 9:20-21, "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?"
Darwin also promised transitional fossils would be found to provide the evidence of evolution. However, 150-years later, still no proof. Of course, Darwin did not have the benefit of DNA and did not understand the complexity of cells. He just proposed a theory, based on evidence from personal observation. Unfortunately, Darwin allowed the evidence to lead him down the wrong path. So, what is the correct path?
The correct path is the one that leads us to fully understand the coding of DNA, 1 Tim 2:4, "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." The truth of DNA is that there are mutations from one generation to the next. However, there has never been a mutation that added information to a genome. Instead, elements are destroyed, information is lost, not gained. Crabs eat snails, but only those with thin shells. When snails sense that crabs are around, they grow thicker shells by activating programming already existing in their DNA. It is like flipping a light switch, the wiring was already there, nothing was added to the snails' genome. Darwin's finches developed different shaped beaks, leading him to believe they were evolving. Darwin didn't understand that those finches were already capable of changing the shape of their beaks, allowing them to feed on the available seeds, the coding was stored in their DNA. Those with an agenda attribute these events to evolution, Dr. Spetner rightfully identifies it as part of the original design. Instead of an example of survival of the fittest, it is an example of innovative design elements being activated, allowing the organism to thrive in an ever-changing environment, Eph 2:10, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." If God created organisms to live in a range of environments, this design would certainly be the most efficient way for them to thrive.
In April 2003, researchers announced that the Human Genome Project had completed a high-quality sequence of virtually the entire human genome. Out of the discovery of DNA, and the technology needed to sequence the genomes of both humans and animals, came the fact we have a lot in common with our animal friends. If there is a creator, that is precisely what we would expect to find. When the engineers at Ford Motors design a new car, they do not recreate the wheel. They use the same wheel design used in previously designed vehicles. So, when God creates an animal, there are many similarities between the design of their parts and human parts.
One might speculate that we share some of our DNA with orangutans. However, we also share DNA with other, less simian animals. So, to learn that humans and orangutans share 96.9 percent of their DNA is not surprising. Humans and monkeys share approximately 93 percent. Humans and mice share nearly 90 percent. Humans and dogs share 84 percent. Humans and birds share about 65 percent. Are we beginning to see a pattern? Eph 3:9, "And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:"
There was no new scientific evidence for or against small random mutations cumulatively building to significant evolutionary changes during the eighty years between Darwin's book and the 1942 meeting of the Neo-Darwinian Theorists. Since then, we have a lot of evidence regarding the nature of mutations, none that vindicates the Darwinian theory, but plenty that refutes it. For a better education on DNA and the proofs within that invalidate the theory of evolution, get Dr. Lee Spetner's books: "Not By Chance!" published in 1997 and "The Evolution Revolution" released in 2014. Only science, no opinions, or unproven theories.
If you have comments about the blog you just read, want to express an opposing opinion, have suggestions for future topics, and/or want me to email you the blog weekly, email me at bill@reasoningwithgod.com.