Believing the theory of evolution is an act of faith

Believing the theory of evolution is an act of faith

Laindon

December 30th 2012

Believing evolution 2

God’s account of creationGod’s account of creation

• Is to be found in the Bible, notably the Book of Genesis

• Tells us that the creation of which we are a part was brought into existence by God over 7 days

• This creation was designed by God with a purpose, about 6,000 years ago

• God continues to sustain all life

Believing evolution 3

The theory of evolutionThe theory of evolution

• Life, the origin of which is unknown, is not designed but has evolved

• It started as very simple single cell structures and has reached its pinnacle of complexity in man, by countless small steps over 100’s of millions of years

• It is totally subject to chance events and has no purpose at all

Believing evolution 4

Therefore…Therefore…

THEY CANNOT BOTH BE TRUE

Believing evolution 5

God’s definition of faithGod’s definition of faith

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” Hebrews 11:1&3

“Where wast thou when I

laid the foundations of the

earth?”

Job 38:4

Believing evolution 6

Richard Dawkin’s view of faithRichard Dawkin’s view of faith

“Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.”

…therefore, by implication

Science and in particular the theory of evolution are based upon evidence and do not require faith

Darwin delusion 7

Darwin’s admissions (1)Darwin’s admissions (1)

“On this doctrine of the extermination of an infinitude of connecting links, between the living and extinct inhabitants of the world, and at each successive period between the extinct and still older species, why is not every geological foundation charged with such links? Why does not every collection of fossil remains afford plain evidence of the gradation and mutation of the forms of life? We meet with no such evidence, and this is the most obvious and forcible of the many objections which may be urged against my theory.”

Darwin delusion 8

Darwin’s admissions (2)Darwin’s admissions (2)“Turning to geographical distribution, the difficulties encountered on the theory of descent with modification are grave enough. All the individuals of the same species, and all the species of the same genus, or even higher group, must have descended from common parents; and therefore , in however distant and isolated parts of the world they are now found, they must in the course of successive generations have passed from some one part to the others. We are often wholly unable even to conjecture how this could have been effected.”

Darwin delusion 9

Darwin’s admissions (3)Darwin’s admissions (3)

“To suppose that the eye, with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.”

Darwin delusion 10

Most recent scholarshipMost recent scholarship

• No satisfactory explanation of the profound defects in Darwin’s theory

• Recognition of ‘fine-tuning’ in the universe (The Goldilocks Enigma)

• Richard Dawkins’ rather preposterous theory that there are billions of parallel universes (from his polemic ‘God delusion’)

• Senior atheist scientist at Oxford University comments: "Don't judge the rest of us by this pseudo-intellectual drivel”

Darwin delusion 11

But does this mean science & the Bible are in conflict?But does this mean science & the Bible are in conflict?

• Yes and no!• Evolutionary theories of science are in conflict

but ‘true science’ is not:– Genesis account of creation is logical and rational– “After their own kind”, albeit resilient and adaptable– God completed His creation– The creation account is affirmed by Jesus and the

apostles

• You cannot be a true Christian and believe in the theory of evolution

Darwin delusion 12

Where does this leave us?Where does this leave us?

• Evolution is nothing more then a theory• Evolution is an interpretation of certain

scientific facts and observations• It has failed to explain the origins of life• It leaves us with a universe without

design, without any nobility of purpose, only blind chance and oblivion

• It therefore not only requires faith but is a bleak and sterile view of the world

Darwin delusion 13

Richard Dawkins himself saysRichard Dawkins himself says

The universe has: “no design, no

purpose, no evil and no good, nothing

but blind pitiless indifference.”

Darwin delusion 14

What choice do we have?What choice do we have?

To believe and have faith in chance and evolution or in God, the creator who has a clear purpose, which he has revealed:

“For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord ; and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:18

Darwin delusion 15

The limits of scienceThe limits of science

Sir Peter Medawar, winner of Nobel Prize for medicine:

“That there is indeed a limit upon science is made very likely by the existence of questions that science cannot answer, and that no conceivable advance of science would empower it to answer… I have in mind such questions as: How did everything begin? What are we all here for? What is the point of living? Doctrinaire Positivism dismissed all such questions as nonquestions or pseudoquestions only simpletons would ask or charlatans profess to be able to answer.”

Darwin delusion 16

What science cannot answer, God has revealedWhat science cannot answer, God has revealed

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.”

Psalm 19:1-3

Darwin delusion 17

Entering God’s HouseEntering God’s House

“To speculate without facts is to attempt to enter a house of which one has not the key, by wandering aimlessly round and round, searching the walls and now and then peeping through the windows. Facts are the key.” Sir Julian Huxley 

God reveals the facts that answer the questions science does not and cannot answer