NEWS: Supersymmetry May Be Doomed

BACKGROUND

As noted in a past blog post, I do not believe that the Big Bang theory is entirely correct. One of the major problems with Big Bang cosmology is the predominance of matter as opposed to antimatter. The Bible indicates that God created the universe in a supernatural way—though it could be argued that that is simply referring to the creation of the fundamental properties of the universe, such as the physical laws of nature. However, there are enough problems with Big Bang cosmology predictions that I believe it is flawed. The main problem with it is that it excludes God from the picture of the formation of the universe.

My theory has been that God created a very small universe at the start, but not an infinitesimal universe as the Big Bang theory assumes. This small universe may have contained some physical particles already, which would answer the problem of matter being much more prevalent than antimatter. It might explain why there appears to be so much less matter in the universe than predicted by Big Bang cosmology. It would also allow for God to handcraft the universe and significant subsequent events in the universe simply by choosing the exact initial state of all the energy. God “stretched out” the universe, and eventually stars and galaxies and planets formed. (Now, obviously God may have been supernaturally interacting with the universe during this early stage of the universe, further molding the universe to His preferred end results.)

Those assuming a purely naturalistic answer to the formation of the universe have noted problems in the Standard Model accurately predicting the observed state(s) of the universe through time. As a result, they have searched for alternatives or extensions to the Standard Model, such as the “elegant” theory of supersymmetry. It turns out that the elegance of this theory may be all in the heads of physicists rather than real—which is a real bummer for those who worship the Creation rather than God. Also, to resolve problems with the predictions of the Standard Model, physicists have creatively invented “dark matter,” which has not been observed to exist like as predicted. “Dark matter” was invented to account for the missing matter of the universe.

THE NEWS

“HOPES of using the Higgs boson and the elegant theory of supersymmetry as shortcuts to discovering the mysteries of the universe are evaporating fast. …

[N]ew physics is urgently needed because the standard model contains no mention of dark matter, makes incorrect predictions about the universe's antimatter and requires awkward [sic.] ‘fine-tuning’ to incorporate the Higgs mass reported in July. …

But on 14 November, armed with twice as much data, CMS and ATLAS researchers told the Hadron Collider Physics Symposium in Kyoto, Japan, that the number of taus has crept up, removing the hint of deviant physics [from the standard model]. …

If [the one anomaly left] disappears too, the probable Higgs boson will look very standard indeed, which is strange because of all the known possible extensions to the standard model, none predicts a completely standard Higg. …

As if the boson's good behaviour wasn't frustrating enough, the LHC's searches for particles predicted by supersymmetry (SUSY) have turned up nothing. As SUSY - which proposes a heavier superpartner for each known particle - extends the standard model to include dark matter and other omissions, this failure deals a further blow to possible sources of new physics at the LHC. ...”^[1]  --November 23, 2012

All this means that those looking for purely naturalistic answers to the formation of the universe and its current state have been slapped in the face by the evidence. Their invention of “dark matter” is again rebuked as more a figment of their imagination than anything else. I will be happy to eat my words if they should find the missing dark matter, but I doubt they ever will. (Some matter has been found hiding in various places, which has been assumed to be dark matter, but still the majority of the predicted dark matter has not been observed.)

Notice also, the Standard Model does not explain the great excess of matter over “antimatter.” New physics is “urgently needed” by these cosmologists because the Standard Model is inadequate to explain how our universe formed, and they “urgently need” an answer that does not include God. That is, they assume that God does not exist, and they are unwilling to entertain the possibility that God was involved with the universe’s creation.

I think we are living in exciting times. New discoveries about the universe will only reinforce the Bible and the truth that God supernaturally created this universe.

EDIT [11/28/2014]: Two years after initially writing this post, supersymmetry (or, SUSY) still looks to be in bad shape as a theory. None of the predicted superpartner particles have been discovered. Some scientists are openly stating their opinion that SUSY ought to be abandoned. We'll keep following the news to see if anything changes, but I'm going to stick with my previous opinion that supersymmetry is "doomed."   

REFERENCE(S)

[1] http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628923.800-higgs-boson-is-too-saintly-and-supersymmetry-too-shy.html

NEWS: Assortment of News Items Related to Evolution-by-Design Theories

1. Dinosaurs May Have ‘Sprouted’ Wings Earlier than Previously Thought^[1]

Well, apparently more dinosaurs had feathers than previously thought. Also, the origination of feathers goes back further in time than previously known. This relates to my theories in that I believe that dinosaurs were a stepping stone to the formation of birds, and birds originated much earlier than currently known (c. 180-160 Ma). The Bible makes it clear that birds originated before modern land animals. This discovery of early types of dinosaurs having feathers helps further this point of view.

Prediction: We will find more evidence that early dinosaurs had feathers typically. We will find smaller dinos that look a lot like birds that lived before 160 Ma.

2. Evolution is ‘Far from Random’ and Follows Predictable Genetic Patterns^[2]

This is critical to my theories about designed evolution. Darwinian evolution says that evolution is based on random mutations and other changes that are perpetuated based on greater fitness—i.e. survival of the fittest. However, now there is direct evidence that evolution is “far from random,” which strongly supports my theories proposed on this site. Evolution is a designed and efficient process. Evidence is showing this to be true, I believe.

Prediction: We will find more evidence that evolution is nonrandom and that it is efficient. We will find that evolution is mostly driven by chemical changes in the environment that affect the epigenome.

3. [OLD NEWS] Early Jawless ‘Fish’ Had Genes Specific to Jawed Fish^[3]

As we have noted in a past post, a complex vertebrae structure specific to walking land animals existed in limbless fish before land animals were common. Here we have another similar case of a specific design existing before it became used as it is used today. Fish without jaws formed skeletal structures necessary for jaws to form. Magically? This (and the other example) was a highly fortuitous adaptation. This is odd for un-designed evolution, but for our proposed theory of designed evolution it is consistent and expected and reasonable.

Similarly, studies have shown that the brain and sense organs of jawless animals living 400 Ma were reorganized to allow for jaws.^[7] Then, once jaws formed, teeth apparently formed immediately or shortly thereafter, which is more evidence for body plans and genetic designs preexisting within genomes before they became rapidly expressed.^[8]

Prediction: More examples like this will be found. Complex designs will be found existing for no clear reason ‘shortly’ before the final evolutionary step was made that made the designs highly useful. These are missing links that indicate purposeful changes rather than random changes.

4. The Human Mutation Molecular Clock Found To Be Way Off^[6]

So, as I have been noting for some time on this blog, molecular clocks are not accurate and cannot be trusted. This recent study just confirms that. It is somewhat irrelevant what new molecular clocks they have devised. The point I wish to make is that molecular clocks are rough estimates that are based on bad assumptions about the way that evolution and mutations progress. It is a poor assumption that mutations have always proceeded at a constant rate. Given my theories on this site, I’m sure that you can imagine why I think this to be true. Previously, I showed how that the molecular clock for penguins was drastically adjusted as well. Now the clock for humans has been drastically adjusted. This does not bode well for the accuracy or trustworthiness of molecular clocks.

Prediction: More evidence will come to light eventually that ‘mutations’ do not always happen at the same rate but speed up or slow down based on environmental pressures. More evidence will be found that various molecular clocks are disturbingly incorrect and too difficult to calibrate. Eventually these ‘clocks’ will be considered unreliable.

EXTRA: Cells of Dinosaurs Apparently Confirmed to be Preserved After 67 Million Years^[4]

Now, how funny it was that an earlier study by about two weeks indicated that DNA degrades quickly and cannot last more than about 6.9 million years^[5]. There was no indication, however, that DNA existed in these dinosaur bones. So, perhaps this is not a contradiction. In any case, it is astonishing that proteins from cells could last 67 million years. I really don’t have much to say about this point, but it is interesting.

[1] http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/10/dinosaurs-sprouted-wings-earlier.html
[2] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121025130922.htm
[3] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100924095840.htm
[4] http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/tpschweitzer-bone/
[5] http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22359-dnas-halflife-identified-using-fossil-bones.html
[6] http://www.sciencemag.org/content/338/6104/189.summary
[7] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110817135351.htm   
[8] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121017131834.htm

NEWS: Cambrian Explosion Just Got Bigger

According to new research, during the Early Cambrian—a time when many of the animal phyla were first appearing over a relatively short geological timescale—complex brains had already evolved. Instead of increasing in complexity, the brain structure of insects and their ancestors were apparently devolving a tad from more complex to less complex:

“Have spiders gotten dumber over time? That's one possible conclusion from 50 well-preserved fossils excavated from 520-million-year-old rocks in southwestern China. The fossils belong to a 6-centimeter-long early arthropod—a group that includes insects; spiders; scorpions; and crustaceans such as shrimp, crabs, and lobsters—which had a surprisingly modern brain.  . . . [E]ye stalks were preserved in many different positions—a sign that they were flexible and that the creatures could control their movement, the researchers report online today in Nature. Furthermore, they say, the appearance of such a complex brain early in arthropod evolution suggests that the nervous systems of modern-day arthropods with simpler brains—such as spiders, scorpions, and the crustaceans known as water fleas—were at some point downsized by evolution [sic.], a contrast with previous notions that the brains of arthropods in those lineages had remained simple since arthropods first arose.”
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/10/scienceshot-spider-ancestor-had-.html (Emphasis added)

Now, let’s get a reminder of the complexity that arose during the Cambrian:

• Compound eye structures with 1000’s of lenses (~515 Ma) ^[1]
• Nervous systems with complex brains (little changed since that time, over 520 million years)
• 11 to 23+ animal phyla of 32 (phyla are basic body types), and perhaps many more extinct phyla
• Diverse complex cell-types

How many eons would it take for accidental changes in DNA to stumble upon all the complexity? Certainly, it would take longer than a meager 20 to 100 million years. Consider also that the compound eyes and complex brain structures have changed little after 500 million years. How does that make sense in terms of random, mindless evolution? Complexity arose in under 100 million years, and then there were 500 million years of relative stasis—preservation of complexity but little or no improvement. This does not sound like the work of chance to me.

It is worth mentioning that we are no closer to finding the necessary intermediate forms that would be expected and required of undesigned evolution. With undesigned evolution there must be many small steps of improvement that lead to complex designs, like the brain structure mentioned above. So far the fossil record keeps disputing Darwinian evolution. It is not enough that there are species of animals with varying degrees of complexity of eyes or brains. Darwinian evolution demands that complex structures evolved slowly from preexisting simple structures. The fossil record does not show this predicted gradual increase in complexity. This should make typical evolutionists nervous—very nervous. (That intricate brains would quickly evolve fits my model and predictions, as mentioned in a previous blog post ^[2], under points (4) and (16).)

[1] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111207132908.htm; http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110629132546.htm; http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/dec/07/predator-compound-eyes-stalks-cambrian
[2] http://createdevolution.blogspot.com/2011/07/accurate-predictions-of-designed.html

What About Viruses and Bacteria?

Would a loving God create bacteria and viruses? The fossil record says that these have been around since before the beginning of animal life. Where did these come from and why do they exist?
Bacteria. A healthy human body contains a few pounds of bacteria. There are many good strains of bacteria, and we would be in deep trouble without any bacteria—especially in regard to our digestion. Bacteria are not inherently bad. However, we all know and fear the bad ones. Some of them are deadly. Were these accidents or intentionally created? 

There is increasing evidence that bacteria are related to the mitochondria of cells. Whether the bacteria devolved from mitochondria or whether mitochondria evolved from bacteria is unclear from the evidence. Most evolutionists, trusting in the all-powerful creativity of undesigned evolution, believe that it only makes sense that simplicity leads to complexity through eons of time and chance. So, the prevailing ‘wisdom’ is that bacteria gave rise to mitochondria. In my theories, it makes perfect sense that the opposite happened: mitochondria (which are complex) devolved into bacteria (less complex in structure). Some dissenting scientists agree that this is a possibility. Somehow mitochondria in some ancient cells became increasingly independent from the rest of the cells, as more genetic code got transferred from the nuclei to the mitochondria. Eventually, one or more of these mitochondria broke free from the main cell and became the first bacteria, I believe.

Was this an accident? Nothing is ultimately an unforeseen and unplanned for accident from God’s perspective. But it may have been the natural result of decay, disorder, and randomness. In that sense, it may have been an accident. No one can say for sure. What I love about it, though, is that even if bacteria were born of decay, God used many of them for good in the design of animals and humans.

Viruses. Most viruses are harmful to humans. The exception is bacteriophages that infect bacteria. These may indirectly help humans in the case where they attack harmful bacteria. Indeed, some bacteriophages have been intentionally utilized to help fight off bacterial infections.

Recently, it has been found that giant viruses—which are nearly as large as bacteria and are more complex than typical viruses—appear to be related to cells. This means that viruses may be the result of devolving cells, in much the same way as bacteria, in my view. Perhaps another part of the cell became independent, or bacteria devolved further into viruses. Who knows for sure?

The Purpose. So, why would God allow these sometimes harmful things in the environment? First, before the Fall of Adam and Eve it is most certain that God would have supernaturally protected them from harm of any kind. There is the indication that where the glorious knowledge of God abounds, things are peaceful and no harm will come (Is. 11:9). The Garden of Eden was one of those places. Bad bacteria and viruses were not welcome. Neither were harmful insects and animals, like lions, allowed to harm man, as in the case of Daniel in the lion’s den (Dan. 6:22). Just because dangerous things exist does not mean that they are not under God’s control. All things are under God’s control. Nothing can harm anyone unless God allows it. Why did God allow fallen angels to enter into the world? It is the same question.

God has allowed harmful things in the environment because He knew that Man would fall and, as punishment, be subjected to a life of futility and decay. God prepared an imperfect world of suffering and decay for the unfolding plan of redemption of mankind. For a brief moment of time—a few short days—God upheld Adam and Eve such that they experienced no physical pain, suffering, or harm; then, they fell and God’s protecting hand was removed, as part of their curse. God wisely made the world from the very beginning to be firmly established (Jer. 10:12). Part of that wisdom and establishing involved preparing the world for a sinful human race. God wasn’t about to redesign the whole huge universe just because they sinned.

I actually agree with young-earth creationists who say that pain, suffering, diseases, and animal death are to remind us of the consequences of sin. There is no reason why these problems with the world could not have existed before Adam’s sin, being prepared for the Fall of mankind. When God’s hand of protection was removed from Adam and Eve, from their limited prospective it would have been just as if the world had been marred and changed for the worse. Harmful bacteria and viruses, then, originated likely from the decaying nature of the universe, but humans only became afflicted with them because of the Fall. 

Update

05/21/2013: Viruses have been found to be more helpful to animals than previously known. In humans and animals, apparently phages (a type of virus mentioned briefly above) are continually fighting off bacteria^[1], protecting creatures from harm. From this we see an example of how God made something we generally think of as harmful to be helpful to creatures.

[1] http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2013/05/friendly-viruses-protect-us-agai.html?rss=1

A Mechanism for Macroevolution

The recently discovered epigenome is the key to how all evolution has happened, I hypothesize. According to all that we now know, and my proposed theory that the first life on earth contained all the genetic codes for all the kinds of living things today, major evolution would naturally happen without invoking other unknown mysterious mechanisms.

How? Well, first let’s talk briefly about the epigenome. The epigenome is apparently the surrounding chemical environment in which the genome rests. The epigenome influences which genes get activated and which lie dormant. That is, simple chemical changes can influence gene expression. Furthermore, the epigenome gets passed from parent to child, resulting in customized changes to the expression of genes based on the actions and environment of the parent(s). This means that environmental changes influence gene expression for multiple generations. If there is a persistent environmental change, or if there is a persistent behavioral change, there would be a persistent change in the active genetic instructions (genes) for an organism. In other words, there would be some adaptation or evolution based on environment or behavior. We see this adaption all the time today. For example, the beaks of birds on the Galapagos Islands change rapidly in response to the environment. This is an adaption via the epigenome, I believe.

There’s one more important piece of the puzzle. If unexpressed genes remain unexpressed for many generations they can be permanently removed from the genome. Thus, purely environmental changes, causing changes to gene expression as explained above, can result in loss of information to an organism’s genome. An example of this is cave fish that have lost their eyes due to the darkness that renders them useless. The dark environment affected the epigenome which caused the genes for eyes to become unexpressed, and in some cases eventually resulted in the genes being discarded as unneeded.

Now, back to the question of how major evolution would happen naturally through the influence of the epigenome. If the original life on earth had huge amounts of information for all kinds of designs, where something like only 1% was being actively used initially, then the epigenome would result in new gene expression with new designs springing up. A single cell could spontaneously become a multicellular organism because of chemical changes that resulted in new genes becoming activated. If that new multicellular organism remained multicellular for many generations, then it could lose genetic information and its ability to evolve back to a single-celled organism. The change would be a permanent genetic change. The evolutionary leap from single-celled to multi-celled organism then could be explained by the influence of the epigenome—by purely environmental changes. Similarly, if the environment became sufficiently cold, chemical changes in the epigenome might cause a dinosaur to start producing feathers (a previously unexpressed genetic code) for warmth. If the new feathered dinosaur started using those feathers to fly, the behavioral change might result in the feathers becoming a relatively permanent feature. So, the affects of the epigenome could be responsible for the development of the wings of birds.

In fact, genes activated by the epigenome could be self-perpetuating if the genes caused behavioral changes. Those behavioral changes might result in chemical changes that caused the epigenome to remain changed. The persistent change to the epigenome would result in a permanent genetic change if the genome ditched the unexpressed genes.

Finally, it is important to note that these mechanisms for major evolutionary change require sophisticated preexisting information in the genome. It also is important to note that this would be a one-way street: major evolution could only happen for so long before the new genetic information would be exhausted and unused genes would be discarded by organisms. All species would become genetically unique and unable to evolve significant new designs requiring new information. That is why we do not often (if ever) observe macroevolution today. We are only talking about evolution by the loss, reorganization, and selection of already existing information. Complex designs simply should not arise by randomness so frequently as we see in Nature. Some organisms, by the way, would reach this point of genetic exhaustion before others. That is why we see some “living fossils” that haven’t changed significantly in many millions of years. Such organisms have long ago discarded their unused genes and have become relatively unable to evolve.

(That leaves us with several interesting questions. What caused some organisms to ditch their unused genes quicker than others? One possibility is that a more stable environment might cause this to happen quicker. How could the totality of genetic information be preserved for a few billion years before complex life arose? One simple answer to that is that the code for discarding unused genes was not activated until sometime before the Cambrian Explosion.)

NEWS: Ancient Fish Had Human-Like Spine

Once again, the fossil record is showing us that complexity arose quickly and in animals that didn't even need it. Some of the predictions of the theory of evolution espoused on this blog have been convergent evolution, rapid emergence of complex features, and complexity in some of the earliest animals. This is now being proven by science, piece by piece. This latest example is great evidence that the genetic codes for complex features were already existing in animals before they became needed and expressed. Here is the latest finding:

For decades, scientists believed that a spine with multiple segments was an exclusive feature of land-dwelling animals. But the discovery of the same anatomical feature in a 345-million-year-old eel suggests that this complex anatomy arose separately from -- and perhaps before -- the first species to walk on land.

But in a new description of Tarrasius published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Lauren Sallan describes a five-segment column much more similar to the spinal anatomy of land-dwelling animals called tetrapods, including humans.

... By contrast, fish vertebrae are typically categorized anatomically into two segments: caudal and pre-caudal. But the spinal column of Tarrasius shows a complexity more like that seen in tetrapods, with five segments separated by abrupt transitions.

... And while Tarrasius lived several million years after the first tetrapods with hands and feet, the discovery of these spinal features in a fish species confirms that this anatomy can evolve separate from the evolution of walking behavior.

Instead, the commonalities suggest that similar environments or other selective pressures may produce convergent evolution of this complex spinal organization.[1]
(Emphasis mine.)

This is a great example of convergent evolution. The problem is that this eel did not need such a complex spine. Furthermore, it did not need a complex spine that was ideal for walking on land. The odds of this convergent evolution happening by chance because of "selective pressures" and mutation and survival of the fittest is basically zero. You would be better off suggesting that there was lateral gene transfer because of bacteria. Instead, scientists are struggling to explain why this eel needed such a complex spine for wiggling back and forth in the water. This complex design should have conferred some great fitness edge to the eel, but that is hard to imagine even for the best scientists.

The very best answer, of course, is that the genetic information for a five-segment spinal column existed in the genome of the ancestors of both these eels and land animals; over time, the genetic information became expressed in both these eels and the land animals. (It's true that "selective pressure" may have been behind the expression of this information, but it may have been subtle pressure.)


Reptile with Feathers Before Birds and Archaeopteryx?

Did you know that there was a reptile that lived probably more than 200 million years ago that had (arguably) feathers coming out its back? It's called Longisquama. Now, understandably, evolutionists are highly hesitant to say these were feathers, since feathered dinosaurs didn't come about until roughly 50 million years later. Birds are supposed to have come from dinosaurs not reptiles. This is awkward for typical evolutionists. In fact, some have tried to argue that the fossil is of a reptile that fell down on some kind of ferns, and it only looks like feathers! Well, more modern research has confirmed that these are not ferns, but an actual part of the reptile. Here is the latest:

(March 23, 2012)  "...Buchwitz says the appendages are clearly similar to the real deal [feathers]. Like feathers, they have a central filament running along their lengths, for example. He thinks this means that they were constructed using the same developmental genes that later produced feathers.  ...Longisquama shows that evolution was experimenting with the genes that gave rise to feathers long before any of these animals appeared on the scene." [2]

"Living during the Triassic [200+ million years ago], Longisquama was a small, lizard like creature that appears to have had a series of long feathers on its back. This implies that birds might have not evolved from theropods, but lizard-like reptiles instead." [3]
(Emphasis mine.)

Now, was it theropods or reptiles that gave rise to birds? Most would say theropod dinosaurs. But, as can be seen from the quote above, this fossil adds some confusion to bird origins. This is another case of convergent evolution, I would argue. But the hard question here is really why would a reptile have feather-like structures protruding out its back for no apparent functional purpose? It appears that complexity was expressing itself before a good functional purpose. That is not plausible, consistent, or indicative of random evolution.

The very best answer is that the design for feathers (which are perfect for flying, by the way) was already contained in the genome of the ancestor of both theropod dinosaurs and this reptile, Longisquama. The genetic information was just waiting -- no, itching -- to burst out and become expressed. That's what the evidence seems to indicate, here.


Squid Ink Remains Practically Unchanged Over 160 Million Years

Scientists have amazingly managed to analyze 160-million-year-old melanin (used in squid ink) from a fossilized cuttlefish. Their results show that the melanin has remained virtually unchanged over these eons of time -- and there is no telling how far back the original melanin design goes.

(May 22, 2012)  "'It's close enough that I would argue that the pigmentation in this class of animals has not evolved in 160 million years,' said John Simon, chemistry professor at University of Virginia. ...Simon says, 'the whole machinery apparently has been locked in time and passed down through succeeding generations of cuttlefish. It's a very optimised system for this animal and has been optimised for a long time.'" [4]
(Emphasis mine.)

Efficiency achievement was not a gradual process, I believe. Evolution has done absolutely nothing to improve the design of this cuttlefish ink over 160 million years. Why? Because it was a "perfect" design to begin with! The best answer is that the genetic code for the melanin was pre-optimized and simply waiting to become expressed in the cuttlefish. The cuttlefish got the best design for its ink without waiting for it to evolve for millions of years.


Information for Land Plants Existed Before Land Plants

Lignin is a critical chemical component of wood that land plants use to help them grow without needing support. It acts a bit like glue by helping fortify a plant's cell walls. Until a few years ago, scientists had believed that this chemical was unique to land plants, since it was assumed that only they would need it for support. This turned out to be a faulty assumption. Red algae also contains the instructions for making lignin. (Land plants came from green algae.)

(January 27, 2009)  "Because red and green algae likely diverged more than a billion years ago, the discovery of lignin in red algae suggests that the basic machinery for producing lignin may have existed long before algae moved to land." [5]
(Emphasis mine)

Thus, once again, the basic instructions for a critical chemical needed for land plants preexisted the land plants. Furthermore, like with the feathers and spinal column mentioned above, there is not a good reason for why red algae would have evolved this chemical since it didn't need it. The best answer, I think you can see, is that the genetic information for wood (including lignin) was stored within the genome of algae more than a billion years ago.

This information, along with all the information for all complex chemicals and designs, was contained in the genome of the very first cell(s) that existed on the earth.


Concluding Remarks

There are plenty of other similar examples of complex designs seemingly appearing without rhyme or reason. (Another good example is sodium channels related to nervous systems oddly found within single-celled organisms^[6].) These examples have to do with complexity appearing rapidly (or instantly) in animals, and sometimes in animals that don't need the complexity and sometimes in multiple animals evolutionarily distantly related. Darwinian evolution has a lot of explaining to do! Random mutations and survival of the fittest doesn't cut it, here. In my personal opinion, Darwinian evolution offers absolutely no answers in these cases and should be discarded for a better theory. A designed evolution where all the genetic information was contained in simple cells billions of years ago fits all the evidence the best, and it can make accurate predictions like a good theory should be able to do.

---
[1] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120522200829.htm
[2] http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328574.400-reptile-grew-featherlike-structures-before-dinosaurs.html 
[3] http://listverse.com/2009/10/05/15-unusual-prehistoric-creatures/ 
[4] http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-05/22/cephalopod-ink
[5] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090127090723.htm   
[6] http://www.utexas.edu/news/2011/05/17/sodium_nervous_systems

Link: Should Christians Believe in Evolution?

This was a decent read about whether or not Christians should believe in the theory of evolution:

http://theresurgence.com/2012/05/17/should-christians-believe-in-evolution

Six Reasons Why God May Have Allowed There to Be ‘Pre-Humans’

One day I was contemplating the ‘problem’ of pre-humans existing before true humans. It seemed strange to me that God would have had Homo sapiens exist from about 200 – 70 kya without being spiritual creatures having eternal souls. So, I thought about it for a while, trying to discern what God’s purpose in that would have been. The following is the result of my contemplations. I believe there are six good reasons why God might not have immediately made Adam and Eve as soon as Homo sapiens came into existence.

This, of course, is all predicated upon my theory of created evolution and how Adam was born of purely animal Homo sapiens that had no eternal souls (what I call pre-humans). At some point, my theory goes, Adam was given an immortal spirit that was made in God’s image, at which point he became the first true human. The second human, Eve, was supernaturally formed from Adam’s rib as the Bible clearly teaches.

1) There are limitations to the rate of evolution, and God was allowing Homo sapiens to evolve to 'perfection' before giving a spirit.

It is quite possible that even though Homo sapiens existed since around 200 – 120 kya, their physical makeup was not yet fully evolved at first for God to place a human spirit within them. God would have wanted all the human genes to become activated before Adam was made. This would have included genes related to brain development and longevity and other non-external changes, likely. It is quite likely that evolution, as it was designed, can only operate so fast and environmental factors are needed to trigger certain dormant genes to become active.

Thus, though Homo sapiens may have looked very human-like some 150 kya, they were probably far different in behavior and mental capacity.

2) God wanted the other animals to adapt to the presence of the human figure and to generally become afraid of them.

It is likely that had Adam and Eve been drastically different in appearance from all other creatures, the animals would have had no time to adapt to the existence of humans. Thus, for some 100,000 years the animals were given time to adjust to the human form and to learn to begin to fear Homo sapiens. Given that Homo sapiens were hunter-gatherers for this time period, it makes sense that the animals would have learned to be wary of them. Perhaps there were also other ways in which the other animals needed to learn to adapt to them, as well.

3) God wanted human life-spans to decrease later when humans intermarried with the spiritless Homo sapiens that still lived in Africa and probably elsewhere.

Adam and his descendants were able to live long periods of time. This is likely because of a dormant genetic program that got activated in Adam. All previous pre-human Homo sapiens, it appears from the evidence, were unable to live such long lives. However, as we have written about in a previous post, the genetic code of the human race became corrupted and humans began to live shorter and shorter lives. It is my belief that the answer as to why this happened is that humans and pre-humans interbred/intermarried as the Bible alludes to in Genesis 6.

Thus, the pre-humans were a means by which God could judge humans and shorten their lifespans. It is reasonable that this was an intentional plan of God’s.

4) God wanted to provide a way for the "sons of God" (fallen angels) to try to corrupt humanity, such that the glory of God would be exulted through it.

This is an extension of the previous point. Genesis 6 indicates that fallen angels came down and somehow married women. This happened likely through the pre-humans and possibly Neanderthals to a lesser degree. The fallen angels probably possessed (took control of) these pre-humans and caused interbreeding to happen with humans. This was partly to try to corrupt humanity, undoubtedly.

God seems to allow demons to try to threaten His plans and eternal purposes. Demons are around for a purpose, and one of those purposes is to glorify God by showing that God’s councils are unassailable. God gets glory in showing that He can always out-smart His enemies. Like with Job in the Bible, God allowed the devil to attack Job in order to show that His servant was unfailingly spiritually sustained and upheld by Him. This brought glory to God.

So, it is reasonable that God intentionally provided a means by which the devil could try to corrupt humanity—both spiritually and physically—and prevent the Messiah from coming. Before the Flood, much corrupting of humanity did happen, and even after the Flood humanity did seem to suffer serious genetic corruption. However, I suspect that much of the corruption that happened after the Tower of Babel was from genetic mutations rather than interbreeding with pre-human creatures; and, most of the interbreeding with pre-humans was likely not because of fallen angels any longer, since the New Testament indicates that the fallen angels before Noah’s Flood were severely judged, causing the demons to fear trying it again. Even if humans were genetically polluted by the pre-humans after the Flood, then, they were not ruined by the introduction of a serious demonic taint, as before the Flood. (I suspect that God even disallowed demonic possession of pre-humans after the Flood.)

5) The presence of spiritless Homo sapiens has provided a strong demonstration that we are gifted to be uniquely spiritual and self-aware to a new level.

Perhaps the great contrast between us humans and these ‘pre-humans’ that existed as early as 200 kya provides a striking lesson of how important our spirituality, heightened self-awareness, and increased sociality are in making us unique from the animals. Homo sapiens of these early prehistoric times were hard to distinguish from modern humans, but behaviorally they were likely little different from upright-walking apes—though perhaps a bit more intelligent. The big, critical difference we discern is that these early pre-humans were spiritless creatures who could not know God. They did not understand the concept of God, nor did they care to know Him. There is no evidence they prayed, built temples, made alters, or considered the possibility that God exists. We should feel overwhelmingly blessed to know God, for that is the greatest gift of all and what sets us apart most from the animals!

6) God wanted human diseases and pests to evolve as punishments for after Man became sinful and deserved those punishments.

This certainly will be a more controversial answer to the question. However, it is apparent to me that God had prepared the world for the Fall of Adam and Eve by making the world a place that would have disasters, death of animals, diseases, and many unpleasant conditions. It is no stretch, then, to say that God might have intended on allowing human viruses and pests (e.g. lice) to evolve before Adam and Eve were formed. To do this, He could have allowed such diseases and pests to adapt first to pre-human Homo sapiens. This would have set the stage for the Fall of Man that God knew was going to happen rather quickly after making Adam and Eve.

Does this seem cruel? It isn’t. God judged Adam and Eve by sending them out of the Garden of Eden and keeping them from living forever. This resulted in their deaths. He also prepared a groaning world (Rom 8:22) for them, partly as judgment, complete with thorns and thistles and diseases and disasters. These were deserved punishments for their sin. God knows the future and He prepares perfectly for it.

The Rare Earth Hypothesis Works Best with an Old Earth

As someone who believes in an old earth and the idea that God made the earth using billions of years of natural processes, I believe that the earth is rare in the universe and that scientific research will show that to be true, not just by checking for earth-like planets but more importantly by using models of planet formation and determining the requirements for a very long existence of life on the planet. God chose the right planet that could support life for some 3-1/2 billion years. This planet we live on is the most suitable for intelligent life, and science is beginning to point towards that truth. It’s been called the Rare Earth hypothesis.

Strangely, young-earth creationists have jumped on this Rare Earth bandwagon. I say strangely because they seem to end up using some arguments that only work for an old earth. My contention is that much of the evidence that earth is rare strongly indicates that the earth is truly old. Young-earth creationists are actually undermining their own beliefs by trying to use these arguments.

Here’s one example: the Galactic Habitable Zone. The idea is that there is a relatively small range of distances from the center of the galaxy that are good places for life to exist. If you go too close to the center of the galaxy, the neighborhood of surrounding stars is denser and the probability of a nova destroying life over a long period of time (say a billion years) becomes quite high. For that reason and other reasons, the earth’s solar system is considered to be situated at a good distance from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. But, notice that this Galactic Habitable Zone is determined based upon the probability of novas over long periods of time. For a young earth, this Galactic Habitable Zone would become much, much wider. In fact, there is a good chance that the earth could have been almost in the center of the galaxy if it only needed to support life for 7000 years. Thus, using the Galactic Habitable Zone to support the idea that the earth is rare is to imply that the earth is really old.

Much of the evidence that says the earth is rare in the universe is based upon the belief that the earth needed to support life for billions of years. Yet somehow young-earth creationists think that they can steal these evidences for themselves. Not so fast. What some of them fail to understand is that if the earth is really so young, then scientists should be finding so many reasons why the earth itself could not support life for billions of years. Instead, scientists are finding (not at all by choice or bias, by the way) just the opposite: the earth was and is uniquely qualified to protect life from extinction for billions of years based upon numerous situational factors. This confounds scientists that don’t believe in the Bible, since they think that earth should be a relatively common planet in a common solar system.

Now, let me preemptively answer the rebuttal that young-earth creationists would probably make. They may say, “But God made the earth originally to be habitable for billions of years, just as if the Fall of Adam would never happen.” In other words, why should we think that God wouldn’t have made the earth to be uniquely protected and well-situated in the universe, given that He made it perfect to begin with?

The problem with this rebuttal is that it is clear that our solar system has significant problems and earth is subject to many kinds of catastrophes over long periods of time. However, those catastrophes are much less severe or likely in our well-designed galactic neighborhood and solar system. If God were intending to make a perfect system to support human life for billions of years, then it looks like He did a poor job of that, since there are asteroids that routinely strike earth, novas of surrounding stars that will likely jeopardize life on earth in the next few million years, and many other potential threats. Either God made our solar system better than other places but still not perfect—which is what the evidence is showing—or else He made it a perfect place. You can’t have it both ways.

Or can you? Maybe He made it a perfect place at first but then let it start to “fall apart” and decay after the Fall of Adam? This would be a nice attempt at trying to explain the evidence, but it misses the critical point. Even with things decaying, our place in the universe and the specific setup of the earth is so good that it should be able to support life for hundreds of millions of years, still. Why would God set everything up so precisely in a fallen world such as to make a place for life to exist safely for hundreds of millions of years, when it would only need to exist for about 7000 years? For instance, there is no good reason why God would not have made a star nearby that was ready to go supernova and destroy life on earth in the next 10,000 years, since He will make a new heaven and earth long before that time. (If there was no decay before the Fall, then it wouldn’t matter if such a star existed, because it would never go supernova in such a hypothesized world.) Clearly, even in our fallen world, even with decay and disasters, God precisely designed the earth and the solar system and galaxy to be able support life for much longer than 7000 year—barring an unlikely extinction event. Why would He make it so good even after the Fall? It would be a very unnecessary fine-tuning of everything.

But there’s another reason why the evidence supports an old earth. According to geologists, astrophysicists, and so on, over the last 4.5 billion years the earth has been carefully shaped to support life. There were many fortuitous events that allowed for life to flourish. If the earth is actually only 6000 years old, then all these ideas about how the solar system, the earth, and the moon formed are wrong. There then should be no reason why the models of formation would indicate a rare earth—but they do, or at least the evidence is mounting in that direction. The evidence that earth is rare does not just apply to its current state, but also its long history of existence over 4.5 billion years.

Plate tectonics is a good topic to investigate to show this point. If the plates of the earth did not move around, because of convection within the mantle, then our continents would not exist. Without larger landmasses the food chain would not function properly. For plate tectonics to work for billions of years, the earth had to have the right internal attributes. Most planets are not likely to have these necessary attributes, making earth rare. Young-earth creationists cannot condone such arguments, since they require an old-earth perspective. Also, young-earth proponents cannot attribute earth’s well-designed plate tectonics to God making the earth able to support life for millions of years, since plate tectonics has little or nothing to do with the future survival of life; it would seem to only be necessary in the past. Also, volcanism has been used to form land. Without volcanism it is probable that earth would have no continental land. The conditions necessary to form land has been perfect on earth, but other planets are not likely to have these same perfect conditions. This makes for a good rare earth argument. However, this argument presumes an old earth, once again. A young-earth creationist cannot embrace this rare-earth argument, either, since volcanism is considered harmful and the result of the Curse, and they do not believe the earth formed in the way most scientists do. Volcanism has no benefit for the future survival of life—at least not considered by itself.

From what I can tell, there are countless other examples that would support the idea that—given an old universe—the earth, the solar system, and the Milky Way Galaxy must be truly special in the universe. Many of these examples only work if you embrace Big Bang cosmology, planet formation models, and an old earth with all the supporting theories of how it formed. Young-earth creationists are trying vainly to utilize these kinds of claims that earth is rare, much to the undermining of their own beliefs of how the universe and earth were created in six twenty-four hour days. Unless they want to switch to old-earth creationism, they need to choose their arguments carefully.

In conclusion, the evidence is showing that the earth was formed through a very long process that was carefully designed to support life for billions of years. An old earth and universe actually lead directly to the conclusion that earth has been especially suitable for life for long ages, and that the likelihood of finding another “earth” in the universe is remote. Only if you embrace mainstream science can you rightly claim all the evidence for the rarity of earth, however. Young-earth creationists are inconsistent and illogical to adopt most of these rare-earth arguments. Given a universe that is about 13.7 billion years old and an earth that is about 4.5 billion years old, the evidence overwhelmingly indicates that earth has been one of the best places (and probably the best place) in the universe for life to thrive for over 3 billion years. Old-earth creationists make best sense of all this data.

Problems with Other Views of Creation

I sincerely don’t want to bash Christian organizations. That is not the purpose of this post. But, I do want to identify a few problems with two significant Christian organizations. The very nature of God is at stake.

Answers in Genesis (AiG) is an organization devoted to young-earth creationism. They are sincere people, and I believe they have done much good by preaching the Gospel. For that reason alone, they deserve high marks. Also, most of their material contains some measure of useful scientific truth that helps in the fight against humanistic Darwinism. The major problem with AiG is that they profess to be scientific but they simultaneously reject scientific evidence that seems to contradict their traditional interpretations of the Bible. Their traditional views of creation are infallible in their minds. They put on “biblical glasses” (a bias for their particular interpretations of the Bible) to reinterpret the evidence found in Nature to fit their views.

Thus, radiometric dating—other than a limited use of radiocarbon dating—is deemed to be flawed by default and rejected on the basis of presumed faulty assumptions. They believe that decay rates may have changed substantially in the past, but this is a very hopeful assumption that goes against the prevailing wisdom of the scientific community.

AiG fails to take much scientific evidence seriously. If they cannot adequately explain evidence that seems to contradict their belief in a young earth, they often gloss over that evidence, presuming that alternative interpretations of the data will eventually be discovered. Now, considering that this is done in faith of the Bible, I cannot fault them for this. It is admirable that they tenaciously hold to their faith, as any Christian should. However, the problem is that they fail to recognize that Nature is a genuine revelation of God. They interpret Nature in light of the Bible. They believe that there are only two options: interpret the Bible in light of Nature, or interpret Nature in light of the Bible. They fail to recognize that there is a third option, which is also the correct option. They claim that Nature is not a sixty-seventh book of the Bible, but they fail to see that the Bible itself teaches that Nature is a limited Divine revelation, making Nature indeed a sort of obscure book of the Bible.

Nature is a direct revelation of Nature, and God’s Word is a direct revelation of God. The Bible was not intended to be a Book of science giving us details of how the universe works, but Nature was intended to be a “book” giving us details about its own operation. Thus, it should not seem radical to believe that Nature can help us understand what happened with the universe in the past and how it operates currently, augmenting our understanding of the Bible’s limited scientific revelation. They themselves inconsistently recognize this in rare moments.

Let me explain that point. The earth was once considered flat based upon literal interpretation of the Bible and phrases that speak of the four corners of the earth and the ends of the earth. This view was strongly held, especially by the Catholics in Galileo’s days. If the scientific evidence for a spherical earth wasn’t rock solid, many Christians would probably still believe in a flat earth. AiG, I suspect, would hold to this view also if there was no proof of its spherical nature. So, the bottom line is that AiG has accepted a nontraditional interpretation of the Bible in light of the overwhelming evidence supporting it. They have recognized that the Bible was never meant to be a scientific textbook using precise and absolute terminology. Fortunately for them, there are some pretty clear Bible passages that indicate a spherical earth.

Also, geocentricity was once supported from a literal and absolute reading of the Bible. Today, we have proof that the earth goes around the sun and not the other way around. Again, AiG supports the non-traditional interpretation of the Bible in support of the scientific truth. The difference with these two things compared with other scientific discoveries is that science proved these to be true long ago. If science was only now showing that the earth revolves around the sun, traditional Christian groups would probably not accept it as true at first—meaning for several generations. Just like with the old-earth debate, they would reject it based upon their literal and absolute interpretations of Scripture.

So, AiG (along with other young-earth creationist organizations), acts inconsistently in their treatment of scientific discoveries and how to interpret the Bible in light of them. They have become reactionary to humanistic evolution. In zeal for the Bible they have vehemently refused to yield a single inch to the theory of evolution, presuming that macroevolution of any kind is antithetical to the core doctrines of the Bible. Somehow, the theory of evolution is inherently of the devil, in their view. Perhaps if a Christian had been the main proponent of evolution rather than atheistic Charles Darwin, they would have been more receptive of it.

That being said, even AiG acknowledges microevolution and that major speciation happened in the past. In fact, they propose rapid speciation (a form of evolution) that not even evolutionists would dare to propose. They can suggest this happened because they believe that all the genetic information was stored up in the genes of animals, just waiting to be expressed after Noah’s Flood, similar to the theory that I propose but on a much, much shorter timescale. The problem with naturalistic evolution is that information cannot randomly come into existence, and I agree with that part of their beliefs. So, evolution was limited by God’s design. (Traditional Christian groups are generally unwilling to use the term ‘evolution’ in reference to non-information–producing evolution, since they see it as fundamentally different from minor reconfigurations of existing genetic information, such as microevolution.)

One of the primary issues that AiG has with current, non-Christian science is Big Bang cosmology and the reported age of the universe. Inadvertently, AiG has been effectively teaching, “The heavens only seem to indicate great age and a Big Bang, which are lies from Satan,” instead of, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” What they are willingly ignorant of is that if Nature sends us a strong message that is deceptive and distracts from the truth then it does not declare the glory of God, and it would give unbelievers an excuse for not believing in God, which is contrary to the teaching of Romans 1. For Nature to properly declare the glory of God it must present us with the truth without deception. For that reason it is doctrinally unsound to believe that Nature has the strong appearance of age when it is actually very young. To believe in such a thing is to believe in a deceptive God, in effect, though such is not the intention by any means of AiG or similar organizations. They certainly do not believe that God is deceptive, but they unwittingly intimate that when they suggest a false appearance of age. As one friend of mine said, he would believe the Bible regardless of how strongly evidence in Nature seemed to contradict it. In other words, he sees no problem with the most-reasonable interpretation of the evidence contradicting the Bible. This is the wrong way to approach the evidence of Nature, for it is purely irrational and unscientific. A heliocentric solar system would not have ever been accepted if Christians had all treated the evidence in such a way—holding unwaveringly to the most literal understanding of the Bible regardless of the strength of the evidence in Nature to the contrary.

One thing that AiG has said is that some things had to have a false appearance of age, which would probably be part of their rebuttal to the above argument. Adam and Eve, for instance, had to look like adults even at the beginning of their existence. The difference with that, however, is that Adam and Eve are not on display as evidence of Nature for scientists to inspect. Scientists cannot be misled by inspecting Adam and Eve since they will probably never find their remains. Adam and Eve would not have been misled, because God would have explicitly told them of how they were made. Scientists today do not have God speaking directly in their ears telling them that the universe is really only about 6000 years old. Furthermore, there is another major difference. If someone told me that a full-grown tree was somehow miraculously only a day old, I would not believe them at first. But, if I chopped down the tree and found that there were no typical tree rings showing a history of many years, I might begin to entertain the idea that the tree was young based on the evidence. Thus, a tree could look old and still have compelling evidence to show that it did not have a long history of existence. If Adam and Eve had found scars on their bodies, they would have reason to doubt that they were just created. If they could recount memories from many past years, they would also have reason to doubt a recent creation. If they already had children and grandchildren, they would have reason to doubt that they were just created. Likewise, if the heavens show evidence of a long and detailed history of galaxy formation and supernovas and planet formation, then there is good reason to doubt it was made only about 6000 years ago. A simple appearance of age is not a big problem, but the appearance of eons of complex history with enough details to extrapolate specific past events going back billions of years is a serious problem. It would be the equivalent of an elaborate hoax. In my personal understand of the nature of God, He would never do such a thing. If the universe were truly so young, He would make the evidence of its youth shout out in deafening volume compared with a small whisper of evidence showing great age. In that way alone could He maintain His truthfulness and clearly declare His glory in the heavens.

The other part of their rebuttal is that the universe does have evidence of youthfulness. However, such evidence is generally based upon extremely simple extrapolations using the assumption that things in the past were happening just like today. For instance, the amount of dust on the moon is considered by AiG to be too shallow for it to be 4.5 billion years old. But, to show this, they use the bad early estimates of secular scientists! Today, it makes sense to scientists that the dust is shallow because we now know things that were not known before, like the fact that the sun’s solar flares routinely blast dust from off the moon. Another evidence for a young earth is supposedly the distance of the moon. Using simple extrapolations, AiG suggests that if the moon were 4.5 billion years old it would have receded much further from earth. But, in my estimation, mainstream scientists have adequately explained how the moon ended up at its current distance. They have carefully modeled how the moon may have formed and receded, and there is nothing unexplainable for them. AiG simply uses too simplistic estimates, and so they draw bad conclusions.

The other organization I wish to discuss, though more briefly, is Reasons to Believe (RtB). They teach an old earth with perpetual supernatural creations of animals throughout the history of life on earth. Evolution is religiously rejected by this organization as well. Though they are generally more receptive to mainstream scientific discoveries, they are constantly in reaction to discoveries that seem to support evolution, and they are continually defending their view of creation. These people are brilliant and all of their material is informative and helpful, but I sense that they are slightly insecure about some of the bigger discoveries related to the theory of evolution, such as purported evolution that led to the formation of Man and various hominids like Neanderthals. What they are failing to understand is that a designed form of evolution, where “libraries” of information were latently stored up in the genomes of ancient cells, is no less doctrinally tenable than their view of perpetual creation. In either case, God is the Creator, life is miraculous and limited to earth, and God made the animals specifically as He pleased. The main difference is the method by which God made the animals. Was there a set of many miraculous creations of different kinds of life, or just a single miraculous creation of the first living cell(s) loaded with information? For that matter, there is always the possibility that God did something in between these two extremes and sometimes created new forms of life and otherwise let life evolve on its own per the information that He placed within genomes.

From the best I can tell, human genetic information does not fit RtB’s model. From what I understand of their model, the first humans (Adam and Eve) were placed somewhere in Mesopotamia near the Persian Gulf. Noah’s Flood destroyed all the people existing beforehand, leaving just Noah and seven others. Then people eventually spread across the world. Today, paleontologists have found remains of Homo sapiens in Africa that date back to roughly 100,000 years ago, which in RtB’s model would be before the Flood. What were humans doing in Africa before the Flood? The dating must be off, it would seem, if their model is correct. Furthermore, confirming that Homo sapiens originated in Africa, there is the genetic information that indicates that modern Africans are most similar genetically to the early Homo sapiens, and all ethnic groups can apparently trace their genetic origins back to Africa. This, as far as I can tell, is a huge problem with RtB’s model. They seem oblivious to this fact. Humans should not have originated in Africa. Perhaps RtB has a good explanation for this, but it is hard to see how it could be consistent with their model. I, on the other hand, in my theory have a simple and easy answer to this Out-of-Africa theory and the genetic information that seems to support that theory, but my answer involves “pre-humans,” which requires a form of evolution of Homo sapiens. If we entertain the idea that humans originated in Africa, then how did a local Flood in Mesopotamia destroy all the people? How would modern Africans by chance be most genetically similar to the early people living in Africa before the Flood? The RtB model does not solve these questions, as best I can tell.

The main problem with RtB is that they seem to hold to their interpretation of the Bible just as intractably as AiG. They are unwilling, apparently, to consider other models or other reasonable interpretations of the Bible. We are all creatures who desire stability, so their inflexible stance is understandable, but it is not a scientific approach any more than AiG’s approach. A fully scientific approach is always ready to tweak the current theories and models to best fit the evidence. As soon as one becomes completely settled on their unproven theories they become scientifically stagnant. RtB is certainly well-intentioned and entitled to their opinions, but they have unfortunately come to some wrong conclusions about the interpretation of the Bible, I personally believe. Doctrinally speaking, there is absolutely no difference between God creating new species supernaturally and instantly and Him creating them through a process of brilliantly designed evolution. Again, either way, God literally created the animals by His wisdom. I would argue that creation by evolution would require much greater wisdom, planning, intelligence, foresight, and providence. Who are we to limit God in His method of creating the animals?

Given that the Bible even ascribes natural processes like lightning and rain directly to God’s action, no different than if He were supernaturally doing such things, there is no reason to believe that a natural process of evolution that He created would not be similarly ascribed to His action. God claims complete responsibility for His sovereign acts in Nature. Because of His supreme sovereignty and His wise planning, He can and does claim to be the direct cause of all the events in Nature. He makes it rain and He sends the lightning as His arrows. He makes wind and earthquakes. Science has not invalidated these claims of Divine control and action. Likewise, even if creatures were made through a brilliantly created process of evolution, God is still the One who created the fish, the mammals, the birds, insects, etc. Genesis would not be invalid. RtB seems to miss this critical point. Life would still be a miraculous creation. I do not believe that this view is inconsistent with God’s redemptive work. Obvious miracles have always been rather sparse in God’s economy and seem to have come in spurts.

I believe that the genetic evidence for a wisely planned evolution of living things is significant and should not be easily dismissed. I believe that God would not place unused genetic information in animals if He were making animals supernaturally from nothing, for such a thing would be misleading and sloppy. For instance, humans have genes for the regeneration of body parts, similar to some creatures. Also, sponges have genes for sodium channels very similar to humans, but there is no known purpose for these genes in the sponges. Such evidence (and there is plenty more of it) is indicative of common descent and not of the idea that each creature was supernaturally handmade from scratch. RtB seems to hastily dismiss this evidence primarily on the basis of faith that their interpretation of the Bible is correct—that evolution could not fit the biblical message. Ultimately, RtB’s model unnecessarily results in the same problem as AiG: that God is deceptive and has done things in such a way as to leave the door wide open for people to naturally misinterpret the evidence found in Creation. RtB obviously believes that evolution is not supported by the evidence, but most secular scientists would emphatically disagree and would point to numerous cases that support the basic concept of evolution. RtB is right in being highly skeptical of un-designed and random evolution, since such an idea is logically untenable and contrary to the evidence, but they disallow the possibility that God specifically made evolution work efficiently. The evidence deserves a fair hearing, and they are not willing to let it be innocent until proven guilty, similarly as AiG is not willing to entertain the idea of an old earth.

Someone will ask, “But where do you draw the line? Why not just embrace Darwinian evolution as taught by secularists?” Two reasons: (1) there are countless biblical interpretive problems with excluding God from the picture; and (2) logically, random un-designed evolution cannot be more plausible than designed evolution, making Darwinian evolution clearly no more reasonable or scientific than a created form of evolution. Secularists embrace Darwinism because they do not trust the Bible’s account of creation to be informative of what actually happened. The Bible and the evidence of Nature must both be treated seriously, for both are a revelation from God. The two will not contradict. Anyone who pits “science” against a reasonable interpretation of the Bible is foolish. Anyone who pits the Bible against a reasonable interpretation of the evidence in Nature is misguided. (However, anyone, holding carefully to the Gospel, who sincerely believes that some scientific theory is consistent with the Bible, and who carefully considers and honors the Bible’s teachings, is acting respectably.)

Hopefully I have not been too harsh towards these organizations. Godly men are behind these groups, and they both hold fast to the Gospel, as best I can tell. Thus, these groups deserve commendation to some extent. God bless them for their desire to win people to Christ. My purpose here has been only to show how I disagree with their views. In the end, I’m willing to admit that I could possibly be wrong. Maybe AiG is right, or maybe RtB is right. Perhaps I do not know God’s nature as well as I’d like to think. Maybe He did make a universe that seems to have a bunch of misinformation in it . . . but I really doubt it.

Here are some pertinent verses, some translated in a literal way by me (my interpretations/additions are in brackets):

“The heavens [universe] declare the glory of God…” Ps 19:1 (KJV)

“…God … cannot lie [intentionally deceive]…” Titus 1:2 (NKJV)

“…[God’s] invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made [Nature] ... so that they are without excuse [in believing in the one true God of the Bible]…” Rom 1:20 (NKJV)

“Before the mountains were brought forth [long ago, ~1 bya], or ever You had [even] formed the earth [long before that, ~4.5 bya] and [even] the world [long before that, ~13.7 bya], even from everlasting [before the universe, >13.7 bya] to everlasting, You are God.” Ps 90:2 (NKJV)

“And the fear of you and the dread of you shall come to be [via adaptation] upon every beast of the earth…” Gen 9:2 (my translation)

“And God said, ‘The earth shall cause [by a process of evolution?] vegetation to come forth…’” Gen 1:11 (my translation)

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness [but not necessarily science], that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work [not scientific understanding].” 2 Tim 3:16-17 (NKJV)