Can You Accept the Bible and Evolution?, Part 3

June, 2006

by: Jack Hughes

• Creation and Evolution

We are presently doing a series in response to what has become known as “The Clergy Letter Project.” The project has collected signatures from over 10,000 clergy in the United States who affirm that the theory of evolution and the truth of the Bible are “harmonious” belief systems (see Calvary Review pt. 1 & 2 www.calvarybiblechurch.org). In this Calvary Review we will continue to address some of the propositions one would have to agree with by participating in the Clergy Letter Project.

Third Proposition to Consider

You would have to “believe that the timeless truths of the Bible and the discoveries of modern science may comfortably coexist,” that they are “two very different, but complementary, forms of truth,” which means that whatever the Bible teaches will never contradict what the majority of scientists happen to affirm to be true today.

As we have already proven in addressing the second proposition in the previous Calvary Review, the discoveries of modern science are often antithetical with the timeless truths of the Bible, undermine biblical authority, and make God, Jesus, and the authors of Scriptures into liars. This isn’t always the case with science in general but it is the case when scientists believe and promote evolution. Let’s consider the realities concerning “discoveries of modern science.”

First, you have to know what science is before you can talk about what is “scientific.” In order for something to be scientific it must have measurability and repeatability. The act of creation falls outside of science because it was a supernatural act of God. God spoke everything into existence by divine fiat. And because supernatural acts are “super” or beyond natural, they cannot be measured with natural instruments. By definition they are outside of what is natural. You may be able to measure and analyze the consequences of creation but not the act of creation itself. It would be like me giving you a wooden yard stick and telling you to measure the humidity of the air. Well you just can’t do it because a yard stick can’t measure humidity. In the same way there is no physical instrument that scientists can use to measure God’s act of creation.

In a similar way you cannot measure or repeat the act of evolution. Evolution supposedly occurred over millions, if not billions of years. Somehow matter came into being (they don’t know how) and then the laws of physics showed up (they don’t know why), and then the universe exploded into existence (from what they can’t tell you). And then galaxies and planets were formed (they don’t know how). And the earth showed up at just the right distance from the sun with lots of water on it (don’t know why). Some mysterious force keeps the planets in perfect orbit (they don’t know why). Eventually spontaneous generation occurred (they don’t know how since most science books tell you it can’t happen – but in this case it did). Instantly very complex, engineered, microorganisms formed by random chance (they don’t know how chance engineered these organisms, in fact it couldn’t have happened – but it did) and these organisms mutated into more advanced and complex forms (though mutation has never changed one species into another), and eventually, given enough time – voila! Here we are! But like creation, the theory of evolution cannot be measured or repeated, even if it was true, because of the length of time it would take to occur. So evolution falls outside of what is measurable and repeatable just like creation so both cannot be “scientific.”

However, what does exist is the heavens, the earth, and all they contain. What exists can be measured and experiments can be made that are repeatable. Science can then, by measuring and examining what exists, determine which model, creation or evolution, the scientific evidence best supports. The two are quite at odds with each other because the Bible says God created everything in six literal days and the earth is less than 10,000 years old. Evolution believes that matter has always existed and that over billions of years random chance has been able to engineer, assemble, give life to, and increase in complexity living organisms.

Why do I bring all of this up? Because many people have been duped into believing that “evolution is scientific” and that creationism is not. When in reality, both are not scientific because both fall outside the required parameters of measurability and repeatability. So if modern science discovers anything, it discovers what is measurable and repeatable from what exists in the present.

The Clergy Statement also forces those who sign it to agree that evolution is true. It states that both evolution and Christianity are “two complementary forms of truth.” We must ask what Pilate asked Jesus right before he sentenced Him to be crucified, “What is truth?” (Jn. 18:38). The Bible tells us in Psa. 119:142, “Your law is truth” and in vs. 160 of that same psalm, “The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.” Jesus affirmed this in his High Priestly prayer when He prayed in Jn. 17:17, “Sanctify them in truth; Your word is truth.” God is a God of truth and only speaks the truth. The Bible is the truth of God and is infallible, inerrant, and the only trustworthy source of truth. As we have already shown, evolution is antithetical to the truth of God’s infallible Word. Someone has to be wrong — either the scientists or God.

It must also be understood that what scientists call “truth” and what God says is “truth” are two radically different things. Science at one time believed the world was flat and that the sun revolved around the earth! That was what scientists said was “true” at one time. Now what was thought to be true has been discovered not to be true. So what is “true” to scientists is really what is presently believed to be true. Yet anyone who has studied the history of science knows that the conclusions of scientists are constantly changing. One only needs to do some research on the famous Scopes trial to discover that the “evidence” produced by the evolutionists, such as Piltdown man (a hoax made from the doctored up skull of a human and the jawbone of an ape), neanderthal man (which were discovered to be homo sapiens like us with Rickets disease), the uselessness of the appendix (known today to have many functions), and the famous evolutionary horse sequence (which has been proven to be false), were all used in the scopes trial as “truths” that disproved creationism. The jury then made a decision on the “truths” presented to them by expert scientists. Yet evolutionists today reject the very “truths” presented in the scopes trial to prove creation wrong! Point being, what scientists say is true today is often not true tomorrow.

God’s truth, however is perfect, eternal, infallible, and never changes. This is why we must not be confused about what scientists presently believe is true and what God says is true. God’s truth is infallible and perfect. Scientific truth is fallible and has no way of measuring supernatural acts. It comes down to this, are you going to believe God, who knows everything, has existed at all times, and is never wrong, or are you going to believe men, who know very little, have only existed for a short time, and are often wrong?

By agreeing with evolution you take sides against God because evolution is antithetical to creation. So it is at best an ignorant statement and at worst a purposefully misleading statement to say that the “evolutionary truths of science” and the Bible can comfortably co-exist. Apart from evolution, science and the Bible often do agree as long as scientists affirm what we know is the perfect truth of God found in the Bible.

Fourth Proposition to Consider

You would have to affirm that “the theory of evolution is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny.” Thus you would be agreeing that evolution is an unassailable monolithic theory that has stood up under the scientific arguments presented by creation scientists, intelligent design scientists, and a host of other non-religious scientists who have, from the observable evidence, determined that evolution is not only unlikely, but an impossibility.

This particular proposition is so ridiculous that it begs to be ignored all together. It just isn’t true. Consider some of the facts. The fossil evidence supports a world wide flood (see Duane T. Gish’s book, The Fossils Say No). There are fossils everywhere in the world, even at the top of Mount Everest! Yet there are no transitional forms! Not one! You would think that after billions of years of evolution we would find some transitional forms but there aren’t any.

Fossils, by the way, are only created when a catastrophe occurs. Most fossils are found in sedimentary rock laid down by a cataclysmic water event. Many science books try to explain how a fish, for instance, might die, sink to the bottom of a lake or pond, and then slowly get covered up and eventually turn into a fossil. Scientists know that is not how fossils are formed and yet the myth is perpetuated. The fish must be covered immediately or scavengers and bacteria will cause it to decompose. The Bible answers the question of fossils perfectly with the Noatian flood, not evolution.

Evolution would have people believe that in most cases fossils are formed when sediments are slowly built up covering fish and animals that have died. But there are fossils which prove that the many rock layers we see in the geologic column were laid down rapidly, not over millions of years. There are fossils you never hear about called poly strata fossils. These are fossils which are found in multiple layers of rock or multiple (poly) strata. One of the most famous is the 80 ft whale found by the GREFCO company near Lompoc, California. What is unique about the whale is that it was found on its tail with its body going through many layers of rock. Obviously the whale did not have to stand on its tail for millions of years while sedimentary layers slowly built up around it. Both evolutionists and creationists agree it had to happen quickly by some sort of cataclysmic event. One evolutionist trying to explain what happened said, “More likely it died a natural death, sank to the bottom for a time, and was buried in some kind of underwater avalanche which left it in its vertical position” (www.atheisteye.com).

The problem with this view is that whales don’t sink when they die, they float! One recent example of a large southern Right Whale near Jarvis Cape Australia is a case in point. In March of 2002, the whale was found dead and floating off the coast near Cape Jarvis. Large schools of sharks, mostly white sharks and white tip reef sharks were tearing into the whale and devouring it. Though the sharks had torn many holes in it, it continued to float. Site seers began to go out and watch the sharks feed for a thrill. Some would even stand on the bloated whale! One man even had his infant in his arms. The police, not wanting anyone to get hurt, towed the carcass out to sea and put three large explosive charges in it hoping to blow it to pieces and sink it to the bottom. Though enough explosives were placed in the carcass to take down a concrete wall, the carcass continued to float! The whale on its tail must have been buried alive (http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v24/i2/whale.asp#r1).

One of the more damning and irrefutable scientific evidences against evolution is DNA. DNA contains the instructions for assembling living creatures. Even very simple creatures have very complex DNA. The mathematical probability of a single strand of DNA assembling itself by chance is so astronomical that it is considered impossible. Yet even if DNA could assemble itself by chance, it would have to grow in ordered complexity over time. The only way for one species to evolve into another is if new, organized information is added to the DNA of an existing creature. Of course this has never happened, yet evolution believes by faith it is true and preaches that, given enough time, a given life form will do everything it did before and something else better.

Consider this example. What if you took a fine, mechanical Swiss watch, took it all apart, put all its finely engineered pieces into a bag with a lot of other pre-made, engineered, mechanical watch parts, and then shook the bag or let it set for a long, long time. How long do you think it would take for all of those parts to put themselves together so that they did everything the watch did before and something else better? We all know the answer — it would never happen. Why? Because watches are complex and it takes intelligence to both engineer the parts and assemble them. Yet the finest Swiss watch is unsophisticated compared to the simplest strand of DNA or one celled organism. Evolution is not a foundational truth and has not stood up under scrutiny!