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The Creation/Evolution Controversy

The Creation/Evolution Controversy. Dr. Heinz Lycklama heinz@osta.com www.osta.com. Overview. Science and the Bible Assumptions and the Search for Truth The Bible and Creation Darwin’s Theory of Evolution Operational Science and Origins Science Models for Creation and Evolution

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The Creation/Evolution Controversy

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  1. The Creation/Evolution Controversy Dr. Heinz Lycklama heinz@osta.com www.osta.com @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  2. Overview • Science and the Bible • Assumptions and the Search for Truth • The Bible and Creation • Darwin’s Theory of Evolution • Operational Science and Origins Science • Models for Creation and Evolution • What Does the Evidence Tell Us? • The Scientific Case Against Evolution • The Scientific Case for Creation • What is Intelligent Design? @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  3. To Begin the Discussion … • In 1903, a British philosopher, Herbert Spencer, made a profound scientific statement:“Everything in the universe can be explained by five basic things - space, matter, time, force, and action.” • Spencer, an evolutionist, was a contemporary of Charles Darwin, the British scientist credited with popularizing the concept of evolution. He (Spencer) was given a prestigious award by the British Science Society at the time. This was considered to be a major contribution to science. And it is, until you realize that … @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  4. What Does The 1st Bible Verse Say? • Moses, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote in Gen. 1:1:“In the beginning (time) God (force) created (action) the heavens (space) and the earth (matter).” • What makes this even more remarkable is the fact that Moses was educated in the tradition of the Egyptians. They believed that only the ocean existed at first. An egg/flower appeared and the sun god was born. The sun god had four children, of whom one was Geb (the earth). They believed that the earth was a flat disk afloat on the river of the ocean. None of this mythology of the time was included in the book of Genesis. @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  5. Some Common Misconceptions Evolution is Science • Skeptics and unbelievers think: “The Bible is an antiquated religious book, filled with scientific fallacies and mistakes reflecting the naïve cosmology of the primitive tribes of the Near East.” • Even some professing Christians think: “The Bible is a book of true religion dealing solely with spiritual subjects and that, where it seems to touch on matters of science and history, it must be interpreted spiritually or allegorically, rather than literally. Creation is Religion @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  6. How Our Thought System Works Assumptions (held by faith) DATA Conclusions Logical thought is the means by which we draw conclusions from the facts/data after starting with certain assumptions. @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  7. Creation/Evolution Controversy Assumptions A Assumptions B DATA Conclusions A Conclusions B @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  8. Creator Acted Supernatural origins Design Miracle Event Creation Creator Didn’t Act Naturalistic origins Chance Properties of matter Natural process Evolution Two Thought Systems @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  9. The Impact of Assumptions Creator Can Act No Creator Allowed GODISNOWHERE GOD IS NOW HERE GOD IS NOWHERE @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  10. Abuses of Scientific Theory • Dogmatism • Theory equated/confused with fact • Extrapolation • Theory extended to areas in which it is not known to apply • Exaggeration • Theory accorded higher degree of verification • Subjectivism • New facts explained as “error of observation” • Exploitation • Theory used to justify activity in other arenas @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  11. Basic Assumptions of Creationism • The Bible is the inerrant Word of God • God is Creator • Man is created • Man is fallen and dependent on God • Creation is dependent on God • God reveals Himself in Scripture (Special Revelation) • God reveals Himself in nature (General Revelation) @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  12. Basic Assumptions of Evolution • Non-living things gave rise to living matter, i.e. spontaneous generation occurred (only once) • Viruses, bacteria, plants and animals are related • Protozoa (single-celled life forms) gave rise to metazoa (multiple-celled life forms) • Various invertebrate phyla are interrelated • The invertebrates gave rise to vertebrates • Within the vertebrates the fish gave rise to amphibia, the amphibia to reptiles, and the reptiles to birds and animals • All life originated from first living organism @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  13. The Bible and Creation • Three major worldwide events have produced the world as we know it today: • Six days of special creation and formation of all things, the completion and permanence of which are now manifest in the Law of Conservation of Energy (the First Law of Thermodynamics) • The rebellion of man and resultant curse of God on all man’s dominion, formalized in the Law of Increasing Entropy [disorder] (the Second Law of Thermodynamics) • Worldwide flood in the days of Noah, leaving the world largely under the domain of natural uniformity @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  14. Creation of Distinct Kinds • Gen. 1: 11(1), 12(2), 21(2), 24(2), 25(3) • Ten major categories of organic life created “after its kind” • Plant kingdom - grass, herbs, fruit trees • Animal kingdom - sea monsters, other marine animals, birds, beasts, cattle, crawling animals • Man “kind” • One kind cannot transform itself into another kind • Definite and distinct categories • There is variation within a kind • These “kinds” are still recognized today @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  15. Biblical References to Creation • Ex. 31:17 (Moses) “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth …” - six-day literal creation • Josh. 24:2-4 (Joshua) “ … your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, …” - accepts Gen. 11 account of Abraham’s ancestors • II Kings 19:15 (Hezekiah) “You have made heaven and earth.” - speaks of creation • 1 Chron. 1:1-28 “Adam, Seth, Enoch, …” - repeats genealogies of Gen. 5, 10, 11 • Neh. 9:6 (Nehemiah) “You have made heaven, … the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, …” - refers to creation @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  16. The Reliability of the Bible • Strong Manuscript evidence. More ancient manuscripts than any other historical book. New Testament Confirmed by secular historians Josephus (before 100 AD), Roman Tacitus (120 AD), Roman Governer Pliny (110 AD) • Archaeological evidence. Countless finds of Old Testament cities. Dead Sea Scrolls. Ebla Tablets. • Prophecy - Several hundred fulfilled prophesies including the time of Christ’s ministry, his birthplace, and method of death. Destruction of Babylon by Cyrus, Progression of Kingdoms from Babylon through Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire and the Roman Empire, suffering of Jews under Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Freedom for Jews under Judas Maccabeus and Israel’s rebirth as a nation in 1948 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  17. Biblical Reliability on Science • We trust the Bible for spiritual truth • Do we trust it for truth in other areas? • History - events corroborated by historians • Archaeology, geography – verifiable facts • Science - astronomy, geophysics, geology, hydrology, meteorology, biology, physics • there are many Biblical references to nature and natural processes • authors use everyday language • amazingly accurate • anticipatory scientific insights in the Bible @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  18. e.g., Hydrology • Eccl. 1:7 “All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place fromwhich the rivers come, there they return again.” [Written by Solomon in 935 B.C.] • The hydrologic cycle has been understood by man only in recent years -> ~ mid-1800’s • World’s food supply is made possible by the distribution of water @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  19. Christ Refers to Gen. 1-11 • Matt. 19:4-5, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said ‘for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.” • Doctrine of marriage refers to first two chapters of Genesis, Gen. 1:27 and Gen. 2:24 • Mark 10:6, “But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female …” • Mark 13:19 - beginning of creation which God created @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  20. NT References to Gen. 1-11 • Every NT writer refers to the early chapters of Genesis • Jesus Christ referred to each of the first seven chapters of Genesis • Almost all NT books have references to Genesis 1-11 • Every chapter of Genesis 1-11 except chapter 8 is referred to somewhere in NT • Every NT writer accepted these early chapters as historically accurate @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  21. Removing Genesis 1-11 • Removes true history • Removes the foundation from all future history • Rejects the teachings of Peter, Paul, other Biblical writers, Christ Himself • Eventually leads to apostasy @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  22. Conclusion Creation is an essential truth spoken of in the Bible Col. 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  23. Most recent "big bang" ~20 billion years ago Our Solar System, 5 billion years ago Single-celled organisms, 3 - 4 billion years ago Multi-celled organisms, 1 billion years ago Humankind, 1 - 3 million years ago Modern Civilization, 5 - 10 thousand years ago The Evolutionary View of History @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  24. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) • As a theology major at Cambridge University, Darwin was taught a variation of the Greek view of reality • Was invited to travel around the world on the HMS Beagle surveying plant and animal life in the southern hemisphere • Compared the theory he had been taught with reality and could not reconcile the two • Proposed his theory of natural selection in The Origin of Species published in 1859 @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  25. England Cape Verde Islands South America Cocos Islands Tahiti Sydney Australia Mauritius Galapagos Islands New Zealand Falkland Islands Rio de Jeneiro The Voyage Of The Beagle “The object of the expedition was to complete the survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego . . . to survey the shores of Chile, Peru, and some islands in the Pacific - and to carry a chain of chronometrical measurements round the World.”, Darwin @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  26. Darwin’s Logic • The fossils in South America were different from the animals that lived there now, but some seemed to be related in some way • If fossils were a record of the past (paleontologist Cuvier, 1769-1832) then there must have been change (evolution) between the past and now • Change is happening slowly - thus to get change must have taken a long time (uniformitarianism) • The rock strata took a long time to form (Hutton - gradualism) thus lots of time is available for evolution • Organisms evolved over long periods of time @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  27. The Mechanism Of Evolution • Darwin was not the first to propose evolution, Lamarck and others had done it before him • Darwin’s real contribution was a credible(?) mechanism for evolution - Natural Selection • Natural selection is based on two points: • The reproductive capacity of organisms exceeds the carrying capacity of the environment • Variation in organisms makes survival a non-random event - some variants are more likely to survive in a given environment • Of the excess products of organisms’ reproductive capacity the most fit survive - Survival of the fittest @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  28. The Triumph of Naturalism • Naturalism - The belief that all phenomena can be explained in a rational way, in terms of natural causes, without invoking the supernatural Because Darwin proposed a natural cause (natural selection) for organisms’ origin his theory is considered scientific - religious accounts invoking the supernatural are not @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  29. Uniformitarianism • Uniformitarianism - the belief that nature is the same (uniform) today as it has always been • Proposed by James Hutton, Scottish geologist, in 1795 • Explains rock layers laid down over time • Uniformitarianism is true absolutely all the time • With absolutely no exceptions . . . • Except when it invalidates our theories @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  30. “Evidence” For Evolution • Biogeography - The geographical distribution of organisms reflects their origin and isolation from other species • Fossil Record - The fossil record contains missing links between present species and their ancestors . . . sort of . . . maybe • Comparative Anatomy - Homologous (similar) structures must have evolved from the same ancestral structure . . . Except when we don’t think two organisms shared a common ancestor with that structure • Molecular Biology - More or less the same idea as comparative anatomy - Similar genetic information indicates common origin • Comparative Embryology - Similar organisms go through similar development @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  31. In His Own Words "I may, of course, be egregiously wrong; but I cannot persuade myself that a theory which explains several large classes of facts can be wholly wrong...." Charles Darwin, November 13, 1859, in letter to L. Jenyns @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  32. TIME Evolutionary “Tree of Life” Initial Disorganization withlater increase in complexityand unlimited diversification Not just change, but change in thedirection of increasing complexity Evolutionary “Tree”All life came from one simple cell @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  33. TIME Creationist “Forest” Initial Complexity withlater deterioration anddiversification within limits Creationist “Forest” All life came from multiple complex ancestors. @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  34. What Does Science Have To Say? Harrison Matthews, in the “Foreword” to the 1971 edition of “Origin of Species by Natural Selection”, by Charles Darwin states that “Belief in evolution is thus exactly parallel to belief in special creation - both are concepts which believers know to be true but neither, up to the present, has been capable of proof.” An Objective statement of fact! @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  35. Is This Science? “Since Darwin, every knowing person agrees that man is descended from the apes. ... Today, of course, there is no such thing as the theory of evolution; it is the fact of evolution. The only arguments now are over technical problems, but the basic fact of evolution is so clearly established that no scientist worries about it any more.” - so states Ernst Mayr, professor of Biology at Harvard. A Subjective statement! @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  36. Science • “Operational” Science • Postulate theory -> make observations -> prove/falsify theory • Using the Scientific Method • “Origins” Science • Were you there at the beginning? • Model of Creation • Model of Evolution • Which model fits the observed facts best? • “Forensic” science @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  37. Scientific Methodology • Make observations • Develop a hypothesis ortheory that explains the observations • Conduct experiments to test accuracyand predictions made by the theory • Draw conclusions • Repeat experiments to verify results andeliminate sources of inaccuracy • Report results so others can repeat the experiment(s) @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  38. Theory Criteria • To apply scientific methodology, the theory must meet these criteria: • Must be falsifiable or verifiable • Must make quantifiable predictions • Experimental results must be repeatable • Must be as simplistic as possible with no unnecessary components (Occam’s Razor) • Adherence to the methodology allows for self-correction and increases confidence in the assumptions made by scientific philosophy @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  39. Origins - Evolution or Creation? • “Science is the search for truth” • Hypothesis, theory, model, law, or fact? • Fact – proven to be true • Law – no known exception • Theory – testable, falsifiable, based on empirical findings • Hypothesis – provisionally explains some fact • Model – simplified representation of reality • Which is Evolution? Creation? • A model – let’s see why … @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  40. Models of Origins • We can neither observe nor repeat “origins” • Origins “theories” cannot be tested or proven • We have two models (not theories) of origins • Creation and evolution • Models can be compared as to their respective capacities for correlating observable data • Evolutionists regard evolution as “a proven fact” • They believe that evolutionism is scienceand that creationism is religion • Evolutionists are unable to prove evolution • Thousands of scientists believe in creation @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  41. Two Models of Origins @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  42. Scientific “Proofs” of Origin • What we can test scientifically • Observable/repeatable processes • Trends/tendencies in nature • Processes/events that left evidence • What we cannot test scientifically • Identity/motivation of who/whatever brought the universe and life into existence • Historical events • Morality • Meaning @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  43. Origin “Proofs” • Creation cannot be “proved” • Not taking place now • Not accessible to scientific proof • Can’t devise experiment to describe creation process • Evolution cannot be “proved” • If it is taking place, operates too slowly to measure • Transmutation would take millions of years • Small variations in organisms are irrelevant @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  44. What About Evolution? • A valid scientific hypothesis must be capable of being formulated experimentally, such that the experimental results either confirm or reject its validity • No way to do this to find “the answer” for origins • Dr. Heribert-Nilsson, Director of the Botanical Institute at Lund University, Sweden, concluded: “My attempt to demonstrate evolution by an experiment carried on for more than 40 years has completely failed. The idea of evolution rests on pure belief.” @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  45. Present +Repeatable +Observable =SCIENCE Past +Non-Repeatable +Eyewitness Account =HISTORY Past +Non-Repeatable +No Eyewitnesses =BELIEF @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  46. TV and Textbooks Show Us … @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  47. We Actually Find … a bunch of jumbled up bone fragments that we put together and make up stories about! @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  48. Why Does It Matter If We Were Created Or If We Evolved? • How did I get here? • Who am I? • Why am I here? • Where am I going? • Meaning of anything is tied up with its origin: • Human Origin – humans decide the meaning • Divine Origin – God decides the meaning • Unknown Origin – unknown meaning @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  49. Some Origins Found in Gen. 1-11 • Suffering and Death • Clothing • Work • Crime & Punishment • Freewill Offerings • God’s Universal Judgment • The Fossil Record • The Rainbow • Weather Patterns • Change of Seasons • Languages • Agriculture • Civilization • Heavenly Bodies • The Earth • Animal / Plant Life • Human Life • Law • Marriage • Sex • Roles in the Family • Childbearing • Sin (need for Salvation) • Forgiveness • God as Provider of the Sacrifice @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

  50. Evolution is Everywhere! • Taught in public schools and colleges • Biology textbooks • Library books • Television shows about nature • Natural history museums • Movies • Zoos • National parks • Popular magazines and newspapers @ Dr. Heinz Lycklama

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