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God’s Eternal Power And Deity
Are Understood Through The Things That Are Made
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and
Godhead” (Romans 1:20).Are Understood Through The Things That Are Made
Charles Robert Darwin -- born in Shrewsbury, England on February 12, 1809 -- stated his purpose in writing ‘Origin of Species’ thus: “I had two distinct objects in view, firstly, to show that species had not been separately created, and secondly, that natural selection had been the chief agent of change” (Descent of Man, first edition, page 152).
Genesis explains the origin of life-forms in this way: “Then God said, ‘Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.’ So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind” (Genesis 1:20, 21). “Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind’; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind” (Genesis 1:24, 25).
A species is a taxonomic group whose members can interbreed. Thus, the various species reproduce after their kind, as indicated in Genesis. This fact does not easily fit the evolution model.
Charles Darwin’s purpose was to contradict the Biblical account of the origin of separate life-forms through creation.
Darwin’s skills as a scholar and writer enhanced his influence. His ideas also catered to the atheists’ desire for some new explanation for their discredited belief in the spontaneous generation of life.
In primary school I learned about those naïve alchemists in the middle ages who believed in the spontaneous generation of life because worms appeared, seemingly from nowhere, in rotten meat. But we were not told that for the most part, only atheists made this mistake.
People who accepted the Bible knew that life comes from life. Scientific methods were also used to prove it. In 1668 the Italian physician, Francesco Redi had shown that maggots did not develop in jars covered with fine gauze to prevent flies from landing on the meat. He also showed that when dead flies were put in the gauze-covered jars, no maggots appeared, but that when live flies were put in the jars, maggots did appear. Other experiments in the 18th and 19th centuries showed that the apparent ‘spontaneous generation’ of the atheists was caused by unseen life-forms.
Scientific proofs fell on deaf ears among many atheists, however. Without a Creator they had to believe in spontaneous generation. Contrary evidence was rejected. They continued to maintain that spontaneous generation did occur at the microscopic level.
Finally, however, Louis Pasteur’s proofs were so thorough and persuasive that even atheists had to admit that scientifically, life comes from life, omne vivum e vivo.
Yet spontaneous generation is essential for the atheistic model. Darwin’s theory pushed the supposed spontaneous generation back in time into the realm of speculation beyond the reach of scientific investigation. Atheists had a new pseudo-scientific basis for their faith in spontaneous generation.
Another factual objection to evolution is that only distinct life-forms are found in the fossil remains and on earth today, without a chain of intermediate stages of evolution. Darwin admitted this: “Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory. The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the geological record” (Origins, Ch. 10, pg 280, first edition). Thus, the theory of evolution is based on missing data.
The existing data are precisely what would be expected if distinct life-forms were created in the beginning, with fossils preserved in rock layers resulting from various catastrophes such as floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and meteoric impacts.
Not Darwin, but Louis Pasteur is the ‘father of biology’, since scientific biology is based on biogenesis, the principle that life comes from life. Pasteur’s work saved countless lives through great advances in immunology and the preservation of food.
Darwin’s influence resulted in millions of deaths since his speculative work “On The Origin Of Species By Means Of Natural Selection, Or The Preservation Of Favoured Races In The Struggle For Life” formed the theoretical foundation for dialectical materialism (communism) and Nazism.
Marx and Engels both corresponded with Darwin. Marx wrote to Ferdinand Lassalle on January 16, 1861: “Darwin’s book is very important and serves me as a natural historical foundation of our outlook.” (Fetched from http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1861/letters/61_01_16-abs.htm on Feb. 23, 2009).
Their outlook included the idea that the proletariat is a superior class that must destroy the property-owning classes. Stalin (an assumed name meaning ‘man of steel’) ‘purged’ his country of more than 20 million people.
Nazism viewed the ‘Aryan race’ as a ‘master race’ with a right and obligation to rid the world of inferior races. In his ‘Final Solution’ Hitler killed five million Jews and many people of other ethnic groups based on Darwin’s claim that evolutionary progress occurs mainly through the elimination of the weak in the struggle for survival.
How many people did Mao Tse-tung kill? Because access to documents is still restricted, estimates vary widely, but he probably killed more than Stalin and Hitler combined, somewhere between 30 and 50 million.
Pol Pot, a disciple of Mao, was responsible for the death of two million Cambodians.
Darwin would not have condoned these applications of his theory. The theory itself, however, is ideally suited to such applications since it reduces man to an animal, rejects the moral authority of God, and claims that progress comes through the mass extermination of ‘inferior’ life-forms.
A more appropriate title for the scientific content of Darwin’s book would have been “On the adaptability of species,” since that is what is demonstrated by the facts and experiments he discusses. He shows that species have an amazing ability to adapt by means of natural selection, and that this results in great diversity.
Yet, a dove remains a dove and a dog remains a dog. Darwin only speculates that such adaptations could lead to the development of new life-forms with entirely different characteristics.
The fatal flaw of Darwin’s speculation is that natural selection only works for something that functions. Natural selection might result in the adaptation of a functional eye to changed circumstances, but natural selection cannot operate during the supposed millions of years when an eye was ‘evolving’ before it became functional! The Biblical explanation is: “The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made them both” (Proverbs 20:12).
The fossil record indicates that thousands of species have become extinct, which is exactly what would be expected from the creation of many distinct life-forms in the beginning.
Because of his bias, Darwin ignored something very obvious, namely, the difference between raw materials and ‘things that are made’.
Can you recognize something that has been made?
Paul says, “Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20).
Can you recognize something that is man-made? I will show you an object. Please raise your hand if it is man-made: a stone, a toy airplane.
We can recognize something man-made because it is a ‘product’, an ‘artifact’, something that has been devised and produced by someone through the processing of raw materials.
If I showed you a live dog, or an eagle, or an elephant and asked you if it had been man-made, you would not raise your hand. Why? Because men are not capable of making such complicated things!
Yet a dog, an eagle and an elephant have the identifying marks of things that have been made. They are not raw materials. They are extremely complex ‘highly-specialized functional systems,’ which according to all scientific observation can only result from intelligent design and an amazing production capability.
Modern airplanes are crude contraptions compared to birds.
Canada geese fly from 50 to 90 km/hr and as far as 1000 km in one day. They can fly during the day or at night. They fly in a V pattern because aerodynamically that takes less energy. The strongest geese fly lead and change off periodically as one gets tired. The honking coordinates the movement of the formation. They find environmentally-friendly fuel along the way and replace themselves before they wear out.
No man can make something like that! Only Someone with awe-inspiring intelligence and creative power could make an eagle, or a dog or a mammoth or a dinosaur. These things show evidence of being God-made. “The whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isaiah 6:3).
And what about life? Among the remarkable things man can make, is there anything that is alive? No, man can only make lifeless things.
And what about man himself and the spirit of man? What does the Bible say? “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).
Materially, man is composed of compounds found in the biosphere on earth, raw materials. The complexity of the physical and genetic structure of the human body is beyond our comprehension. Yet, even after God formed this marvelous construction, it was just a cadaver until He made man a living being.
But man is more than just a living being. God had already made chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans before He made Eve, yet for some reason, Adam did not find them sufficient as a life companion!
In 2003, researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan claimed that 99.4% of the most critical DNA sites are identical in humans and chimpanzees. Researcher, Morris Goodman, suggested that chimps should be reclassified as human (genus homo).
More recent studies indicate that the similarity is less than 95%. But what Goodman failed to mention is that it is not the similarities in DNA that are significant, but the differences! Recent sequencing of the bovine genome indicates that cows share about 80 per cent of their genes with humans. And it is claimed that we share about 60% of our DNA with a banana! There are many similarities in DNA because life-forms have many functions in common.
Maybe we should ask Dr. Goodman if he would be willing for his daughter to marry a chimpanzee or if he has ever taken a chimpanzee out for dinner at an expensive restaurant! 1
Again, what does the Bible say? “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:26, 27).
The LORD “stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him” (Zechariah 12:1). Of death we read: “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
The tremendous difference between man and all other life-forms is evident. No explanation for the amazing intellect and creativity of man is more reasonable than what is said in Genesis, namely, that man was made in the image of his Creator. God asked Job, “Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart?” (Job 38:36).
It is easy to see the difference between raw materials and things that have been made, and the things that are made, declare the glory of God. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:20-22).
Roy Davison
1 Although many assume that various unearthed remains of genus homo are of different species, this cannot be proven since all surviving representatives form one species even though individuals have extremely divergent physical characteristics.
The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982,
Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982,
Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.
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