http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=910
All the Smart People
| by | Kyle Butt, M.Div. |
Even though any person who has ever dealt with logic understands that a groundless appeal to authority or “those on the bandwagon” carries no legitimate weight; it does not change the fact that at the popular level, many individuals have been persuaded to believe false ideas based on the argument that “the authorities” believe a certain way, or that “most people” believe something. Such is the case with the hypothesis of evolution. Richard Dawkins once stated: “It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid, or insane (or wicked, but I’d rather not consider that)” (1989, p. 7). The implied argument in Dawkins’ statement is that smart, sane, knowledgeable, and noble people believe in evolution. In fact, one of the most powerful arguments used by evolutionists to convince the populace of evolution’s alleged truthfulness is the false idea that “all smart people believe in evolution,” or that “all scientists” believe in evolution.
To set the record straight, it should be noted that such a notion is false in every sense of the word. From ages past to the present, literally thousands of brilliant minds have recognized the falsity of organic evolution, and have embraced the truth that this Universe was created by a divine Designer. The following litany is but a scratch on the surface of names that would fall into this category.
| SCIENTIST | CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE |
| Lord William Kelvin | Absolute temperature scale; study of thermodynamics; transatlantic cable |
| Sir Isaac Newton | Calculus; reflecting telescope; dynamics; law of gravity |
| Louis Pasteur | Bacteriology; law of biogenesis; vaccination and immunization |
| Joseph Lister | Antiseptic surgery |
| Michael Faraday | Electric generator |
| Robert Boyle | Chemistry |
| Johannes Kepler | Celestial mechanics |
| Wernher von Braun | Space program; NASA (for list see Huse, 1997, pp. 159,184-185) |
Added to this list could be hundreds of names of contemporary scientists such as Dr. John Baumgardner, whose theory on plate tectonics was reported in Nature. Dr. Raymond Jones was described as one of the top scientists in Australia. Dr. Brian Stone has received numerous awards in his engineering field. Raymond Damadian invented MRI [magnetic resonance imaging] (Sarfati, 1999, pp. 26-27). Dr. A.E. Wilder-Smith held three earned doctorates from three European universities. Dr. Melvin A. Cook won the 1968 E.G. Murphee Award in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry from the American Chemical Society. Dmitri Kouznetsov, M.D, Ph.D., D.Sc., won the Komsomol Lenin Prize in 1983, distinguishing himself as one of the two most promising scientists in Russia at the time (Gish, 1995, pp. 13-14).
While creationists may be in the minority when it comes to the sciences, they certainly are leaving a most impressive mark. With names such as Kepler, Newton, and Pasteur on the side of creation, it is a marvel that anyone would suggest that “all smart people” believe in evolution. On the contrary, a host of credentialed thinkers, past and present, have held firmly to, and continue to believe in, the statement: “In the beginning God….” (For a more exhaustive list, see Gish, pp. 13-15 and Huse, pp. 157-162.)
This discussion is in no way intended to sway anyone to believe in creation based on the views held by the “smart people” mentioned above. It is intended to report the truth that many intelligent thinkers have found “holes” in the hypothesis of evolution. Truly smart people do away with any faulty appeals to authority, and simply look at the evidence.
REFERENCES
Dawkins, Richard (1989), “Book Review” (of Donald Johanson and Maitland Edey’s Blueprint), The New York Times, section 7, p. 34. April 9.
Gish, Duane T. (1995), Evolution: The Fossils Still Say No! (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research).
Huse, Scott M. (1997), The Collapse of Evolution (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker), third edition.
Sarfati, Jonathan (1999), Refuting Evolution (Green Forest, AR: Master Books).