When you hear the word “Evolution” it is usually meant as a stand-in for Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, specifically the idea that all life on earth arose from natural processes beginning with “some warm little pond with all sort of ammonia and phosphoric salts,—light, heat, electricity present, that a protein compound was chemically formed”. As we discuss in the episode, Darwin was by no means the first to propose such an idea, as his grandfather had written something very similar many years before. But what was needed for evolution to flourish was not the idea, but a community in the world, ready and willing to embrace it.
In this episode, we want to discuss some of the Biblical and logical problems inherent with evolution as a theory. We discuss the problem of “Death before Adam”, of man desiring to worship the creature rather than the creator, and how order does not arise from disorder. We also talk about how the pursuit of the theory of evolution has caused harm in many other areas of science as our insistence that specific falsehoods regarding order vs chaos must be true has caused us to pour untold time and resources into technological dead ends.
The theory of evolution is just that, a theory. It takes a lot of ideas, some of which are true, and makes claims that are contrary to science and reason. Support for evolution requires for teachers and scientists to tell lies about randomness, about order and chaos, about the nature of humans and most importantly, what the universe declares about the nature of God Himself. The church must continue to stand against its lies, and then to go beyond that, to tear down the stronghold that has been created with the truth of God’s word. Please join us as we discuss this very important topic.
Below are two videos that are mentioned in the episode along with some notes and commentary by Charles.
Dr. Drew Berry giving a Ted Talk on how he has used technology to help visualize the complexity of DNA and other cellular/molecular objects to better understand their complexity. While the entire video is worth watching, if you want to jump to the key part, it begins at 2:45. I also want to call out a few points. The visualizations he shows in this video are divided into two sections. In the first, he looks at DNA and the process of it being copied, He then shows the scope and “size” of a single strand of DNA. In the last section, he focuses on the kinetochore of a cell and he mentions that scientists have been studying this part of the cell for over a hundred years of intense study, saying, “and we’re just beginning to understand what it’s about”. As you look at the DNA and the close ups of the kinetochore and the process of cell division, keep these in mind as you watch the next video by Dr. Tour. Many of the components that Dr. Tour discusses are pieces of this single cell. Not how strongly Dr. Berry is emphasizing the complexity of what he is showing you. My impression was of someone who is almost overwhelmed by how little mankind knows about this tiny part of a single cell that we have spent such a long time studying. https://youtu.be/WFCvkkDSfIU?si=XxkbJoUvJ8F0KzNI
James Tour, on Inorganic Chemistry and Origin of Life. In this video, Dr. Tour discusses how little we know about the origins of life. How complex it is from a chemical perspective to just create the most simple components of life and how we have not even begun to unravel how it might be done in a laboratory setting with tools and technology much less in Darwin’s “warm little pond”.
https://youtu.be/r4sP1E1Jd_Y?si=oJEKTMYhMB7FHIUi
Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Hosts – Dan Horn, Jonathan Sides, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director – Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music – Gabriel Hudelson