The Nugget:
Gen 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (KJV)
My Comment:
Today, February 12, marks the birthday of Charles Darwin. When I saw on my computer news stream a reminder, “Wake up. It’s Darwin’s Day,” I thought it would be good to say a word about the controversy Darwin contributed to by the publication of his book in 1859 about the origin of species.
Darwinism, at least as Darwin himself framed it, is now quite out-of-date.
Nevertheless, there are those who continue to push this fundamental doctrine of Naturalism in our public schools, colleges and universities, and the mainstream media.
I let my students know in my high school history, English, and reading classes that I did not believe in what I term Macro-evolution. Micro-evolution may be true, but if it is, it is simply another term for change within the limits of each species.
Macro-evolution seems to include the beliefs that this world came about through natural processes, that living creatures progressed over long periods of time and became more complex, until we see the great variety of life that exists on earth today.
My students said they were most surprised that a smart teacher like me did not believe in evolution. One student asked if I would be willing to debate their science teacher about this. I said that would be fine. Have him come anytime. I am always prepared for that debate.
The science teacher came and he presented his case and I presented my case. I think I had presented my case on the blackboard in outline form. I don’t recall whether my science teacher friend did the same. But I trust my students learned more about science as a result.
The issue boils down to this:
(1) Science arrives at knowledge by using the scientific method, a process which uses repeated experimentation to validate a scientific theory or proposed explanation to explain how and perhaps why something happens.
(2) History cannot be subjected to the scientific method: the start or creation of the universe cannot be repeated as a scientific experiment. Nor can the supposed rise of living matter from non-living matter be repeated as a scientific experiment.
(3) Therefore, evolution as an explanation for life is not a verifiable scientific theory but a philosophy masquerading as science, something it most certainly is not.
Irwin H. Linton, in his book, A Lawyer Examines the Bible, makes the interesting observation that when he spoke to someone who did not believe the Bible, he found that he could always predict correctly what they did claim to believe in–evolution.
That may still be largely true today.