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. (Romans 1:20)
Below are two 20-minute videos from the Genesis is History programmes.
After the videos I have written a short article about origins.
Like many other scientists I believe that design in the natural world reveals a Creator and the attributes of the Creator. The media sometimes give the impression that very few academics believe in intelligent design but that is not true. I have met many academics who acknowledge that there is strong evidence for an intelligent designer. I have also met many biologists who do not accept the theory of evolution.
Many of the great founding scientists like Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton had a strong belief in a Creator and the Genesis creation account in the Bible. Lord Kelvin, Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell are three other great scientists who believed in a Creator. These last three came after Charles Darwin and did not accept his theory of evolution.
One reason why many scientists do not believe in the theory of evolution is that there is no evidence for abiogenesis – the idea that life can spontaneously emerge from dead matter. The fact that the best scientists working in the best labs cannot reproduce abiogenesis provides devastating evidence against evolution.
Another reason many scientists do not accept evolution is that there is no evidence for macro evolution. Of course, speciation and adaptation happen all the time, but these things are not examples of evolution because they involve an organism keeping the same basic design. The adaptation involves minor changes such as color or size. Darwin’s finches and the peppered moth are often given as examples of evolution but they do not represent any kind of macro evolution at all. They are simply examples of adaptation. Darwin’s finches are still finches and peppered moths are still moths.
The change in colors in the population of peppered moths during the industrial revolution in England shows how adaptation does not produce changes in design. Color adaptation is simply a change in the occurrence of an existing trait. There were dark moths and light-colored moths before the industrial revolution. Adaptation simply changed the balance of which color was most common. Adaptation is a shuffling of existing genes – there are no new genes. Adaptation involves no new useful information – although natural selection can cause a loss of information.
To illustrate why it is wrong and misleading to say that peppered moths are evolving, consider the following example. My car is black but I could also buy a white version. If I said these two cars had a different design, it would be wrong because color is such an incredibly superficial difference and the designers always intended there to be two color versions. If I was to say that a change in color shows that the car could be on its way to becoming an aircraft, that would be absurd! In exactly the same way, it is absurd to say that a black peppered moth is significantly different in design to a white moth. The fact is that both moths were already fully designed in the first place and the difference is trivial. Therefore it is misleading to say that the peppered moth evolved during the industrial revolution because there was no design change.
Here is another illustration to show why genetic variation does not cause evolution. I have five children, three have brown eyes and two have blue eyes. If I was to say that the eye color change was a type of evolution, it would be wrong. The eye color change is simply a change in a trait that already existed our children’s ancestors. There has been no design change.
The fact that dogs cannot be bred into other types of creature and horses cannot be bred into other types of creature illustrates that gene variation has strict limits of change. And we have a great variety of dogs and horses not because of evolution but because of breeding and crucially because God designed the genetic potential in the first place.
There is an implied argument in modern biology books that ‘change proves evolution to be true’. But all the changes we see in nature are either adaptation or decay. Those changes are not evolution. So ‘change’ does not mean ‘evolution is true’.
Another implied argument in modern biology books is that ‘natural selection shows evolution to be true’. But natural selection by itself can create absolutely nothing. Natural selection can only select between what already exists such as the case with adaptation. So the existence of natural selection gives no evidence whatsoever for evolution.
Who is the Intelligent Designer?
I was once interviewed on the BBC about intelligent design and the first question they asked was “who is the intelligent designer?”. I believe the God of the Bible is the intelligent designer for the following reasons:
(1) The Bible describes God as infinite in wisdom and power and that is exactly what is revealed in creation.
(2) The Bible explains the origin of evil and suffering. Genesis describes how God created a perfect world without death and suffering and that death only came when Adam and Eve rebelled against God.
(3) The Bible is exactly what would be expected if God created the world because a Creator would want to leave a testimony for mankind. The Bible is a unique book going back to the beginning of history and its accuracy has been proven from archeological studies.
My experience
I come from a non-Christian family and knew little of the Bible as a child. I did hear Bible verses occasionally when attending Boys Brigade and at school. When I was in my first year at university in London I was invited to a Christian Union meeting and I was immediately struck by the power and truth of God’s Word. I was also challenged about my own sinful actions and attitudes. I quickly came to the realization that life is meaningless and unfulfilling without knowing the Creator and His forgiveness through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. During that first year I was converted to Christianity and attended Waterloo Road Evangelical Church in Uxbridge.
That was over 30 years ago. My testimony is that Christianity has had a huge impact on my life. There is a verse in the Bible in John 10:10 that promises that those who know Jesus will have life more abundantly. That has been true for myself and will be true for you if you come to God in repentance.
Professor Stuart Burgess 