- Something from
nothing?
The
"Big Bang", the most widely accepted theory of the beginning of the universe,
states that everything developed from a small dense cloud of subatomic
particles and radiation which exploded, forming hydrogen (and some helium)
gas. Where did this energy/matter come from? How reasonable is it to assume it
came into being from nothing? And even if it did come into being, what would
cause it to explode?
We know from common experience that
explosions are destructive and lead to disorder. How reasonable
is it to assume that a "big bang" explosion produced the opposite effect -
increasing "information", order and the formation of useful structures, such
as stars and planets, and eventually people?
- Physical laws an
accident?
We
know the universe is governed by several fundamental physical laws, such as
electromagnetic forces, gravity, conservation of mass and energy, etc. The
activities of our universe depend upon these principles like a computer
program depends upon the existence of computer hardware with an instruction
set. How reasonable is it to say that these great controlling principles
developed by accident?
- Order from
disorder?
The
Second Law of Thermodynamics may be the most verified law of science. It
states that systems become more disordered over time, unless energy is
supplied and directed to create order. Evolutionists says that the opposite
has taken place - that order increased over time, without any directed energy.
How can this be?
ASIDE: Evolutionists commonly object that
the Second Law applies to closed, or isolated systems, and that the Earth is
certainly not a closed system (it gets lots of raw energy from the Sun, for
example). However, all systems, whether open or closed, tend to
deteriorate. For example, living organisms are open systems but they all decay
and die. Also, the universe in total is a closed system. To say that the chaos
of the big bang has transformed itself into the human brain with its 120
trillion connections is a clear violation of the Second
Law.
We should also point out that the
availability of raw energy to a system is a necessary but far from
sufficient condition for a local decrease in entropy to occur. Certainly the
application of a blow torch to bicycle parts will not result in a bicycle
being assembled - only the careful application of directed energy will, such
as from the hands of a person following a plan. The presence of energy from
the Sun does NOT solve the evolutionist's problem of how increasing order
could occur on the Earth, contrary to the Second Law.
- Information from
Randomness?
Information theory states that "information" never arises out
of randomness or chance events. Our human experience verifies this every day.
How can the origin of the tremendous increase in information from simple
organisms up to man be accounted for? Information is always introduced from
the outside. It is impossible for natural processes to produce their own
actual information, or meaning, which is what evolutionists claim has
happened. Random typing might produce the string "dog", but it only means
something to an intelligent observer who has applied a definition to this
sequence of letters. The generation of information always requires
intelligence, yet evolution claims that no intelligence was involved in the
ultimate formation of a human being whose many systems contain vast amounts of
information.
- Life from dead
chemicals?
Evolutionists claim that life formed from non-life (dead chemicals),
so-called "abiogenesis", even though it is a biological law ("biogenesis")
that life only comes from life. The probability of the simplest imaginable
replicating system forming by itself from non-living chemicals has been
calculated to be so very small as to be essentially zero - much less than one
chance in the number of electron-sized particles that could fit in the entire
visible universe! Given these odds, is it reasonable to believe that life
formed itself?
- Complex DNA and
RNA by chance?
The continued existence (the reproduction) of a cell requires both DNA
(the "plan") and RNA (the "copy mechanism"), both of which are tremendously
complex. How reasonable is it to believe that these two co-dependent
necessities came into existence by chance at exactly the same
time?
- Life is
complex.
We know
and appreciate the tremendous amount of intelligent design and planning that
went into landing a man on the moon. Yet the complexity of this task pales in
comparison to the complexity of even the simplest life form. How reasonable is
it to believe that purely natural processes, with no designer, no
intelligence, and no plan, produced a human being.
- Where are the
transitional fossils?
If evolution has taken place our museums should be overflowing with
the skeletons of countless transitional forms. Yet after over one hundred
years of intense searching only a small number of transitional candidates are
touted as proof of evolution. If evolution has really taken place, where are
the transitional forms? And why does the fossil record actually show all
species first appearing fully formed, with most nearly identical to current
instances of the species?
ASIDE: Most of the examples touted by
evolutionists concentrate on just one feature of the anatomy, like a
particular bone or the skull. A true transitional fossil should be
intermediate in many if not all aspects. The next time someone shows you how
this bone changed over time, ask them about the rest of the creature
too!
Many evolutionists still like to believe
in the "scarcity" of the fossil record. Yet simple statistics will show that
given you have found a number of fossil instances of a creature, the chances
that you have missed every one of its imagined predecessors is very
small. Consider the trilobites for example. These fossils are so common you
can buy one for under $20, yet no fossils of a predecessor have been
found!.
- Could an
intermediate even survive?
Evolution requires the transition from one kind to
another to be gradual. And don't forget that "natural selection" is supposed
to retain those individuals which have developed an advantage of some sort.
How could an animal intermediate between one kind and another even survive
(and why would it ever be selected for), when it would not be well-suited to
either its old environment or its new environment? Can you even imagine
a possible sequence of small changes which takes a creature from one kind to
another, all the while keeping it not only alive, but
improved?
ASIDE: Certainly a "light-sensitive spot"
is better than no vision at all. But why would such a spot even develop?
(evolutionists like to take this for granted). And even if it did develop, to
believe that mutations of such a spot eventually brought about the tremendous
complexities of the human eye strains all common sense and
experience.
- Reproduction
without reproduction?
A main tenet of evolution is the idea that things develop by an
(unguided) series of small changes, caused by mutations, which are "selected"
for, keeping the "better" changes" over a very long period of time. How could
the ability to reproduce evolve, without the ability to reproduce? Can you
even imagine a theoretical scenario which would allow this to happen?
And why would evolution produce two sexes, many times over? Asexual
reproduction would seem to be more likely and efficient!
ASIDE: To relegate the question of
reproduction to "abiogenesis" does NOT address the problem. To assume
existing, reproducing life for the principles of evolution to work on is a
HUGE assumption which is seldom focused on in popular
discussions.
- Plants without
photosynthesis?
The process of photosynthesis in plants is very complex. How could the
first plant survive unless it already possessed this remarkable
capability?
- How do you explain
symbiotic relationships?
There are many examples of plants and animals which have a "symbiotic"
relationship (they need each other to survive). How can evolution explain
this?
- It's no good
unless it's complete.
We know from everyday experience that an item is not generally useful
until it is complete, whether it be a car, a cake, or a computer program. Why
would natural selection start to make an eye, or an ear, or a wing (or
anything else) when this item would not benefit the animal until it was
completed?
ASIDE: Note that even a "light-sensitive
spot" or the simplest version of any feature is far from a "one-jump"
change that is trivial to produce.
- Explain
metamorphosis!
How can evolution explain the metamorphosis of the butterfly? Once the
caterpillar evolves into the "mass of jelly" (out of which the butterfly
comes), wouldn't it appear to be "stuck"?
- It should be easy
to show evolution.
If evolution is the grand mechanism that has produced all natural
things from a simple gas, surely this mechanism must be easily seen. It should
be possible to prove its existence in a matter of weeks or days, if not hours.
Yet scientists have been bombarding countless generations of fruit flies with
radiation for several decades in order to show evolution in action and still
have only produced ... more (deformed) fruit flies. How reasonable is it to
believe that evolution is a fact when even the simplest of experiments has not
been able to document it?
ASIDE: The artificial creation of a new
species is far too small of a change to prove that true "macro-evolution" is
possible. A higher-order change, where the information content of the
organism has been increased should be showable and is not. Developing a
new species changes the existing information, but does not add new
information, such as would be needed for a new organ, for
example.
- Complex things
require intelligent design folks!
People are intelligent. If a team of engineers were
to one day design a robot which could cross all types of terrain, could dig
large holes, could carry several times its weight, found its own energy
sources, could make more robots like itself, and was only 1/8 of an inch tall,
we would marvel at this achievement. All of our life's experiences lead us to
know that such a robot could never come about by accident, or assemble
itself by chance, even if all of the parts were available laying next
to each other. And we are certain beyond doubt that a canister of hydrogen
gas, not matter how long we left it there or what type of raw energy we
might apply to it, would never result in such a robot being produced. But we
already have such a "robot" - it is called an "ant", and we squash them
because they are "nothing" compared to people. And God made them, and he made
us. Can there be any other explanation?