Download Natural Selection and Genetic Variety

Chapter 14
Creation and
Evolution
Science and Faith
Rejecting the Truth

Biblical truths
 The earth was created in a perfect
state
 Because of man’s fall into sin the
world plunged into imperfection and
death
 Plants and animals all had to
struggle to survive
Science and Faith
A great variety of animals can
develop from the limited number of
animals on the ark
 In the 1700’s people started to mix
Biblical truths with false
philosophies.
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Science and Faith
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This caused people to question the
truth of scriptures.
Naturalism – A belief that states that
the universe consists of matter and
energy and that there are no spiritual
or supernatural aspects.
Men Who Paved the Way for Evolution
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Charles Darwin (1809-1882) A British
naturalist that has been given credit for
the theory of macro evolution.
He went to school to become a doctor, but
didn’t cut it. He then got his theology
degree to become a minister. His real
passion was nature and was a very good
observer.
Men Who Paved the Way for Evolution

Charles Lyell (1797-1875) Naturalist that
wrote Principles of Geology and popularized
the theory of uniformitarianism, which is the
belief that the present is the only key to the
past and all things continue by a natural
process at the same rates as they have
always done. Darwin applied this idea to the
variety of different plants and animals he
saw.
One of Darwin’s Books

The Origin of Species – The book
Darwin wrote from the observations
that he made on the voyage on the
Beagle.
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Natural Selection – The idea that the
fittest and the strongest of a species
were more likely to survive and
reproduce than the weaker animals.
“Survival of the fittest”
Variety within kinds has definite
boundaries. Natural selection acts to
preserve existing kinds not create new
kinds.
Science, Religion, and Darwin
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Some people embraced Darwinism
because they wanted to remove God
from their world.
Science was doing wonderful things and
some people would believe anything
that came from science.
There were many Scientists in Darwin’s
day that rejected what he wrote,
because it was based on speculation
and not on science.
Effects of Darwinism
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Much of our world has a naturalist
(secular) view.
Humans are no longer considered a
special creation of God
Right and wrong became relative.
Some people wanted to improve the
human species by selective breeding
(eugenics)
Effects of Darwinism
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Racism
Sanctity of life is no longer important
Darwin’s Origin of Species was a battle
of chance verses purpose.
Paleontology: Evidence against
Evolution
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Fossils – The remains or impressions
of plants, animals, and humans
preserved in sedimentary rock.
Paleontology – The study of fossils.
Paleontology: Evidence against
Evolution

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The fossil record, when viewed from a
Biblical perspective, is actually one of
the most powerful evidences against
evolution.
Transitional Forms (“Missing Links”) –
Fossils that connect one kind of
organism with another kind by a series
of tiny steps.
The lack of these transitional forms is
great evidence against evolution.
Paleontology: Evidence against
Evolution

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No true “missing links” have ever been
found to bridge the gaps between
different kinds of organisms.
Punctuated Equilibrium Hypothesis –
Evolution happened in sudden spurts
followed by long period of no
noticeable change.
Paleontology: Evidence against
Evolution
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Macromutations – Drastic genetic
restructuring that changes one
creature into another.
Geologic Column – The belief that the
“primitive” organisms are deep in the
earth’s crust and the more “modern”
organisms are nearer to the surface.
Paleontology: Evidence against
Evolution
There is not a single place on
earth that you can see the
Geologic Column.
 The Geologic Column is based on
assumptions made from
evolution.

Paleontology: Evidence against
Evolution
Circular Reasoning – An
argument that is based on the
very assumption that it attempts
to prove.
 Fossils are aged by the rock
layers, and rock layers are aged
by the fossils that are in them.

Paleontology: Evidence against
Evolution

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Index Fossil – A specific fossil that
are considered specific to a certain
time period.
Radiometric Dating – Decay of
radioactive elements is relatively
constant, so to find out how many
radioactive elements are in the
organism ages that organism.
Paleontology: Evidence against
Evolution
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The age of the object that has the
radioactive element in it cannot be
dated unless you know the starting
and ending amount of that element.
Cambrian Explosion – The large
amounts of living things that have a
great variety in Cambrian rocks.
“Missing Links”
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Unusual extinct animals have often been
passed off as “transitional forms.”
Coelacanth – An unusual 6-foot-long fish.
The fins are attached to the body by
thick fleshy lobes.
Thought to be an ancestor of the first
amphibians. When a live coelacanth was
caught in the Indian Ocean, in very deep
water, this theory was no longer valid.
“Missing Links”
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Archaeopteryx – A fossil bird that is
often presented as a link between
reptiles and birds.
Has the “modern” flight feather and
hollow bones. However it also had a
small breastbone, teeth, elongated
tail, and claws on its wings.
“Missing Links”
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Horse Series – The extinct animals
that were thought to be ancestors of
the horse have varying amounts of
ribs.
Also the fossils that make up the
series were found all over the world.
Hominid Fossils
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Most important difference between
humans and apes is that man is
created in the image of God (Gen
1:27)
Hominid Fossils
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Eoanthropus (Piltdown Man) –
Fragmented bones of a humanlike
skull and an apelike jaw found
between 1908 and 1911.
This was a hoax of someone who
tampered with some bones and left
them to be easily found.
Hominid Fossils
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Hesperopithecus (Nebraska Man) – A man
reconstructed from a single tooth in
Nebraska found in 1922. The tooth was
found out to have come from an extinct
pig.
Hominid Fossils
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Ramapithicus (Rama’s Ape) – A medium
sized ape that was reconstructed from a
few teeth, a heavy jawbone, and
fragments of facial bones.
The bones were assembled incorrectly to
show that it looked like a human. No leg
or hip bones were found.
Hominid Fossils
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Australopithecus (Southern Ape) – A
skull found that was later found to be
juvenile. In the early 1970s it was
dismissed as an extinct ape.
Astralopithecus afarensis (Lucy) – Had
long toes that were used for grasping
and a chimpanzee like skull.
Hominid Fossils
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Homo habilis (Handy Man) – Actually
a mixture of ape and human fossils
found at different locations.
Hominid Fossils
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Homo erectus (Upright Man/Java
Man) – Skull cap and femur found 50
feet apart. A human skull was found
in the same rock layer.
Hominid Fossils
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Other fossils classified as Homo
erectus are found in Africa and Asia,
and are fully human.
Sinanthropus pekinenses (Peking
Man) – Fossils lost in WWII, but were
very similar to Homo erectus.
Hominid Fossils
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Homo neannderthalensis
(Neanderthal man) – Fossils that had
“apelike” features that were found in
Western Europe.
They were fully human and were
actually bigger and stronger than
today’s humans.
Hominid Fossils
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Cro-Magnon Man – Discovered in
France in 1868. Evolutionists now
admit that they were identical to
modern humans.
Hominid Fossils
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There is controversy in the
evolutionary community about the
different ancestry of humans.
However, from a Biblical perspective,
man has always been man, and all of
the “missing links” are fully ape or
fully human.
Biology: Evidence against Evolution
Impossibility of Transitional Forms
 According to the theory of evolution,
structures had to develop one step at a
time and remain fully functional at each
step.
 Evolution states that bats evolved from
shrew like rodents. As the bat’s fingers
are getting longer and skin grows between
them, it makes them useless to run, walk,
hold food, or fly. This is not an advantage
at all.
Biology: Evidence against Evolution
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Evolution states that amphibians
evolved into reptiles. The egg of an
amphibian is made of a jelly substance,
has the yolk attached to the embryo,
and is in water.
The reptile egg has a shell, a yolk
separate from the embryo, and is on
land. The organism would have to
develop these characteristics
simultaneously to survive.
Biology: Evidence against Evolution
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Evolution states that reptiles evolved
into birds. For this to happen air sacs
would have to be created in the body
cavity, muscles would have to be
redesigned, and the attachment of the
lungs to the chest wall would have to be
changed. All of this would have to
happen simultaneously for the creature
to survive.
Biology: Evidence against
Evolution

Comparative Anatomy – The study of
similarities and differences in the
body structure of organisms.
Biology: Evidence against
Evolution

Georges Cuvier came up with this
science and believed it showed the
bodies of man and animals have certain
basic similarities in their overall designs.
Biology: Evidence against
Evolution
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Evolutionists use comparative
anatomy to say that one organism
evolved from another because they
are similar.
There are some parts of organisms
that are very similar but are not
evolutionarily close.
According to Christians, comparative
anatomy shows a Creator.
Biology: Evidence against
Evolution
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Molecular Biology – The science
which seeks to discover how the
mechanisms of a living cell work
The recent explosion of information
of cellular components and activities
have caused problems for the theory
of evolution.
Biology: Evidence against
Evolution
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In Darwin’s day the understanding of
cells was very simple. They thought
that each cell was filled with
protoplasm that had a “vital force,”
which mysteriously powered the cell.
It is now obvious that these
intricately designed mechanisms
could not have been constructed by
chance.
Genetics
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Very little about heredity and genetics
was known in the time of Darwin. He
knew that parents passed on traits to
their offspring, but he did not know
how.
In his ignorance he thought that there
was not a limit to the variability of
traits.
Genetics
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Variety within kinds generally results
from preexisting genetic variety.
It was then thought that mutations
would cause a change of genetic
variety.
However, mutations cause genetic
information to be lost, not gained.
Natural Selection and Genetic Variety
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Natural selection does not produce
new characteristics; it just reveals
hidden characteristics.
Examples:
 Finches on the Galapagos
Islands
Natural Selection and Genetic
Variety
 The
Peppered Moth
Natural Selection and Genetic
Variety
 Insects
that are resistant to
pesticide
 Bacteria that are resistant to
antibiotics.
 Bacteria DNA is almost
identical to that of the
bacteria fossilized in amber.
Natural Selection and Genetic
Variety
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New life forms were not created;
there was just a shift in population.
Embryonic Recapitulation – An
unborn baby goes through various
stages of development that resemble
other animals
Natural Selection and Genetic
Variety
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Ernst Haeckel deliberately falsified the
pictures he published of certain
embryos. The findings were published
in 1868.
They were found to be false 6 years
later. They still appear in textbooks
today.
Evolution is Not Science

Evolutionists admit that evolution is
based on assumptions.
1. Nonliving things gave rise to
living material; that is, spontaneous
generation occurred.
2. Spontaneous generation
occurred only once.)
Evolution is Not Science
3. Viruses, bacteria, plants, and
animals are all interrelated.
4. The Protozoa [one-celled
animals] gave rise to Metazoa
[multicellular animals] .
5. The various invertebrate phyla
are interrelated.
Evolution is Not Science
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6. The invertebrates gave rise to
vertebrates.
7. Within the vertebrates the fish
gave rise to the amphibia, the
amphibia to the reptiles, the reptiles
to the birds and mammals…
These seven assumptions are not
able to be verified by experiment.
Any evidence is limited and
circumstantial.
What makes Science?
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Theoretical Speculation – Coming up
with general principals to explain
what happens in the universe.
Observation – Looking very close at
the universe to gain knowledge from
it.
What makes Science?
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Experimentation – Testing of a
theoretical speculation in a controlled
systematic way.
Testing is needed to confirm theories.
If testing fails to confirm the theory,
the theory must be discarded or
modified.
Testing ensures that over the long
run scientific theories that contain
errors will be eliminated.
What makes Science?
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Direct observation – Being able to
observe using your senses.
Indirect observation – Using scientific
tools to make an observation.
A scientific observation must be both
repeatable and free from bias.
What makes Science?

A variety of experiments have been
attempted to try to show evolution is
possible. A few examples:
 Synthesis of amino acids
 Synthesis of sugars, nucleotides,
and other simple molecules
 Linking of amino acids
 Synthesizing Cells
What makes Science?

Evolution is not observable or able to
be proven by experiment.
Evolution is a Threat to Modern
Science
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Scientific integrity is declining.
Because scientists present evolution
without proof, … other scientists are
putting forth “theories” without proof
to back them up.
Gaia hypothesis – A hypothesis that
states that the Earth and the living
things that are on it make one living
thing.
Evolution is a Threat to Modern
Science

Evolution has to be accepted by faith
just like creation. We have no human
witness to tell us what happened.