This is week 5 out of 13. Eight more to go! *Thanks to my wonderful husband who assists me.
Update: A Darwin supporter (see comments) tells me the Darwin quotes I’ve shared, which I quote from another source, are taken out of context. His rebuttal is shared in the comments, but I haven’t verified that he is quoting Darwin’s exact words either. But suffice it to say, the evidence speaks loud and clear that there is a Creator behind what we see…people, animals, trees, the universe. It didn’t happen by chance – no matter what scientist may say otherwise.
Can evolution and God coexist? Well, not if you believe Genesis 1 which gives an account of 6 (literal) days of Creation…and on the seventh God rested from his work.
The theory of evolution involves a “time” when there was nothing and then a Big Bang and then somewhere along the line we have an amoeba that slowly over millions (or is it billions?) transformed into anything (or everything) including you and I {Long story short}. I mean, okay, so somewhere in there monkeys became man, right?
When you get right down to it there are a couple problems with the theory of evolution. First, its just a theory, not a proven fact and yet is it the standard (last I knew) accepted- scientific teaching for public schools. There have also been evolutionary claims that have been proven false and last I heard those were still being taught as “fact”. I’m not up to date on what the schools are teaching but thats the last thing I heard on on it.
Second, there are no transitional forms to prove evolution. Where are the birds with a half a right wing and no left wing, where are…just fill in the blank. Whatever “was” between this and that…there ain’t none! There are creatures, including us, who cannot survive without certain things we have right now in our physical completeness.
Charles Darwin gave the description of what would falsify his own theory when he made the comment I have shown below in the box. Oh and the discovery of the “cell” is what proved Charles wrong.
“If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive slight modifications my theory would absolutely break down.” ~ Charles Darwin
I really believe that what it all boils down to for many folks is their unwillingness to admit that God exists, that God created them because they don’t want to think they are accountable to him. Read Romans chapter one. Its a blow to those who refuse to acknowledge the truth. God has some serious things to say to them.
Joel and I watched a 3 dvd series recently called “Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution” (I found one of the dvds in our church video library but then Joel found them at our local library too). These dvd’s are enjoyable to watch and very scientific. I highly recommend looking for them at your local library too.
“Such simple instincts as bees making a beehive could be sufficient to overthrow my whole theory.” ~ Charles Darwin
Science is suppose to be about finding out the truth. Not running from it. Not making up silly theories (Darwin’s Tree) and calling them facts.
Are you afraid of the truth? I’m sure many folks are. I’m quite sure of it.
Dr. Jobe Martin, a former agnostic, evolutionist, dentist, and professor was challenged by two of his students years ago to investigate the “evolution of the tooth” and to look at the “assumptions” that were made. The results rocked Dr. Martin’s world and it took him 5 years to grapple with the truth of what he was seeing. Dr. Martin shares incredible scientific details about creature after creature that “defys evolution”. Some of those creatures are…
- Whales and how there could be no “transitional” form for them that would have allowed them to survive. They had to have all their faculties or they couldn’t have lived long enough to eventually “evolve” them.
- Plovers and how they “just know” to lay their eggs in Alaska and leave their baby chicks behind while they fly to Hawaii. They don’t come back for their chicks and yet their chicks “know” to fly to Hawaii themselves.
- Fire flies and glow worms use “cold light” and this is something scientists haven’t figured out how to duplicate.
- The Bombardier Beetle is a wonderful example. He mixes chemicals and shoots them at his predators. He produces a way to do this without blowing himself up. I don’t do this example justice here, get the dvds and see for yourself. He could not have survived “evolution”. He would have blown himself up long before he couldn’t evolved all his parts necessary to be as he is today.
- The Giraffe and his long neck. Bending over for a drink at the water hole would have meant blowing out his brains.
Doesn’t it just make sense that it took a Designer…a Creator to put us and these incredible creatures together?
There’s so much much more. I’ve really have just touched on the topic. I know why I believe what I believe. Why do you believe what you believe?
“Often a cold shudder has run through me, and I have asked myself whether I may have not devoted myself to a phantasy.” Charles Darwin, Life and Letters, 1887, Vol.2 page 229
*To see the other posts in this series CLICK HERE.
Subscribe here to get my updates in your email or by RSS feed.
Quote #1 “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed[,] which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive[,] slight modifications[,] my theory would absolutely break down.”
He said IF!! If it could be demonstrated! I believe it has been demonstrated and so his theory has been broken down!
I believe it is appropriate because he is credited today with the theory of Evolution, a widely accepted belief that is not only false, but cannot be proven. Yet, our schools teach it and people believe it as if it is a proven fact. At best its a theory that requires faith to believe in…
The way I see it is that using what Darwin said in 1859 to talk about the current state of science (however you view it) is not appropriate. Darwin’s words must be taken into context at the time they were written. In his book, after that passage, he goes on to give examples and discusses them. Likewise, in order to use his quote for thinking about biology today and the evidence you refer, we should give Darwin the opportunity to look at it and respond to it. We can’t do that, unfortunately, and thus we should not use his words to suggest otherwise.
Off soon to take my son to school!
I think my first mistake was to not cite my source clearly. But you have a fair request. I do not want to say something that isn’t true. But on that point as well, after reading your “correction” of quote #1 I disagree with you. I do not think that one is being misquoted. I do not read into my sources’ quote that Darwin believes he IS wrong, just that if it could be proven (blah blah blah)… then his theory could be wrong. And guess what? He might not have seen the evidence in his day, but we have it now. I believe the “Cell” is the undoing of his theory. ….I do intend to look more closely at your last 2 points but my son needs me at the moment ;). I’ll shoot you a tweet if I can get a reply to you on those.
Wondering what DVDs you watched.
I did not comment here to argue evolution or creationism, although I do favor one over the other. As an historian, I simply wanted to point out your misuse of Darwin’s words, regardless of where you got the quotes. Any thought to check the sources of the quotes before posting them?
Hi Michael, as I told you on Twitter, the quotes came via the dvd(s) we watched. Maybe I didn’t mention that clearly in the post.
Regardless of anything Darwin says, God created everything. Period. And science backs that up. Its evident not only in the complexity seen in the human eye, human body, reproduction and so on, but the very similarities in some creatures tells me their is a CREATOR behind it. Just as your common sense tells you there is a BUILDER behind every bridge, a PAINTER behind every painted picture, or a SCULPTOR behind every statue.
Tracy, your use of these quotes to attempt to undermine Darwin’s credibility and thoughts about his own theory, is, if not dishonest, then a sign of your ignorance when it comes to Darwin’s writings. Will you correct your post?
Quote #1 “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed[,] which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive[,] slight modifications[,] my theory would absolutely break down.”
Context: This passage, in Darwin’s hand, comes from chapter 6 (p. 189) of On the Origin of Species (1859, Murray: London), “Difficulties on theory,” in a section where he covers organs of extreme perfection. Immediately following the quoted passage, Darwin wrote: “But I can find out no such case.” This is a perfect example of quote-mining in which a sentence immediately following a passage that works for creationist purposes (to make Darwin seem like he doubts his own theory or idea) is simply not shown. Source: http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=side&itemID=F373&pageseq=207
—–
Quote #2 “Such simple instincts as bees making a beehive could be sufficient to overthrow my whole theory.”
Context: These are not Darwin’s exact words. Here is what he actually wrote, in the chapter on instinct in On the Origin of Species (p. 207): “The subject of instinct might have been worked into the previous chapters; but I have thought that it would be more convenient to treat the subject separately, especially as so wonderful an instinct as that of the hive-bee making its cells will probably have occurred to many readers, as a difficulty sufficient to overthrow my whole theory. I must premise, that I have nothing to do with the origin of the primary mental powers, any more than I have with that of life itself. We are concerned only with the diversities of instinct and of the other mental qualities of animals within the same class.” Essentially, although some might think this would be a problem for Darwin’s theory, he did not think it was.” Again, the sentences after what is quoted are crucial to understanding what he was stating. Source: http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=side&itemID=F373&pageseq=207
—–
Quote #3 “Often a cold shudder has run through me, and I have asked myself whether I may have not devoted myself to a phantasy.”
Context: This quote comes from a letter from Darwin to his mentor, the geologist Charles Lyell, from 23 November 1859, whilst On the Origin of Species was being published. Darwin expressed how much it means to him that he has Lyell’s support, and here is the quote in context: “I rejoice profoundly that you intend admitting doctrine of modification in your new Edition. Nothing, I am convinced, could be more important for its success. I honour you most sincerely:—to have maintained, in the position of a master, one side of a question for 30 years & then deliberately give it up, is a fact, to which I much doubt whether the records of science offer a parallel. For myself, also, I rejoice profoundly; for think-ing of the many cases of men pursuing an illusion for years, often & often a cold shudder has run through me & I have asked myself whether I may not have devoted my life to a phantasy. Now I look at it as morally impossible that investigators of truth like you & Hooker can be wholly wrong; & therefore I feel that I may rest in peace.” Here we have another instance of a very telling sentence being omitted from a quote, Darwin stating that he did not feel that he had been devoting himself to a phantasy. Source: http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-2543
Hi there,
I just came across the post you had written at Scripture Dig in regards to the different bible versions, it’s always good to hear from others who believe the same as I do. So I decided to pop on over here to your blog. My husband co-worker, also a member of the same church as us, showed him a website called DrDino.com. I highly recommend it, it proves through God’s word how evolution just can not be, also that whole Big Bang theory is totally discredited. There are a bunch of videos to watch that were very eye-opening, and he is just so funny and interesting that even kids would enjoy it. Anyway, I read your Darwin post and I thought you’d be interested in these videos too.
Julianne 🙂