PhD SCIENTIST ON CHEMICAL EVOLUTION

Posted on by

Don Batten interviews professional scientist Dr Royal Truman as reported in Creation Magazine, Volume 46. Issue 3, 2024

Royal Truman has bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and computer science from State University New York, Buffalo, an MBA from the University of Michigan, a PhD in organic chemistry from Michigan State University, plus post-doctoral studies in bioinformatics from the universities of Heidelberg and Mannheim, Germany. He has many professional certifications in such fields as cyber security, supply chain logistics, cloud technology, and project management. He has worked for 40 years for the largest chemical company in the world.

Royal is married to Petra, who worked as a lawyer, and later as a full-time homemaker. They have two grown sons; one has a law degree and the other is working on a PhD in computer science. Raised by missionary parents in Chile, training in North America, and then working in Germany, Dr Truman speaks five languages. He also plays multiple musical instruments and is very artistic (oil and acrylic painting, drawings, ink, and watercolour). He says his home looks like a museum. He trained in several forms of martial arts, attaining a brown belt in a North Korean style of Taekwondo. There is a lake in front of their house in Germany where Royal swims year-round (ice swimming!). He is one interesting guy!

Dr Truman shared, throughout my career, I worked with very clever and conscientious scientists who accepted evolution as a given, although this was not related to their own scientific training. But nothing I learned about evolution made any sense based on my own areas of expertise. But how could such clever people all be wrong? What was I overlooking? To find out, Royal devoted more than 35 years to learning all he could about molecular biology and systems biology. This is the chemistry of the machinery of life (proteins, nucleic acids, etc.). This included taking formal courses in bioinformatics. Such training assisted in analyzing the vast amounts of complex data involved—for example, the human DNA has over 3 billion ‘letters’. Even a relatively simple protein requires hundreds of DNA letters that specify how to make it.

First, Dr Truman had to understand the biological reality that needs explaining. What is it about the simplest living things that needs to be explained? For example, all self-reproducing (‘living’) cells have a set of very complex chemical units called tRNAs (‘transfer RNAs’). There must be at least one unique tRNA for each of the ~20 amino acids that make up proteins.

These tRNAs are essential for the manufacture of all proteins since the cell’s machinery uses them to interpret from the DNA code which amino acid is to be used at each position of a protein. But these are just a small component of the genetic equipment needed! Dr Truman researched the biochemical source of tRNAs and noted that their manufacture was coded for on DNA and they must be extracted by special proteins. But these proteins could only exist if functional tRNAs were already available to help decode instructions for their manufacture. He concluded that tRNAs and proteins could never arise by any natural (evolutionary) process.

Irreducible complexity describes biological systems with multiple interacting parts that would not function if any one of the parts was removed. Dr Truman discovered many examples of ‘irreducible complexity’. These include dozens of ‘molecular machines’, such as polymerases, helicases, isomerases, ribosomes, and ATP synthase. Each of these is a stupendously complex and efficient ‘nano-machine’, f lawlessly repeating indispensable services over and over. But not only is each one irreducibly complex, all these, and much more, must be present together for cells to function, to reproduce. Dr Truman comments, “How are all these multiple irreducibly complex components to come together without a Planner?”

Royal discovered that cells share properties with computers—he published two papers on this. Display footnote number:2 He is uniquely qualified to understand this, having been responsible for several years to identify all new computing technologies (hardware and software) which could someday be applicable to the chemical industry. This underlined again how cells are designed; they could not have come about by a natural (evolutionary) process.

Dr Truman shares how “I quickly discovered that evolutionary explanations were only vague imaginings; there was nothing solid enough to research, and the speculative narratives were easy to disprove.”

The origin of life?

Being a chemist, it was almost inevitable that Royal should examine origin of life (OoL) publications. He read hundreds of chemical publications that tried to explain the OoL and concluded that “all were nothing but wishful thinking.”

For example, thousands of complex proteins are needed for cells to work. However, not one of even the simplest proteins could be created naturally. Some of the problems he noted are: 1. Racemization, 2. Side-chain reactions, 3. Reactions with other chemicals, 4. Wrong proportions of biologically relevant amino acids, 5. Obtaining long chains in water,

If simply obtaining a long, linear random amino acid polymer (i.e., a ‘protein’) isn’t possible, how in the world were thousands of different proteins, each having the correct sequence of amino acids, supposed to have arisen? Natural selection can’t operate until you already have something that makes copies of itself.

According to Dr Truman: Origin of Life research is spinning its wheels. Experiments are designed with a specific goal in mind and the laboratory setup is never plausible; it never mimics something feasible in nature. When chemists such as I evaluate the results, we find them to be inconsistent with the claim that life made itself by natural processes.

Royal noted that there is no feasible path from simple chemicals obtained naturally to a biological cell controlled by DNA-encoded information.

Instead, there is an assumption that ‘life’ can be defined as any process involving some form of chemical replication and then with enough time a cell must inevitably arise. This has nothing to do with science; is it pure speculation with no mechanistic basis.

I have concluded that no chemist ever became an evolutionist because this is what the data showed them. Instead, clever people decided to believe in evolution, and then went about cherry-picking the data to support this notion and ignoring what is inconvenient.

MORE EVIDENCE FOR A CREATOR

Posted on by

Michael Behe, John Lennox, and Steven Meyer are three leading voices in science and academia on the case for an intelligent designer of the universe and everything in it (including us). In this wide-ranging conversation, they point out the flaws in Darwin’s theory and the increasing amount of evidence uncovered by a rigorous application of the scientific method that points to an intentional design and creation of the physical world.

You will need over an hour to watch this video but I suggest you will be glad you did. In particular, I like John Lennox for his pearls of wisdom, and rating the three men as to what gems I learned, it would be 1. John Lennox, 2. Stephen Meyer and 3. Michael Behe. I need to watch the video again at least once more, to make notes, of the information I will incorporate to improve my argument for the God of the Bible’s existence.

A NATION WITHOUT FAITH IS A NATION WITHOUT HOPE

Posted on by

Fifty-three years back, in 1971, 87 percent of Australians identified as religious, and overwhelmingly as Christian. Now it’s just 54 percent. It is a similar decline as in the U.S.A.

And here’s the really striking feature: only five years ago, 52 percent of us identified as Christian. Now it’s just 44 percent. That’s an almost 20 percent decline in Christian belief in just five years. Some of that will be people who don’t worship regularly anymore and feel fraudulent in ticking the religion box even though their faith is still with them. For others, it represents a clear rejection of organised religion. Five years back, only 30 percent of Australians identified as having no religion. Now it’s 39 percent. That’s a 30 percent leap in just five years, making no religion the fastest-growing “creed” in the country. Why does that matter? It may not be fashionable to say so but in reality, our culture is built on a Christian foundation. Our democracy, for instance, rests on the notion that everyone is equal in rights and dignity, something that’s come down to us through the Christian gospels. Elsewhere in our culture, our justice system rests on the notion that we should treat others as we’d be treated; again that comes from Christian teaching. Our sense of community too rests on the notion that we should “love our neighbours as we love ourselves”. It’s a commandment at the heart of our volunteerism and philanthropy. Then there’s the significant matter of what religious organisations contribute to social uplift. Beyond a values-based education, they run many health and community services. To reference the largest Christian denomination, the Catholic Church, as an example, there are 80 Catholic hospitals across the country and 25,000-plus aged-care beds in Catholic nursing homes, as well as social welfare bodies and charities with a broader Christian inspiration – from the Salvation Army to the St Vincent de Paul Society, to Anglicare, to Lifeline, and Alcoholics Anonymous – all organisations that are generally thought to be serving Australians well, however, discredited the zeitgeist might find the faith which inspires their good works.

When people believe there is no God then of course they make up their own rules. It is survival of the fittest and truth is what you make it. Your truth may not be my truth. Gay marriage, homosexuality, and transgenderism are just the start. The only true reality is built on the first sentence of the Bible: “In the beginning God created”. Our Creator has given us the truth about the origins of our Cosmos and humankind. If you want answers to the big questions: Who Am I? then there is only one place to go God’s Word. Can I also suggest Martyn Isles book Who Am I?

Evolution and billions of years is the God of this World, Satan’s, greatest strategy. He has convinced even our learned scholars, our educators that the Cosmos did not need a Creator. It is absurd as nothing comes from nothing. This highly complex universe with its laws and interconnectedness had to have an omnipotent designer but, our learned scholars cannot countenance the supernatural yet, it is the obvious, in fact, the only possible solution.

If you want proof of creation versus evolution and the Biblical account of creation, then go to http://www.answersingenesis.org and http://www.creation.com.

Source of much of this information: Peta Credlin is the host of Credlin on Sky News.

EVIDENCE FOR A UNIVERSE THAT WAS CREATED

Posted on by

When the world’s most powerful space telescope, James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021, its “primary aim” was to “shed light on our cosmic origins”. Its findings have been eagerly anticipated.

The images coming back contradict secular expectations … Very early in the Big Bang, we should not see highly structured galaxies at the edge of the universe. Yet, that is what the James Webb Space Telescope is showing us.

You will be glad you watched this video with Dr. Mark Harwood as he explains the consequences of what the James Webb Space Telescope reveals.

MORE EVIDENCE FOR A YOUNG EARTH

Posted on by

In this video clip “Mountains After the Flood”, geologists John Whitmore and Andrew Snelling talk with Del Tackett about the importance of their research project in the Grand Canyon. They discuss creation science and why it provides answers to evidence not found in the conventional scientific paradigm. This four-minute segment shows convincing evidence that the Coconino Sandstone was laid down by a catastrophic flood. This formation spreads across the Colorado Plateau province of the United States, including northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. Make sure you watch the entire film to see the fascinating results of their research.

BUILDING A RIGHT WORLDVIEW

Posted on by

How can we build the right worldview? There is only one way and that is to start with the origins of this complex universe with its multitude of living things that require many scientific laws to make it function correctly. Those inter-related laws could not have constructed themselves. Science has discovered that DNA (complex information) controls all of the machinery in living cells instructing them what to do. Both the information and the machinery have to be complete and functional at the beginning. They cannot evolve. Moreover, information only comes from intelligence, not matter or energy, hence proof there is an Intelligent Designer. Even better still the Intelligent Designer has revealed Himself to us both by Word, and the person of Jesus Christ, God incarnate.

Down through the ages God has spoken to and worked with individuals so we know He created us in His image to be in a relationship with Him. As a result, we have His Word (Bible) most of which is now fulfilled prophecies so that we know it is God’s Word and that the many end times prophecies will also be fulfilled.

Why is church attendance decreasing SO drastically? In this presentation, Ken Ham discusses the mass exodus that churches are experiencing in Western society and what Christians can do about it.

Ken Ham’s talk is based on his book, Divided Nation: Cultures in Chaos and a Conflicted Church. The good news is that there is a link to download Ken’s slides (in four different formats) so you can use them to help get this message of biblical authority out to more believers! He also includes notes with each slide. You can find that resource on the Answers in Genesis online bookstore.

EVIDENCE FOR INTELLIGENT DESIGN: AN INFORMATION-BASED UNIVERSE

Posted on by

A team of scientists has recently uncovered new evidence of how geckos can deftly scuttle around vertical surfaces without falling off. The animals studied to reveal this ‘new trick to their stick’ were tokay geckos (Gekko gecko).

The research article states that gecko feet, “possess the most hierarchically integrated natural structures that span seven orders of magnitude in size…” The images opposite demonstrate what that means. The ‘hierarchical’ structure of a gecko’s foot (fig. 2) is shown photographed by an electron microscope (fig. 3). Many rows of extremely fine hairs (setae) can be seen, about 1/10 of a millimetre long and densely packed, with 5,000 per square mm (three million per square inch). The end of each seta has up to 1,000 branches, ending in spoonlike structures (spatulae), approximately 0.2–0.5 μm (micrometres—less than 1/50,000 inch) long. All of this is constructed at the molecular level from proteins by molecular machinery, encoded on the DNA—an astounding biological fact!

When these microscopic structures come into contact with a surface, van der Waals (vdW) forces come into play. These are weak electrostatic forces that operate at very small distances. vdW forces are very short-range, decreasing with the sixth power of distance. This is why gecko feet, and gecko-inspired biomimetic sticky tape, need extremely fine hairs so the surfaces can be close enough for vdW forces to operate.

The fact that geckos’ spatulae are so numerous means that a huge surface area is available, producing an overall large attracting force. Tokays demonstrate this in that their entire weight can be suspended from a single, upwardly pointing toe, in contact with a smooth, vertical surface.

Terrific tokay technology

Previously, it was discovered that tokay feet and skin have superhero-like abilities to repel liquids, leading to new gecko-inspired materials. Gecko toe structures have inspired new materials (‘nano-tape’) that take advantage of vdW forces. Under normal conditions, the tape is completely non-sticky, but under shear force, the material’s engineered coating induces vdW forces, enabling the tape to stick strongly to any surface. This allows objects to be lifted or pulled, or surfaces to be climbed by robots (or people) using the tape. As soon as the shear force is reduced, the tape simply falls away from the surface in a similar fashion to how geckos ‘unstick’ their feet. 

More evidence for intelligent design. How could this evolve by random chance. It is ludicrous to think that our schools and universities are teaching evolution as the means by which our complex information-based universe with such diverse living creatures came into being without having any possible plausible mechanism and explanation for how it could have happened.

ROCKS DON’T LIE – BATTLING WORLDVIEWS

Posted on by

Article in Journal of Creation Volume 37, Issue 2, 2023 by Carl R. Froede, Jr, and A. Jerry Akridge

Naturalists often confuse their worldview invoking eons of geologic time with empirical science. Many are so indoctrinated with the concept of deep time they overlook conflicting evidence. A recent article, published in the monthly open-access GSA Today, demonstrates this problem. The authors state: “Astronomy and geology require contemplation of time scales and length scales far outside those of human experience. Granitic plutons are intruded and crystallized at depths ranging from a few kilometers to tens of kilometers, over durations of 10–5 [100,000] to 10–7 [10,000,000] years, at temperatures comparable to the melting temperature of gold, from magmas at least 10,000,000 times more viscous than water. Human experience is not relevant to these conditions and can be highly misleading.“

This statement assumes the Genesis Flood never occurred and humans did not exist on Earth when granite formed in the subsurface or possibly later became exposed through the erosion of the overburden. Is this statement a matter of empirical science or the projection of a naturalistic worldview?

Flood-formed granites

The formation of granite and granite landforms has been studied by many young-earth creationists (figure 1). Creationist research indicates that water-enriched granitic melts can form, move upward through the crust, and crystallize in days to weeks. This occurred during Creation Week (most likely Day 3) and also during the Flood—two periods of Earth’s past when geologic intense activity is expected based on the outline in Genesis.

The rapid creation, mobilization, and crystallization of granite would have been enhanced by aqueous conditions associated with the breaking up of the fountains of the deep with the onset of the Flood. Entrained water within the rapidly heating rocks and sediments would have decreased the melting temperature, increasing melt mobility, and enhancing its rapid crystallization.

In some instances, remaining latent heat within subsurface granitic melts/crystallized masses generated during the Flood would have allowed them to continue as heat sources up to the present age timeframe (figure 2). Today, hot springs and other geothermal areas may indicate these features.

The biblical outline of Earth’s history allows for this conceptualization and provides a framework to test our worldview relative to the development of granite.

The naturalistic perspective

While not within a period of time compatible with the Bible, some naturalists acknowledge the rapid formation, ascension, and crystallization of granitic melts is possible over short periods of time (<100,000 years). However, with little water in the slowly forming melt, naturalists envision the entire granitic formation-to-crystallization process would extend over millions of years due to the slow-moving tectonic processes essential in melt generation, movement, and eventual crystallization. During this lengthy time interval, most of the water / hydrothermal fluids within the subsurface rocks and sediments would be driven off, thereby reducing its effectiveness in generating a more mobile granite melt at lower temperatures. The naturalistic worldview imposes limits in both the conceptualization of granitic development and the empirical methods used to test its ideas.

Interestingly, pegmatites that cross-cut granites (figure 3) are postulated by naturalists as having formed and crystallized rapidly—”in days to months, not in thousands to millions of years as previously believed.” This view is not isolated, as many other petrologists invoke days to months for the formation and development of pegmatites. There is no current naturalistic model that emplaces pegmatites in a water-depleted environment. They are always associated with water-enriched feldspars, quartz, and minor trace elements within a slowly crystallizing granitic melt. Missing is the reasoning to minimize water and other hydrothermal fluids from the original granitic melt.

Battling worldviews

Understanding the conceptual geologic history of granites demonstrates the differences in worldviews between naturalists and Bible-supporting young-earth creationists. This is not a battle over empirical science, but rather over the framework of our ideas (i.e. philosophy/theology). These foundational assumptions drive the investigation of geologic features like granites. Oftentimes these foundational assumptions impede scientific progress because they limit possibilities in designing appropriate models for further testing.

Conclusions

Ultimately, through scientific testing, a dominant theory for the origin, movement, emplacement, and crystallization of granite will emerge. The naturalistic worldview rejects everything but the physical universe and its many geologic concepts operating over millions of years. Most young earth creationists accept both the physical and the supernatural—as conveyed through Scripture—in the scientific investigation of geologic features found across Earth.

Satan (the leader of a group of fallen angelic beings) wants to ensure humans leave God out of everything concerning the world he now controls due to Adam and Eve’s original sin. This is of cause absurd, Satan only rules because God has permitted him to do so within the parameters He allows. The Book of Job, given to us in God’s Word, is to show us that this is true. God has also given us the entire story of the world He created for His purposes, the Bible. Fulfilled Biblical prophecies, is all the proof we need, to know God has preserved its integrity.

We, therefore, know that God made us in His image, to be in a relationship with Him. We also know that God gave us free will and that Adam and Eve chose to disobey God giving us a fallen world with Satan and his minions controlling the lives of most of its inhabitants. God’s redemptive plan is amazing and it demonstrates how important we are to God. The second person of the Trinity, God’s son, Jesus, became a human to pay the price for our sin of rebellion, death on a wooden cross. We now have a way back into a renewed relationship with God the Father.

“Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

Have you accepted the wonderful offer of eternal life made possible by Jesus’ sacrifice?

Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the Holy Spirit to indwell the spirit of all those who do accept His wonderful offer. The Holy Spirit enables believers to live a life devoted to doing the will of God. He is your counsellor, teacher, and comforter. He produces the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) in your life and provides the gifts of the Spirit for ministry (1 Corinthians 9).

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

MORE AND MORE EMINENT SCIENTISTS ABANDONING EVOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF INTELLIGENT DESIGN

Posted on by

Foresight, by Dr. Marcos Eberlin, is about the design of life, the fine-tuning of the universe, and the inadequacy of naturalistic storytelling. It discusses the origin of life, the limits of natural selection, and the naturalistic bias that permeates the scientific community. It includes many examples of fascinating designs in living things and explanations for why evolution cannot reasonably be invoked to explain these features.

Marcos Eberlin has a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Campinas. He boasts an impressive career with many accomplishments. He founded the Thomson Mass Spectrometry Lab, was the president of the International Mass Spectrometry Foundation, and won the Thomson medal in 2016. Eberlin stands as a great example of a highly qualified scientist who does not believe in evolution and believes that the universe was created by a supernatural designer. This allows the book to stand out among Intelligent Design (ID) books, as it argues for the existence of a supernatural creator, and against the General Theory of Evolution.

The book is rather short but packed full of information. It contains nine chapters with roughly half the book focusing on the intricacies of life at the cellular and molecular level. These chapters focus on biochemistry, organelles, proteins, and DNA. The second half of the book focuses on multicellular organisms such as insects, carnivorous plants, birds, humans, and special features found in specific multicellular organisms and features shared among many multicellular organisms. The first half of the book is fairly technical. Unless you are already familiar with organic chemistry and cell biology, there is a good chance that you will need to consult a textbook or utilize an internet search engine.

Evolution has no foresight

This communicates the core argument of the book. Foresight is something not present in differential reproduction. The only things selected are physiological changes that provide an immediate and substantial increase in reproductive success. A mutation that notably increases root length could help with gathering essential nutrients from poor soil; a mutation that causes defective leaf development can produce thorns.Display footnote number:3 Both relatively simple changes provide clear costs and benefits without the need for a developing structure to be almost useless over millions of years.

This shows an issue with the ‘why’ in evolutionary storytelling. It is often easy to see how a certain feature is advantageous, and thus why it would evolve. However, this exercise in imaginative storytelling breaks down when you ask, “why would natural selection favour defective structures that would be a detriment to the species for generations?”

A good ID book, but still an ID book

The book contains many solid arguments in favour of intelligent design and does a great job of exposing the unscientific nature of evolutionary biology. While it does rise above the standard ID offering by identifying the designer as a supernatural, transcendent creator, he provides a flawed distinction between historical and operational science. The book still contains the typical shortcoming of books on ID. By ignoring the identity of the Creator, this book will have a limited impact in spreading the Gospel.

IMPORTANCE OF CREATION MINISTRIES INT’L AND ANSWERS IN GENESIS

Posted on by

Creation Ministries International (CMI) commonly receive testimonies from folk who have come to faith in Christ but then had a wilderness experience before finding their way to a confident faith. A major reason for this wandering is the doubts generated by the pervasive evolution/ long-ages mindset that crowds in upon the new Christian’s confidence in the Bible as the Word of God. Malcolm T. shared:

I became a believer in 1989 but in all of this time [20 years], I have been plagued by doubts caused because I couldn’t prove creation or doubt evolution. This had caused me so much trouble in my daily Christian walk and a lack of assurance. Recently, I came upon creation.com and began reading the articles every day and, praise be to God! I saw that creation is the truth and evolution is a lie and all my doubts and fears have disappeared …

Simply sharing a Creation magazine has led many to a restored Christian walk. Indeed, not just restored, but, like Malcolm, a much more confident and active faith.

I shared a post recently about Martyn Isles, an Australian evangelist that was being used mightily to share the Gospel in all States of Australia under the banner of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL). Martyn has now moved to Answers in Genesis. This move was orchestrated by God and proved to me the importance of both Answers in Genesis and CMI. God is using both of these organisations to restore faith in the Bible (God’s Word) from Genesis to Revelation. You need to get behind and support both these organisations.

http://www.creation.com and http://www.answersingenesis.org.