AGE OF THE EARTH

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This is such an important topic as a Cosmos that is billions of years old undermines the authority of God’s Word. For me now, fulfilled prophecy, just of Jesus first coming to earth is sufficient proof of the inerrancy of the Scriptures. Nevertheless, I did pharmacy at Sydney University and evolution was the stumbling block for me to doubt the Scriptures. It was not until the age of 46 that I attended a Creation Ministries weekend conference that I realised that evolution does not explain the origin of you and me and the Cosmos. I was General Manager of Abbott Laboratories Hospital Products Division at the time and the only thing that got me along to the conference was Professor John Rendle-Short who at the time was Foundation Professor and Head of the Department of Child Health at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. was on the program. He was also Chairman of Creation Ministries. I knew Prof. Rendle-Short as he was doing work for the Paediatric Division of Abbott Laboratories. I admired the man and if he was talking about creation versus evolution I wanted to hear what he had to say. Well! I came away from that conference annoyed with myself and our educational establishment for believing such nonsense. There is no scientific plausible mechanism that can explain how we go from “goo to you”. Natural selection only works with what is already there it does not create anything new and mutations all go in the wrong direction they lose information. They do not generate complex new information that is required for the functioning of anything, let alone a human brain that can create all of the technology we have today.

Whilst there are billions of dead things buried catastrophically all over the world, because the world had excepted Lyle’s and Darwin’s slow gradual change (uniformitarianism) and evolution which need billions of years, the worldwide flood of Noah’s day had been put into the myths and fables bin.

What about today with all the technology that we have is the Earth really 4.5 billion years old? How can we measure age with certainty? What about radiometric dating methods—don’t they prove millions and billions of years? Does the age of the Earth even matter? Dr Mark Harwood discusses these topics and more, focusing especially on why an old Earth sits in conflict with the Bible, while also providing evidence for a younger age of the Earth.

Go to http://www.creation.com/age for 101 documents of evidence for a young earth


⏳ TIMESTAMPS ⌛ 0:00 Introduction 0:48 Mark’s story: How origins affected his faith (An old Earth undermines the Gospel narrative) 11:11 How do we determine the age of something? (You can’t measure age!) 13:32 The dripping tap example (Dating methods rely on assumptions!) 16:17 Radiometric dates aren’t definitive – assumptions rule 19:51 The importance of witness testimony 23:36 The importance of worldview / starting assumptions 26:24 So, how old is the Earth? 28:58 Evidence from radiometric dating / rocks 36:04 Evidence from sedimentation / erosion 37:41 Evidence from our solar system 40:09 Evidence from Earth’s population 41:43 Evidence from carbon-14 in fossils 43:28 Summary: You can’t measure age! (Everything depends on your assumptions!) 46:29 An old Earth calls God’s character into question 48:47 An old Earth calls the inerrancy of Scripture into question 50:38 Conclusion: Three reasons the age of the Earth matters to a Christian

WHY YOU NEED TO SUPPORT C.M.I.

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In many ways, we live in a culture whose thinking is similar to those first century Greeks. Claiming to be wise, our society has become foolish (Romans 1:22); we have, by and large, traded belief in the Creator for the worship of evolution (and this has infiltrated the Church too). This is why Creation Ministries International (CMI), http://www.creation.com exists.

CMI’s ultimate goal is not to turn evolutionists into creationists (although that is part of it). Our vision is to see the Lord Jesus Christ honoured as Creator and Saviour of the world, yes, outside of the churches, but first inside the churches. How will others come to enquire about faith, if Christians in the churches do not believe their own book?

Once upon a time, many Western countries had at least some basic knowledge of the Bible. Our societies used to be predominantly Judeo-Christian. That is no longer so. With the advent of evolutionary ‘preaching’ at all levels of society and the ongoing suppression of biblical doctrine, all the heritage that was built upon Christendom is being eroded. Our countries have now turned into secular societies.

Just as we like to think we are enlightened here in the West, so the Greeks thought themselves wise. However, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10). The Greeks, for all their interest in learning about new things, were blissfully unaware of who the Lord was, as we learn from the Apostle Paul’s trip to southern Greece (Acts 17:16–21).

Paul introduced Christ as the Creator and taught that all people stem from one man, Adam. Referring to statements by local poets, Paul demonstrated that all people are God’s direct offspring (Acts 17:28); not the most recent descendants from some evolutionary chain of being (compare Genesis 2:7)

Paul had to start by laying a biblical foundation for the people in Athens. They lacked the Genesis knowledge that was second nature for the Jews, Peter’s audience. Modern Christians often forget this critically important difference, so when they compare the results of Peter in Acts 2:41 (3,000 converts) with those of Paul in Acts 17:34 (“some … believed”), they wrongly think that Paul’s method and message were practically useless compared to Peter’s sermon. On the contrary. At CMI we realise that Paul’s accomplishment was an astounding result, miraculous even! Peter was sowing the seeds of the Gospel in good soil, but Paul had a huge challenge before him. He had to prepare the ground first, because, metaphorically speaking, it was hard (the Greeks had no Old Testament knowledge), overgrown with weeds, and littered with stumbling blocks (false knowledge, 1 Timothy 6:20)

Creation Ministries International is a missional Christian organisation. Their calling is to support the effective proclamation of the Gospel by providing credible answers that affirm the reliability of the Bible, in particular its Genesis history. Their magazines, website, and newsletters teach (make known) that other side. Our culture is biased when it comes to origins; everything must bow to evolution. CMI exists to try to balance the scales. You can help—by subscribing to, reading, and passing on Creation magazine.

This low-key form of (pre-)evangelism will help prepare people to be ready to receive—and understand—the Gospel. You could think of it as removing the weeds of evolutionary biology and the rocks of evolutionary geology! People need to realise that evolution and its millions of years are strongholds of false thinking that must be demolished (2 Corinthians 10:4–5). People will not readily understand the Gospel if they don’t know (and have confidence) that there is a Creator. He made a perfect world, but the universe was cursed because of Adam’s disobedience—it wasn’t full of carnivory and death millions of years before Adam’s existence. If people remain in ignorance (like the Greeks), they won’t grasp the key teachings of the origin of death and atonement for sin like the Jews did. They miss that biblical knowledge, so it’s ‘all Greek to them’!

Usually, it takes time for a firmly established (but false) evolutionary worldview to erode. It’s no good building the Gospel on top of the rubble of someone’s confused ideas—a solid foundation needs to be laid first.

Surprisingly, there are even some people who know and understand the foundation in Genesis, and believe it, but they have not surrendered their lives to Christ to be born again. They accept creation, but have not (yet) knelt at the foot of the Cross in repentance. It’s a spiritual matter. The last chapter in the Creation Answers Book explains how one can be saved. However, as the saying goes: “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink”. We can and should earnestly pray for the lost. Why not pray for someone you care about right now?

GREAT OPERATIONAL SCIENCE VERSUS BAD HISTORICAL SCIENCE

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The article, “A New Measurement Approaches Perfection” in Quantam Magazine, April 10th, 2023 by Z. Savitsky, demonstrates the electron is so round that it’s ruling out potential new particles: If the electron’s charge wasn’t perfectly round, it could reveal the existence of hidden particles.

The experiment measured the roundness of the electron with exquisite sensitivity. For comparison, “if an electron were the size of Earth, they could detect a bump on the North Pole the height of a single sugar molecule.” The experiment showed “The electron is rounder than that.” But this result in real operational science has disappointed advocates of the historical scientific theory of the big bang. Why? The big bang is the leading naturalistic cosmogony (Greek: ‘birth of the universe’). It basically states that energy appeared from nothing and turned into matter, as per Einstein’s most famous formula, E = mc2. However, The Standard Model of particle physics, among the best-attested theories in all science, throws up severe problems. In particular, any conversion of energy into matter must produce an equal amount of antimatter. Antimatter comprises antiparticles of the same mass but opposite charge (if the particle is charged) and magnetic moment as the corresponding matter particle. When an antiparticle meets its corresponding particle, both are quickly annihilated with a huge release of energy, again as per E = mc2. That is antielectron (positron) with electron, antiproton with proton, antineutron with neutron, etc.

The problem with the big bang is that the universe comprises overwhelmingly matter, with hardly any antimatter except for fleeting moments. As the article says: For one thing, our mere existence is proof that the Standard Model is incomplete since, according to the theory, the Big Bang should have produced equal parts matter and antimatter that would have annihilated each other.

How do we know that the big bang is true? Because we are here, and we got here from the big bang. But notice the logical fallacy known as begging the question (Latin: petition principii)! That is any argument where the conclusion to be proved is presupposed (‘begged’) in one of the premises. In particular, although real operational science overwhelmingly supports the Standard Model, there must be something wrong with it because it means that the Big Bang would not work. How do we know that the big bang is true? Because we are here, and we got here from the big bang. This question-begging arises from the previous question-begging: that we arose by naturalistic means—no Creator necessary.

Leading evolutionary geneticist, Professor Richard Lewontin wrote: “We take the side of [evolutionary] science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs … in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism … Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.”

Because of this question-begging a priori commitment to naturalism (only ‘nature’ exists), evolutionary cosmologists have been trying to find loopholes in the Standard Model. In particular, any asymmetry that could explain why much more matter than antimatter was produced in the big bang.

Even with the incredible sensitivity of the latest experiments, the “result is consistent with zero and improves on the previous best upper bound by a factor ∼2.4.”1 This is great support for the Standard Model but a serious problem for the big bang. As stated at the beginning of the article, the experiments have not found any deviation from a perfectly spherical electron, despite unparalleled experimental precision.

Also, trying to find tinier and tinier deviations from a sphere is equivalent to looking for particles at higher and higher energy scales. In turn, this is equivalent to looking for more and more massive particles beyond the Standard Model. This experiment is so sensitive that it’s equivalent to energies above 1013 eV (electron volts). This is over ten times the energy the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) can currently generate.

There is no question that this is excellent science: both great ingenuity and careful checking and cross-checking of data. The results back up an extremely well-supported and useful theory of particle physics. However, those committed to the big bang, regardless of real particle physics, continue to be disappointed. The best solution is: to stick to real science and abandon the naturalistic faith that demands the big bang.

Article by Jonathan Sarfati Electron is perfectly spherical – Real particle physics refutes big bang dogma: www.creation.com

EVOLUTION UNDERMINES THE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE SAYS DR SARAH BUCKLAND

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The information in this post was largely extracted from an interview with Dr. Sarah Fay Buckland titled GEOGRAPHY EXPERT FOR CREATION (Jonathan Sarfati chats with Dr. Sarah Buckland) in Creation Magazine 2023 Vol 45, Issue 2.

Dr. Sarah Fay Buckland earned her doctorate in geography from The University of the West Indies (Kingston, Jamaica) with high commendation. Dr. Buckland, who is a lecturer and published researcher, also holds a certificate in Bible evidence from the Creation Apologetics Teachers’ College (USA) by the Creation Training Initiative. She is the founder and principal director of Chosen to GLOW Ministries, which seeks to amplify the Christian voice in the public sphere and equip more youths to defend their faith.

Dr. Sarah Fay Buckland explains why it is imperative we believe the Genesis account of origins.

Evolution undermines the reliability of biblical history:

Evolutionary theory posits that human ancestry cannot be traced directly to only one man, contrasting with the biblical account of a literal Adam and Eve. This compromised belief undermines Jesus’ entire genealogy, as recorded in Luke’s Gospel. Jesus’ human ancestry traces back to Adam and the patriarchs. So how much of the Bible, therefore, would be deemed trustworthy? As Jesus asked:

“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” John 2:12

Evolution undermines Jesus’ authority, omniscience, and thus His deity:

In several Bible passages in Luke, Jesus refers to real events that occurred in Genesis. He specifically referenced patriarchs and events, including the murder of Adam’s son Abel.

“Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. ” Luke 11:51

Also in Luke, Jesus uses the time of Noah and the Flood to reference the time of His soon-coming return.

“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” Luke 17:26-27

Once again in Luke, Jesus makes it clear that God made Adam and Eve at the beginning of creation they were not the product of evolution over millions of years.

“But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Mark 10:5-9

Genesis clearly states that all human beings were created in God’s image. All persons being created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights has formed the foundation for most positive anti-racial campaigns, including those by William Wilberforce and Dr Martin Luther King Jr. The Bible clearly teaches that God created humanity from ‘one man’ (Acts 17:26). While many secular movements depict Christianity as racist, the evolutionary worldview inherently has the most racist roots, both philosophically and in practice.

For instance, biological evolution requires an evolutionary ‘progression’ from the first ‘primitive’ humans to modern man. Unfortunately, Darwin and the early Darwinians point to an African origin of the most ‘primitive’ humans. Conversely, Europeans were considered the highest-evolved race. This philosophy influenced some of the most racist movements, including Hitler’s Nazism. It even filtered into early practices under the guise of ‘science’. African Pygmies were even caged in zoos.

Once again, the Bible’s unchanging doctrines always provide the most ethical basis for all aspects of life, in contrast to the ever-changing story of evolution.

DARWIN’S ABOMINABLE MYSTERY

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In 1879, some twenty years after the publication of his famous Origin of Species, Charles Darwin wrote a letter to botanist Dr Joseph Hooker. One sentence, in particular, underscored a vexing problem for evolutionary theory:

“The rapid development as far as we can judge of all the higher plants within recent geological times is an abominable mystery.” By ‘higher plants’ Darwin had in mind the plants he viewed as being the most ‘highly evolved’, i.e. the Angiosperms—plants with flowers (with seeds produced inside the female reproductive organ). As BBC Science put it, “The famous naturalist was haunted by the question of how the first flowering plants evolved. Why are they so beautiful, many have gorgeous scents for us to appreciate

Evolutionarily ‘out-of-place’

Little wonder evolutionary theorists are ‘allergic’ to Precambrian pollen

Buggs refers to “our knowledge of the fossil record” but this has to be selective knowledge. Evolutionists have to ignore or try to explain away various ‘out-of-place’ angiosperm fossils from beneath their supposed first appearance in Cretaceous rocks. For example, fossil “pollen of the Compositae” (the daisy family), which is found all the way down in the Precambrian, is presumed by evolutionists to encompass the time that life first evolved., This would mean flowering plants preceded the allegedly ‘more primitive’ plants, such as algae, mosses, ferns, and pine trees. Little wonder evolutionary theorists are ‘allergic’ to Precambrian pollen!

Flowers from the beginning

The Bible actually places the origin of all plants—algae, mosses, ferns, pine trees, and flowering plants—on Day 3 of Creation Week; not billions of years ago, but only about 6,000. And from the Bible we can conclude the ‘fossil record’ does not display the order of evolution over long time periods, but rather the order of burial during and since the global Flood of Noah’s day, about 4,500 years ago.

How come our schools and universities that teach evolution as fact do not present the many impossible facts such as flowers and DNA (complex information that controls all the machinery in cells) that evolution cannot explain.

So, for those who despite the evidence and the Bible’s eyewitness account want to cling doggedly to evolutionary ideas, Darwin’s “abominable mystery” remains. For Bible-believing Christians, however, there is no mystery.

AMERICA UNDER JUDGEMENT

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In this video, Nelson Walters exposes the main reason why America turned from God. It started in the 1960’s when evolution was adopted by law and therefore universities and schools began teaching exclusively evolution as the means the Cosmos came into existence. God and creation were excluded from education.

In 1968, the US Supreme Court ruled on Epperson v. Arkansas, and the court ruled that allowing the teaching of creation, while disallowing the teaching of evolution, advanced religion, and therefore violated the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution.

In the United States, attempts to introduce intelligent design and creation science in schools led to court rulings that it is religious in nature, and thus cannot be taught in public school science classrooms.

The following two Scriptures reveal what God has to say on the matter.

“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,” Romans 1:20-22

“Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” Romans 1:24-25

COMPLEXITY OF THE GENOME

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Although evolutionary theory says all creatures descended from a common ancestor, when one looks at animals today (or in the fossil record), they appear to be unique creations with the ability to change to fit their environments. 

A creature’s ability to live and change is programmed at the deepest levels of the genome in ways we do not fully understand. It is inconceivable that it could have evolved by random chance.

What we can now see with an electron microscope is that the human genome works as a four-dimensional ‘computer’: our three billion letter sequence of DNA is able to turn sections of itself on and off; it is coiled into 3D fractal spheres where sections folded near each other combine to create new levels of information; it changes shape over time to expose different areas of DNA needed to create tens of thousands of different proteins.

This level of complexity is not just limited to the genome, but can be seen in the interdependent relationships between living creatures throughout every ecosystem. Such highly-engineered structures and relationships can only exist if they are created simultaneously in a short space of time — which is exactly how Genesis says God created in six normal days.

MASSIVE DECLINE IN AMERICANS WHO BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE ACTUAL WORD OF GOD

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It’s no secret the Bible is receiving less support in contemporary culture, but new statistics from Gallup showcase how much modern culture is impacting Americans’ views and perceptions of Scripture.  The survey, which has attracted attention since its release, contains several eye-opening findings.

Just 20% now believe the Bible is the literal word of God, down from 30% in 2011 and 24% in 2017. These statistics are remarkable considering 40% said the same in 1980. The steep decline puts definitive numbers to the moral slide many Christians have discussed over the past few decades. Meanwhile, there’s a new record high among Americans who believe the Bible is a collection of “fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.” Just 10% held this view in 1980, though that proportion has swelled to 29% in 2022, the highest ever recorded by Gallup.

it appears the most notable development is the shift away from a literal approach and toward the belief Scripture is “fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.” As Gallup noted, these findings coincide with a decrease in Americans’ perceived importance of religion in their lives. Just 44% said in 2022 religion is very important in their lives, down from 60% in 2002. It’s interesting to note that, during the same timeframe, the belief the Bible is the actual word of God also plummeted from 30% to 20%.

There is no doubt in mind that this has been due to academia swallowing the lie of evolution as the cause of the Cosmos. The prime mover for evolution was Charles Darwin who believed that natural selection was the mechanism by which evolution brought this complex world into existence. Natural selection can only select from what is already in existence it does not take us from GOO to YOU. The only other mechanism that science can add is mutation and yet mutation is the loss of information from the DNA. It does not add complex information once again to take us from GOO TO YOU.

Dr Dean Kenyon – From Darwinist to Creationist

In 1969, Dr. Dean Kenyon, a Professor of Biochemistry at Stanford University, co-authored the book entitled Biochemical Predestination which was adopted in the USA as a graduate textbook and was regarded as the seminal work on the naturalistic formation of living cells from the chemicals of the earth.
In the 1980s Kenyon realised that the discovery of DNA revealed that complex information on the DNA controlled all of the complex machinery that the electron microscope revealed is in every cell. There are manufacturing units that make all of the chemicals needed for life and transport devices to take these complex chemicals to where they are needed in the organism. All evidence of complex design that only an Intelligent Designer with an intelligence beyond our comprehension could construct.

It is beyond my comprehension that evolution is still being taught as fact in our schools and universities. For more evidence to support creation go to http://www.creation.com where you will find that many Ph.D. scientists are now proponents of Intelligent Design.

If you want the truth about this Intelligent Designer you need to go to His revealed Word to us. The Bible reveals that He controls everything that happens in His world and is capable of ensuring that what is in it is inerrant.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5

MORE PROOF FOR BIBLICAL INERRANCY

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Often referred to as ‘nature’s time capsule’, amber offers fascinating glimpses into the past due to the stunning level of preservation of creatures fossilized in it. It is a valuable tool in examining which history, creation or evolution, offers a better explanation of today’s world. As we will see, amber continually confounds evolution’s long war against God on multiple fronts.1

  1. See e.g. Robinson, P., Ammonite in amber, Creation 42(2):44–45, 2020

This article by Peter Robinson of Creation Ministries http://www.creation.com is stunning evidence for a young earth, Noah’s Flood, and therefore Biblical inerrancy.

Background: Amber is fossilized tree resin, usually from conifer trees. Resin is part of a tree’s defence (immune) system. When the tree is damaged by animals, insects, the weather, or people, it releases the sticky resin. This plugs up the ‘wound’, which seals and sterilizes it. It prevents any insects or fungi from entering the tree through the damaged section. After oozing out, the sticky resin left exposed to the elements can degrade and weather away once it has done its job (think of a scab and intelligent design).

For the resin to become amber, it first needs to be buried, where it begins to harden and is called copal. As more heat and pressure are applied, chemical transformation occurs, completing its journey to amber. It is regularly claimed by evolutionists that amber takes millions of years to form. However, as they occasionally admit, “it’s not sure how long the process to turn resin into amber actually takes.” The following examples together show that the Bible’s history and timeline fit the facts better than the evolutionary one.

beetles
humming bird
cockroach

All of these creatures are identical to those that live today. Despite evolutionary ages of millions of years, they have not changed/evolved in any way. All three of these fantastic fossils are much better explained by the global Flood some 4,500 years ago. At the start of the Flood, forests were ripped up by the turbulent waters. As the trees travelled together, they would have smashed against one another, releasing large quantities of resin. As the extremely sticky resin can float in water it would have trapped and encased any small items that were also in the water. This explains the wide range of insects, small animals, and plant material (and sometimes marine fossils) included in it from a considerable range of environments.

The circumstances in which amber is found, and the inclusions inside, frustrate the evolutionary dogma of long ages. Such finds don’t point to tens of millions of years of evolutionary stasis, or droplets of resin falling from tree roots into a cave. They are instead like ‘God’s time capsules’, testifying to a huge catastrophic event in which large amber deposits formed—namely, the watery judgment He sent upon the earth around 4,500 years ago.

GENETIC ENTROPY LEADING TO EXTINCTION

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A devastatingly powerful argument against evolution

Entropy is the universal tendency for things to run down and fall apart. Thanks, largely to the work of Dr John Sanford (renowned plant geneticist and genetic engineering pioneer from Cornell University), the same gradual process of ‘running down’ is also operating in the human gene pool.

Called genetic entropy, it is driving humanity—and all higher organisms—to the point of extinction.

The most definitive findings were published in 2010 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science by Lynch.4 That paper indicates human fitness is declining at 3–5% per generation

In fact, this process, which operates more rapidly in ‘higher’ organisms,3 means that the human species could only be several thousand years old; certainly not hundreds of thousands of years, or we would have already become extinct.

This topic is not widely known, but it’s very powerful support for biblical creation. Simply put, genetic entropy means that the information content in the genome (all of our genes) is progressively declining, due to the accumulation of mutations, generation after generation.

Mutations happen in all life forms (and in viruses). In our corrupted, fallen world, the mechanisms that replicate the genetic material from one generation (or one cell division) to the next now are imperfect. Each time we have children, we inevitably pass along some mistakes that were not there before. Another source of mutation is environmental radiation

Estimates vary, but a common figure is that each child is born with around 100 new mutations. These are added to the ones already accumulated in previous generations.

These mistakes are almost never helpful. Could you ever expect to improve an encyclopedia by adding more and more spelling mistakes every time one is printed? The evolutionary literature acknowledges this very clearly. Even the simplest of living organisms are highly complex. Mutations—indiscriminate alterations of such complexity—are much more likely to be harmful than beneficial.5 It seems unlikely that any mutation is truly neutral in the sense that it has no effect on fitness. All mutations must have some effect, even if that effect is vanishingly small.9

In summary, the vast majority of mutations are deleterious. This is one of the most well-established principles of evolutionary genetics, supported by both molecular and quantitative-genetic data. One estimate is that damaging mutations outnumber helpful ones by a million to one.7 Even most of the ‘beneficial’ mutations turn out to break things rather than make things, e.g. wingless beetles on windswept islands

Evolutionists will sometimes try to rebut these ideas by saying things like, “If a mutation is damaging, it will be weeded out by natural selection.’ This oversimplified view of selection is drilled into biology students relentlessly in classrooms all over the world—and it is greatly misleading, because for most mutations, it is totally wrong!

Natural selection (NS)—a straightforward, real process—essentially just means ‘differential reproduction’; some members of a population will reproduce more than others. Therefore, the traits that are possessed by the ones reproducing the most are going to become the most common in the population over time.

The power of NS has been carefully measured.14 For selection to be able to ‘see’ the mutation, it must be strong enough to affect reproduction (e.g. by killing the individual before it can reproduce, or by causing sterility or a significant decline in fertility). Thus, NS cannot ‘see’ a nearly-neutral mutation because, on its own, the negative effect of the individual mutation is very tiny—far too small to cause any appreciable difference in reproduction. As errors accumulate with each generation, eventually their collective effect is very damaging. Natural selection can only weed out individual mutations as they happen. Once mutations have accumulated enough to be a real, noticeable problem, they are then a problem in the entire population, not just in an individual here or there. The whole population cannot be ‘selected away’—except by going extinct!

It is easy to see that selection does not weed out most mutations. We all have hundreds of mutations our ancestors did not have—yet most people have no trouble becoming parents and passing on their genes (along with many mistakes, both old and new). In short, if the world were even several hundred thousand years old, genetic entropy means that we would have long since become extinct.15 This demonstrates that it is biblical creation, not evolutionary theory, that matches up to genetic reality—and it highlights the dismal future that awaits humanity apart from the intervening work of our Creator God.

For references and Notes go to CMI (www.creation.com) and the article “Genetic entropy: The silent killer A devastatingly powerful argument against evolution” by Paul Price