COMMON SENSE AND SCIENCE – ARGUMENT FROM DESIGN

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Professor Stuart Burgess, the author of the article from which this abbreviated version was taken claims the debate over creation and evolution is far from settled, with design, complexity, the origin of life and the fossil record raising enduring questions about a Creator.

Professor Stuart Burgess, B.Sc. (Eng.), Ph.D., C.Eng., FIMechE, excels in mechanical engineering, both in man-made devices and God’s design in nature. He has held academic posts at Bristol University, Cambridge University and Liberty University in the USA. At Bristol University he was appointed Head of Department three times between 2004 and 2011. He has worked for the European Space Agency (ESA) and was the lead designer for the solar array on the world’s largest civilian earth-observation spacecraft (Envisat); these gear systems are used on all the ESA’s large earth-observation satellites. For years, he led the design and testing of the chain drive for the British Olympic Track Cycling Team who won a record six gold medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics and also ranked 1st in the 2021 (postponed due to Covid) and 2024 Olympic Games. He was invited to exhibit this work at the Royal Society (National Academy of Sciences) in the UK in 2017 where it received national publicity. He has published over 200 scientific papers on the science of design in engineering and nature.

A Royal Society lecture delivered by Steve Jones had an unusually blunt title – ‘Why creationism is wrong and evolution is right’. The purpose of the uncompromising title was, no doubt, to try to convince a sceptical public that evolution should be accepted as scientific truth.

A Mori poll for the BBC Horizon programme showed that only 48% of people in the UK believe the theory of evolution, and that 44% think that creationism should be taught in science classes.

But it is not just among the general public that you find a stubborn belief in a Creator. Many scientists and engineers who believe that there must be at least some involvement of a supernatural Creator to explain life on earth. Professor Stuart Burgess knows two biology professors who doubt many of the fundamental aspects of evolutionary theory, despite having to teach the theory to their students.

ORIGIN OF LIFE: Intelligent design arguably provides the only answer to one of the biggest questions of all – the origin of the very first living system. Despite intense efforts using sophisticated equipment, no one has been able to produce self-sustaining life from lifeless chemicals.

The result of the classic Miller experiment in 1953, which created some of the building blocks of life from ordinary chemicals, represents meagre progress. The fact that there has been no progress on this front during the last 50 years makes it very difficult to believe that life emerged by accident in the first place.

OVER DESIGN IN NATURE: Another compelling piece of evidence for intelligent design is the existence of over-design in nature. Evolutionary theory is based strictly on fitness for survival. However, many organisms have beauty and sophistication far beyond what is needed for them to survive.

Peacock display in sunlight, Sigiriya, Central province, Sri Lanka.

The brilliant peacock tail feathers, which produce their colours by optical interference, have a design of breath-taking precision. Yet their only function is to form an attractive display (and remember that most other birds get by without such optical displays!) The intricacy of peacock feathers, it is said, made Darwin feel sick when he looked at them.

FOSSIL EVIDENCE: Fossil evidence, like the recently publicised fish Tiktaalik roseae (supposedly a transition between fish and land animals), does little to convince for evolution. Such creatures were well designed for their particular environment – and the fact that they exhibit unusual combinations of features does not mean that they are necessarily ‘missing links’ between other kinds of creatures.

Only those already committed to a belief in evolution are forced to see them as evolutionary ‘links’ rather than well-designed creatures in their own right. Overall, the fossil record continues to provide more problems for evolution than support.

It is significant that many of the greatest scientists were enthusiastic believers in a Creator – including Isaac Newton, Lord Kelvin, James Clerk Maxwell and Michael Faraday. The last three of these scientists knew of the theory of evolution but believed in intelligent design and the biblical creation account. Anyone who believes in a Creator stands shoulder to shoulder with some of the greatest scientists in history.

The current fashion of ruling out any role for God in origins actually breaks a fundamental principle of science – namely, to be open-minded about ideas before there is concrete proof that they are wrong. No one has proved that God had no role in origins.

Because the origin of life is an unrepeatable event, it will never be possible to prove how life came into existence. Even if evolution were to be taught in schools for the next 100 years, the majority of people would probably still instinctively believe in a Creator.

NATURAL LAWS EXIST BECAUSE THE UNIVERSE HAS A CREATOR

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Democracy without the Ten Commandments, without God’s morality, is destined to fail. Whilst Americans were Bible-based, democracy was great but without it, America is becoming lawless. The professors at prestige universities that were started by Bible-believing Christians are now morally bankrupt including those teaching Theology. The Bible is no longer considered to be God’s Word and therefore inerrant. Evolution and the Big Bang are considered adequate to explain the origins of the Cosmos and yet the evidence of complex design, irreducible complexity, and the universe obeys certain rules—laws to which all things must adhere, prove they are totally inadequate. These laws are precise, and many of them are mathematical in nature. The law of biogenesis states that life always comes from life. Both observational science and Genesis 1 tell us that organisms reproduce after their own kind.

Natural laws are hierarchical in nature; secondary laws of nature are based on primary laws of nature, which have to be just right in order for our universe to be possible. But, where did these laws come from, and why do they exist? If the universe were merely the accidental by-product of a big bang, then why should it obey orderly principles—or any principles at all for that matter? Such laws are consistent with Biblical creation. Natural laws exist because the universe has a Creator God who is logical and who has imposed order on His universe.

Despite billions of dead things buried in rocks all over the world and the abundance of fossil fuels the worldwide flood of Noah’s day is considered a myth. Also, stories about a worldwide flood are found in historical records all over the world? According to Dr. Duane Gish in his popular book Dinosaurs by Design, there are more than 270 such stories, most of which share a common theme and similar characters. So many flood stories with such similarities surely prove they come from the Flood of Noah’s day.

It is important to remember why God destroyed all of mankind with a worldwide flood.

“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth” Genesis 6:11-13

It is also important to remember that the Bible tells us that in the last days before Jesus returns, scoffers will deliberately overlook the fact that God destroyed mankind except for eight people by the flood of Noah’s day. Moreover, He tells us how the story ends.

“Knowing this, first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact… the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word, the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” 2 Peter 3:3-5

OUR CURRENT CULTURE IS DEEPLY OPPOSED TO BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY

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Academia, Media, and governments are now deeply opposed to Biblical Christianity. They hold a materialistic worldview (the world is all there is) totally opposed to a Biblical worldview (the world is created by God). Moreover, they have no understanding of God despite God giving us both a conscience to know the difference between right and wrong and the intelligence to perceive the complex design evident in His creation. Moreover, the billions of dead things buried all over the world including fossil fuels are evidence of God’s previous judgement with the flood of Noah’s day. They deny the evidence and ignore God’s Word that reveals that God will pour out His wrath again on an unbelieving world.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” Romans 1:18-20

COMING BOWL JUDGEMENTS (follow the TRUMPET JUDGEMENTS)

“So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea. The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” Revelation 16:2-6

They also do not know that they are under the control of a spiritual entity, Satan and that the true battle being waged is a spiritual one. Paul tells us that our battle is a spiritual one and must be handled accordingly:

“For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man. The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ…” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” Ephesians 6:13-18

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

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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.

MAIN PROBLEM WITH THE GENERAL THEORY OF EVOLUTION

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The main scientific objection to the General Theory of Evolution (the theory that all the living forms in the world have arisen from a single source which itself came from an inorganic form) is not that changes occur through time, and neither is it about the size of the change. The key issue is the type of change required — to change microbes into men requires changes that increase the genetic information content, from over half a million DNA ‘letters’ of even the ‘simplest’ self-reproducing organism to three billion ‘letters’ (stored in each human cell nucleus).

Nothing in evolutionary literature provides a single example of functional new information being added.

To claim that mere change proves information-increasing change can occur is like saying that because a merchant sells goods, he can sell them for a profit. The origin of information is a major problem for the GTE — see the CMI article Information: A modern scientific design argument.

Information requires an intelligent source and is ample proof for the existence of our Creator God who has made Himself known, ultimately through God, the Son, coming to earth to redeem us, to restore us back into a right relationship with our Heavenly Father, our Creator.

Information: A modern scientific design argument