Consider Creation... by Paul Abramson

Consider Creation... for SKEPTICS

It is not unscientific to consider the possibility of a Master Designer behind the universe. It is completely natural to ponder our origins and destiny. We wouldn't be human if we didn't think about these things. Is there a Creator somewhere out there? What is "He" like? Is anything expected of us during this lifetime, i.e. during this time of learning and testing on Earth?

An “ant farm” - what if their scientists and philosophers got together and concurred that their ant farm is older than they remember and then in fact that it must have always been there, subsequent to an ancient "Big-ant-farm Bang". Of course, sigh, there are those ants (religious types) who wonder about the occasional appearance of the big giant head outside, and other unexplained phenomena, but they can be dismissed because the scientists all agree that their ant farm and in fact the entire universe around them must have just popped into existence all by itself. An ant farm is a finite world operating under mathematical and scientific laws which govern its physical properties. We know that it did not pop into orderly existence out of nothingness and for no reason, kind of like (creationists contend) our human world as a whole.

From science we know that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. In other words, it is scientific to claim that you can’t get something from nothing, or stated differently that matter cannot be either created or destroyed. How then did all the matter in the universe come into existence in the first place? Is the Big Bang a logical, scientific presumption based upon this understanding of the universe’s laws? Scientifically speaking, you can’t get something from nothing for no reason. Order does not coalesce from disorder for no reason.

Let’s say that we come across a Japanese minivan in a parking lot. This object appears to be composed of interlocking parts, can move when pushed, and the windows roll up and down. But wait, scientists can prove that it all happened by “accident” because they were able to forge one that looks almost the same in a local factory lab. Obviously then the minivan came about by pure accident, or did it? Is life on Earth all that different from such a minivan? Well, life is more complex on an interlocking cellular parts level, and partially self healing, and reproduces “naturally selected” copies each generation down which are almost as good as predecessors, and can adapt to different environments ... i.e. thinking about it, Earth’s organic life is significantly more complex in design than a simplistic mechanical minivan! Life on Earth was all by chance?

We are told that recorded human history started around 4,000 years ago. In China, the Middle East, and Central America technical societies “suddenly” began recording their events from about that time. That time frame concurs with the Genesis Flood story, that mankind had to start over again from about 4,350 years ago. Did you know that there are actually over 250 independent histories or legends from around the world of a past great flood? These evidences combine well with the geologic layer data and the fossil record evidence to support creationist theory that there really was a recent global flood.

Design evidences a Designer. If single celled life on Earth is many times more complex than a new minivan with all the options then it is reasonable to consider the possibility that there is a Creator (or Designer) behind the universe. And remember, “you can’t get something from nothing.” The idea that our universe just popped into existence out of nothingness for no reason is one theory, but not necessarily the only one available for logical consideration.


Consider Creation... for BELIEVERS

Playing a board game can bring out the best and worst in children (...and even for some adults). Chance plays its part, purchase decisions can be regretted, and then there is the direct interaction between players. People get upset when they’re bankrupted and left with nothing, forced out of the game. The winner may be gleeful while holding all the money and property. But it’s all temporary; when the game is over each person can move on to other things. For believers, life on Earth is like this: temporary (John 5:24, I Cor. 15:20-22).

We know that we will someday have to answer to our Maker for what we’ve done during our lives here on Earth. Chance plays its part. We make decisions that we may later regret. But our lives here are only temporary. We can get upset at unfairness, at injustice, at humiliation - yet the game (so to speak) continues - it is our character development (Gal. 5:22-23), not our bank accounts and property, which will follow us into the next life.

It is fully possible for one to believe in evolution and still have accepted God’s forgiveness for sins due to Christ’s death on the Cross (John 3:16). But believers need to know that the theory of evolution stands in direct opposition to the foundation of fearing God. Besides the fact that there is still no scientific evidence supporting this theory, evolution in practice is a societal cancer leading to sin and death. Consider this: is it “survival of the fittest” when a powerful monopolist crushes a small, innovative company? When used as an excuse for dishonorable conduct, “evolution” is clearly a destructive force.

The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, I Tim. 6:20-21, “Oh Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane [and] vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith....” Temporal scientists (based upon the Greek Ptolemy model) used to believe that the Earth was at the center of the universe. Some believers also came to accept this theory, but they like the scientists, were wrong. Other scientists, in Europe’s Middle Ages, determined that the Earth must be flat. Those scientists were also wrong. (Note that all along Isaiah 40:22 mentions, “..the circle of the earth...”) The evidence which was propped up in both of these examples was inconclusive and eventually turned out to have been interpreted incorrectly. When the Bible and scientific theories are in conflict - just give the scientists more time, but don’t compromise God’s Word!

It has been approximately 175 generations since Noah’s family left the Ark at the end of the year long global Flood. Jesus said this about Noah (Luke 17:26-27), “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” Jesus, the “last Adam” (I Cor. 15:45) paid the price for the first Adam’s initial sin which caused the first death. Genesis is as integral to the Bible’s message as a foundation is to a house. In Matt. 7:24-29, Jesus mentions the difference between a house built on sand with a house built upon a rock. Biblical faith rests upon a solid, historical foundation.

Do not be led astray by propped up “science” falsely so called. Pray about this and study as needed. Since our lives on Earth are temporary, we must labor to focus on spiritual concerns.. With Jews, St. Paul debated Scriptures, but with others he turned to logic, history, and reason. In Acts 17:18-31 he preached in Athens concerning God, the creator of all. This we must also do today! Please don’t stand “with science” and against God’s Word; instead - consider creation.


"Consider Creation" by Paul Abramson, Sept. 99, has been released to the Public Domain