From Atoms to Adam without God: Is it Possible to get to Adam without God?
From Word and Work editors: Dr. Borchman’s articles so beautifully contrast Evolution and Creationism, we are running this introduction and the three following articles all together in this month’s edition. Please note that you will need to click on the ‘link’s provided for the following three articles.
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From Atoms to Adam without God: Is it Possible to get to Adam without God?
Professor Douglas Borchman, Ph.D.
Departments of Ophthalmology, Biochemistry and Chemistry
University of Louisville, Louisville Kentucky, USA.
Intro: Basic Problem
Part 1: Who Doug is
Part 2: Purpose
Part 3: Conclusion: Problems for Naturalists & Future articles by Doug
Intro: Basic Problem Less than 200 years ago, the majority of men and women living in this country believed that the heavens and the earth were created by a divine Creator. Today, we live in a radically different nation. Today, believers in Creationism are mocked, ridiculed, and more and more often silenced—by employers, laws, courts, and political pressure. For many, faith in God has been replaced by faith in science, technology, and progress. For many, science has become the new religion, with it’s advocates promising answers to life’s mysteries, promising to deliver a longer life, better health, and a golden future. In the name of science and “fairness”, schools and universities are prevented from teaching anything but Naturalism and Evolutionary Theories.
Even among Christian, the debate is creating divisions. Almost half of teachers at evangelical institutions believe in Theistic Evolution. We live in an age of Scientific Enlightenment. Science is the new religion. Science is used as the measure of truth. Yet is Creationism so far removed from Science that we must remove it from our schools when we present theories such as evolution? In this age of tolerance, we are tolerant of all views but Christianity, Creationism, and all things Christian.
Part 1: Who Doug is & Why he believes As a tenured Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at a large university, I am part of this academic community. Further, as a scientist trained in chemisty and biochemistry, I could easily have adopted the prevailing naturalistic views of the academic and scientific communities on evolution and the origins of life. While earning my Ph.D. in Chemistry, I briefly embraced the naturalist viewpoint, believing that there were events which some attributed to God that could be explained by the natural laws of physics. However, several occurrences/circumstance/events lead me to reject/turn from this viewpoint and to recognize that God alone was the Creator.
First, I learned that scientific theories, principles, and laws were not sufficient. There were flaws in the theories, conflicts among the scientists, and gaps in the purported evidence. Early in my career, I accepted the naturalist’s view. However, over time as my studies and work progressed, I came to realize that the natural laws of physics simply could not explain many of events which had occurred in this world, in the universe, even in the cells themselves. In fact, I do not believe natural laws will ever explain everything, even with more progress and scientific discoveries.
Second, my studies convinced me that science refutes the theory of evolution and reveals the existence of a Designer, an Intelligent Creator. In fact, researching and studying the biochemistry of the body (in particular the eye), rather than reinforcing the naturalist viewpoint, showed me that natural processes (time, chance, and the natural laws of physics) refute the theory of evolution and indicate that life was formed by an Intelligent Creator. I believe the fingerprint of God can be seen clearly in the molecules, in all of His creations, and in the stars.
Third, fulfilled Bible prophecies are impossible to ignore. From reading the Bible, I came to realize that hundreds of supernatural prophecies given thousands of years ago have been fulfilled and continue to be fulfilled in this generation. Further, as I read the Bible, I drew closer to God, and He drew closer to me, just as he promised to do. And He has blessed me, my work, and my family. In a simplistic view/ dicotomy, there are basically two types of people: those who have a spiritual viewpoint and discern God in the world and those who do not. The latter may be naturalists, atheists, or agnostics. Early in my career, I did not see the evidence of God all around me, in the world, in science itself. Today, the evidence of God is all around us. I believe God gave us science not only so that we can live life more abundantly, but so that we could show that it is scientifically improbable for life to form by natural processes alone, without a design or a Designer.
Part 2: Purpose In this and in future articles, I hope to share with you my views on how improbable it would be to go from atoms to Adam by natural processes alone (time, chance, and the laws of physics) without a plan, without any guiding forces, without God, completely by chance. It is improbable at every step of the way.
Part 3: Conclusion: Problems for Naturalists & Future Articles In this article I tried to explain that there is indeed a difference between things created by a designer and those which occur naturally by the forces of nature. The former exhibit the following characteristics: they are complex, have a purpose, and xx. The latter characteristically exhibit xx. In the next article, I will ask the question of whether the theory of evolution itself makes sense. I will start by examining the topic of pre-biotic evolution in the next article.
Readers take note: Read the next three articles by Dr. Borchman in the order they are listed.
