Tuesday, October 14th, 2008...10:28 pm
Something from nothing?
“Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.” -King Lear (I, i, 92)
How the heck can life start from abiological processes?
I believe this is the biggest problem with the theory of evolution. The belief that something can from nothing is at odds with everything we observe from science. In order for science to work, the principle of induction must have a sound basis. We observe much in nature that behaves in a law-like manner all the time. (i.e. If you drop a ball, it will fall to the ground all the time.) Believing that something can come from nothing undermines the possibility of the law-like world which science attempts to study.
But, evolutionists don’t just need to have something come from nothing once. It is the hallmark of the theory. In order for evolution to account for the existance of humans today, you need to make no less than four such leaps:
1. Something From Nothing – This is seen in the most popular cosmological theory of today, the Big Bang. There is no way to use the scientific method to account for the origin of matter ex nihilo, so the cosmologists just make it up. As Christians we believe in the creation of matter ex nihilo, but it’s not a problem because our universe is sustained by a personal and omnipotent God.
2. Life from Non-Life – There was a time when many believed that life could begin from nonliving material, but since Pasteur, it has been a sign of ignorance to believe, for example, that maggots are spontaneously generated from rotting meat.
3. Intelligence from Non-Intelligent life – The evolutionist also needs to account for the advent of intelligence in non-intelligent life. How do you get from an amoeba to an intelligent humanoid? Something must come from nothing again.
4. Morality from Amoral Life – The last major problem that must be solved to explain humanity is how intelligent amoral life can develop ethical norms. How does a beast become somebody that stipulates that you ought not kill another of your own kind or copulate with your neighbor’s wife?
These are four huge leaps of faith. Each one, if it were true, would undermine the very possibility of scientific knowledge.
There are several other similar problems that embarrass the theory along the same lines. How do you go from cell-division to copulation as a method of reproduction. In order for this to happen, you would need the gradual evolution of genitalia over the period of millions of years. The genitalia would not be functional for reproduction during this period, so the organism would be handicapped in the race for survival. These non funcitoning organs would still need to be nourished, which would be a tremendous disadvantage in the quest for survival of the fittest. The same could be said about the respiratory and circulatory systems, vision, and every other human characteristic.
It takes an incredible amount of faith to believe these things. I’ll stick with Christianity, thank you.
5 Comments
February 9th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
If you believe something cannot come from nothing, then how did your god get here? The same principle can be used there as well. If you believe god is something, then how did he come from nothing?
February 11th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Allow me to clarify. This is a problem for the materialist, but not for the Christian. The materialist needs to simultaneously believe that something came from nothing without it being created by God and that something can’t come from nothing.
As a trinitarian Christian, I have no problem with the earth being created ex nihilo over the period of 6 days about 6,000 years ago. My God is eternal and uncreated. He is supernatural (above nature, having created it and all).
Do you believe in spontaneous generation, pcamper? Is that the best you can do to defend evolution when every scientific observation you’ve ever made disproves spontaneous generation? We both live by faith, but if you believe in evolution, your faith is so irrational that it would undermine the possibility of any knowledge if it were true.
February 13th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Thank you for your response. What I actually have a problem with is belief in the supernatural. I do not live by faith now, but by reason and hope. The main reason I do not believe any more is the atrocities attributed to your “god” in the bible against innocent babies and children. He actually murdered babies (See 2nd Samuel, the baby of David and Bathsheba) as well as the firstborn males and the flood (if it happened) must have caused many babies and children to perish. My question to you then is: Do you ENJOY believing and praising a being who did these things to babies and children and who would send someone to be tortured just because they exercise their right to think for themselves? Also, I have a problem wth the concept of “hell”. There are christians who believe that even good people will be tortured if they do not believe. This is riduculous. Why would anyone deserve that kind of punishment? This is a being worse than Hitler. However, there are christians who do not believe in hell. So, my question to them is: If you do not believe that part of the bible is true regarding hell, then isn’t it just common sense that the rest of the bible is not true either.
As far as evolution, it makes more sense than some invisible being in the sky judging us. I don’t believe in sin anymore, I believe in right and wrong and always striving to do what is right.
I also believe in evidence. If you are an intelligent person, I cannot believe you think the earth is only 6000 years old. To me, science equals evidence without certainty and religion equals certainty without evidence. I will stick with the evidence without certainty.
As far as faith, I believe that blind faith equals blind obedience.
As far as the trinity, no one can explain that. It was decided upon at the council of nicea.
On the bible: I will quote Mark Twain who said that “most people are bothered by passages of scripture that do not understand, but I am bothered by the passages of scripture that I do understand.
Yes, it takes an incredible amount of faith to believe superstitious things, so I will stick with reason and hope instead of christianity.
February 13th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
I’ll respond on a new post.
February 16th, 2009 at 11:00 am
I have responded here to your previous comment.
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