Chapter 1 - The Evolution of a Creationist

I was an evolutionist. My years as a biology = major at=20 Bucknell University and a dental major at the University of = Pittsburgh=20 had convinced me that we are here because of evolutionary = processes=97all=20 very logical and explainable through the Scientific Method. This = was=20 A.D. 1971! We were living in the days of modern, hi-tech-science = which=20 had =93proven=94 evolution to be true. And yet, these two dental = students=20 were brilliant young men. They held advanced degrees in the = sciences.=20 Surely, there must be a simple way to prove that their six-day = view of=20 creation was wrong. One of the questions those two dental = students asked=20 me was this: =93Doctor Martin, have you ever heard of the = concept of God=20 creating things with the appearance of age?=94 At that point in = my=20 pilgrimage, I certainly had not, but it sparked a desire to = learn more.=20 And thus the frustration began.

FLASHBACK=20

The seed of my frustration was planted in = September of=20 1966. I was attending USAF Basic Medical Training at Wichita = Falls,=20 Texas. It was the height of the Vietnam War, and I had been = given orders=20 to report in at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., upon = completion of Basic Training. I was to be one of five dentists = to serve=20 the pilots and crews of President Johnson's presidential = fleet=97the 89th=20 Military Airlift Wing.

The seed was a brief prayer. As I sat at the = Officer's=20 Club that September night, I decided to clear things up with the = God of=20 the Bible (if He was really there). If He could part the Red = Sea, turn=20 water into wine, and raise the dead, He could answer a simple = prayer.=20 This was my prayer: =93God, if you are up there, you have two = choices.=20 Either you can show me the girl I am going to marry, or you will = see the=20 wildest Air Force officer you have ever seen.=94 I instantly = thought,=20 =93Whew, nobody heard that prayer, I'm going out and live it=20 up!=94

Except God did hear that prayer. I met my = wife-to-be that=20 very day! We had a date the next night, and I told Jenna Dee = that I was=20 going to marry her. I knew I would. The God of the Bible had = answered my=20 specific prayer on the day that I uttered it to = Him.

Upon my arrival to Washington, D.C., I decided = to go to=20 church and learn more about God. As I left church that first = Sunday, the=20 pastor shook my hand and asked if there was anything he could do = to help=20 me spiritually. I told him that anything he could do would help = me=20 spiritually, because at that point I was a big zero. Pastor = Charlie=20 Warford asked me to get up on Monday mornings at 6:00 a.m. and = read the=20 Bible with him. I used to like to argue with people about the = Bible, but=20 I'd never really read it. So we read Matthew, Mark, and Luke, = and we=20 were in John, chapter 3, verse 16, when God got my attention. = This verse=20 said, =93For God so = loved the=20 world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever = believeth in=20 him should not perish, but have everlasting life.=94 It was = the first=20 phrase that got my attention. I was part of the world, had a = heavy=20 commitment to the world, and I knew it. That verse said to my = heart that=20 God loved me! I got on my knees with Pastor Warford and = committed my=20 life to the Lord Jesus Christ. The seed had been planted and was = beginning to sprout.

At the point in time I came to = faith in=20 Jesus Christ as my Savior, my sins were all forgiven, and I was = given=20 everlasting life. But something else happened which I was only = later to=20 realize. I had gone from being an =93agnostic evolutionist=94 to = being a=20 =93theistic evolutionist.=94 That meant that now I believed in = God=20 and that He used evolution over billions of years to = create the=20 universe and everything in it. I honestly believed that = evolution was=20 the only scientifically accurate option for how we got here. It = was the=20 =93Big Bang,=94 plus time, plus chance. Or, in other words, = =93nothing plus no=20 one equals everything.=94

EVERYONE BELIEVES BY FAITH =

My university science professors = had not=20 told me that I was making some significant assumptions by = believing in=20 the Big Bang model. The =93Big Bang=94 is the belief that the = universe and=20 all it contains is the result of matter, so dense that the = matter was=20 invisible, suddenly exploding in a mega-explosion labelled by=20 evolutionary scientists as the =93Big Bang.=94^[1] Many=20 scientists believe that this explosion occurred between eight = and twenty=20 billion years ago. To accept the Big Bang, one must assume the = existence=20 of matter and energy to be eternal. The Big Bang model only = attempts to=20 explain the ordering of matter and energy, not their origin. = Matter had=20 to be eternally present before the Big Bang or there would have = been=20 nothing there to go BOOM! We=20 discover here that everyone on earth believes in something=20 eternal by faith. It is either faith in eternal matter = and energy=20 or faith in eternal God.

Why is this belief by faith? = Because it is=20 beyond the reach of science to test. There are no experiments = that can=20 test who or what was here when the universe began. Consequently, = when we=20 speak of origins, neither the creation model nor the evolution = model can=20 be tested or verified by reproducible scientific experiments. = This takes=20 both models of origins out of the realm of science and into the = arena of=20 faith.

God in His=20 infinite genius has designed His creation so that, no matter = which view=20 of origins you believe, you are face to face with God. If matter = and=20 energy were eternal, they would be=97by the time of the Big = Bang=97in a=20 state of equilibrium. That means everything would be equal and=20 non-reactive. A car is like that. The car sits there in neutral = and=20 doesn't do anything until it is turned on. Starting the engine = explodes=20 the gasoline which gives the power to move the car. Science = tells us=20 that when matter is somewhere for a long enough time (eternity = past), it=20 will eventually stop doing anything and just sit there in = neutral like a=20 car. This is a part of the second law of = Thermodynamics=20 and is called Zeroeth Entropy. Before the Big Bang, all matter = and=20 energy, if eternal, would be in neutral. It's like the car when = it is=20 turned off and in park on a flat driveway. It will not move = until=20 someone starts it up.

So, if everything was in neutral before the Big = Bang, what=20 made the Big Bang go BOOM? If=20 you believe in the Big Bang and eternal matter and energy, you = believe=20 by faith that an outside =93force=94 acted on this = matter-in-neutral to=20 supply the energy necessary to explode it into action. In = reality, you=20 are face to face with God. =93In=20 the beginning, God!=94 The question becomes either, =93Do I = believe by=20 faith in eternal matter and energy?=94 (This gives me the = problem of how=20 did the Big Bang go BOOM?) or=20 =93Do I believe by faith in eternal God?=94 Everyone believes by = faith in=20 something eternal.

Philip E. Johnson, a First = Amendment=20 attorney who teaches law at the University of California, = Berkeley,=20 believes that the media all too often presents creationists as = if they=20 do not use or understand science. Johnson writes: =

In=20 fact, there is a great deal more to the creation/evolution = controversy=20 than meets the eye, or rather than meets the carefully = cultivated media=20 stereotype of =93creationists=94 as Bible-quoting know-nothings = who refuse=20 to face up to the scientific evidence. The creationists may be = wrong=20 about many things, but they have at least one very important = point to=20 argue, a point that has been thoroughly obscured by all the = attention=20 paid to Noah's flood and other side issues. What science = educators=20 propose to teach as =93evolution,=94 and label as fact, is based = not upon=20 any incontrovertible empirical evidence (scientifically proven = facts,=20 ed.), but upon a highly controversial philosophical = presupposition.=20 The controversy over evolution is therefore not going to go away = as=20 people become better educated on the subject. On the contrary, = the more=20 people learn about the philosophical content of what scientists = are=20 calling the =93fact of evolution,=94 the less they are going to = like=20 it.^[2]=20

Like many of us, Johnson is concerned that = public school=20 science teachers and university professors have moved out of the = realm=20 of =93science=94 and into the sphere of religious teaching = (faith) when they=20 address the evolution of molecules to man as if it were = scientific fact.=20 In my years as a science major at Bucknell University and the = University=20 of Pittsburgh, I was taught that science and fossils prove = evolution to=20 be true=97that the important transitional steps in the evolution = of one=20 creature into another =93occurred within its gaps.=94 I now = agree with=20 Johnson when he questions current evolutionary theory and its = adherents.=20 The evolutionary model's =93...mechanism accomplishes wonders of = creativity not because the wonders can be demonstrated, but = because they=20 (evolutionists) cannot think of a more plausible explanation for = the=20 existence of wonders that does not involve an unacceptable=20 creator, i.e., a being or force outside the world of = Nature.=94 ^[3] The=20 political correctness of the day in which we live also dictates = the=20 abhorrence of any credibility or reality to a literal God who = is, in=20 fact, greater than science, because He is the Creator of = all.

GOD, THE=20 CREATOR=20

Though the idea of Creator God = outside the=20 world of nature is unacceptable to the majority of = evolutionists, the=20 Bible teaches that eternal God created the universe and He did = so by and through and for His only eternal = Son, the=20 Lord Jesus Christ. The eternal Son was there in the beginning of = creation as can be seen in the plural pronouns of Genesis 1:26, = =93Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.=94 That He, = the Son,=20 was instrumental in the creation of all things is taught in the = Gospel=20 of John:

=20

In the beginning was the Word and the = Word was=20 with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning = with God.=20 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing = made that=20 was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men = (John=20 1:1-4).

These verses of John verify that Jesus is the = Creator, and=20 that all things were made by Him. The book of Hebrews is another = testimony that Jesus is the Creator of the world: =93God..., Hath in these = last days=20 spoken to us by his = Son, whom=20 he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the=20 worlds;...=94 (Hebrews 1:1-2). The letter to the Colossians = also=20 refers to the Lord Jesus as the Creator of all things, and it = goes on to=20 name Him as the One Who =93holds=20 all things together=94 (Colossians 1:15-17).

Scientists say, =93We have a = problem. There=20 are not enough stars and moons and asteroids to hold the = universe=20 together.=94 This is called the =93Missing Mass=94 problem. = Everything should=20 be flying apart, but it is staying together. A creationist can = say, =93I=20 know what holds the universe together in spite of the =91Missing = Mass=92=20 problem=97the Lord Jesus, the Creator holds it all together by = His great=20 power (Hebrews 1 and Colossians 1).=94 When the Bible refers to = science,=20 it may not be exhaustive, but it is accurate. We can trust=20 it.

The Scriptures tell us that the = world came=20 into being, not as a result of cosmic chance, but as a special = creation=20 with a unique purpose. God desired someone who would bring glory = to=20 Himself and with whom He could have fellowship. Ultimately, the = Creator=20 would step into time and His creation to become the Savior. But = more=20 about that later.

In the ancient Hebrew of the Old Testament a = word is=20 repeated to emphasize it. For example, Isaiah 6:3 uses = repetition to=20 tell us that God is infinitely holy: =93Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of = hosts, the=20 whole earth is full of His glory.=94 You cannot get any = holier than=20 God. The Hebrew language uses the same word three times to show = the=20 total absolute holiness of God. In a similar way, Genesis = emphasizes the=20 fact of creation. Moses, under the inspiration of the Holy = Spirit,=20 writes:

This is the book of the generations of = Adam. In=20 the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made = he him;=20 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and = called=20 their name Adam, in the day when they were created = (Genesis=20 5:1-2 emphasis added).=20

MAN, THE CREATED=20

Man was created, created, created! You cannot = get any more=20 emphatic than that. = The=20 Bible does not say man evolved, evolved, evolved. If God wanted = to=20 indicate that man had come about through ages of evolutionary = changes,=20 He surely could have. But His Word is Truth and the Truth says = man was=20 created.

Not only was man created by the Lord Jesus, but = he was=20 created in God's own image. Did God, who =93spoke the creation = into=20 existence,=94 have to use millions of years of evolutionary = mistakes to=20 finally achieve His own image in man? Of course not!

If people really did evolve from = monkey-like=20 creatures, then the question arises, =93What about the Virgin = Mary? Was=20 Mary, the human mother of the Lord Jesus, composed of made-over = monkey=20 genes?=94 If Mary was a highly evolved, distant relative of = monkeys, then=20 is our Lord also genetically related to the primates? = Mary was=20 created in the image of God, not in the lineage of=20 monkeys.

The Bible tells us = that God=20 created man in His own image as an instant creation (Genesis = 1:27).=20 Jesus, the Creator, verifies this in Mark 10:6. He states: =93But from the beginning = of the=20 creation, God made them male and female.=94 The context of = Mark 10:6=20 is divorce. We all know that cockroaches, rabbits and rats do = not get=20 divorces. The creator is talking about people. People get = divorces. The=20 Creator of one-man/one-woman-'til-death-do-us-part marriage = tells us=20 that divorce is not His solution to problems of pride and = selfishness in marriage. (If you would like to read some = of what=20 the Bible says about this please refer to Malachi 2:13-16; = Deuteronomy=20 24:1-5; Matthew 5:31,32; Matthew 19:3-12; Mark 10:1-12; Luke = 16:18; I=20 Corinthians 7:10-16). People, created instantly in God's image, = were=20 there in the beginning.^[4]

If we believe what the Bible says (and this book = will=20 argue that there is no =93scientific=94 proof not to), Mark 10:6 = alone=20 destroys all evolutionary teaching. There were male and female = people on=20 earth from the beginning. The Creator says so. That leaves no = room at=20 all for billions of years of transitional animal forms (missing = links)=20 gradually evolving from a single cell through monkey-like = creatures to=20 man.

MAN CREATED FULLY MATURE=20

If it is true that there were = people here=20 as male and female people from the very beginning, then God = created them=20 as instant adults. He created Adam, a full-grown (totally = mature) adult=20 who was only one second old. From Adam's rib (taken during the = first=20 general anesthetic!), God created instantly the first woman, = Eve,=20 complete and mature. Adam woke up and did not see a baby girl. = He was=20 introduced to Eve, his fully grown wife.

If Adam=20 had asked, =93Eve, how old are you?=94 she would have answered, = =93One minute=20 old, Adam.=94 She was created with the appearance of age. She = looked=20 perhaps 25 years old, but she had to wait a whole year to = celebrate her=20 first birthday. If Eve said, =93Adam, I'm hungry,=94 he could = have reached=20 out and picked a ripe peach, though its tree was only three days = old.=20 God also created fully mature trees. They looked old, and bore = ripe=20 fruit, but they were only three days old. These three-day-old = trees were=20 growing in soil that was created fully developed. In this soil, = ferns=20 were thriving and flowers blooming. Huge, minutes to hours-old = dinosaurs=20 were walking the earth with Adam and Eve. (Fortunately, they ate = plants=20 and not people at this point. See Genesis 1:30.) Even the light = beams=20 from the stars could have been created at the instant God = created the=20 stars. It might appear to scientists that light from the = farthest stars=20 took millions of years to get to earth, but if God created fully = mature=20 systems then that light beam may only be as old as the star = itself. (For=20 further discussion of this subject, see Chapter 10, Light From = The=20 Farthest Stars.)

When I am addressing the issue = of creation=20 with maturity (or the appearance of age) with a class of college = students, invariably a hand will go up at that point of the = discussion.=20 The student will say, =93Then God is a liar. He created = something that is=20 not what it appears to be if He created Adam, Eve, and dinosaurs = full=20 grown. They looked old, but were not old.=94 No, God is not a = liar. He=20 told us exactly what He did in Genesis l and 2. Our problem is = that we=20 do not think we can believe it. Instead of believing the Bible, = we have=20 accepted the speculative theories of evolution.

Remember that in Hebrews 1, Colossians 1 and = John 1, God=20 tells us that Jesus is the Creator. Is it outside of the ability = of God=20 to create with the appearance of age? The Creator stepped into=20 space-time-history as the Savior. He performed His first miracle = during=20 the wedding feast at Cana as recorded in John 2. =

JESUS CREATED AGED WINE=20

Decades before Jesus and the = Apostle John=20 walked the streets of Cana, the Hebrew Old Testament was = translated into=20 Greek. This translation is called the LXX or the Septuagint. As John = wrote the=20 first two chapters of his gospel, he seemingly had in mind the = first two=20 chapters of the Septuagint=20 (Old Testament in Greek). Not only is the use of the Greek = language=20 similar, but John 1 and Genesis 1 talk about the beginning of = the world=20 and John 2 and Genesis 2 deal with a man and a woman moving into = marriage.

= As=20 recorded in John 2 the marriage party at Cana had run out of = wine. There=20 were six stone waterpots full of water, which Jesus turned into = wine.=20 The servants took some of this new wine to the headwaiter. After = tasting=20 it he said, =93Every = man at the=20 beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well = drunk, then=20 that which is worse; but thou hast kept the good wine until = now=94=20 (John 2:10).

How is good wine produced? It = must be aged.=20 How old was this wine? Only a minute or two. The Creator steps = into time=20 and performs His first miracle to =93manifest forth His = glory=94=20 (John 2:11). = He wants=20 His disciples to make no mistake as to who He is. In doing so, = He=20 creates something (wine) with the appearance of age. The = seconds-old=20 wine tasted like aged wine. How many water pots does the = Biblical=20 account of John record? Six! How many days did God work in the = creation=20 week? Six! As John writes his Gospel he could be thinking about = Genesis=20 1 and 2. In Genesis, God created the universe with the = appearance=20 of age in six days. In John 2, God created wine with the=20 appearance of age in six water pots.

Scripture has one interpretation; however, it = can have=20 many applications. One of the applications of John 2 is that the = Creator=20 does not need time. He can create whatever He wants to create = and make=20 it appear to "have some years" on it. Creations that are new can = appear=20 to have gone through a process that required time=97but there = was no time.=20 Jesus manifested His glory as He performed His earthly miracles, = without=20 the use of time, just as He had created each aspect of the = universe,=20 instantly complete and fully functional.=20

PETER AIMS TO KILL=20

When Judas Iscariot came with a = mob to=20 betray Jesus, Peter grabbed a sword and aimed it at the head of = one of=20 them. The person ducked, and Peter succeeded in cutting off only = the=20 mobster's ear. Did Jesus pick up the ear, get out His suture = kit, sew=20 the ear back on and say, =93Come back in two weeks and we'll = take out your=20 stitches?=94 Of course not! He put the ear back on the = person=97no stitches,=20 no healing process, no time involved. You see, the God of = the=20 Bible does not need time. There is no way to reattach an ear = without the=20 process of days of healing=85unless you are God. Our Creator = does not need=20 time to do what we humans (limited and finite) would = dogmatically say=20 requires time!

GOD CREATED = TIME=20

God created=20 time. He is not subject to it, since He is eternal and time is=20 temporary. That is the message of II Peter 3:8, =93But, beloved, be not = ignorant of=20 this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand = years, and a=20 thousand years as one day.=94 II Peter 3:8 does not teach = that each=20 day of the creation week was 1,000 years or a longer period of = time or=20 vice versa (1,000 years as a day), but rather it shows that God = is above=20 time. The context of II Peter 3:8,9 is that time means nothing = to God as=20 He waits for us to come to repentance!

All of the miracles of our Creator, with the = exception,=20 perhaps, of walking on water, appear to have needed time! Our = Lord did=20 not need time for His miracles, and He did not need time to = create the=20 universe. For us to believe that God created the universe in a = literal=20 six-day, 24-hour/day week (as recorded in Genesis), we must = assume that=20 He can and will create things with the appearance of age. His = miracles tell us that this is consistent with His power and His=20 character. We can believe the Bible in the normal historical = and=20 grammatical sense of its meaning. As we will see in the chapters = ahead,=20 there is no scientific reason not to believe the Holy Scriptures = as they=20 are written. Of course, I did not know these things back in = 1971, and=20 twenty-three years later I am still learning. As I talked with = those=20 Baylor students, I began to realize that evolutionary theory and = the=20 Biblical creation account cannot be merged. Even the = belief that=20 God used evolutionary processes over extended periods of time to = change=20 primitive molecules into you and me (Theistic Evolution) is = inadequate.=20 It portrays a vicious, stupid God who needed millions of years = (of=20 ferocious animals eating animals or =93survival of the = fittest=94), to=20 produce something He considered perfect enough to announce that = man was=20 finally in His own image. Evolution destroys God, His infinite = power and=20 His image. Furthermore, evolution enslaves God to the = restrictive=20 boundaries of time.

Could it be that = molecules-to-man evolution=20 is not based on true science, but upon many unprovable = assumptions? We=20 will consider this in Chapter Two but one more thought first. = The first=20 verse of the Bible (Genesis 1:1) says: =93In the beginning God = created the=20 heavens and the earth.=94 The Hebrew word for =93God=94 is a = plural word,=20 and the same word is sometimes translated =93gods.=94 The verb=20 created, is third person singular, =93He Created=94 in = the Hebrew.=20 Did God make a grammatical mistake in the very first verse of = the Bible=20 by putting a plural noun with a singular verb? Not at all! God = is=20 telling us, in His first written words to us, that He is a = plurality and=20 at the same time a singularity. He is the one true God in three = persons:=20 the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. He is the Almighty = Trinitarian=20 God of the Bible, the three-in-one!

God=92s universe speaks of His attributes. The = universe is=20 composed of three elements: space, time and matter (which = includes=20 energy). =93In the beginning=94=97time, =93God created the = heavens=94=97space, =93and=20 the earth=94=97matter. The universe is a trinity. Space is a = trinity=20 composed of width, depth and height. Time is a trinity of past, = present=20 and future. Matter is a trinity of solid, liquid and gas! In one = short=20 verse (Genesis 1:1), the God of the Bible describes His = universe.=20

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