By: Gary L. Hutchens
If God did not create man, where did man come from? Many would say that faith in God as the creator is a blind leap in the dark, a belief that cannot be proven by empirical evidence, a position that contradicts hard, objective, scientific facts. Is it?
What is the bottom line position of those within the scientific community who believe evolution explains where life came from? Evolution’s position is that life came from inanimate matter. That’s a fancy way of stating that life came from objects, elements, compounds, materials- nobody’s sure just what it was- in which there was no life. In other words, life came from non-life. Is such a position empirically supportable? No! Based on principles of science, is it sound to suggest that life can come from non-life? No! Talk about a blind leap…
An old song states, “Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could.” Saying something in a song doesn’t make it so. But it states a principle that is understood and pretty much accepted by everybody, especially by science. Science states it in a more sophisticated way through the principle of “cause and effect.” The reality of something demands the equal reality of something else that precipitated it. The very existence of life demands the existence of something else that could bring about life. The idea that non-life could precipitate life flies in the face of all sound, scientific principles. It is, simply put, bad science!
Now, what if we all came from nothin’? First, that would stand science on its head. If the principle of “cause and effect” does not hold in this case, where else can it be trusted? And, if this basic principle is unreliable, what other basic principles of science might also be wrong? Pandora’s box, once opened, is difficult to close.
Second, if we all came from nothin’, the Bible is unreliable as a body of factual information. The very first verse states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). God is the cause, and the creation is the effect. The rest of that first chapter explains that God created all life on this planet. If life came about all by itself, however ridiculous that might sound, then what the Bible says on the matter is false. If what the Bible says about creation is false, how can any of the rest of what it says, about anything, be trusted? If the Bible is unreliable, what basis is left for faith in God, since faith comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17)?
So, believing life came from non-life destroys the basis for faith in science and the basis for faith in God. We need to realize that science does not oppose God. Rather, the very principles of science can be accepted because God established them in the first place. Faith in God and true science go hand in hand: “In the beginning God…” Cause and effect- it’s a matter of faith and of science…
An old song states, “Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could.” Saying something in a song doesn’t make it so. But it states a principle that is understood and pretty much accepted by everybody, especially by science. Science states it in a more sophisticated way through the principle of “cause and effect.” The reality of something demands the equal reality of something else that precipitated it. The very existence of life demands the existence of something else that could bring about life. The idea that non-life could precipitate life flies in the face of all sound, scientific principles. It is, simply put, bad science!
Now, what if we all came from nothin’? First, that would stand science on its head. If the principle of “cause and effect” does not hold in this case, where else can it be trusted? And, if this basic principle is unreliable, what other basic principles of science might also be wrong? Pandora’s box, once opened, is difficult to close.
Second, if we all came from nothin’, the Bible is unreliable as a body of factual information. The very first verse states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). God is the cause, and the creation is the effect. The rest of that first chapter explains that God created all life on this planet. If life came about all by itself, however ridiculous that might sound, then what the Bible says on the matter is false. If what the Bible says about creation is false, how can any of the rest of what it says, about anything, be trusted? If the Bible is unreliable, what basis is left for faith in God, since faith comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17)?
So, believing life came from non-life destroys the basis for faith in science and the basis for faith in God. We need to realize that science does not oppose God. Rather, the very principles of science can be accepted because God established them in the first place. Faith in God and true science go hand in hand: “In the beginning God…” Cause and effect- it’s a matter of faith and of science…