| © 2007 Creation Truth Outreach, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This pamphlet may be freely copied provided it is copied in its entirety, its contents are not altered in any manner, and additional or tighter copyright restrictions than these are not imposed on it. Revised May 5, 2008 |
| Creation Truth Outreach, Inc. Pamphlet |
| Chapter 1. Introduction. A. Roadblocks Essentially every modern encyclopedia and introductory biology textbook will feature a discussion on the origin of life. Their universal claim is that natural processes so favor a spontaneous, unaided, natural origin of life that the appearance of life is inevitable. All it takes is a suitable environment and lots of time and the appearance of some form of life is inevitable. In this pamphlet we will demonstrate that the exact opposite is actually the case. Natural chemical processes and behavior work against the spontaneous formation of life, they do not favor it. A long list of roadblocks will be discussed, any one of which by itself could prevent a purely natural formation of life. Their combined effect is overwhelming; the laws of science effectively make a natural origin of life impossible. We will look at sixteen roadblocks in detail. Actually, we throw a few more in just for good measure. Yet, there are many, many more that could have been included. The ones we do present should be sufficient to make the point. In reality, roadblocks against a natural formation of life exist about everywhere a person might look. Such roadblocks seem to be characteristic of our world. Thus, a person competent in biochemistry or a similar field should be able to add to the list quite easily if he wanted to and put any effort into it. This means that the issue is not the amount of evidence; rather, it is a person’s willingness to acknowledge evidence that is abundant and is relatively obvious. If science teaches against a natural formation of life, then can it give us any indication of where life might have come from? Surprisingly enough, the answer is. “Yes.” Life shows the characteristics of having been designed by an Intelligent Being, a Creator God. We live in an age where design engineers design all kinds of objects. The engineer figures out what he wants to make, how he wants to make it, and then uses his ability to manipulate objects in his world to make what he envisioned. This applies to bicycles, to computers, to airplanes, and just about everything else we use in our daily lives. Objects that have been designed by an intelligent being exhibit certain characteristics. We will look at five of these characteristics in this pamphlet. So, what we observe from science about life teaches us that living objects cannot be formed by natural processes and that they show characteristics consistent with having been designed by an Intelligent Being. Furthermore, if the laws of science work to make a natural origin of life impossible, then the Intelligent Designer also needs to be able to work miracles. He is not bound by what we call the laws of science. We are bound by these laws and the creation itself operates under them. However, the Creator is greater than them and can override them at will. Thus, the very existence of life serves to demonstrate the existence of an intelligent, miracle-working God. Do you want simple, clear evidence that there is indeed a God capable of working miracles at will? Look in the mirror. Your very existence requires such a God. In the book of Romans in the Bible, the following statement confirms this observation. The verse teaches that God designed the universe in such a way that He expects it lead a person to know that He exists and understand certain things about Him. Furthermore, He considers this evidence to be so strong that a person is without excuse who does not acknowledge it:
the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful…. (Romans 1:20-21) it. The things presented in this pamphlet are items that the author believes fulfill this teaching. In other words, the issue is not just that science demonstrates a natural origin of life to be impossible. The issue becomes that God deliberately designed the universe for this to be the case. His intent is that the more carefully a person looks at the creation, the more evident it should be that it was placed here by a Creator. This issue of how life originated is not a neutral issue. According to the above passage, God expects a person to glorify Him as Creator and give thanks. Attributing the origin of life to natural causes, particularly if science actually demonstrates this to be impossible, insults God’s glory. Hence, believing and teaching natural origins apart from the activity of a Creator God is an offense against God’s glory and is a sin for which God holds a person accountable. The things we discuss in this pamphlet are extremely critical. They have eternal consequences. Therefore, it is worth the time and effort to understand them. |