Council Community Church

Pastor's Corner

THE PRICE VALLEY PHILOSOPHERS                                                        7-28-06

    The summer of 1979 found me working ranch in Price Valley, just across from the Tamarack mill.  I was 16 years old, "ten feet tall and bullet-proof," and certainly had no use for religion of any kind ( that was only for the weak, the ignorant, and the sentimental!).

    One afternoon I was talking with my work-mates about the meaning of life and such things (who says that we rednecks aren't deep thinkers?).  They were shocked to discover that I was an atheist, and then they posed a question: "Look at all of this beauty around you right now.  Do you believe that all of this got here by ACCIDENT?"  I glanced around at the peaceful setting - the painfully blue sky; the pine-covered hills; the cattle contentedly grazing in the lush green grass; the clear stream - and with the confidence of youthful pride I responded: "Yeah, all of this evolved by sheer luck."

    At that time none of us had ever heard about philosopher Jean-Paul Sarte, but we were discussing Sartre's "basic philosophic question":  Why does SOMETHING exist, rather than NOTHING?  The world exists, but where did it come from?  There are only two basic options for the origin of the universe:  1) a personal beginning (created by God);  2) an impersonal beginning (having fallen together by chance).

    I was raised and immersed in the second of these.  I believed that every creature - including me - had evolved from lower life forms, and ultimately from non-living material, by pure chance over billions of years.  My chief defense for my conviction was that "science has proven it conclusively!"  I still hear that from some today.  But is it true?  Does scientific evidence clearly support an impersonal beginning of life and the universe?  Let's take a look.

    First of all, it is absurd for scientists to speak authoritatively about the origin of the universe.  Why?  Because no human was present at the beginning of all things, and science - good, reliable science - is based upon observed phenomenon.  We can observe cause-and-effect relationships today, but what about the very first "cause" (what started it all?).  It was not an observable, repeatable event, and so science is outside of it's realm of authority when speaking of the beginning of the universe.

    Next, the theory of evolution is unworkable.  Evolution flies in the face of genetics by declaring that one species develops into another, more complex one, by mutation.  THIS HAS NEVER BEEN OBSERVED!  Pointing to bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics is no proof (in fact, this is a LOSS genetic information).  Neither is variation within a species (such as dogs or moths) proof of evolution.  A wolf may look much different than a Chihuahua, but the reality is that they are the SAME SPECIES, and could reproduce accordingly (so this is simply variation WITHIN a species, NOT evolution).  Also, 99+% of genetic mutations are lethal to begin with, and do not even produce a viable creature.  Then there is the unhappy fact that mutants can't reproduce because of sterility or the absence of a mate that has had a similar mutation.

    The THEORY of evolution to a greater complexity of organisms by chance also stands opposed to the 2nd LAW of Thermodynamics, which says (roughly) that the universe is "running down"; that everything is moving from organization to random disorder.  How is the new genetic material and greater order (evolution) introduced into the system, when everything seems to be breaking down to greater chaos?  And finally, statistics has repeatedly shown that the probability that life spontaneously evolved id 0.00 (in other words, it couldn't happen!).  So much for science conclusively proving an impersonal beginning of the world and life!

    Our world screams out to us of a purposeful, personal Creator who intentionally fashioned us and our surroundings (see Genesis 1 and John 1).  The overwhelming order and complexity and beauty of life; the scientific evidence; the whisper of our hearts.  Indeed, "The difficulties of belief may be great; the absurdities of unbelief are greater."  So, why do we continue to deny the seemingly undeniable existence of our Creator?  The importance of this issue is far greater than casual conversation.  It determines EVERY choice that we make and the very course of our lives for all eternity.