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animated video that showed a small dinosaur running
across the ground. As the dinosaur ran, it grew feathers,
and then wings, and then jumped off a cliff and flew,
and eventually evolved into a bird you might see in
your backyard. This evolutionary belief has become so
widely accepted that birds are now classified as reptiles!
The video represented the changes that had to occur
in dinosaurs over millions of years. Although it looks
“simplistic” on the screen, reality is very different. I
look at the video as a geneticist and know that for every
physical change we see in the dinosaur, hundreds to
millions of mutations would have to occur to make
that possible. These mutations would have to add
information about how to make new structures like
feathers — something that has never been observed!
Consider the following analogy as we try to visualize
the problems of mutations for evolution: You are
standing at the far end of your backyard and you want
to get to your house, but you must
walk a straight line (you can’t circle
around the earth) and you can only
take steps backward (away from
the house). Even if you are given
millions of years to accomplish this
task, will you ever reach your house?
No! The same is true for evolution.
Evolutionists can have billions and
trillions of years to make evolution work, but it will
always fail because there is no mechanism to make the
types of changes in organisms that evolution requires.
ARE MUTATIONS A PROBLEM FOR
BIBLICAL CREATION?
Genesis 1 is clear that God’s original creation was
“very good” (Gen. 1:31). There was no death, suffering,
or disease, nor mutations, that could lead to such
outcomes. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve sinned, and the
punishment for sin was death (Gen. 2:17; 3:19). After
the fall, God no longer upheld the world in the same
way, and mutations began to occur, bringing death,
disease, and suffering.
The Bible says that God created animals according
to their “kind” (Gen. 1:11–12, 21, 24–25), which most
creation scientists believe is around the family level in
modern classification schemes. For example, at Answers
in Genesis’ newest attraction, the Ark Encounter, we
showcase the dog kind, horse kind, and cat kind. The
inference from the creation and flood accounts is that
animals were to reproduce according to their kinds
(Gen. 1, 6).
What we observe today is consistent with the biblical
account of creation. We see variation within kinds (e.g.,
multiple species and breeds of dogs in the dog kind/
family), a few of which may be caused by mutations
(e.g., fur color changes in dogs), but we never observe
the types of change that will cause a dog to evolve into a
cat, or anything else for that matter. And we never will,
no matter how much time passes, because there is no
genetic mechanism for this type of change.
WHY DOES IT MATTER THAT THE
BIBLE IS TRUE CONCERNING
GENETICS?
The Bible gives us certain biological principles,
even if it doesn’t specifically mention the terms “DNA”
or “genetics.” Our observations about what mutations
can and cannot do is absolutely consistent with biblical
creation and absolutely inconsistent with the idea of
evolution over millions of years. In the church today,
there are many who compromise on God’s Word in
Genesis and choose to believe inman-made (andmade-
up!) evolutionary ideas. Does it really matter? Is Genesis
really that important?
It is. If God didn’t tell us the truth concerning how,
when, and why He created, why should we trust what
He says about anything else? If we just evolved from
some shared ancestor with the apes, Adam and Eve
weren’t real people made in God’s image, and the fall
never happened; then what is sin, why are we sinners,
and why do we need a Savior? Ideas have consequences.
As Christians, we need to uphold the truthfulness
and authority of the history of Genesis so that we can
effectively share the Gospel of Jesus Christ based in
that history.
Georgia (Hickman) Purdom ’94
is a speaker, researcher, and
author for Answers in Genesis. She earned her Ph.D. in
molecular genetics fromThe Ohio State University.
We see variation within kinds (e.g., multiple species and
breeds of dogs in the dog kind/family), a few of which may
be caused by mutations (e.g., fur color changes in dogs),
but we never observe the types of change that will cause a
dog to evolve into a cat, or anything else for that matter.
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