Torch, Fall/Winter 2009

18 TORCH | Fall–Winter 2009 Debunking Those Pesky Creation Myths by Dr. Aaron Hutchison T he popular debate over the origin of life is filled with misconceptions. Many supposed “facts” about both creationism and Darwinism are not actually true. Unfortunately, these myths can be repeated so often they become accepted as truth. Christians should be prepared to respond to such myths. The next time someone challenges your faith in Creator God with one of these arguments, be ready to answer the myth with the truth. Darwinism deals with objective science, religion with subjective faith. Science cannot be defined on the assumption that an anti-supernatural worldview competes with a theistic one. As a method for studying nature, science is neutral on the issue of the supernatural. To think otherwise improperly defines science as a worldview, a term that should not be applied to that which is merely a technique. Of course, one does not have to subscribe to naturalism to practice science. Historically, many of the greatest scientists, Isaac Newton among them, were theists. Furthermore, naturalism is not the pure rationalism it purports to be. It takes as much faith to believe all things developed by random chance as it does to believe a mighty God created the universe. Real scientists are not creationists. While this is a favorite charge of those who seek to discredit the creationist movement, it simply has no basis in fact. As this issue of TORCH exemplifies, creationists can be active, published members of the scientific community. To further demonstrate this fact, Answers in Genesis has compiled an impressive list of scientists conducting cutting-edge creation research. This information is available at www.answersingenesis.org / home/area/bios/. The fossil record proves Darwinism. Despite the discovery of so-called “missing links,” the fossil record does not actually support gradual evolution. If everything living today had evolved slowly over millions of years, there should be fossils of thousands of transitional forms, creatures that are intermediates between types. In reality, most of the fossils claimed as transitions do not stand up to close scrutiny. For example, the alleged transitional fossils linking apes to men have been conclusively shown to contain both ape fossils and human fossils, rather than indicating separate species FROM LEFTTO RIGHT: NANCY NEHRING / ISTOCKPHOTO; AUREAPTERUS / ISTOCKPHOTO; HEMERATECHNOLOGIES / JUPITERIMAGES