The Evolution of Darwin

A commentary by Dan Dowd

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's world-changing work on evolutionary biology, The Origin of Species. Darwin spent years developing his theory of evolution—traveling the world, studying different animal species and writing down his thoughts and observations.

A theory of flaws

During the sesquicentennial of his book I find it curious to note the lack of cheerleading of this anniversary within the scientific community.

Darwin himself could never have imagined how much The Origin of Species would change the thinking in virtually every branch of science and field of human study. He would likely have been deeply saddened see how his theory was used by Hitler, Stalin and too many others as justification to kill so many people.

While the premise of Darwin's work has been accepted and built upon, many also recognize the dramatic flaws in his original theories and have sought to refine or rewrite them.

Non-evolution of species

Yet evolutionists still struggle to explain how eyes developed within species. They dogmatically talk in absolute terms about how it came to be, but they really can't explain how something so complex simply "appeared" in organisms.

Likewise fossil discoveries such as the Burgess Shale site in the Canadian Rockies have expanded the understanding of paleontologists. Yet they still can't explain the sudden burst of life during the Cambrian period, sometimes called "the Cambrian explosion." Read the details in "What Does the Fossil Record Show?"

Evolutionists "ooh" and "ah" over their discoveries, but they still lack a workable explanation of how life began, why life began and how the diversity of life became so great through the theory of evolution.

The dirty little secret

Evolution ceased to be the work of a handful of individuals 150 years ago and began to push its way into nearly every aspect of modern thinking. Try standing up to question the teachings of evolution, especially in the academic world, and you will quickly be marginalized.

Most in the scientific community dismiss a belief in a Creator or even in intelligent design. But the dirty little secret is that many of the early adherents, and even more of the modern proponents of evolution, admit in their writings that they were—or, are—looking for an explanation of life that would do away with a belief in and obedience to God.

How do you suppose God reacts to such rejection?

Because evolutionists (and even those who tacitly believe in evolution) have rejected God, He is letting them experience the results of rejecting the knowledge of Him as Creator and of His way of life. Pick up your Bible and read God's dramatic denouncement of evolutionary thinking and acting in the book called Romans, chapter 1 from verse 18 to the end.

Your response to Mr. Darwin

It may be counterproductive to always challenge the teachers of evolution, but we need to know why what they teach is wrong. We need to be able to defend a belief in the Creator God.

Can you do that? I don't mean that we must develop expertise enough to write a book. But when asked, can we give straightforward answers that cut directly to the indefensible weaknesses of the theory of evolution?

Starting with the above-mentioned chapter on the fossil record, let me encourage you to begin to learn evolution's many weaknesses. Read in your Bible about God and about the creation of the universe and of human life.

Lay the evolution of Darwin to rest after 150 years of The Origin of Species, and begin your search for the origin of truth! VT