CREATIONISM

The author of Darwin’s Black Box, Dr. Michael Behe, has demonstrated that living cells are
“irreducibly complex” which means that all parts of a structure have to be already in place to
work at all. Dr. Behe argues that the slow changes proposed by evolution could not form
complex living cells. He does think that a creative intelligence is necessary for explaining the
origin of various biochemical systems, and has written devastatingly powerful arguments
against the standard evolutionary notion that all this happened “by itself.”

Charles Darwin, the author of Origin of Species, stated doubts concerning evolution. Modern
presentations on evolution may be met with little objection—for example, consider the PBS
video animation depicting a smooth evolutionary transformation from simple ancestral to present
complex eye (such as found in humans or the octopus). After all, doesn't that depict fact? But if
there is no clear explanation on how certain presumed transformations arose, then we are left—
along with Darwin himself—with unresolved queries and doubt:

Even Charles Darwin thought his own theory was "grievously hypothetical" and gave emotional
content to his doubts when he said, "The eye to this day gives me a cold shudder." To think the
eye had evolved by natural selection, Darwin said, "seems, I freely confess, absurd in the
highest possible degree." But he thought of the same about something as simple as a peacock's
feather, which, he said, "makes me sick." Of course, anyone who has knowledge of the
intricacies of the human eye and other living structures immediately realizes the problem Darwin
sensed. How could an organ of such an intricate magnificence ever have a originated via
random chance? (Oller and Omdahl (CH) Page 274)

How is Creationism considered to be truthful?

There are different kinds behind Creationism. One of it is “Progressive Creationism” which is
one the kinds of Creationism that accepts scientific data, and does not argue with what
information it has. Examples would be “the Big Bang” and how long it took for our Earth to be
what it is now. This is because through the Big Bang, it acts as the “origin of matter, energy, and
time”, which confirms the Genesis, following the notion that everything was created out of
nothing (Scott, 2009). Through the events from Noah’s Flood, it also confirms the data on fossils
that were recorded. There is an organization when it comes to how the plants and animals were
distributed throughout the flow of time. Examples would prove to be how no mammals were to
be spotted in the Cambrian period, as suppose to have no record of flowering plants in the
Devonian period as well. With this variation when it comes to the organisms recorded, in
Noah’s boat, different creatures were gathered as well.

Those who go by the Progressive Creationism stands by how the “fossil distribution of
organisms” is proven to be true for in the Creation story, God created all the creatures in an
order, which was sequential. Starting from the “simple, single-celled organisms, then, simple
multi cellular organisms” then followed by the more complex in structured organisms, until
today. (Scott, 2009)

Another kind of Creationism is called “Intelligent Design Creationism”. It came from the
argument of design of William Paley. He stood by the idea that the mere act of creation, and
what came with this. He also used a metaphor to stand by his argument, which was, if you are
to see a watch and all the complex structures it is composed of, it is not possible for it to simply
exist, there must behind it who created that watch, with a certain goal in mind. And with
connecting this to creation itself, “the finding of order, purpose, and design in the world” is
already evidence that there is a supernatural force that made all of it. Another example to keep
in mind is our DNA structure, and how this “molecular phenomena” occurs cannot be simply
because it just exists already. Also, IDC High school Biology Supplemental Textbooks entitled
“Of Pandas and People” written by Davis and Kenyon back in 1993, as well as “Explore
Evolution” by Meyer, Minnich, Moneymaker, Nelson, as well as Seelke last 2007, have already
focused their studies on proving that the DNA in itself it already too complex and difficult to be
caused by on its own.

One of the notable books which present a case of the validity of creationism is Lee Strobel’s
Case for a Creator published in 2005. Based on his personal investigation, using his
backgrounds in law and journalism, and correspondences with reputable experts in various field,
he began to present a case for a creator and tries to debunk the theory of evolutionism.
In his book, there are several negative pieces of evidence which challenges the claims of
evolution. First is the Miller Experiment, proposed by Stanley Miller which explains the origin of
the first cells. Based on his experiment and model of the early state of the atmosphere, amino
acids, building blocks of proteins, were formed with the four dominant compounds found in the
atmosphere namely water vapour, ammonia, hydrogen, and methane. But according to
Jonathan Wells, a molecular biologist, it was impossible and long disproven since carbon
dioxide and nitrogen was also present due to the emission of volcanoes, wherein further
experimentation with the addition of the said compounds were not successful. Also he added
that water vapour, being very light, would have easily escaped the atmosphere. Wells also
conducted an experiment wherein a puncture cell placed under an optimal condition in a test
tube was observed for any signs of adherence or formation of ‘cell like’ structures. After several
experiments it was concluded that Miller experiment was not valid. Russian biochemist
Alexander Oparin also experimented with the origin of cells and his theory focuses on the
‘biological seeding’ from outer space yet his experiments were not successful as well.
Another negative evidence presented was the non-conclusive evidence in the Darwinian tree of
life. The Darwinian tree of life is a pedigree of the common ancestors and succession of
evolution, a crucial part of his theory. This is popularly known as the ‘missing links’ of evolution.
For half a century, scientists have not found fossil records that go beyond the Cambrian
explosion. Based on Wells, fossils were found on China dating 503 million years old and the
fossils found represent all of the phyla and were also in their current forms. No further evidence
found supporting the gradual appearance of the different phyla.
There were also pieces of evidence which proves that there is intelligence in the creation of the
organisms. Michael Behe, a microbiologist in the Neigh University, proposed the Irreducible
Complexity stating that each parts of an organism is essential and if one of its parts were not
present, the whole system loses its function. One of his prime examples is the flagella of the
bacteria. The flagella of the bacteria is an essential part of the cells which allows movement and
it was observed that the movement of the flagella is similar to a propeller. Behe explained that
there are 14 parts comprising a flagella, mostly by constructor proteins.
It was Darwin who stated in his book, The Origin of Species, that If it could be demonstrated
that any complex organ existed which could possibly have been formed by numerous,
successive slight modifications, “my theory would absolutely break down.”
References:
Looy, Mark. 2000 March 29. It’s intelligent, but is that good enough? Retrieved from
https://answersingenesis.org/intelligent-design/its-intelligent-but-is-that-good-enough/
Scott, E.C. (2009). Evolution vs. Creationism. Greenwood Press: Westport, Connecticut.
Paley, William. 1802. Natural theology; or, Evidences of the existence and attributes of the
deity,
collected from the appearances of nature, 5th ed. London: R. Faulder.
Retrieved from https://archive.org/stream/TheCaseForACreator/TheCaseForACreator_djvu.txt
Retrieved from http://www.windowview.org/sci/pgs/09doubts.html

SOCS1-Y1 - Sir Charles Van T. Miraflores

Alcantara, Rachel Anne

Apostol, Thea Marie

Cas, Reynalie

Castro, Maxine

Colotario, Cinderella

Cruz, Miko

Cueno, Alyanna

Encinas, Beatrice

Felix, Nathan

Kim Han Byul

Sabularse, Ralph

Salcedo, Dominique

Sotalbo, Kate Andrea