Tuesday, May 12, 2009

A problem with Evolution

I attend a long meeting once a month. I sit in the same place, next to the same man, month after month. I rarely talk. When I do it is always because some system is not working or some such. I spend a lot of time listening to some very smart people discuss running our business. Like the man who normally sites next to me. Except, now I’m not so sure because  at a break in the action he said the words, “I have this problem with the Theory of Evolution.” I told myself to let him explain without interrupting. I’ll attempt to translate his argument below.

He said some like this:

I don’t believe in the Theory of Evolution because it does not explain how complex things like the heart and lungs were created. They are just to complex to have appeared by accident. And where are the things we evolved from that are missing hearts and lungs. And how did they appear in the first place? Evolution does not explain how life first appeared, so it can’t be trusted. I can understand how a fingernail might grow longer, but not how a heart developed. And evolution is just a theory, it is just an idea. Other ideas give a better explanation. And Darwin never explained were life came from so...

He went on for a while, but my mind clicked off.

I explained that the origin of life on earth was not covered in the Theory of Evolution.  That if he were interested in that field of study he should look up abiogeneis. I explained definition of a scientific theory and why it is often confused with a person’s best guess at how something works. I even explained the Theory of Evolution in a  general sense. 

He eventually asked me if I believed in the Theory of Evolution. I’ve been asked this so many times that I have an answer memorized. I know when Christians asks this question they are really asking if I believe in Darwin instead of Jesus. I told him, “I accept the Theory of Evolution as the highest order of scientific true. It is the best explanation that fits the facts.” He looked at me in an odd way and shook his head. I am sure he will have more questions next month.

This is how I witness. What about you?

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