Everything you need to know about evolution, but were afraid to ask
Everything you need to know about evolution, but were afraid to ask
By Ron Hamman - Religion Views - 1/3/2011 - Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, Wasilla AK - original
As 2010 was drawing to an end, the results of a recent Gallup poll began spreading showing a decline in the number of Americans who believe that God created humans in their present form. Called creationism, this is the belief that not only was humanity created by an intelligent designer, but it goes a step further and professes that this designer is the Jehovah God of the Bible, and that he created this world, and the universe in which we live, in six literal days less than 10,000 years ago.
In the article entitled, Four in 10 Americans Believe in Strict Creationism, author Frank Newport reports how Gallup has been tracking American attitudes toward creationism since 1982. While the article demonstrates a decline in those who believe in “strict creationism” and a rise in those who believe in “secular evolution,” a review of the data shows not only that these changes are only slight, but that the vast majority of Americans continue their belief in God as creator despite the best efforts which secular humanism has put forward, including the monopoly they have on public school science books.
While 40 percent of Americans continue to believe in creationism and 16 percent are decided for evolution, 38 percent of Americans are stuck in the middle, clinging to their belief in God, yet believing that he somehow used evolution as his method of creative genius. If you find yourself in this 38 percent, perhaps not willingly but because you feel unable to defend a creationist position against the onslaught of what is called “modern science,” I have a book for you – The Evolution Handbook.
While I remain staunch in my belief that the most important book for you to own, read and study is a good King James 1611 Bible, you would do well to have in your possession a small number of books to aid you in your study of God’s Word. If you use the literal Bible study method which allows God to speak for himself, your study will lead you toward the creationist viewpoint of how all time and matter began. It is in support of the Biblical model of creation that you will find The Evolution Handbook invaluable.
In the tradition of the King James Bible and many other venerable works on creation, The Evolution Handbook is written from a non-sectarian perspective. That is, the author, Vance Ferrell, is more interested in discussing what science knows about how the world began than he is about what Christian denomination to belong to. The truth is that biblical creationism leads to biblical Christianity, and the same principles that lead to a literal six-day, young earth creation will lead you to a biblical church. Thus, the author is contending for Christianity’s foundation and feels no need to favor any denomination.
For those of you concerned that The Evolution Handbook is a book for the uneducated novice, think again. While the book itself measures little more than 4x6 in size, it is 992 pages thick, and is an abbreviated edition of the author’s Evolution Disproved Series. And while the author’s writing style is engaging enough to hold the interest of those unversed in scientific terminology, the book is suitable for use as a science textbook, complete with study questions at the end of each chapter.
After having read the book, two things stand out in my mind of the many which could be cited. The first being with regard to the fossil record. It is the author’s contention that “fossil remains provide evolutionists with their only real hope of finding evidence that evolution might have occurred in the past.” Darwin, himself, hoped that after his demise that scientists would find the necessary “intermediate” forms between species that his theory required. To this end science has labored over the past 100 years, and to date, none have been found. While in Darwin’s day they had too few fossils to reach any conclusion, today we have “over 200,000,000 catalogued specimens of about 250,000 fossil species,” enough to be considered complete. And their conclusion? Life sprang up suddenly and completely formed: No evolution.
Secondly, there are honest evolutionists out there. While evolution is paraded as fact before America’s school children, there are real scientists out there who recognize that not only is evolution a faulty theory, but adherence to evolutionary theory has actually hindered scientific progression as evidence contrary to evolution has been discarded.
While time and space does not permit further comment, I would like to make The Evolution Handbook available to families for personal review. Limited quantities are available for local distribution or can be purchased via the Internet at evolution-facts.org. Have a happy New Year!
Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229 or ron.hamman@gci.net.