On a recent radio broadcast a college professor was being interviewed about creation science. It was an interesting interview in which the professor, who believed in evolution, deflected questions with humor, bluster and unfortunately -- very little substance. It got especially interesting when a student asked the professor how the first living cell could have formed from the primordial ooze.
The professor said that the first living cells were probably based on RNA rather than the more complex DNA molecule. My ears really perked up when he said this because I thought I would finally hear an evolutionist grapple with chemical evolution. The professor disappointed me however when he gave no further information but simply mumbled something about how the student could ask just about anybody on that big college campus for an answer. He quickly moved on to the next question.
By stating that he thought that the first living cells were based on RNA, the professor implied that RNA could form randomly from nonliving chemicals. Let's look for a moment at the complexity of the RNA molecule and the immense hurdles that would have to be overcome if RNA were to form by random collisions of atoms. RNA is an extremely complex chemical compound that is composed of hundreds of nucleotides each consisting of a sugar called ribose, a phosphate group and nitrogenous bases all arranged in precise order. Any missing molecular part or any part out of order can render the RNA dysfunctional or completely inoperative.
Nobel prize winning scientist Francis Crick (not a creationist) who was co-discoverer of DNA has done a probability analysis to determine the odds of forming bio-polymers (proteins) by random processes. Dr. Crick in his book Life Itself: Its Origin and Nature on pages 51-52 describes the random possibilities presented by a very simple protein consisting of just 200 amino acids in a polypeptide chain. This is a molecule that is much simpler in chemical structure than RNA. The random possibilities presented by the simple protein are expressed by a one with 260 zeroes after it. That's a number larger than the number of atoms in the known universe! This means that the right combination to form just one protein occurs by chance collisions of atoms only once out of ten to the 260th power collision events.
Many probability statisticians agree that any occurrence with a probability of one in ten to the 40th power will simply never happen. A protein forming by chance is far more remote than one in ten to the 40th power and therefore, according to probability statistics, it can't happen.
Let's suppose for argument's sake that somehow, against all odds a strand of RNA did form by chance. In this case you would have an RNA molecule freely floating in the primordial soup (or as Darwin put it: a warm little pond). RNA by itself is not life. It needs a cell wall and cytoplasm and mitochondria and a nucleus. All of these things are composed of proteins. We saw above in the citation from Crick's book how remote it is for even one protein to form by chance. A typical "simple" one celled organism requires several hundred varieties of protein all chemically bonded to each other in precise order to form the structure of a cell.
I could quote Hoyle, Wickramasinghe, Morowitz and others who have done probability analyses of potential for biochemicals to form randomly. Their findings also calculated a probability so small as to never happen.
The professor's claim that the first living cells were RNA based solves nothing regarding the evolutionist's dilemma. Life is conclusively proven to be too complex to have formed by chance. God designed and created life. Those who deny God as creator and teach young people atheistic evolution are slayers of souls and are on the road to damnation!
We must continually confront the two fatal flaws of evolution. The first -- as we have seen -- is that life coming from nonlife (chemical evolution) is impossible. The second is that genetic mutations (the supposed mechanism of evolution) are overwhelmingly detrimental to the organism and do not result in uphill change in the genes to add new organ systems.
The lack of transitional forms in the fossil record also undermines evolution but the fossils are more open to subjective and ambivalent interpretation. The probability analysis regarding the impossibility of proteins forming by chance is so airtight and based on hard science as to be unassailable.
An intellectually honest person when viewing the evidence, must reject evolution and acknowledge God as creator and Lord.
The Bible is scientifically accurate! Find the evidence at www.icr.org.
Steps to salvation:
Jesus said "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)
- Believe that God created you and loves you and sent the Messiah (Messiah is Hebrew for Christ) to redeem you.
- Believe that Jesus the Messiah came in fulfillment of over 300 Bible prophecies to die for you to take upon Himself the penalty for your sins. (Isaiah 53:5-6, John 6:29, Romans 4:5, First Peter 3:18)
- Turn from sin and call on the name of Jesus to receive forgiveness. (Romans 10:13)
- Receive Jesus as Savior and experience the new birth. (John 1:12, Acts 2:38)
- Follow Him as Lord. (John 14:21)
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13)
To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:
"Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen."
If you prayed that prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!
Bill Nugent, Overcomer Ministries of West Harrison, New York, USA
(C) 2010 William P. Nugent, permission granted to email or republish if credit given
Read Bill Nugent's award winning Christian book, Lawful or Legalistic: How New Testament Believers Must Understand Old Testament Laws. For more information and to order click here.
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DEFENDING THE FAITH
APOLOGETIC ARTICLES
Bill Nugent currently writes a series of articles called "Defending the Faith" which, as the title suggests, defend the Christian faith from the many attacks leveled against it in our postmodern world.
The articles deal with such topics as evolution, UFOs, cults, modern/postmodern philosophy, liberal theology and popular culture. At the end of each article is an invitation to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. These articles are sent out over the Internet to several opt-in email lists. People who receive these articles are encouraged to resend them to their own lists and in this way reach their own unsaved relatives and friends with the Gospel.
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