Creationism And Evolution

The Lie – Evolution (Genesis – the key to defending your faith) by Ken Ham, 2008. Paperback 172 pages

Genesis is the foundation of Christian doctrine and is referred to many times by Jesus (including mentions of Adam, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Lot, Isaac and Jacob). And yet it is the book which gives many Christians the most difficulty because it is not compatible with the theory of evolution. The theory of evolution is presented as fact in schools, in countless TV natural history programmes, and in the newspapers. This intimidates Christians who want to believe the story of creation as given to us in the book of Genesis and results in much doubt. However, if we can't believe in the truth of such a foundational book as Genesis, what can we believe?

This very helpful book by an Australian scientist, who has had an effective ministry in the USA, shows that evolutionism is a religion; it is not science! Religion is 'a system of belief held with ardour and faith'. Creationism is a religion but one based upon the revelation from the all-knowing Creator who was there when creation took place. Evolutionism, on the other hand is based upon the words of men who were not there and who, by their own admission, do not know everything and are biased against God and His Word.

This very readable book will help many Christians to renew or strengthen their faith and confidence in the complete trustworthiness and truthfulness of the Bible, even the book of Genesis.

Darwin on Trial by Phillip Johnson, 1993. Paperback 170 pages

The author is a professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley who specialises in analyzing the logic of arguments and identifying the assumptions that lie behind those arguments. Although a Christian, his purpose in writing this book is to examine the scientific evidence on its own terms, being careful to distinguish the evidence itself from any religious or philosophical bias that might distort our interpretation of that evidence. The result is rather shocking and shows that the theory of evolution is based on faith rather than fact and that the main proponents are naturalistic scientists who believe that the natural world is all there is and there can be no outside or supernatural influence. Because they cannot think of any other natural explanation for the diversity of the various species, they have decided the theory of evolution must be true and therefore don't see the need for positive confirmation. Rather, they engage in a circular argument – naturalistic evolution is (for them) the only conceivable explanation for life, and so the existence of life proves it to be true! A fascinating book which should be read by all Christians who are inclined to accept the theory of evolution.

Darwin's Black Box by Michael Behe, 1996. Paperback 253 pages

The author is a professor of Biochemistry in Pennsylvania. He exposes the implausibility of the theory of evolution to explain the origin of complex biological mechanisms which do not function unless all the various parts are present. The theory depends on individual chance mutations of genes conferring a benefit for survival and reproduction, but there is no way in which the necessary individual mutations can confer benefit unless they are all in place. He usefully refers to a mousetrap to illustrate this, and gives real examples such as the blood clotting system. The book is in three sections and is accessible to non-scientists if they omit the middle section which contains a lot of biochemical detail.

The Dawkins Delusion by Alister McGrath, 2007. Paperback 65 pages

The author is professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University but had previously been a research scientist in the field of Molecular Biophysics. This book was a direct response to the popular book by fellow Oxford Professor, Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion. Dawkins is a leading evolutionary scientist and has been called the high priest of scientific atheism and in that book he criticises every form of religion and is out to convert his readers to atheism. His contempt for Christians was evident in his recent TV series on Darwin. McGrath exposes the fallacy of much of Dawkins' arguments against the existence of God and in so doing he weakens his scientific reputation. He concludes that Dawkins' book is a work of theatre rather than of scholarship.