In my last post I discussed how evolution as an unguided, impersonal, and material process cannot do what evolutionists claim it can do; it cannot create anything. A much better explanation, infinitely so in my estimation, is an omniscient, omnipotent, wildly creative supreme being. Specifically the life giving Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) of Scripture. It shouldn’t surprise us that the first five words of God’s verbal, historical revelation to mankind are, “In the beginning God created . . . .” It should also not surprise us that evolution defined as a totally natural process, no God required, is the tip of the spear of Satan’s strategy to undermine belief and trust in Almighty God. God as Creator is foundational to every aspect of redemptive history. That’s why affirming it to our kids throughout their lives is also foundational to their own redemptive history.
I ended that previous post with the claim that “persuading your kids that God and not chance is the best explanation for the universe and all that is in it is a piece of cake.” What helps us do this is the concept of explanatory power, which asks the question, what is the best explanation for some phenomenon. We can add what the most plausible and reasonable explanation is given what we know. In the 19th Century when scientific knowledge was in its infancy, an unguided material process like evolution seemed plausible. But as our knowledge of the universe through science has grown, it’s almost unfathomable complexity makes chance a far less plausible explanation than Almighty God; especially to children. Here are a few examples of a “strategy” I’ve employed raising our three kids. It’s known as the design inference.
- I’m in the backyard with my kids, and I notice a potted plant. I ask: Do you think the pot made itself? I get a strange look. Everyone knows intuitively the pot was designed by someone, and it had to be built. Then I tell them that there are some very smart people who think the plant in the pot, infinitely more complex than the pot, is somehow a product of nothing but chance. I ask what makes more sense to them. I told you this was a piece of cake.
- Some years ago we went on a family vacation to Mt. Rushmore. One beautiful summer evening we attended a presentation about this amazing achievement of human ingenuity. In my annoying little way I pointed out that the faces on the mountain were the result of millions of years of weather and chance. Sarcastically, I tell my kids, the faces only appear to be designed by some human intelligence, but I assure them it only looks that way. Pure chance by undirected and unguided processes, and bam, after several million years you have faces that look like they were carved into a mountain! And we have the extra added benefit that the faces just happen to look strikingly similar to ex-presidents of the United States! And of all coincidences, this happened in the United States! I’ll often end our forays into the absurdity of philosophical materialism like this with, “Praise chance!”
- Let’s say I’m eating an orange. I turn to one of my kids and say, “Isn’t it an incredible coincidence that for no reason at all, there is this stuff called dirt, and a little thing called a seed is dropped into it. Something called water gets in the dirt, and this big ball of gas called a sun somehow shines down on this dirt and turns this seed thing into a tree. Then amazingly enough, this tree thing starts sprouting these little round things that we call oranges. Then, for some astounding non-reason, there we are—things called people, who just so happen to have sight which makes looking at oranges pleasurable. We also have this sensation we call feel that allows us to appreciate the texture of it, and have something (we can hardly believe it!) called smell that allows us to breathe deeply of citrus that, in another amazing coincidence, makes our mouths water. Then the piece de resistance, there are things we call taste buds that allow us to have pleasurable sensations of what an orange tastes like. Then, no, wait a minute, that’s not even the most ridiculous “coincidence.” It just so happens stuff called fiber and vitamin C are in these orange things, and we need those to exist! Is that crazy or what! And then I end my eloquent soliloquy with a resounding, “Praise chance!”
As I said, a piece of cake.
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