abiogenesis

Review of The Stairway to Life: An Origin of Life Reality Check

July, 2020

 Figure 1: Front Cover

The Stairway to Life: An Origin of Life Reality Check (Fig. 1), 1 written by chemist Change Laura Tan and engineer Rob Stadler, is one of the most insightful and devastating books ever written about the problems with abiogenesis (the spontaneous formation of life from chemicals), especially the RNA world hypothesis. Written in 2020, the book is 268 pages long, is divided into three major parts and 21 chapters, has a glossary and index, is well illustrated with drawings and tables, makes well-reasoned arguments, and cites 227 articles from the scientific literature. Stairway is written clearly, concisely, and with penetrating insight into the various layers of information found in living cells, revealing the complete explanatory bankruptcy of abiogenesis. Tan (Fig. 2), 

Figure 2: Change Tan

Does the Fact that Random Genetic Mutations Can Result in Adaptation Prove Macroevolution?

January, 2020

Michael Behe (Fig. 1), author of Darwin’s Black Box and originator of the concept of “irreducible complexity,” has written his third major book: Darwin Devolves: The New Science About DNA That Challenges Evolution. 1 Behe, a well-known proponent of intelligent design and a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute, 2 is professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University. Over the last three decades, Behe has pointed out many of the unsolved problems for macroevolutionary theory. Behe is a Roman Catholic and can be considered a theistic evolutionist. Behe accepts much of the secular cosmic and biological stories, including descent with modification from common ancestors and deep time. However, based on the evidence in the literature, he rejects the notion that random genetic mutations, acted upon by natural selection, can account for the enormous organized complexity found in the biological world. Instead, he advances the idea that the complexity seen in biology could only have been the work of a supreme intelligence. Although Behe is a theistic evolutionist, his insights into macroevolution are still valuable to the creation/evolution debate. In Darwin Devolves (Fig.

Review of Jonathan Wells’s New Book Zombie Science (Part 1)

May, 2019

Jonathan Wells, noted intelligent design advocate and author of the influential book Icons of Evolution, 1 has published a sequel entitled Zombie Science: More Icons of Evolution (Fig. 1). 2 In Icons, Wells showed how alleged evidences for macroevolution such as the Miller-Urey experiments, Darwin’s tree of life, industrial melanism of peppered moths, the horse fossil record, Haeckel’s embryos, Darwin’s finches, Archaeopteryx, and many others had been disproved or even exposed as frauds. The subject of his new book is how disproved evidences for macroevolution are nevertheless still being taught and hence have become Zombie Science. Wells revisits the icons he discussed in his previous book and then discusses new ones. This review will touch upon the more important points brought out in the book. Wells, who has his doctorate in molecular and cell biology, is a good writer with a keen command of his subject. He writes clearly and concisely with penetrating insight and a sense of humor.

Creation News

January, 2019

This month we will discuss several notable findings in the recent scientific literature that have relevance to the creation issue. The topics were selected by the author and are by no means exhaustive. Background reading for some of the topics is provided in the references.

Fossils

Chitin

Chitin. Wikipedia < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitin > Accessed 2018 Dec 10

Evidence for intact chitin-protein complex from 310 Ma scorpion has been found. 1 The authors determined that 59% of the chitin-protein complex survived.

The authors speculated that an associated saturated fatty acid layer protected the material from water, enzymes, and other organisms.

A Few Modern Creationists

December, 2018

I was recently asked to speak on creation in my Sunday school class. TASC had been helping organize the recent Origins Truth conference at the time, so I decided it might be encouraging to share something about the lives and work of two of the invited speakers for the conference: John Sanford and Russ Humphreys. I then added three more scientists: Matti Leisola, James Tour, and our very own Gerald Van Dyke to the talk. Each of these scientists has a unique story and has given glory to God through their life and research. Here, I share the essence of that presentation.

Matti Leisola (biotechnology)

Matti Leisola

We’ll begin with Matti Leisola. Dr. Leisola earned his DSc in biotechnology from Helsinki University in 1979. He is a recognized enzyme chemistry expert. He has spent much of his career optimizing enzymes for synthetic applications in industry, among other things. Dr. Leisola started his career as an atheist. He mocked those who doubted evolution. He is now a fully convinced creationist. Dr. Leisola came to see that scientific truth rests upon results of experiments, not authority. He realized evolutionists have stories, not evidence.

Review of Heretic: One Scientist’s Journey from Darwin to Design

October, 2018

Review of Heretic: One Scientist’s Journey from Darwin to Design

by Matti Leisola and Jonathan Witt

Heretic 1 by Matt Leisola and Jonathan Witt is a very accessible up-to-date summary of the concepts, history, discoveries, and predictions of the intelligent design (ID) movement. The book is also the story of a scientist’s (Leisola) intellectual and vocational journey from belief in Darwinism to ID. The authors touch on the works of William Dembski, Michael Behe, Stephen Meyer, Jonathan Wells, A. E. Wilder-Smith, Dean Kenyon, Philip Johnson, James Tour, Richard Sternberg, Michael Denton, Ann Gauger, and many others. If you were only going to read one book on ID, this is it.

Creation News

May, 2018

May’s newsletter is dedicated to recent findings in science related to creation. It reflects the author’s interests and is by no means comprehensive or exhaustive. 

Jonathan Sarfati, Russ Humphreys, and John Sanford Are Coming to the Triangle This Fall

These three men are some of the finest creation scientists alive today! Plan now to take advantage of these rare opportunities.

Jonathan Sarfati of Creation Ministries International and author of Refuting Compromise will be visiting the Triangle this September. He will be speaking at Cornerstone Baptist Church on Sunday morning September 23 at 9:30 PM. On Sunday night he will be at Friendship Baptist Church. On Monday night, September 24, the goal/plan is to get him on the NC State campus. On Tuesday night, September 24, he will be back at Cornerstone at 7:00 PM. Then on Wednesday night, September 25, he will be at Community Baptist Church in south Garner. Mark your calendars! Tell your friends!

What Scientists REALLY Say about God, Creation and Evolution

February, 2013

EinsteinHave you ever heard that “All scientists accept evolution as a proven fact” or “real scientists don’t believe in God?” Did you believe it? This article will show just how untrue these statements are. The article does not go into scientific proofs or disproofs of evolution; rather, it focuses on statements from scientists about evolution, creation, and God.

We will be looking at statements from various scientists, including the inventor of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner and Nobel Prize winners. The result may surprise you.

Most of the quotes here came from two websites:

1. http://nobelists.net, the site of an online book, titled 50 Nobel Laureates and Other Great Scientists Who Believe in God.

2. http://www.dissentfromdarwin.org, the site of a petition that questions evolution, which is signed by hundreds of PhD scientists and MDs who are professors of medicine.

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