Don't Believe in Evolution?

I just read an article detailing that evolutionist Bill Nye the Science Guy went to visit the new replica of Noah’s Ark on display in northern Kentucky. Apparently he has called the exhibit a danger to science education. Bill Nye, and most evolutionists, have done a great job making people feel as if they are ignorant and deluded if they chose to ignore scientific evidence by refusing to believe in evolution.

And they’re right.

Evolution – by definition – is simply the change in a species over time. If you have a chance to go to a civil war museum such as Fort Macon, take a look at one of the beds that the soldiers slept in over a century ago. They are much smaller than the beds you’d expect to find in our military today because humans have been consistently getting taller. Evolution in action. Our species is changing . . . over time. It is evolving!

So, yeah. Quite frankly, you sound pretty ignorant if you say you don’t believe in evolution. We see species changing all the time. It’s not even a theory. It’s a fact.

So why is it called the “theory” of evolution instead of the "law" of evolution?

To answer that question, we need to examine the theory a little more carefully. There are several components to the theory of evolution. Exactly how many components and exactly what those components are vary depending on what source you are reading. But, for the sake of this post, let’s go with the five different parts found on Regents Prep, a site that helps high school students in New York prepare for their Regents exams.

According to Regents Prep, component number one is overproduction – the idea that more offspring are produced than can possibly survive. We see this playing out in nature all the time. Can you imagine if every acorn produced an oak tree? If every litter of kittens went on to produce six more litters of kittens – every year for ten years? You get the picture.

Another part to the theory, according to Regents Prep, is competition. Individuals struggle to survive. Plants vie for sunlight. Puppies fight over the meat on a bone. Not difficult to acknowledge that this is nothing but truth.

Component number three: Survival of the Fittest. Ahhh . . . now we’re getting into some good ol’ tenth grade biology, aren’t we? It’s basic, common sense. Individuals with genes that allow them to survive in a particular environment will survive. Individuals with genes that don’t allow them to survive in a particular environment, won’t. Again, we can’t argue with this. It’s what happens and is observed every day.

Regent Prep’s item number four is a pretty obvious follow up to number three: If you’re dead, you aren’t going to pass along your inferior genes to any offspring. Only those individuals who have good genes – genes that allow them to survive in their particular environment – will pass their genes on. The bad genes – the ones that prevent individuals from surviving – don’t get passed on, and the idea is that eventually they will get weeded out of the population. We see this in action all the time. Check out the famous peppered moth if you’ve gotten a little rusty on this well-documented principle.

So what is all the controversy about if all of these components are so well documented and so proven? Why do so many people still insist on saying that they don’t believe in evolution – even though evolution is simply the change in a species over time and we KNOW that changes occur in species over time?

Well, it’s because of component number five: speciation. According to Regents Prep, “As time and generations continue, adaptations are passed on and new species may evolve from a common ancestor.”

In case you don’t remember or know, a species is a group of organisms that can mate and produce fertile offspring. The theory is that if a species changes enough, it can become so different from the original species that it can no longer mate with members of the original offspring and produce fertile offspring.

There it is, right there, folks. Speciation states that new species are created from the process of evolution, not from a creator, and this is where all the controversy lies. This is also why the word “theory” must always be added before the word “evolution”. It’s a theory because of the component of speciation. Because it MAY happen. Because it could. It’s never been documented. It’s never been proven. But, theoretically, it could happen.

(I will go ahead and add that there are those who argue that speciation has been observed, but those examples and arguments for or against them are way outside the scope of this particular blog post. I will simply state that there’s a reason why it’s still called the theory of evolution instead of the law of evolution, although I'm sure evolutionist would really like to get that changed!)

As a teacher, I am always very respectful of all of my students no matter what they believe. Whenever I teach the theory of evolution, I always remind them that it’s a theory, and I always tell them, “If you believe in creationism, don’t say that you don’t believe in evolution because we know that evolution occurs – we know that species change over time. If you believe in creationism, what you need to say is that you don’t believe in speciation.”

If you find yourself saying, "I believe in evolution, but I don't believe in speciation," I encourage you to do further research on your own. Don’t be afraid to learn more – science will never disprove the very God who created it!