Doctrine of Creation
Beautiful
Savior Lutheran
Week 5 – 1 February
2004
Professor
Gary Locklair
The Origin of Life
0. Mechanism
of Creation
God
created life as matter with teleonomy (information content) Genesis 1
All
life on planet earth was originally fashioned by God
Note
that the creation model doesn’t really have a separate “origin of life” step as
evolution proposes; God did not create the first living cell which evolved into
all different kinds of life; instead, God created many diverse kinds of life
originally (topic of Week 6).
Evolution
supposes that life originally formed on planet earth naturally using the laws
of chemistry; yet, scientific evidence supports the fact that God created life
supernaturally.
1. Evidences
of Creation
a.
Law of Biogenesis
Life
only comes from life; refutes spontaneous generation
Dr.
Louis Pasteur – Christian, creationary scientist
“The more I study nature, the more I stand
amazed at the work of the Creator”
Nehemiah
9:6 Job 33:4
Isaiah
42:5 Acts 17:25
Interpretation
– life was created by a living God; life does not and can not form itself from
dead matter
b.
Probability
The
probability of an intelligent designer creating a complex machine is 100%
the
probability of a complex machine forming itself is 0%
Living cells are far more complex
than current machines
Luke 18:27 Proverbs 16:33
Jonah 1:7 Acts 1:26
Interpretation
– life was created by an omniscient God;
life
is inconsistent with (different from) natural phenomena
c.
Complexity
Life
has the property of specified complexity
A
living cell can repair itself and reproduce itself
Eg,
feedback mechanisms and interdependencies
Excellent
engineering and the hallmark of design
Eccl
8:17
Job 38:18
Interpretation
– life was created by an omnipotent God;
life
could not self-organize
d.
Information Theory
Intelligence is required to create
information
The effects of intelligence are recognized
by the communication of information; a living cell is full of information (DNA)
Proverbs 1
Proverbs 8
Interpretation
– the existence of information demands a primary cause
2. Primary
vs. Secondary Causes
Heart
of the scientific conflict between creation and evolution is over cause.
Evolutionary
responses