Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a debate between creationist Jay Wile (PhD nuclear chemistry) and evolutionist Robert A. Martin (PhD zoology). I was absolutely amazed at the depth of evidence, or rather I should say lack thereof, presented by the evolutionist. Allow me to impress you with an example.
Early in his talk, the evolutionist promised that we would get to “lots of evidence” for how we can know that certain rocks are 65 million years old. Along with the rest of the audience, I waited in anticipation.
This Is It!
When he finally got to it, I was astounded. Keep in mind that he had come prepared, with printed slides. Are you ready for this? Here is what was printed on one of his slides:
“We have put a rover on Mars;
how difficult do you think it is to date a rock?”
No kidding; that was it—the irrefutable evidence we had waited for—his brilliant “lots of evidence” technical explanation for the reliability of geologic column dates.
But he didn’t stop there. No, he skillfully further reinforced his position with this dazzling zinger:
“These dates are basically right.
Sophisticated labs are doing this; it’s not hard.”
We waited all night for more substance, but he offered none. In all honestly, he was genuinely pitiable; I’m not sure Dr. Martin even realized the audience was underwhelmed.
Evolution’s Finest?
If that is all that the evolutionists have to offer, I’m not convinced we should dignify this sort of dialogue by calling it a debate at all. Real debates feature logical arguments—backed by evidence—from both sides. However, in this particular dialogue, the logical arguments and actual evidence were all on the side of the creationist Dr. Wile, who, in the case of the aforementioned topic, pointed out numerous examples of where dates assigned by various methods are not in agreement.
And so it went for the entire night. The creationist gave example after example supporting his positions, and, unlike the evolutionist, the creationist included the citations for his evidence, which in several cases came straight from peer-reviewed articles authored by evolutionists.
The evolutionist, on the other hand, employed sarcasm, cartoons–yes, cartoons, and bullying insults to make his points, accusing audience members, including myself and other fellow college graduates from scientific fields, of never having read anything but our Bibles. He tried to bolster his position by insisting that educated people no longer question these things. Throughout the entire evening, he conducted himself as though extreme confidence in his position completely negated the need for any evidence.
Honestly, I had actually expected some real clash in this match-up, but I was seriously disappointed; the evolutionist’s arrogant disregard for logic and evidence made a complete mockery of scientific inquiry.
Don’t Be Intimidated
Fellow parents, even assuming that evolutionists exist who are more convincing than Dr. Martin (though my university biology professors were not), we have no reason whatsoever to shy away from the issue of origins. And in fact, we should be addressing the issue of origins head on. Dig in together with your children to examine the evidence. Recognize and question the presuppositions. Scrutinize and evaluate the bold claims. Teach your children to think critically and logically by engaging in discussion with them.
If you’re looking for materials, Dr. Wile’s textbooks are one good place to start.
“Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.” Isaiah 40:28
Not only that, but He never loses a debate.
A homeschool mom since 2001, Carol is a passionate encourager and loves using creative means to do it–including blogging, speaking, writing music, and singing. Her blog, called Unsmotherable Delight (udelight.blogspot.com), is where you’ll find musings and music to encourage your faith and lift your spirit. Her original ‘theme song’ titled Captain’s Anthem can also be heard on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/30769152.
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
