Articles on Natural Selection
A Round Earth, Natural Selection, and Dinosaurs
What do a round Earth, natural selection, and dinosaurs have in common? They are all things that are demonstrably true and biblical that some professing Christians deny. All of these things are mentioned or implied in Scripture. When Christians deny things that are observable, provable, and biblical, it is dishonoring to the Lord and makes unbelievers less likely to embrace the Christian worldview.
Natural Selection – Part 1
What exactly is natural selection? Is it the same as evolution? Does it really occur? And who came up with the idea? Unfortunately, a few creationists have greatly misunderstood natural selection, and have used faulty arguments to try to convince others of their misunderstanding. It is important that we understand this topic properly, both from a scientific perspective and from a biblical perspective, so that we do not inadvertently promote error.
Natural Selection – Part 2: Adaptation
Natural-selection-deniers make some claims that are directly contrary to the Bible. Furthermore, they tend to misunderstand the concept of biological adaptation, and make basic errors in logic. In this article, we will explore these errors, and how they might have been avoided if proper scientific protocol had been followed.
Natural Selection – Part 3: Biblical Issues
In the previous two articles, we have examined the principle of natural selection – the observation that organisms better suited to their environment will tend to survive and reproduce more successfully than those organisms less suited. In this third installment we will contrast the claims of “continuous environmental tracking” with what the Bible teaches concerning adaptation.
Darwin’s Trap
When Charles Darwin wrote “On the Origin of Species” in 1859, he employed an ingenious trick to persuade people of evolution. He linked evolution to natural selection, implying that natural selection was the mechanism of evolution. This was a clever trap because when something false (evolution) is linked with something true (natural selection), people are often fooled.
Supernatural Selection
What does it mean for something to be supernatural? We might think of the parting of the Red Sea, Jesus turning water into wine, the resurrection of Lazarus, or even the creation of the universe as supernatural events. These are all great examples of God’s power. But is that what makes them supernatural? Isn’t the normal operation of the universe also an example of God’s power?
Species or Kinds?
Sometimes a creationist will say “there are no transitional species” or “animals do change, but one species never changes into another.” While I appreciate the sentiment, these claims are not true. In reality, new species do arise over time – a phenomenon we call speciation. Secularists sometimes claim that speciation is proof of Darwinian evolution, but this too is an error. All of these mistakes can be eliminated when we distinguish between species and kinds.