He does, after all, consider the three as more or less separate problems. The real problem is that abiogenesis is the only one of these that Ray does even a half-passable job with. As he notes, there isn't any detailed theory of abiogenesis. Thus there's so much less for him to get wrong. Yet he does his best to get wrong what he can. He quotes Fred Hoyle's calculations for the likelihood of abiogenesis, without considering, first, that abiogenesis does not imply the assembly of a complete living cell from simple chemical precursors.
He considers neither Jack Szostak's theories on "RNA world" nor the success of University of Lancaster researchers in synthesizing RNA from simple molecules nor the success of Scripps Institute researchers in assembling strands of RNA that can self-replicate without the aid of other complex molecules. He doesn't consider that there may be many possible combinations of amino acids that can do the job of a particular enzyme, or part of that job: Hoyle was computing the odds of getting a particular sort of modern cell, rather than any self-replicating system whose complexity could increase through reproduction, mutation, and natural selection.
Now, all of the above points that Ray fails to consider don't constitute, put together, a theory of abiogenesis or proof that it is possible. So even if Ray had considered them, his conclusion would not have been affected, since, as in the previous chapter, Ray wants to prove God by finding gaps God could hide in. Ray, confusing certainty with evidence, assumes that every question has an obvious answer, and have it today, and if the obvious answer isn't "naturalistic," it must be supernatural creation. And again, one must wonder why today is so much more special than past times when scientists could not explain, e.g. how embryonic development occurred, or why it rained. "Science doesn't know (yet)" is not "scientific proof of God."
AUTHOR REBUTTAL: All that, to say that you have no idea as to human origin or a reason for our existence. That's a state that the Bible calls "lost." You are quite happy not to know, hoping that science will shed some light in the future, but I wanted to know the truth, and I found it the moment I repented and trusted in Jesus Christ (see John 8:31-32).
Your explanation of things (including the "evolution" of thousands of completely different eyes) reminds me of the Evolution Museum I visited in Paris some time ago. I took a camera-crew to try and gather some information on the subject of evolution. After an hour of searching, we found a glass case with Origin of Species in it, and a stuffed monkey with a "Lucy" sign on it. The rest of the Museum of Evolution was packed with examples of God's creation. It looked like Noah’s ark--animals lined up two-by-two.
Here is the impasse. You don't know what caused everything in the beginning, but you do seem to know that it wasn’t God. I know that it was God. You say that I can’t know that, and you say this because you don’t know God. You only know about Him, and you don’t like what you hear, so you say that He doesn’t exist.
The theory of evolution cannot be proven. It is just a theory, and those who fully embrace it have made a conscious decision to have faith in what they see as "evidence." However, knowing God is more than simple faith in evidence. It is attestable.
The usual comeback is to say "Moslems say the same thing." But they don’t. Their deity is distant and unknowable. Christians (those who know God) have the privilege of calling Him "Father," because of such an intimate relationship.
If you repent and trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, you too will come to know God. Rather than do that and find everlasting life, you prefer to argue about mutations, bacteria, moths, gnathostomes and Cephalopods, and say that I misrepresent biological evolution.
Go ahead contending, but keep in mind that every day you resist the gospel is another day closer to your death. That's not a scare tactic; reality. Steve J. I am not out to win an argument. I just want to see you in Heaven. It's as simple as that.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Atheist Review of How to Know God Exists (by Steven J.).
