A creationist worldview
One of the most basic questions every person is confronted with is, “Where did I come from?” A sense that the universe and our world was designed is an intuitive awareness that is found in virtually all cultures around the world. Colossians 1:16 says, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Students in our schools, however, are taught that chance and time brought about this highly complex world we live in.
The first is Dr. Jim Pearl. Jim is a geologist who has studied fossils and geology for a lifetime. We asked him some questions about his beliefs.
Jim when did you first question the evolutionary model of the world? There are many that say that the creation theory is not very good science, because it’s basically giving up and saying: We can’t explain this; therefore, God did it. How do you respond?
I first suspected that something was wrong with the evolutionary world view when I came out of an invertebrate paleontology class in 1964 at the University of California at Berkeley where I received my BA. With an open mind it was clear that a Creation and Catastrophic model would better explain the field work I was doing especially as a graduate student and geologist in the 1970s in the Pacific Northwest. Both marine and land animals are buried together — creatures that do not have the same environment in life are repeatedly found together. I do field trips in this area and point out the evidence of a creation, but with huge catastrophic events.
You have mentioned finding soft tissues in dinosaur bones, what are the implications of this?
Soft tissues, blood vessels, bone cells, and possibly intact blood cells with their nuclei have been recovered from the 3.5-foot-long femur of a Tyrannosaurus Rex in northeastern Montana. The tissues are still soft, transparent and flexible. We can manipulate the vessels with a probe. Hardly 65 million years old. There is so much to discuss about this topic but my conclusion is that the evolutionary model should be taught as a theory and not fact.
The second person I interviewed was our own son, Dr. Bret Shillingstad. He has degrees in biology and medicine and also many years as a practicing surgeon. Bret, a biblical worldview will view nature as the handiwork of the Creator God.
In your studies is this credible? Can you give us an example?
Each living cell contains materials that are built according to instructions contained within the cell. The instructions are contained in molecules of nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA. Proteins are one kind of material produced in the cell. Information stored in the nucleic acids specifies the structures of the proteins. Without this information, the proteins would not be produced. But the information to produce the proteins cannot be used unless numerous proteins are present to help translate the information. This raises a “chicken and egg” problem. Which came first, the DNA or the proteins? Without the DNA, there would be no proteins. Without the proteins, there would be no DNA. How can such a system begin? Both DNA and proteins must be present simultaneously, along with many other kinds of molecules, in order for life to exist. It seems that a Creator is required to explain the origin of life. There is no plausible alternative. This is just one problem scientists have that will not budge from their evolutionary model. I could go on with more, but suffice it to say that the Psalmist had it right when he said, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are your works, And that my soul knows very well.” (Psalm 139:14)
There is far too much to put in a short column about the scientific basis for a creationist world view, I will leave that for the reader to dig further. The implications of this worldview are profound. We will be able to see that our life does have meaning and purpose. God is more powerful than death, and good is more powerful than evil. We have not been abandoned, but we have separated ourselves from God. There is hope for a better future as we work to restore our relationship with God.
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Bob Shillingstad’s columns appear Saturdays in The Press. Email Bob: bjshill@mac.com
