googlef87758e9b6df9bec.html A Sure Word: January 2018

Friday, January 12, 2018

Does a new species of finch mean the finch has evolved?


A headline from ScienceAlert.com reads, “A New Bird Species Has Evolved on Galapagos And Scientists Watched It Happen” The opening sentence claims, For the first time, scientists have been able to observe something amazing: the evolution of a completely new species, in the wild, in real-time. And it took just two generations. Wow! Scientists watched evolution happen in real time? I guess I should just give up and quit blogging! //RKBentley shakes his head//

I'm not really sure what all the fuss is about. First off, this isn't even news. The ScienceAlert.com article was published 11/24/2017 and it cites a Psy.org article that was published a day earlier. However, I found this same study discussed on Wired.com on 11/6/2009. Second, the article is talking about hybridization – the cross-breeding of two different species. Hybridization is ridiculously common. It's been observed and understood for centuries. For example, how long have there been mules? A mule is the offspring of a donkey bred with a horse.

Hybrids are usually (but not always) sterile so we wouldn't necessarily consider a hybrid a new species. Species is a largely subjective term but when speciation is determined to have taken place, there is always someone anxious to label it “evolution.” Here are a few examples I've talked about before:
  • Scientists watch as a new species evolves before their eyes: Speciation, the formation of new species through evolution, is not usually an event you can directly observe. Organisms typically take many generations to accumulate enough changes to diverge into new species; it's a slow process... But biologists working at the University of California, San Diego, and at Michigan State University, may have just put a rest to all of those naysayers. They report to having witnessed the evolution of a new species [of virus] happen right before their eyes, in a simple laboratory flask, according to Phys.org.”
  • World-first hybrid shark found off Australia: Australian scientists hailed what they described as a world-first discovery of two shark species interbreeding Tuesday, a never-before-seen phenomenon which could help them cope with warmer oceans... It’s very surprising because no one’s ever seen shark hybrids before, this is not a common occurrence by any stretch of the imagination... This is evolution in action.
  • Pressured by Predators, Lizards See Rapid Shift in Natural Selection: “Countering the widespread view of evolution as a process played out over the course of eons, evolutionary biologists have shown that natural selection can turn on a dime -- within months -- as a population's needs change. In a study of island lizards exposed to a new predator, the scientists found that natural selection dramatically changed direction over a very short time, within a single generation....”
God created organisms “according to their kind.” Grass, herbs, and fruit have kinds (Genesis 1:11); Marine animals and birds have kinds (Genesis 1:21); Cattle, beasts, and every animal that walks upon the earth has kinds (Genesis 1:24-25). At the time of the Flood, representative animals from each terrestrial kind were brought aboard the Ark to keep them alive (Genesis 6:19-20). All of the various species of animals that exist today are descended from the smaller kinds originally created by God.

When I read headlines like these, it's my opinion that what we observe is better explained by Genesis than by evolution. For example, we have several instances of speciation happening rapidly. Creationists have been saying this is the case all along yet evolutionists still act surprised every time it does. They're so ingrained into their “millions of years” way of thinking that they act shocked when a new species forms in only few generations. They see a a new species of finch appear in two generations yet they scold creationists by claiming the 4,000 years since the Flood is not enough time for a bear to become a polar bear or a wolf to become a dog.

Which brings me to another point – how are these people defining evolution? When most people think of evolution, they think of dinosaur to bird or ape to man. However, evolutionists describe any change in a population of animals as evolution. If there were a population of moths where 60% of the moths have light pigment, the population is said to have evolved if the next generation has only 50% with light pigment. It's evolution by definition. The examples of “evolution” we observe don’t demonstrate any mechanism that could eventually turn a molecule into a man.

The sensational headlines that talk about evolution happening before our eyes are seldom anything more than hype. Even if we are occasionally surprised, it is ultimately nothing more than an anecdotal example of a rather mundane phenomenon – a new recombination of traits that have already existed in the population. Two lizards giving birth to a bird would be news. Two finches giving birth to a finch is click bait.

Further reading:

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Happy New Year!


At the start of every new year, there's a tradition practiced by many people of telling a big, fat lie called a “new year's resolution.” I say it's a lie because the failure rate on these resolutions is abysmal. Many don't even make it past the first week. Most don't last the first month. I read one survey that showed only 13% of people keep their resolution the first year. To me, it sounds like maybe they need to look up the definition of “resolution” because it seems like most of them weren't very resolved to begin with.

I tend to not make resolutions. Another thing about resolutions is that they are usually things people should have already been doing anyway. A popular resolution, for example, is that a person will try to lose weight. Usually what happens, then, is that the person eats like pig between Thanksgiving and Christmas with the intention of starting a diet after the New Year. If you think you need to lose weight, just start trying to lose weight now. Continuing a practice you know you should change simply for the sake of waiting for the New Year doesn't make a lot of sense.

Having said all that, I have been considering what types of changes I might need to make for my blog this year. It's not a resolution; it's more like just a reassessment of what I want to accomplish and how I'm going to get there. I'm tempted to say I'll blog more but that's one of those things I doubt I'd be able to keep. Still, there are some things readers of my blog can expect to see this year:

More Scripture

Regular readers of my blog know that I trust the Bible above the opinions of any man or scientific consensus. I put Scripture ahead of my own personal feelings. However, new readers who happen upon a single post, might get the impression that I am using “science,” “evidence,” or philosophical arguments as though they are more important than the Bible.

I will try to include at least some Scripture in every post. No one should be able to read more than a few of my posts without knowing all of my arguments are scripturally sound. Ideally, visitors will not leave my blog without having a chance to hear the gospel.

More links

I sometimes critique arguments I find on the web. I also often quote other people. When I do this, I have always been careful to provide links to the source. However, I think I should start providing links to support some of the points I'm making as well. Perhaps I might add footnotes. Hmmm. I think doing this will help show my arguments are a little more researched and not pure opinion. Oh, and I'm going to start providing links to the sites where I've found the pics I use for my post.

Finally, after each article, I'll try to provide links to past articles I've written that might relate to the subject at hand.

More social media

I already have FaceBook and Twitter accounts with a few thousand friends/followers. I need to become more practiced in leveraging those mediums to reach more readers. You may start seeing hashtags at the end of my articles. I'm even toying with the idea of starting a YouTube channel! Yikes.

There are hundreds of millions of people using social media. It's the mission field of the new millennium.

Fewer series

If you picked up a best selling book, how interesting of a read would it be to read a random chapter in the middle? It might make some good points but, without reading the whole book, it's going to lose something. That's how I've come to feel about writing a series. For new readers who visit my blog in the middle of a series, it's like they're starting an interesting book in some middle chapter.

If I can't make a point in a single post, I may stretch it to two but that's going to be my limit. Furthermore, each post has to make its own point so that it could be read as a stand alone piece.

Longer posts

I had made the decision long ago to limit my posts to 2 written pages (about 1,000 words). I thought people would get bored with pieces that are too long but maybe 1,000 isn't quite long enough. I want to make sure I cover my arguments thoroughly and if I need more words, then I'll take more words – especially if I'm going to write fewer series.

Broader content

I know I write a lot about evolution and creation but that's not really my mission. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). He also commanded His church, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20).

The Great Commission is to preach AND teach. My blog has been read in places I could never have gone otherwise. It has been read on every continent including Antarctica. I want to use it to equip the saints and challenge the lost. With that in mind, I want to devote more time to posts about theology, defending the faith, rebutting atheists, and offering a Christian perspective on politics and social issues.

If my visitors have any suggestions about things they'd like to see on my blog, please comment. Thanks to everyone who visits. God bless and have a great new year!!


RKBentley