The positive case for creation

Sometimes the best defense is a good offense!

by Keaton Halley

123rf

A frequent criticism of creationists goes like this: “You guys only make negative arguments. You try to poke holes in evolution instead of offering your own alternative theory. You plug up gaps in our current scientific knowledge by invoking an ad hoc god-of-the-gaps, whose role keeps shrinking every time science discovers a naturalistic answer. You have nothing positive to offer.”¹

But this charge is mistaken. Creationists do not merely criticize, or merely deny the views of others. We affirm the Bible, which makes many positive truth claims. When we examine the world, we find abundant positive evidence to support these claims. Here are just a few examples.

Evidence for God

• Cause of the universe: The universe requires a cause, because (unlike God) it has not always existed, but had a beginning to its existence. Science and philosophical considerations show that the universe must have had a beginning. The cause of this beginning must be beyond the universe, and be powerful enough to create a universe. This evidence positively points to several attributes the Bible ascribes to God (transcendence, omnipotence), and to the Bible’s opening verse (Genesis 1:1).²
• Design in nature: Many features of the universe and especially living things exhibit the hallmarks of ingenious design. We do not come to this conclusion merely because blind, natural processes are incapable of producing the effects in question, but also because we have positive, repeated experience that intelligent agents are capable of producing those same effects.³
• Source of morality: Right and wrong clearly exist, and are neither subjective preferences nor socio-biological pressures which lack any real authority over us. Everybody recognizes that there is a Moral Law above human beings, and nobody can consistently live in total denial of this fact. But where does this standard come from? God’s eternal and unchanging holy nature provides the best explanation, because He is the summum bonum (greatest good) and, as Creator, has authority to rule over His creatures. He has written His Law on our hearts (Romans 2:15).⁴

Evidence that Genesis presents true history

• Young age indicators: All scientific dating methods necessarily make assumptions, yet many of them plainly defy the millions-of-years ages customarily assigned to rocks and fossils. Carbon dating of diamonds and soft tissues found in dinosaur fossils, for example, suggest that Genesis is correct about the timeline of earth history. The world is just thousands of years old—a positive claim made by creationists and supported by evidence.⁵
• Genetic data consistent with Adam and Eve: The Bible teaches that all people go back to one couple in the recent past, and the genetic data show that this is feasible. The genetic diversity we have today, for example, can be explained by beginning with a single founding couple.⁶
• Geology supports a global Flood: Rather than just tearing down the evolutionary slow-and-gradual explanation for the geologic record, creationists show that the evidence is best interpreted by an alternative paradigm—Noah’s Flood. We even develop competing scientific models within the broad rubric of Flood geology to see which best explains the data.⁷

Evidence for a biblical anthropology

• Human value: The view that human beings have intrinsic value is deeply embedded in every culture worldwide. Although in many circumstances people suppress this truth (in such practices as abortion and euthanasia), they inconsistently embrace it in other situations. The Bible offers the only viable explanation for this reality—“God created man in his own image” (Genesis 1:27).⁸
• Signs of the soul: There are evidential grounds to think that human beings are more than biological machines—that we have immaterial souls. For instance, we have conscious experiences, whereas computers do not. Many such considerations support the biblical teaching that people have souls which are not extinguished at death, and which will be reunited to their bodies in the final resurrection.⁹
• Marriage and family: As Jesus pointed out, God instituted marriage as ‘one man with one woman for one lifetime’ when He first created Adam and Eve (Matthew 19:3–8). Despite many attempts to undermine God’s intentions for the family (e.g., polyamory, same-sex marriage), there are many sociological indicators that children do best when they are raised by their own married parents. This is not surprising given that God designed us and knows how society functions best.¹⁰

Conclusion

In summation, the evidence matches what we should expect based on the truth of Scripture. Reality doesn’t just conflict with evolution; it positively points toward biblical creation.

So help us to share this fantastic news! Your prayers and gifts to the ministry enable us to present and defend biblical truth to a confused world.

You might also recall that our previous documentaries (The Voyage that Shook the World, Evolution’s Achilles’ Heels, and Alien Intrusion) were highly successful, winning multiple awards. So, we wanted to let you know that CMI has plans for another new and exciting film project that will make a positive case for creation. Keep up with our newsletters and INFObytes for further details.