Baylor Surgeon 'Dissects' Darwinism | The Institute for Creation Research

Baylor Surgeon 'Dissects' Darwinism

Dallas' Baylor University Medical Center surgeon Joseph Kuhn recently described three serious problems with Darwinian evolution in a paper titled "Dissecting Darwinism" for the school's medical proceedings.1 He wrote that all three points were argued in 2010 in front of the Texas State Board of Education, which after days of deliberation decided that textbooks must teach both the strengths and weakness of evolution.

The first weakness that Kuhn described is actually more than just a weakness—it is a deal-breaker for the proposal that purely natural processes could have brought forth living cells from mere chemicals. What keeps cells alive, Kuhn argued, is the very non-natural information that resides within the molecules of life. These molecules have almost none of the randomness that natural processes always produce. In fact, when nature does overtake these molecules, they lose their vital information and the organism dies.

Kuhn wrote, "The fundamental and insurmountable problem with Darwinian evolution lies in the remarkable complexity and inherent information contained within DNA."1

And the kind of information that DNA encodes is in the form of an all-or-nothing language system. Cell systems that use DNA have the same basic and irreducible features of any human language: symbols, specific meanings for each symbol, grammatical rules within which those individual symbols can be interpreted, message senders and receivers, and purposeful outcomes for the information communicated. This kind of information never comes from natural processes, but always from an intelligent person.

Kuhn wrote:

Based on an awareness of the inexplicable coded information in DNA, the inconceivable self-formation of DNA, and the inability to account for the billions of specifically organized nucleotides in every single cell, it is reasonable to conclude that there are severe weaknesses in the theory of gradual improvement through natural selection (Darwinism) to explain the chemical origin of life. Furthermore, Darwinian evolution and natural selection could not have been causes of the origin of life, because they require replication to operate, and there was no replication prior to the origin of life.1

Even evolution's most ardent advocate, Richard Dawkins, admitted in 2009 that "the most profound unsolved problem in biology is the origin of life itself."2

Whereas Dawkins still believes a solution exists to this problem, Kuhn recognized that nature alone could not possibly produce life. But both admit that the origin of life is a problem for the nature-only view.

Students certainly ought to know about this extraordinary weakness in evolution. But a year after Texas' education board's decision, 9 of 10 revamped textbooks failed to adequately describe both strengths and weaknesses in evolution.3,4

References

  1. Kuhn, J. A. 2012. Dissecting Darwinism. Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings. 25 (1): 41-47.
  2. Dawkins, R. 2009. Evolution: The next 200 years. New Scientist. 2693: 41.
  3. An Evaluation of Supplementary Biology and Evolution Curricular Materials Submitted for Adoption by the Texas State Board of Education. Discovery Institute. Posted on discovery.org June 9, 2011, accessed January 23, 2012.
  4. If curriculum writers could adequately describe some of evolution's weaknesses, then Missouri might also use their products, assuming that the state's currently proposed Bill No. 1276 becomes law. The bill would protect teachers who wish to discuss origins in the classroom. It proposes that authorities not hinder teachers "from helping students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of biological or chemical evolution whenever these subjects are taught within the course curriculum schedule." Missouri House Bill 1276, "AN ACT to amend chapter 170, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to teacher academic freedom to teach scientific evidence regarding evolution," posted on house.mo.gov.

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.

Article posted on February 3, 2012.

The Latest
NEWS
May 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans...

NEWS
Acoustic Communication in Animals
We are all familiar with vocalizations in the animal world. For example, dogs bark, birds sing, frogs croak, and whales send forth their own distinct...

ACTS & FACTS
Creation Kids: Crystals!
by Michael Stamp and Susan Windsor* You're never too young to be a creation scientist and explore our Creator's world. Kids, discover...

APOLOGETICS
Playing Chess with Little Furry Critters
God’s multifarious and marvelous designs for basic creature needs are so innovatively clever and providentially purposeful that Christ’s...

ACTS & FACTS
Credit Only Our Creator
History was my favorite subject as a young kid. But it always puzzled me when my teachers said, “We study history so that we don’t repeat...

ACTS & FACTS
Genomic Tandem Repeats: Where Repetition Is Purposely Adaptive
Tandem repeats (TRs) are short sequences of DNA repeated over and over again like the DNA letter sequence TACTACTAC, which is a repetition of TAC three...

ACTS & FACTS
Dinosaur National Monument: Fossil Graveyard of the Flood
Straddling the border of Utah and Colorado, Dinosaur National Monument (DNM) is one of the richest exposures of dinosaur fossils in the world.1...

ACTS & FACTS
The Transforming Influence of Genesis: Worker Dignity and Safety
When Pharisees questioned the Lord Jesus about marriage, He answered by quoting Genesis 1:27: “But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made...

NEWS
Giant ''Meg'' Shark: Longer and Leaner?
Fossil remains of the giant shark Otodus megalodon have been found in Miocene1 and Pliocene2 rock layers, which ICR scientists...

CREATION.LIVE PODCAST
Searching for Truth Across the Globe | Creation.Live Podcast:...
How can we bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of creation to others outside our small spheres of influence?   Host...