Several years ago, working as an IT Consultant I was on site with a client when a member of staff asked for assistance with a problem on her computer. The problem had defeated her, and so I was asked to take a look. I’ve long since forgotten the problem and the cure, but I do recall that I took a look at the computer, hit a few keys and walked away, saying “Done!”. I’d only travelled a few steps when the woman called out after me “But you’re a Christian!”. That may seem a disjointed conversation, but let me tell you the flow of thought behind the woman’s response.
- By fixing her computer I exhibited extremely logical behaviour
- Christians believe in Creation
- How could I be both extremely logical and hold to a Creationist worldview?
My response to this woman was to say that the Christian understanding of the origin of the universe is entirely logical and therefore the most natural position for me to take as someone whose thinking is logical.
Fast forward a few years and increasingly we are seeing the use of the term Creationist in a pejorative sense. Since when did Creationist become a term of abuse? I know that in every generation there are a small number of aggressive, vocal, and mindless shouters who decry anything and everything with equal vehemence and prejudice, but today’s world sees fit to universally deny the validity of the Creationist worldview with extreme prejudice and with next to no understanding of either their own position or the reasons to take a Creationist stand.
Those who have been reading carefully will notice that I haven’t yet used the word ‘believe’ – that’s deliberate. The argument below is also intended to be taken outside of the context of belief or trust in the God of the Bible. But, just for the sake of clarity, let me state that I believe the Bible to be God’s revealed word to us, and as such I believe what he says in the book of Genesis about how he brought this universe into existence. I have studied this narrative in detail and am convinced that what God intended to tell us is that he made the universe in 6 literal days. I choose to believe him.
Now, to the logic:-
The law that entropy always increases holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of Nature. If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell’s equations — then so much the worse for Maxwell’s equations. If it is found to be contradicted by observation — well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation.
— Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World (1927)
As much as I love IT and computers, I have a healthy interest in Physics. Learning about the Second Law of Thermodynamics has been something that has grown on me over the years as I have begun to understand how overwhelming it is in terms of our understanding of the world in which we live. The quote above from Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington sums it up very well. What he is saying, in layman’s terms is this:
No matter how far back in time, no matter how far into the future, no matter how far out into the universe you go, this law holds true. And this law tells us that everything that is is tending towards chaos.
Let me expand on that a little. It is seen in the world around us, and demonstrated empirically, that everything is falling apart. Buy a new car, it begins to deteriorate from the day you buy it. I’ve never yet had a car that grows a fresh set of tyres, never mind one that acquires a Bluetooth connection for my new smartphone. Buy a new home, and watch the woodwork rot, the tiles fall off and the mortar between the bricks begins to disintegrate. Every new born child will one day wear out and die. Common sense tells us what science confirms. This observation is just the icing on the cake of a universe that is winding down. The phrase ‘entropy always increases’ describes a universe that will one day, without some sort of injection of energy and order, fail completely.
So, observation, science and our own common sense tell us that nothing improves on its own. If you want a better car, then you trade in your old rusting hulk for a new one: designed, manufactured – order and energy are put in to produce something new. When your house begins to fall apart you engage workmen (or do it yourself) to repair and restore – order and energy put in. Alas, poor humanity succumbs to the fact that you don’t get out of this world alive.
If all the above holds true then there are a couple of logical outcomes:
- It is contrary to the Second Law of Thermodynamics to see any increase in order in the universe. As evolution is an increase in order then it cannot occur.
- The order and energy that produced the closed system that is the universe must have a source outside the universe
That’s the logic, as far as I’m concerned. I’m sure anyone with a smidgen of plain old common sense can extrapolate from there.
To conclude:
No matter the pejorative stance of many who have thought less about Creation and Evolution than I have, or the statements of those scientists and individuals committed to a different worldview who fail to admit their a priori exclusions it is entirely logical to hold to a view that the universe was created. I know that this is not a full explanation, but it is logical and consistent.
So, for me, to be accused of being a Creationist is a compliment, not an insult. As a Christian, hold your head up high, not only is what you believe entirely rational, it is also what God has told us he did and is doing. Let’s continue to believe with confidence, knowing that, as we would expect, the universe we see is entirely in keeping with the facts that God has revealed.
