Many kinds of animals appear designed for predation and violence, in contrast to what one would expect based on the biblical description of Edenic peace. It seems that animal species must have changed in major ways since the creation, but is this idea compatible with biblical teachings? Many people have asked this question, wondering whether changes in species point to evolution rather than creation.…
Can we detect design in nature? What kind of arguments have been used to make the design inference?
A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 2008, covering topics such as human skeletons on Palau, the bacterial flagellum, antiobiotic resistance, abrupt appearance of fossil bats, Cretaceous feathers, dinosaur respiration. Published in Origins, n. 62.
A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 2007, covering topics such as oceanic productivity, pseudogenes, sedimentary gaps, fossil birds, fossil bivalves, dinosaurs, stasis in lampreys and microbes, and hybrid sterility in fruit flies. Published in Origins n. 60.
Poor design in Rubisco can now be added to the growing list of failed Darwinian arguments from ignorance.
If microorganisms are indeed ubiquitous and indispensable, it is reasonable to expect to find evidences of their activities in the biblical record. Such an approach may enrich our grasp of the sacred text. This paper intends to show that there is more microbiology in the Bible than meets the eye!
While Christians may be convinced that design in nature points to a Creator-God, the general scientific community has not been persuaded. Perhaps more scientifically respectable work on intelligent design of the kind done by Behe and Dembski will encourage evolutionary scientists to look beyond purely naturalistic mechanisms to explain the complexity and meaning of life.
A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 2001, covering topics such as phylogeny of songbirds, theodicy, mutation rates, genetic load, fossilization process, Permian mass extinction, marsupial fossil in Madagascar, Cambrian Explosion, Ediacaran fossils, quality of the fossil record, philosophy of science, radiohalos, speciation in Galapagos finches.
As many important functions played by noncoding DNA have come to light, the assumption can no longer be made that it represents DNA potsherds of evolution. How much data actually unambiguously support Darwinian evolution? What evolutionary theory actually predicts? And, how data can be used to check its predictive power? Published in Origins n. 53.
A collection of short commentaries o nscientific papers published in 2000, covering topics such as trilobite complexity, tilting of Earth's axis, degradation of duplicated genes, origin of life, dinosaurs, and living Permian bacteria.
Zoology and genetics are required courses for biology majors. Both subjects are usually structured around the theme of the theory of evolution. A careful examination of the scientific basis of these disciplines shows that the evolutionary framework doesn't fit with a lot of their fundamental aspects, however. Some of these topics even constitute strong evidence in favor of intelligent design.
The integration of Bible and science is an uphill work that requires careful reading of both the Bible and of scientific data. Because no other natural science has traveled so great a distance down an anti-biblical road, no other science requires this corrective procedure more than biology.
What are genes? What role do they play in the function of organisms?
As a scientist, I frequently find myself taking a polemic stance in defense of creationism. In doing this, I easily lose sight nature as a revealer of its Creator. It is a pleasant change to contemplate my field of scientific interest, looking for insight about the Creator.
Pseudogenes are DNA sequences that resemble functional genes but seem to have no purpose. The presence of similar eta globin pseudogenes in humans and chimps has been used as an argument for common ancestry of the two species.
The philosophical context in which biology is presented can make an important difference in its meaning for the student. The philosophical worldview of the biblical Christian is quite different from that of the non-Christian; thus, the biology teacher may have a profound influence on the development of worldview by the student.
Biomolecules decompose rapidly enough they are not expected to last for millions of years. Discovery of biomolecules in fossils is difficult to reconcile with the purported ages of these fossils, and suggests the ages are much younger, as expected in a biblical worldview. Published in Origins v. 18, n. 2.
Staining of chromosomes reveals a pattern of banding that may be used for comparisons of different species. Similar species typically have similar banding patterns, although there are exceptions. Banding patterns may be interpreted as hypotheses of relationship but are not, in themselves, sufficient to settle such questions. Published in Origins v. 13, n. 1.
Species in the same family or genus may have very similar chromosomal banding patterns, but with apparent rearrangements of parts of some chromsomes. Such rearrangements may contribute to speciation in mammals by interfering with meoisis. Published in Origins v. 11, n. 2.
Portions of the DNA information are not present in mRNA transcribed from the DNA, in plants and animals, as opposed to bacteria. The DNA sequences that are missing in the m-RNA are called introns, and seem to be widespread. Published in Origins v. 5, n. 1.
