Posted on 03/28/2009 7:56:22 PM PDT by GodGunsGuts
Predation Did Not Come from Evolution
by Daniel Criswell, Ph.D.*
Although the origin of predation is poorly understood, it is incorrect to attribute to young-earth creation the assertion that predatory animals quickly and recently evolved the physical features necessary for predation. It is a common fallacy that carnivores evolved from a change in form and function. No physical evolution was required to change herbivores to predators--it was merely a change in behavior.
The view that an alteration of genomes and phenotypes, such as sharp teeth and claws, would have been required to supply the physical features for predation from herbivorous features common in plant-eating animals is not correct. The shape of the teeth, the ability to run fast for short distances, and all the other physical attributes given to predators can be used for acquiring plant food sources as well. A few examples of mammal diets will verify this quite well...
(Excerpt) Read more at icr.org ...
In their influential but highly technical book, The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time, Stephen Hawking and George Ellis introduce their section on the big bang cosmology with the following general remarks:
‘However we are not able to make cosmological models without some admixture of ideology. In the earliest cosmologies, man placed himself in a commanding position at the centre of the universe. Since the time of Copernicus we have been steadily demoted to a medium sized planet going round a medium sized star on the outer edge of a fairly average galaxy, which is itself simply one of a local group of galaxies. Indeed we are now so democratic that we would not claim that our position in space is specially distinguished in any way. We shall, following Bondi (1960), call this assumption the Copernican principle’ [emphasis added].45
This notion used to be called the ‘Cosmological principle’.46,47 Note carefully that Hawking and Ellis call it an ‘assumption’ and an ‘admixture of ideology’—a presupposed idea not required by observations. Their phrase ‘we would not claim …’ is actually a dogmatic claim: the Earth is not in a special position in the cosmos. They go on to say:
‘A reasonable interpretation of this somewhat vague principle is to understand it as implying that, when viewed on a suitable scale, the universe is approximately spatially homogenous’ [emphasis added].48
‘Spatially homogeneous’ means ‘uniformly spread throughout all available space’. Hawking and Ellis are claiming that at any time space is completely filled with matter-energy. There never were any large empty volumes of space, and there never will be, they say.
They make this leap of faith because observations show that the universe is isotropic or spherically symmetric around us, meaning that from our vantage point it looks much the same in all directions. Ordinarily, Hawking and Ellis point out, this would mean, ‘we are located near a very special point’ 49—such as the centre. That conflicts with their desire that the Earth not be in a special location, so they seek a less troubling cosmology,
‘… in which the universe is isotropic about every point in space time; so we shall interpret the Copernican principle as stating that the universe is approximately spherically symmetric about every point (since it is approximately spherically symmetric around us).’49
As they then show, cranking this rather bizarre assumption into the mathematics of general relativity results in the various forms of the big bang theory.
Let’s delve into the motive for the presupposition. Why should big bang theorists go to all this trouble to contrive a cosmology in which the Earth is not in a special place? Astrophysicist Richard Gott, in the introduction to an article specifically devoted to the Copernican principle, unveils the reason:
‘The Copernican revolution taught us that it was a mistake to assume, without sufficient reason, that we occupy a privileged position in the Universe. Darwin showed that, in terms of origin, we are not privileged above other species. Our position around an ordinary star in an ordinary galaxy in an ordinary supercluster [the local group of galaxies] continues to look less and less special. The idea that we are not located in a special spatial location has been crucial in cosmology, leading directly to the [big bang theory]. In astronomy the Copernican principle works because, of all the places for intelligent observers to be, there are by definition only a few special places and many nonspecial places, so you are likely to be in a nonspecial place’ [emphasis mine].50
The word ‘likely’ above reveals a lot. Richard Gott evidently believes we are where we are by accident! It apparently doesn’t enter his head that an intelligent Designer, God, might have placed us in a special position in the cosmos on purpose. Thus the ultimate motive behind the Copernican principle is atheistic naturalism. Since that is the driving philosophy behind naturalistic evolutionism, Gott’s reference to Darwin is appropriate. The big bang and Darwinism are two halves, physical and biological, of an atheistic origins myth.
Thus, Christians who support the big bang theory should realize that they are unwittingly denying their God and compromising with a godless worldview.
http://creation.com/our-galaxy-is-the-centre-of-the-universe-quantized-redshifts-show-journal-of-creation-tj
See reply #181
Or maybe you were created with a free will, and you have chosen to rebel against the Word of God.
==Earth apparently appears just “too special” with alarming frequency of late. All manner of workarounds are being theorized to surmount it. Multiverse, anyone?
Yep. Evos are weird that way. They see super-sophisticated design in nature and declare that it only appears that it’s really all the product of random mutation and natural selection. Likewise, the Universe appears to have a center, and we appear to be very near that center, and the Evos bury this observation and opt for a homogenized universe. But that still doesn’t explain all the fine-tuning required to make life possible on our extremely privileged planet, so they go and invent a completely unobserved multiverse to explain it away. Talk about religious devotion!
I'm not sure it can't all be chalked up to avoidance and denial, myself.
BULL. You should really, really think about that statement.
Einstein put an end to the debate. The “center” is wherever you wish it to be.
So why do you think they go to such great lengths to keep us from realizing that Earth is such a special place?
Did you read what Humphreys caught the Big Bangers admitting???
There's an awful lot of wishing that it isn't here, then. Why?
Because it might lead to dancing.
==There’s an awful lot of wishing that it isn’t here, then.
Not just here. They can’t have a center anywhere. But you are right, they don’t want a center anywhere, because anywhere might just lead back here!
We have not yet discovered the earliest Sumerian versions of comparable parts in the Bible, but eventually we will, and they will appear more like the Hebrew stories than like the Babylonian or Hindu traditions.
...and increased church attendance :o)
Some birders told me of an incident where a Bald Eagle grabbed a dachshund and carried it aloft. The bird changed its mind or lost its grip, and the dog fell from a height which would have been lethal for a human, but survived after healing from numerous puncture wounds.
Oh, no no no, can't have that. /sarc
Dachshunds can be snippy little piranhas when provoked. I’m sure the eagle just threw in the towel, lol.
As for Jesus, he was a figure from recorded history and his actions were written down by numerous eyewitnesses, while the origin of the earth occurred billions of years ago, when there were no mortal creatures to witness it. And yes, that age has been proven over and over through the use of physics (radiometric decay rates), with no need for Darwin's involvement.
Not observable, in other words?
If you want to take everything in the OT literally, we should still be “potting” women (burying them and stoning them for adultery, Muzzie style). We don’t do that anymore, nor do we do animal sacrifices. Believing in 6-day creation isn’t going to save anyone, nor change the world. Only the Gospel can do that.
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