Prove Evolution: Win $250,000!

Creation Science Evangelism ^ | N/A | Dr. Ken Hovind

[handk]

Dr. Hovind's $250,000 Offer
formerly $10,000, offered since 1990

I have a standing offer of $250,000 to anyone who can give any empirical evidence (scientific proof) for evolution.*  My $250,000 offer demonstrates that the hypothesis of evolution is nothing more than a religious belief.

 

Observed phenomena:

Most thinking people will agree that--
1. A highly ordered universe exists.
2. At least one planet in this complex universe contains an amazing variety of life forms.
3. Man appears to be the most advanced form of life on this planet.

Known options:

Choices of how the observed phenomena came into being--
1. The universe was created by God.
2. The universe always existed.
3. The universe came into being by itself by purely natural processes (known as evolution) so that no appeal to the supernatural is needed.

Evolution has been acclaimed as being the only process capable of causing the observed phenomena.

Evolution is presented in our public school textbooks as a process that:

1. Brought time, space, and matter into existence from nothing.
2. Organized that matter into the galaxies, stars, and at least nine planets around the sun. (This process is often referred to as cosmic evolution.)
3. Created the life that exists on at least one of those planets from nonliving matter (chemical evolution).
4. Caused the living creatures to be capable of and interested in reproducing themselves.
5. Caused that first life form to spontaneously diversify into different forms of living things, such as the plants and animals on the earth today (biological evolution).

People believe in evolution; they do not know that it is true. While beliefs are certainly fine to have, it is not fair to force on the students in our public school system the teaching of one belief, at taxpayers’ expense. It is my contention that evolutionism is a religious worldview that is not supported by science, Scripture, popular opinion, or common sense. The exclusive teaching of this dangerous, mind-altering philosophy in tax-supported schools, parks, museums, etc., is also a clear violation of the First Amendment.

 

How to collect the $250,000:

Prove beyond reasonable doubt that the process of evolution (option 3 above, under "known options") is the only possible way the observed phenomena could have come into existence. Only empirical evidence is acceptable. Persons wishing to collect the $250,000 may submit their evidence in writing or schedule time for a public presentation. A committee of trained scientists will provide peer review of the evidence offered and, to the best of their ability, will be fair and honest in their evaluation and judgment as to the validity of the evidence presented.

If you are convinced that evolution is an indisputable fact, may I suggest that you offer $250,000 for any empirical or historical evidence against the general theory of evolution. This might include the following:

1. The earth is not billions of years old (thus destroying the possibility of evolution having happened as it is being taught).
2. No animal has ever been observed changing into any fundamentally different kind of animal.
3. No one has ever observed life spontaneously arising from nonliving matter.
4. Matter cannot make itself out of nothing.

 

My suggestion:

Proponents of the theory of evolution would do well to admit that they believe in evolution, but they do not know that it happened the way they teach. They should call evolution their "faith" or "religion," and stop including it in books of science. Give up faith in the silly religion of evolutionism, and trust the God of the Bible (who is the Creator of this universe and will be your Judge, and mine, one day soon) to forgive you and to save you from the coming judgment on man’s sin.

* NOTE:
When I use the word evolution, I am not referring to the minor variations found in all of the various life forms (microevolution). I am referring to the general theory of evolution which believes these five major events took place without God:

1. Time, space, and matter came into existence by themselves.
2. Planets and stars formed from space dust.
3. Matter created life by itself.
4. Early life-forms learned to reproduce themselves.
5. Major changes occurred between these diverse life forms (i.e., fish changed to amphibians, amphibians changed to reptiles, and reptiles changed to birds or mammals).

[sayfer bullets]

[barf]

[sayfer bullets]

My point remains the same. Beyond the x's and o's....it's faith.

[JediGirl]

We could sit here and quote from each religion's primary source of "knowledge", but that no more makes those statements true than does anything else.

[JediGirl]

Yeah, sure, you can say the same thing about the Bible, but is purported to be the words and wisdom of the God that did the creating and it has been scrutinized and passed the test of time - at least for those who believe

Of course. because those who believe and have faith in something will likely retain that faith no matter the evidence that weighs in against that in which they believe.

[Motherhood IS a career]

The explanations may, in fact, exist but they are not known or even suspected at this time, so Creation and an Intelligent Designer seems the most plausible explanation.

That, or the theory that little green men from the planet Krypton inadvertently deposited the little buggers here during their last visit.

While your example MIGHT constitute evidence against evolution theory (by your own admission, "The explanations may, in fact, exist", but let's suppose they don't, and that this is, in fact, evidence AGAINST evolution), it does in no way constitute evidence to support creation theory any more than it provides evidence to support little-green-men-from-outer-space theory.

Your lack of logic is astounding. I'm afraid you don't get to collect the $20. However, the original bet stands. Please try again.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Reading your reply made me think of a passage from James.

Now listen, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It is a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that. As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. James 4:13-17

I take it you didn't have a source to support your something from nothing addendum to the Casimir Effect?

[Motherhood IS a career]

There is evidence available for anyone who wishes to weigh and decide - or trivialize and ignore. You choose.

OK. I choose science.

[Capitalist Eric]

Bogus offer.

I'll personally offer you $500,000, if you can define pi to the last digit.
I'll give you $1,000,000 if you can prove what the meaning of life is.
I'll give you $1,000,000,000 if you can prove creationism.

This is such a load of bovine excrement, that nobody with any functioning brain-cells would take this seriously...

[Motherhood IS a career]

You might say, "well I don't believe in your God or any god". I understand that, but that denial also evidences my assertion that when it comes to truth, your allegiance is totally and finally only to yourself apart from anything God might have to say about the subject. In other words, from my perspective, you exclude the possibility of God and anything God might have to say about what is true simply because of your apriori desire to remain independent from God. That prior commitment to your independence from God is what causes you admit or reject whatever evidence comes before you. You epistemologically filter all evidence through your allegiance to yourself so that you will admit no fact that threatens your independence from God.

You might say, "well I don't believe in your evolution theory or any other 'science'". I understand that, but that denial also evidences my assertion that when it comes to truth, your allegiance is totally and finally only to your God apart from anything Science might have to say about the subject. In other words, from my perspective, you exclude the possibility of Science and anything Scientists might have to say about what is true simply because of your apriori desire to remain loyal and connected to your God. That prior commitment to your connection to God is what causes you to admit or reject whatever evidence comes before you. You epistemologically filter all evidence through your allegiance to God so that you will admit no fact that threatens your connection to God.

Hmmm....?

[RadioAstronomer]

This is such a load of bovine excrement, that nobody with any functioning brain-cells would take this seriously...

Agree completely!

[jlogajan]

OK. I choose science.

So, it turns out, does the Pope:

Pope John Paul II -- Pontifical Academy of Sciences -- October 23, 1996

"In his Encyclical Humani generis [1950], my predecessor Pius XII had already stated that there was no opposition between evolution and the doctrine of the faith about man and his vocation..."

"Today, almost half a century after the publication of the encyclical, new knowledge has led to the recognition of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis."

"It is indeed remarkable that this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers, following a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge. The convergence, neither sought nor fabricated, of the results of work that was conducted independently is in itself a significant argument in favor of this theory."

"For my part, when I received those taking part in your Academy's plenary assembly on 31 October 1992, I had the opportunity, with regard to Galileo, to draw attention to the need of a rigorous hermeneutic for the correct interpretation of the inspired word. It is necessary to determine the proper sense of Scripture, while avoiding any unwarranted interpretations that make it say what it does not intend to say. In order to delineate the field of their own study, the exegete and the theologian must keep informed about the results achieved by the natural sciences."

Catholic Information Network commentary:

"The Church has had a provisional finding since 1950 that the idea that God used intermediate living forms to produce the body of the first man can be reconciled with the deposit of faith, but that it must still be acknowledged that the soul is created immediately by God from nothing. The evolutionary hypothesis still must stand or fail on the scientific evidence for it, and nobody is a bad or a good Catholic based on whether they accept or reject it, for the Church does not teach matters of science as if they were matters of faith."

[RadioAstronomer]

Of course you may not agree with my logic but if the muslim religion didn't start till the 600s AD how in the world could that be the true word of god? Why would god wait till 600 years after the death of Christ to let the world KNOW HIM.

Prove to me that Christ is not just another myth. I am sceptical on all religions. I guess I fall squarely in the Agnostic camp. (I personally do not buy the myth of an afterlife).

[Motherhood IS a career]

Now if you can show that ancient Biblical writers sat around and wrote fiction in the modern entertainment sense that we think of when we think of Agatha Cristie, movie scripts or other types of fiction, have at it.

With all due respect, if the Greeks did it, and the Romans did it, why is it not feasible that "ancient Biblical writers" also dabbled in such forms of entertainment?

You've got to admit, the Bible has it all: sex, violence, love, betrayal, vengence, compassion, miracles, you name it. Makes a hell of a movie. Ask any Charlton Heston fan.

[RadioAstronomer]

You've got to admit, the Bible has it all: sex, violence, love, betrayal, vengence, compassion, miracles, you name it. Makes a hell of a movie. Ask any Charlton Heston fan.

Hey, gotta keep it interesting. :-)

[Doctor Stochastic]

I'll personally offer you $500,000, if you can define pi to the last digit.

The last digit in the 10-adics is 3. Of course there is no first digit.

[Capitalist Eric]

WTF???

[Doctor Stochastic]

The Moslems believe that the Christians have committed a great sin by deifying a prophet. Sort of like claiming that Moses or Abraham was actually God. They are monotheists and claim that Christians are polytheists.

[Motherhood IS a career]

That's because you are spritually blind. "None are so blind as those that cannot see."

Hmmm... "blind". I've heard the term "blind faith." Have you ever heard the term "blind science?" Neither have I.

...thank God I wasn't born to a cold, paganistic, empty-soul carcass like you.

A little miffed, are we? The fact that I don't agree with your point of view makes me neither cold, paganistic, nor empty-souled. But the fact that you resort to childish name-calling when you don't make headway speaks volumes about you, and says much more than anything I would ever accuse you of.

I have no pity for you though, you've sealed your fate with a double-riveted steel door.

I don't believe you have any authority when it comes to the subject of my fate. Nor do I believe that you are reflecting God's sentiment on this particular matter.

[Willie Green]

"It is as useless to argue with those who have renounced the use and authority of reason as to administer medication to the dead."

-- Thomas Jefferson

[Motherhood IS a career]

This is a forum for grown-ups, go hit the books and focus on your college career. Come back when you are more mature. God Bless!

I believe yours falls under the heading of "pathetic personal attack."

And who put you in charge of determining who does and who does not belong in this forum?