I love reading books written by Richard Dawkins. Quite ironically, he provides some of the very best material I could ever hope to find for use in discussions with my atheist friends about God and His creation, as well as existential science and evolution theory. It turns out that virtually everything I might ever need for my argument in favor of a supernatural God can be found in his book The Greatest Show on Earth: the Evidence for Evolution, simply by following the advice of Dawkins and accepting many of his claims about the theory of evolution on face value. For example, in his book Richard Dawkins claimed that humans share a now-extinct ancestor with the budgerigar (another name for the common parakeet) that lived approximately 310 million years ago, writing that "Every species is a cousin of every other. Any two species are descended from an ancestral species, which split in two." (pg. 254) That would mean every modern living organism must be directly related to every other living organism on earth by descent -- with modifications, of course. Not only is your cousin a chimpanzee, but your slightly more distant cousin is allegedly the cucumber. The most obvious question coming to mind about this idea would seem to be "how?" Now my atheist friends have frequently suggested that I publish the evidence that disproves my cousinship to fruits and vegetables such as cucumbers and turnips so that I might earn fame, fortune, and even to win a Nobel Prize. However, the Nobel Prize does not honor a category for evolutionary biology, making the goal itself … [Read more...]
Evolution and the origin of life: analysis by C. W. Bobbitt, PhD
This article written by (retired) Professor Charles W. Bobbitt explains his interpretations of the evidence that may explain the origin of life and the origin of species currently available to the scientific community. Only minor formatting changes have been made to improve its readability. Professor Bobbitt's thoughts regarding the origin of the universe and the Big Bang theory were published earlier here at southernprose.com. Since my book inspired the beginning of our conversation, I am taking the opportunity for shameless self promotion, perhaps even to sell a couple of books in the process. The original plan was to publish a photo of Professor Bobbitt with a short biography describing his background and academic credentials, but apparently our wires have gotten crossed, and the article has been ready to be published for several days. As always, reader comments are welcomed. [Special thanks to Joel Washburn for his expert assistance resolving a rather puzzling and difficult technical problem that prohibited earlier publication of this piece.] A FRESH LOOK AT THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF LIFE ON EARTH C.W. Bobbitt, PhD © Copyright 2014, C.W. Bobbitt In a sense, both Darwin and Wickramasinghe/Hoyle were right in their suggestions as to how life on earth began, as will be shown in this hypothesis; but first, let us make a few remarks to serve as a framework for this presentation, in order to avoid unnecessary and unproductive conflict. Mortal man has been endowed with an insatiable curiosity. He wants to know things simply because they are … [Read more...]
Reply from Dr. Ken Miller
Dr. Ken Miller of Brown University graciously took the time to respond to my onen letter that was addressed to him and Dr. Francis Collins. He has given me permission to publish his reply in full. I will not be making any editorial comments or raising additional questions at this time. I only wish to add my sincere gratitude to Dr. Miller for his kindness and the sincerity with which he answered my questions. I did take the liberty of highlighting excerpts from my original letter in bolded italics to make it easier to distinguish my questions from Dr. Miller's answers. Trust me, my questions are not more important than Dr. Miller's answers. That is not an impression I'm trying to create. Highlighting was added solely for purpose of improved readability. Without any further ado, it is my distinct pleasure and an honor to present Dr. Miller's unexpurgated, detailed reply: May 26, 2015 Dear Mr. Leonard, I don’t know if Dr. Collins will find the time, in the midst of his public duties, to respond to your open letter. But I do have a few minutes right now, after submitting all of my grades for the semester and having finished my last set of recommendation letters, to respond to your inquiries. One thing that you and Professor Miller seem to share in common with Professor Coyne is your apparent belief in the infallibility of evolution theory, and that descent is the only viable explanation for the origin of species. I cannot speak for either Coyne or Collins, but I suspect they would answer this statement the same … [Read more...]
An open letter to Dr. Francis Collins (and Dr. Ken Miller)
Dear Dr. Collins, I'd like to begin by saying that I have tremendous respect for your work on the Human Genome Project. I enjoyed your book The Language of God so much that even quoted you a couple of times in my book, Counterargument for God. So, if there is a human being on planet Earth as qualified to answer my question as (atheist) biologist Jerry Coyne, it would appear to be either you, or (Catholic) biology professor Ken Miller, whose work I'm most familiar with from watching his lectures posted on You Tube that attack intelligent design. However, I did appreciate his calm and pleasant demeanor on display while he ridiculed my personal beliefs. One thing that you and Professor Miller seem to share in common with Professor Coyne is your apparent belief in the infallibility of evolution theory, and that descent is the only viable explanation for the origin of species. Unsurprisingly, Professor Coyne didn't respond to his open letter. However, I didn't really try to hide the fact that I am a creationist and an advocate of intelligent design. Professor Coyne may have been hostile to the source, rather than the questions asked. In retrospect, I probably could have done a better job of framing my questions without antagonizing him. Professor Benoit LeBlanc was kind enough to attempt answering them, but unfortunately his answer required Deep Time that I don't believe is available in the scenario we're hopefully about to discuss. I don't believe my personal religious beliefs will keep either of you gentlemen from answering my questions because we are all … [Read more...]
Transcendental design
The advocates of Darwinism have declared that the debate about origins is over -- firmly settled in favor of descent over design. Quite frankly, I wish the debate were over. I've gotten tired of circular arguments with Darwinists about their exaggerated claims that misinterpret some scientific evidence while completely ignoring equally important evidence that threatens their ultimately atheistic worldview. These tedious arguments get old pretty quick. It's a terrible waste of time. Frequently, my opponents become angry and impolite. And I also have constructive work to do, meaning novels to write. But I remain unconvinced that descent actually explains why and how humans came to exist, and I simply can't abide an inferior argument winning by default. At a casual glance, I would expect the creature shown above to be most likely found in the jungle, a zoo, or National Geographic video...not living as my neighbor in the house next door. In fact, I'm fairly certain that "people" have never looked like the creature depicted above. Yet according to advocates of Darwinian theory, that the female ape-like creature shown in the picture had sexual intercourse with a male ape-like creature that looked pretty much exactly like her. Over generations the baby apes shape-shifted to lose their fur and get smarter in the process of becoming human, all attributable to the vagaries of a powerful, mystical factor known as Deep Time. Isolation of the gene pool and genetic drift allegedly caused this clearly ape-like creature to eventually "evolve" into a sentient human, … [Read more...]
