Still No Apologies

Bad Creationist Arguments

When I first got into Christian apologetics, most of my arguments were based on arguing against evolution. After all, that is what I was taught. Back then, I thought that was the end-all-be-all for proving God. If I could prove that evolution didn't happen, there had to be a Designer!

Now, I know science is not the only realm of argumentation, and I believe arguing against evolution is pointless and incorrect. I currently prefer philosophical and historical proofs for Christianity rather than scientific. And now that I have gone through college, my standards for what qualifies as "proof" have drastically increased.

At the same time, there are clearly some silly arguments Creationists sometimes use, but should avoid, no matter where you land on this side of the debate. When I was just entering apologetics, I used to use some of these funny arguments. Enjoy!

If people came from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?
If dogs came from wolves, why are there still wolves? The answer is that evolution occurs in a population. Not in an individual, and not in all individuals. And when a new species evolves, that does not mean the other goes away. What we are talking about here is natural selection. Say you have a population of wolves, and half the pack is driven to a desert (unlikely, and this will be oversimplified, but for the sake of an example). The desert is hot, so wolves that have thinner coats will be more likely to survive. With the thicker-coated wolves dead, the thinner coated wolves will mate, increasing the chance for the new generations to have thinner coats. Over time, all the wolves will end up with thin coats, perhaps a sandier color (to blend in), and perhaps larger ears (to regulate temperature). This idea is the premise of evolution.

You say humans came from monkeys...
Stop right there. I know this is not an argument, but humans, per the theory of evolution, did not evolve from monkeys. We are the supposed cousins of chimpanzees. This is important! It's not tomato/tomahto, it's tomato and you-don't-understand-evolution.

There are no observable examples of evolution
Ok. Listen carefully- evolution does happen to an extent. If you say you don't believe in evolution at all, you will sound ignorant, because there are real-life examples of evolution. For an example, evolutionists will cite Darwin's observation of finches to prove evolution does happen. Another common example is the evolution of wolves to include all different types of dogs. Creationists often point out that they are still finches (Family: Fringillidae). And they are still dogs (Family: Canidae). This is true, but you still cannot be both a Bible-believing Young Earth Creationist and think that evolution doesn't happen at all. Think about why that is.

The Fall of Adam and Eve is Why We Have Entropy
Entropy (disorder) from the Second Law of Thermodynamics is often associated with the Fall. The short answer is that entropy can be helpful. From digesting food, to the spread of oxygen atoms, it is necessary for life. The Bible never said disorder of the universe increased. Genesis 3:17b-18 says, "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow." This was the curse on the earth, not general disorder and randomness.

God Created the Earth to Look Old
A belief in the theory of evolution requires a belief in an old earth. And the earth does seem old! Creationists believe the reason for this is the Flood. However, uneducated Creationists will sometimes say that God created the earth to look old, possibly as a test of faith. But this makes no sense, and it turns God into a deceiver. This argument reminds me of a common Muslim belief. Muslims do not believe Jesus was crucified. However, eyewitness accounts from the Bible and secular history all claim Jesus was crucified. In order to reconcile this problem, Muslims say that Allah rescued Jesus by making some evil person look like Jesus. Then, the Romans arrested and crucified this man instead. The problem for Islam is that this theory makes Allah out to be a deceiver. And if this theory is true, it is Allah's fault that so many people follow Christianity rather than Islam. Likewise, if God created the earth to look old, how can He blame people for believing it is old?

Evolution is Just a Theory, Not a Fact
If you use this, I can tell you from experience that you will be laughed at for not understanding science. A theory (in scientific terms) unifies a broad range of facts and hypotheses, and can be used to make predictions about the future. Often times people seem to think a theory is the same thing as a hypothesis (which is an educated and testable "guess"). A theory is much stronger than a hypothesis. And there are theories we all agree on that are incredibly strong and important for daily life. One is germ theory... the idea that diseases are explained by microorganisms.

We Believe in Microevolution, but Not Macroevolution
I used to say this. If only it were that simple. Microevolution is simply the change in gene frequency in a gene pool (all the different genes in a population). It happens in a short amount of time, over and over again. We should all believe in microevolution, because scientists observe it happening all the time. Macroevolution is a very broad definition. It is evolution between any taxonomic groups, from species, all the way to kingdom, and even domain. Creationists can't say we don't believe in macroevolution, because speciation happens all the time. So does change within families (which Creationists often interpret as the classification of "kinds" in the Bible).