How to Defeat Evolution

1. Define "evolution." Evolution can mean many different things. Don't try to defeat every type of evolution, because everyone agrees in some kind of evolution. For instance, evolution can simply mean "change over time." Well, of course everyone acknowledges that life forms on earth today are at least somewhat different than they were thousands of years ago. At a minimum, some animals have gone extinct while some new variations of domestic animals (such as types of dogs) are now here. But when I talk about "defeating evolution," I mean the kind that undermines the claims of the Bible. I believe we have every reason to trust the Bible and not evolution. I am using the term evolution to refer to the theory that all life forms existing today came about entirely through natural processes. Chance, chemical reactions, and natural selection alone can account for the appearance of life and all variations of life that exist.

2. Explain the problem of evolution. God's Word tells us that "what may be known about God is plain," and that "his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made" (Romans 1:19-20). If we look at a famous painting of George Washington, we know right away that someone painted it. We know that the wind did not knock over a set of paints and -- out came a wonderful portrait! The painting is proof of a painter. In the same way, when we look at creation, it tells us there is a creator. The amazing complexities of life tell us there is a powerful and creative God who designed life on earth. I am saying evolution is a problem because it suppresses the truth about God. God warns against this, stating that "the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness" (Romans 1:18). This warning specifically targets those who suppress the truth about God that is evident in creation. God says creation itself makes it plain to us that He is real. Evolution tries to say, "No, that is not a necessary conclusion, it actually came about without any divine involvement whatsoever." If that is true, there really is little reason to believe in God at all, at least not like the God of the Bible. But if it is false, then we have every reason to believe in God.

3. Keep it Simple. You don't need to argue against every step in the process of evolution. Many Christians will object to the whole concept of "defeating evolution." They may say, "But I believe God used evolution to create life on earth." We could debate how much evolution played a role in creating different types of life. We all agree that evolution played some role. Debating the extent of evolution's role can get complicated. Tackling a broad range of topics is overwhelming and that is exactly why you must define evolution at the start. The moment a person says they think "God used evolution to create..." they are talking about a different kind of evolution. They are not talking about an evolution that seeks to explain how all life came about by purely natural processes. They are acknowledging that natural processes alone cannot account for the origin of life, and that is the most important point for people to see. A discussion about how much of a role evolution played is an important exercise in interpreting Scripture properly, but it is not necessary to defeat evolution the way that evolution is most commonly used and the way it is defined above.

4. Focus on the origin of life. With the "keep it simple" principle in mind, always focus on the origin of the first living thing when you are trying to defeat evolution. You could argue specifically against human evolution. Or, perhaps against the ability of natural selection alone to account for great advances in the complexity of life forms. But it is easy to get bogged down in the details. To defeat evolution, you only have to show that evolution is implausible in one area, and the origin of life is evolution's weakest point. Everyone agrees that at one time in history there was no life on earth. Then, in the next moment, there was a living thing. The trouble with evolution is that no one can explain how this happened through purely natural processes. You can see this come out in an interview with one of the world's leading proponents of evolution, Richard Dawkins.  Ben Stein asks him how life began in the movie, "Expelled." If you have not seen this before, it is only six minutes long and is well worth your time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlZtEjtlirc&t=287s
Dawkins has no ability to answer the question. Science has greatly advanced our understanding of how incredibly complicated even the simplest life forms are. Each one is a machine made of many separate machines with intricate parts working together to make an organism live. In the past it may not have seemed implausible that, given enough time, life could arise spontaneously. However, advances in our understanding of the cell demand some explanation as to how the first life could develop from non-life. There is simply no way to imagine it all coming together randomly.

Responding to Objections:
The "God of the gaps" argument: In this response the evolutionist admits that there is no known scientific explanation of where the first life came from. However, they add that this does not mean one should jump to conclusions that God did it. Such an approach is to find proof for God in every gap that exists in scientific knowledge. In time, science will find explanations that offer better solutions than God.
This argument has two problems. (1) It assumes that there is a scientific answer that is better, we just haven't found it yet. This is a "science of the gaps" argument. Every time a gap in our ability to explain things through nature arises, just assume that science is the answer and not God, even though no scientific evidence currently exists. This is nothing more than blind faith in science. (2) Gaps in naturalistic explanations for the origin of life are not shrinking, they are growing. The more we know about the processes inside the simplest organisms, the more difficult it is becoming to account for how these could have come about through natural processes alone. In other words, there is growing evidence that science will never close this gap. It is a gap that only grows bigger as science advances. It is much more reasonable to actually follow where the evidence leads, not put blind faith in what you want to be true. The evidence from the existence of life points to God, just as the Bible says.

"But there is so much evidence for evolution": Much of the evidence is not really evidence that favors evolution instead of creation. Rather, it is evidence that evolution is the best explanation if we assume there is no creator. Much of the argumentation for evolution states at the outset that science is the search for the best natural explanation. So evolution may win the argument that it offers the best natural explanation for the development for life, but that doesn't mean it is the best explanation, only the best explanation when the main competing argument, creation, is taken off the table from the start. For example, many textbooks supporting evolution contain charts pointing to similarities in the structure of different organisms, like the bones in the arm of a man, chimpanzee, and a bat. If there is no creator, than a physical relationship is the best explanation for these similarities. However, these comparisons make just as much sense if the same creator designed them all.

In addition, even if there is a lot of evidence for certain steps in the process of evolution, the theory still falls apart if one of the phases lacks support. I believe that is the case when it comes to the origin of life. There is no evidence for a natural origin of life, and loads of evidence that there could not be one. We can trust the Bible when it says "what may be known about God is plain." 

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