Cancer and Genetics
by Dave Brown
This page contains three articles:
The author of these articles is not a geneticist, but they are based the scientific statements on what he considered to be reliable scholarly sources. These sources were not creationists or in any way connected to that movement. If anyone sees any scientific errors in these articles, please contact us and we will make the appropriate correction given adequate evidence to that effect.
We have very little related to the subject of evolution on BibleThought. The main reason is that there is little that we can add to the scientifically accurate and proven information already available on this subject on YouTube and other web outlets. In particular, we have found Trey Smith’s video discussing the probabilities involved to be particularly interesting, and that could be a good starting point for those interested in learning more about the subject in general. Remember, assertions are not proof, and the fact that everyone believes an assertion does not make it true either. We agree with Trey Smith -- YOU have a right to survey the evidence and draw your own conclusion, and this is exactly what God expects of you as well. How often throughout history has the majority been right on anything?
We feel that one of the best ways to evaluate the theory of macro-evolution is to learn some of the recent discoveries in genetics. The truth has nothing to fear from honest scientific investigation. On the other hand, intimidation and demeaning those who disagree are clear signs of a weak position. What we present below is based on definitive scientific studies that evolutionists do not dispute. The links we have provided to sources should be a good starting point for further investigation, which we heartily recommend.
1. Choose You This Day – Evolution or God?
By Dave Brown
While the field of genetics is extremely complex, I feel that the conclusion that we draw about the title question comes much more from using the common sense that God gave us than from science. However, the more proven and verified science we know, the more that we can see the fallacies and hasty generalizations of current macroevolution theory. We urge anyone interested in this topic to do some Internet searches (e.g., Google) on any words that are unclear, and you will find a wealth of information out there. (We will suggest some words or terms to search on by putting them underlined and in italics.) We have also embedded links in this e-mail to some of the references that we found to be basic and understandable. These are not “creationist” or in any other way religious articles, and we recommend that you stay with objective and provable science. The truth is fully validated from honest science. So let’s get started.
Cells
Mature human beings are made up of about 37 Trillion cells – some authorities estimate as high as 100 trillion cells. It takes about a 40 times magnification microscope to see human cells – but, of course they would have to be small if there were 37 trillion of them in one person. Some blood cells are even smaller, requiring a 400 magnification, so we are talking about things that are almost unfathomably small, which has to be the case since our bodies are made of of from 37 to 100 trillion of them (we will stick with the lower estimate in order that we not be accused of overstatement).
Let us pause for just a minute and consider how large just ONE trillion is. The trillion number is thrown around so much that we might have a feeling that it is something like a billion. But it is not. To try to fathom how much it is, consider first a stack of a thousand thousand-dollar bills (i.e., a million dollars in tightly stacked thousand dollar bills). We have read that such a stack would be about four inches thick – remember these are not hundreds, these are $1000 bills. While four inches seems a bit small, no matter, let’s go with it and assume they are very tightly packed. So you might easily be able to shove this stack into your purse or maybe your jacket pocket. Wouldn’t that be nice?
A trillion dollars is a million of these 4 inch stacks. If you multiply that out you will see that in order to have a stack of $1000 bills that make up a trillion dollars, that stack would have to be 63 miles high. Look up to see a jet liner at 30-40,000 feet – that is about six miles up – so we are talking ten times that high. It would fall over, and in that case it would be 63 miles long. So effectively we are talking about a number that is so large as to be incomprehensible to most people. I know it is to me.
Think of it this way: tipped over along the Interstate, we would have to drive along it for an hour at over sixty miles per hour to go from one end of the stack to the other. Think of a city that is about 60 miles away from you to get a feel for it. Remember, the stack is composed of the thickness of the paper that the $1000 bills are printed on. But using the lower estimate, recognize that 37 trillion is 37 times a trillion, so if laid down, the stack would take us over 2,331 miles (a little short of the USA lower 48 from coast to coast), or about 5 days of driving a bit over eight hours per day to drive past the equivalent of $37 trillion in $1000 bills. By the way, good luck trying to spend a $1000 bill.
Chromosomes
Each cell of the human body contains 46 chromosomes, each one containing its own DNA. The chromosomes can be viewed as packages for the DNA along with some other stuff that is needed to make it all work. I think we can relate to DNA, however, because we have heard about it being used by criminal justice agencies to identify people – each person effectively has his/her own DNA pattern. The DNA is in strands – really two identical strands that are sort of wound together in a helix.
So we are talking about something like a couple of intertwined slinkies -- remember the old slinky toy? Put this in a small basket (representing the chromosome) and throw in a some other very useful but extremely small stuff that will read and process the DNA information, and you have a model of one chromosome with its contents. The DNA can be viewed as stored data that is critical to telling the cell all about its function. The other stuff in the basket and the rest of the cell is analogous to the computer software and hardware necessary to make sense out of the DNA data and effectively “run” our bodies like a motor might run a machine.
The 46 chromosomes actually exist in 23 pairs; the two chromosomes in each pair are identical to each other. But all 23 pairs are dramatically different in DNA length and information content. Their positions cannot be flip-flopped without causing quite a bit of trouble. The DNA contains all of the information to tell your system (analogous to computer hardware) that “this cell is part of a a finger” and not an ear lobe or a tongue. Without this information being virtually accurate, you might grow a nose out your ear or something equally as grotesque. DNA can be damaged, so it is not 100% perfect at any given point in time, and we will cover how the body handles that in a follow-up article next week. But the closeness to 100% that is essential to life and well-being is nothing short of amazing. This physical part of us has to be nearly perfect if we are to function like most of us do.
To illustrate the tremendous storage power of DNA, consider chromosome 1 and 2, which have the two longest DNA strands. Together they contains about 500 million pieces of information. Each of the other 22 chromosome pairs has a different length and considerably different information stored in their respective DNA strands.
Total Pieces of Information
Let’s get out of the trees and look at the forest again for a minute – remember we are still talking about just ONE CELL in the discussion above. Lets put it all together and figure out what the sum total of all the pieces of information that are stored in one cell – that would be all of the information pieces within the DNA inside of all the 46 chromosomes in the cell. Geneticists have added up the information pieces for all of the DNA in the 46 chromosomes, and it totals up to roughly 6 billion pieces of information per cell.
But wait – that is just one cell – how many bits of information are needed to keep your entire body running smoothly. The answer can be obtained simply by multiplying the 6 billion times the number of cells in your body (remember? It was 37 trillion) and you come to the staggering 222 billion-trillion pieces of information that are stored in body (222 sextillion). With very few exceptions every one of these numbers has to be right and located in the right arrangement or bad things start to happen. I do not think we can comprehend a trillion dollars being 63 miles of 1000 dollar bills, and I am sure that 600 billion times a trillion is not comprehensible – to say it is a HUGE number is a gross understatement. But this is all we are trying to get across at this point. I expect you are glad about that.
How Did David Know?
David speaking to God in Psalms 139:14 said: “I will give thanks unto thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Wonderful are thy works; and that my soul knows right well.” David did not have Google, and he hardly knew how much information was necessary to be stored in his body to make him function. But his soul knew that he was created by God, and he knew that his body was a manifestation of the sovereignty and power of God. His soul knew it right well (ASV, KJV, AMP, RSV), very well (NKJV, NASU, NASB, NRSV), full well (NIV), with all his heart (TEV). He was not just guessing or depending on “what all scientists believe” – he knew it.
David knew it! Do you know it? You have far more evidence that David did, and what appears above is not theory (as is evolution). Unlike the suppositions of evolution, these things have been observed through microscopes, and this science is being used to identify people today among many other things, including the development of effective treatments for cancer. Did you just fall together by luck?
What can you say about the way you were made after reading about the information that is essential to making your body function, and after looking at yourself actually living? Imagine David with long hours taking care of the sheep, observing them and the wild animals all around; imagine him comparing himself to these other animals and realizing the tremendous difference between his body and theirs … between his consciousness and theirs. Only God can give consciousness, and human consciousness is indeed unfathomable and orders of magnitude about that of animals. Can you imagine an animal contemplating what we are thinking about right now? That is part of what it means to be made after God’s image.
Those who believe that all of this just fell together by chance, small changes and mutations do so with a preconceived faith that there is no God. If you disallow the consideration of God being involved in creation, then there really are very few other alternatives, and this is the basis for what they consider to be proof. But we are not in the absence of God, and reasonable people will not just assume Him away. (Or perhaps it works just the opposite way – the desire to escape God makes evolution something that people want to believe.)
Yes, it takes faith to put God in our lives, especially in light of what we are told that “all the scientists believe” (which is a gross deception). But it takes far more faith to believe that there is not some amazingly intelligent Higher Power who put all of this together and who has the ability to sustain us and keep it all running. When we humble ourselves in the light of the infinite universe above us, and the most rudimentary understanding of own amazingly miniaturized cell structure, the truth of the statement: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” will be very easy to accept. And our amazement will be comparable to David’s.
Think it through – How much science did the author of Genesis depend on when he wrote that all living things reproduce “after their kind” (Gen. 1:11, 12, 21,24,25, 6:20, 7:14)? Did he know that most different animal species do not even have the same number of chromosones, and those that do have very significantly different information in the DNA within those chromosomes. In order for a new species to emerge from an existing one by mutation, the same mutation (or a highly complementary one – maybe even a bit different to make it totally complementary) would have to occur to both the male and the female of the species. This would have to occur very nearly simultaneously so that these two new-specie life forms could mate (assuming that they still could reproduce after mutating). If you cannot see how improbable this is, you are just not thinking it through. Or perhaps you have never had a significant mutation yourself.
The rationale by evolutionists is that “here we are” – “we have to have gotten here somehow” – and “it IS possible.” Yes, the bible teaches that with God all things are possible (Mt. 19:26; Mk. 9:23; 10:27; 14:36). But the fact that something is possible does not mean that it necessarily had to have occurred. Be reasonable – if all things possible had to occur then everything possible would have had to occur. Everything has not occurred – only ONE sequence of events has occurred. So mere possibility does not prove anything regardless of how much time it is given.
All the genetic experiments that have been done over the decades (mostly on fruit flies) trying to produce a positive mutation have never been able to produce anything but variations of the same species. Things do evolve within species (micro-evolution), we have ample evidence of that. But it is a leap of faith (hasty generalization) to think that a male and female could both mutate in the exact perfect way simultaneously and with the timing that would enable them to mate and produce a new species. And that this could occur over and over and over again with the intermediate forms just somehow disappearing from the fossil record.
In our next article we will talk about what happens when the DNA numbers and their placements are damaged and altered and yet they still have the capacity to reproduce, i.e., cancer.
2. Cancer – “… cursed is the ground …” (Genesis 3:17)
By Dave Brown
Review of Our Previous Article
In our previous article, entitled “Choose You This Day, Evolution or God,” we reported the scientific fact that mature human beings are on the average made up of at least 37 trillion cells. These cells reproduce at largely varying rates, some say up to 300 million copies being made every minute – no need for exact numbers here – needless to say, there is a lot going on under the hood.
Each cell of the human body contains 46 chromosomes, each chromosome being a package for its respective DNA. Geneticists have added up all of the DNA in the 46 chromosomes in one cell, and it totals up to roughly 6 billion pieces of information per cell. Multiplying these findings together reveals that it takes a staggering 222 billion-trillion pieces of information needed to keep our bodies tuned up and running properly. But let’s face it – we do not always run perfectly do we? Why is that? We will address some of our cellular issues in this article. First, let’s answer some basic questions with a few passages?
Scriptural Background
Why is everything, including our own bodies, in a state of decay?
Genesis 3:17-19
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and unto dust shall you return.
Is it still this way today? And when will this cease to be the case?
Romans 8:18-23
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.
23 And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for (our) adoption, (to wit), the redemption of our body.
Why don’t things just melt down and self-destruct right now?
Colossians 1:13-17
13 [God the Father,] who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love;
14 in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins:
15 who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
16 for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him;
17 and he is before all things, and in him all things subsist.
“Or are sustained. The meaning [of verse 17] is, that they are kept in the present state; their existence, order, and arrangement are continued by his power. If unsupported by him, they would fall into disorder, or sink back to nothing. If this be the proper interpretation, then it is the ascription to Christ of infinite power, for nothing less could be sufficient to uphold the universe; and of infinite wisdom, for this is needed to preserve the harmonious action of the suns and systems of which it is composed. None could do this but one who is divine; and hence we see the reason why he is represented as the image of the invisible God. He is the great and glorious and ever-active agent by whom the perfections of God are made known.”
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Hebrews 1:1-3
1:1 God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners,
2 hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in (his) Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds;
3 who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
We might ask then, if Jesus is in total control (which He is), why does he allow the deterioration of our bodies? See articles on the subject of suffering. Total control does not mean that Jesus is completely dictating all events (total predestination). It means that he can and will take control whenever He and the Father determine that the time is right to do that. Until then, the passages above provide the basis for the rigors of life as we currently know it.
The issues of God allowing evil, and the suffering that goes along with it, are indeed some of the most complex questions ever asked, and they are beyond our subject scope here. However, let us just say two things: (1) Adam and Eve were not created in a decaying situation – they were perfectly good – Gen. 1:31; and (2) God has limited our years, and it is well that we all reflect heavily on this reality. Read Psalms 90:10: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” If there was a way to extend life indefinitely, don’t you suppose the richest among us would not have availed themselves of it long ago?
In this article we are not discussing the way we want things to be; we are talking about reality – how things are. The explanations are those or recent discoveries in genetics and medical science, many of them since about 1943.
Cancer
Our bodies (including the DNA information stores within our cells) are under constant assault from the environment. The experts say that we suffer: “From 10,000 to 1,000,000 molecular lesions per cell per day, but this constitutes only 0.000165% of the human genome's approximately 6 billion bases.” Source: Wikipedia. It seems that the extremely large number of pieces of information within our DNA is one thing that comes to our rescue. The probability of any one piece of information getting zapped (e.g., changed, rearranged, deleted, disconnected) is about the same as the average person getting hit by lightning in a given year.
Nevertheless, some of them are getting smashed and the data within our DNA is then either altered or missing. These lesions (or wounds) are known to be caused by radiation (natural or man-made concentrations), ultraviolet light, certain chemicals (e.g., benzene, which is in tobacco and other smoke, motor fuels and engine exhaust), viruses, and chemical reactions that are both external and internal to our bodies. While taking measures to avoid the known carcinogens certainly helps, there is no practical way to avoid all of the damage possibilities.
There are at least four possible outcomes of any single damage to our DNA:
This fourth outcome is called cancer, which is defined to be uncontrolled cell growth generally caused by damage to the DNA, alteration in the proper sequence of the chromosomes or other DNA abnormalities. In all such cases there is a disruption in the normal processing of the information within the cell’s DNA structures, resulting in uncontrolled cell reproduction. Some of the DNA information tells normal cells when their life is to be over – i.e., a death signal that tells them to get out of the way and let the new young cells do their jobs. In most cases this signal has been disabled in cells that are cancerous.
If your 222 billion trillion pieces of information are all functioning perfectly, then you have escaped the plague of cancer, and you are extremely fortunate – praise God and thank him for your health! It is difficult to understand how all of these numbers (the pieces of information stored in the DNA) stay perfectly in tune for a lifetime. The ability of DNA to repair itself is certainly a wonder of the universe, and we can only attribute this ability to the creative and sustaining powers of God (see Col. 1:13 and Heb. 1:3 above).
In my case and others with leukemia the problem is in the DNA or chromosomes of one or more of the stem cell(s) that produce blood within the bone marrow. In my case the chromosomes were translocated so that the 8th and 21st switched their positions in some of the stem cells. This, of course, resulted in some very twisted signals being sent to my body’s blood-producing operating system. Those signals could not produce the blood cells that are necessary to sustain life, those produced refused to mature and function properly, and they were quickly crowding out the good blood cells that were sustaining my life. If not treated this crowding out of the good blood cells can lead to death in many cases within a few months.
In the case of most other (non-blood) cancers, the mutant cell with injured DNA itself produces other mutants and fails to die. The table below indicates how often one authority felt that a complete renewal of all healthy cells takes place for certain parts of the body. For source, click here.
Cell Function Time to Replacement
Intestines 2-3 Days
Taste Buds 10 Days
Lungs 2-3 Weeks
Skin 2-4 Weeks
Red Blood Cells 4 Months
Nails 6-10 Months
Hair 3-6 Years
Bones 10 Years
Heart 20 Years
Eye No Evidence of Replication
Brain Most Cells Last a Lifetime
Recognize that a proportionate number of cells in all of these organs (except perhaps the eye and brain) are being replaced on a daily basis, and the above is the time estimated for the entire organ to be replaced (millions of cells). The old theory that we become a new person every seven years has been dispelled.
Why is it that some damaged cells can be repaired, others die, some just become dormant, and still others will reproduce in an unregulated way and cause cancer? It is probably the degree or the type of injury to the DNA that takes place. In 5 to 10% of cases genetics plays a part in making some people more susceptible than others, and some infants are effectively born with cancer. In most of us, however, it is a highly probabilistic process, meaning that we are all as liable to come down with some form of cancer as anyone else. This is not stated to scare anyone – indeed, even if you are diagnosed with it you should recognize that, like most other diseases today, there are treatments. If you are concerned about this, there is nothing like information to relieve your anxiety. See the American Cancer Society site for general risks of getting various types of cancer and the survival rate should you contract one of them.
Those of us who have had cancer have a very difficult time seeing how DNA/chromosome mutations can possibly improve on the originally perfect way that God has balanced each one of us internally. He has also balanced us with our environment, and He has balanced the universe in general. It would not take much to get the universe (or our bodies) out of balance. Indeed a final word of David should have all of us in agreement: Psalms 14:1: “The fool hath said in his heart, ‘there is no God.’” I expect that many people might say they are atheists in order to impress their peers, but the fool actually believes it in his heart. Let us all realize that our lives are totally in the hands of God. I thank God often for putting love into the hearts of those who prayed for my recovery, and to God for hearing their prayers. Yes, the doctors played a major part; but it was God that gave them the ability to acquire the knowledge. In the final analysis, all the glory must go to God.
3. Do “All Scientists Agree?”
By Dave Brown
I know you have heard it said that “all scientists accept the theory of evolution.” I was doing some searching recently and ran across some information on Wikipedia that highly complements the articles above. While there can be little doubt that God created and has used microevolution as the means to maintain the balance of nature, this excerpt demonstrates that there are many scientists who do not accept macroevolution. Definitions:
The following excerpt of an article on Dr. Picard was obtained from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Picard
Rosalind Wright Picard (born May 17, 1962 in Massachusetts) is Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT, director and also the founder of the Affective Computing Research Group at the MIT Media Lab, co-director of the Things That Think Consortium,[1] and co-founder of Affectiva.[2] In 2005, she was named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.[3]
[Body of the article omitted. Click the URL above for the complete article.]
Picard says that she was raised an atheist, but converted to Christianity as a young adult.[24] She does not believe there is a separation of the "material body and immaterial spirit" but that there is "something else that we haven't discovered yet", and believes "that scientists cannot assume that nothing exists beyond what they can measure."[24] She believes it likely that there is "still something more" to life, beyond what we have discovered, and sees DNA as too complex to have originated through "purely random processes".[24] To her, the complexity of DNA shows "the mark of intervention," and "a much greater mind, a much greater scientist, a much greater engineer behind who we are."[24] She sees her religious beliefs as playing a role in her work in affective computing,[25] and explains that when "Digging into the models of how the emotions work, I find I feel even greater awe and appreciation for the way we are made, and therefore for the Maker that has brought this about."[25]
Picard is one of the signatories of the Discovery Institute's A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism, a petition which the intelligent design movement uses to promote intelligent design by attempting to cast doubt on evolution.[26] Although her view about the complexity of DNA "sounds similar to the intelligent design debate", reporter Mirko Petricevic writes, "Picard has some reservations about intelligent design, saying it isn't being sufficiently challenged by Christians and other people of faith."[24] She argues that the media has created a false dilemma by dividing everyone into two groups, supporters of intelligent design or evolution. "To simply put most of us in one camp or the other does the whole state of knowledge a huge disservice," she said.[24]
[End of Wikipedia excerpt.]
It takes humility to believe in God, for in doing so we deny that we (mankind) are the highest form of life in the universe. It takes great courage for Dr. Picard to express her faith since there is much persecution that comes to scientists who take the stand that she does. We appreciate Dr. Picard’s humility and her courage in expressing her belief in a Maker. We also agree with her position not to take an extreme position and follow others who have stampeded to the hasty generalizations of macroevolution.
Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God ; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Spiritual things will never be discovered by scientists because they are of God, and science deals only with the things that can be observed in the physical world. Spiritual things cannot be discovered by the scientific method. The only way that we can get any information on spiritual things is by God revealing them to us. We know of no other revelation of God than the bible, and the bible claims that it is the complete and totally sufficient revelation of God to enable us to be pleasing to Him and to live with Him eternally.
It should be no surprise that there are many mysteries that God has determined not to reveal. Let us give thanks for those things that He has revealed for us through His son (Hebrews 1). They are sufficient to enable us to have eternal life with God in heaven (Jn. 6:68).
Young people – when you are told in school that all scientists say or believe a given thing, recognize that the nature of scientific investigation is that of continued healthy skepticism regarding current theories. As such, we can almost say that there are very few theories in science that do not have their expert detractors. There are very few things, if any, in which all scientists agree.
When you hear of those who disagree with the majority being marginalized (i.e., made fun of) as proof of some scientific theory, you can be sure that that theory does not have a firm scientific foundation. For if it did, that foundation would be presented as opposed to disparaging those who choose for whatever reasons not to support it.
Jesus gives his conditions for salvation: God's Plan of Salvation
Return to Cancer Victims/Care Givers Page
- Choose You this Day - God or Evolution - a scientific presentation involving genetics that allows the readers to draw their own conclusions.
- Cancer – “… cursed is the ground …” (Genesis 3:17) - a definition of what cancer is in light of the facts presented in the first article.
- All Scientists Agree - if only one does not, then it is deceit to say that all do. This is an unbiased review of what one scientist feels that the evidence shows.
The author of these articles is not a geneticist, but they are based the scientific statements on what he considered to be reliable scholarly sources. These sources were not creationists or in any way connected to that movement. If anyone sees any scientific errors in these articles, please contact us and we will make the appropriate correction given adequate evidence to that effect.
We have very little related to the subject of evolution on BibleThought. The main reason is that there is little that we can add to the scientifically accurate and proven information already available on this subject on YouTube and other web outlets. In particular, we have found Trey Smith’s video discussing the probabilities involved to be particularly interesting, and that could be a good starting point for those interested in learning more about the subject in general. Remember, assertions are not proof, and the fact that everyone believes an assertion does not make it true either. We agree with Trey Smith -- YOU have a right to survey the evidence and draw your own conclusion, and this is exactly what God expects of you as well. How often throughout history has the majority been right on anything?
We feel that one of the best ways to evaluate the theory of macro-evolution is to learn some of the recent discoveries in genetics. The truth has nothing to fear from honest scientific investigation. On the other hand, intimidation and demeaning those who disagree are clear signs of a weak position. What we present below is based on definitive scientific studies that evolutionists do not dispute. The links we have provided to sources should be a good starting point for further investigation, which we heartily recommend.
1. Choose You This Day – Evolution or God?
By Dave Brown
While the field of genetics is extremely complex, I feel that the conclusion that we draw about the title question comes much more from using the common sense that God gave us than from science. However, the more proven and verified science we know, the more that we can see the fallacies and hasty generalizations of current macroevolution theory. We urge anyone interested in this topic to do some Internet searches (e.g., Google) on any words that are unclear, and you will find a wealth of information out there. (We will suggest some words or terms to search on by putting them underlined and in italics.) We have also embedded links in this e-mail to some of the references that we found to be basic and understandable. These are not “creationist” or in any other way religious articles, and we recommend that you stay with objective and provable science. The truth is fully validated from honest science. So let’s get started.
Cells
Mature human beings are made up of about 37 Trillion cells – some authorities estimate as high as 100 trillion cells. It takes about a 40 times magnification microscope to see human cells – but, of course they would have to be small if there were 37 trillion of them in one person. Some blood cells are even smaller, requiring a 400 magnification, so we are talking about things that are almost unfathomably small, which has to be the case since our bodies are made of of from 37 to 100 trillion of them (we will stick with the lower estimate in order that we not be accused of overstatement).
Let us pause for just a minute and consider how large just ONE trillion is. The trillion number is thrown around so much that we might have a feeling that it is something like a billion. But it is not. To try to fathom how much it is, consider first a stack of a thousand thousand-dollar bills (i.e., a million dollars in tightly stacked thousand dollar bills). We have read that such a stack would be about four inches thick – remember these are not hundreds, these are $1000 bills. While four inches seems a bit small, no matter, let’s go with it and assume they are very tightly packed. So you might easily be able to shove this stack into your purse or maybe your jacket pocket. Wouldn’t that be nice?
A trillion dollars is a million of these 4 inch stacks. If you multiply that out you will see that in order to have a stack of $1000 bills that make up a trillion dollars, that stack would have to be 63 miles high. Look up to see a jet liner at 30-40,000 feet – that is about six miles up – so we are talking ten times that high. It would fall over, and in that case it would be 63 miles long. So effectively we are talking about a number that is so large as to be incomprehensible to most people. I know it is to me.
Think of it this way: tipped over along the Interstate, we would have to drive along it for an hour at over sixty miles per hour to go from one end of the stack to the other. Think of a city that is about 60 miles away from you to get a feel for it. Remember, the stack is composed of the thickness of the paper that the $1000 bills are printed on. But using the lower estimate, recognize that 37 trillion is 37 times a trillion, so if laid down, the stack would take us over 2,331 miles (a little short of the USA lower 48 from coast to coast), or about 5 days of driving a bit over eight hours per day to drive past the equivalent of $37 trillion in $1000 bills. By the way, good luck trying to spend a $1000 bill.
Chromosomes
Each cell of the human body contains 46 chromosomes, each one containing its own DNA. The chromosomes can be viewed as packages for the DNA along with some other stuff that is needed to make it all work. I think we can relate to DNA, however, because we have heard about it being used by criminal justice agencies to identify people – each person effectively has his/her own DNA pattern. The DNA is in strands – really two identical strands that are sort of wound together in a helix.
So we are talking about something like a couple of intertwined slinkies -- remember the old slinky toy? Put this in a small basket (representing the chromosome) and throw in a some other very useful but extremely small stuff that will read and process the DNA information, and you have a model of one chromosome with its contents. The DNA can be viewed as stored data that is critical to telling the cell all about its function. The other stuff in the basket and the rest of the cell is analogous to the computer software and hardware necessary to make sense out of the DNA data and effectively “run” our bodies like a motor might run a machine.
The 46 chromosomes actually exist in 23 pairs; the two chromosomes in each pair are identical to each other. But all 23 pairs are dramatically different in DNA length and information content. Their positions cannot be flip-flopped without causing quite a bit of trouble. The DNA contains all of the information to tell your system (analogous to computer hardware) that “this cell is part of a a finger” and not an ear lobe or a tongue. Without this information being virtually accurate, you might grow a nose out your ear or something equally as grotesque. DNA can be damaged, so it is not 100% perfect at any given point in time, and we will cover how the body handles that in a follow-up article next week. But the closeness to 100% that is essential to life and well-being is nothing short of amazing. This physical part of us has to be nearly perfect if we are to function like most of us do.
To illustrate the tremendous storage power of DNA, consider chromosome 1 and 2, which have the two longest DNA strands. Together they contains about 500 million pieces of information. Each of the other 22 chromosome pairs has a different length and considerably different information stored in their respective DNA strands.
Total Pieces of Information
Let’s get out of the trees and look at the forest again for a minute – remember we are still talking about just ONE CELL in the discussion above. Lets put it all together and figure out what the sum total of all the pieces of information that are stored in one cell – that would be all of the information pieces within the DNA inside of all the 46 chromosomes in the cell. Geneticists have added up the information pieces for all of the DNA in the 46 chromosomes, and it totals up to roughly 6 billion pieces of information per cell.
But wait – that is just one cell – how many bits of information are needed to keep your entire body running smoothly. The answer can be obtained simply by multiplying the 6 billion times the number of cells in your body (remember? It was 37 trillion) and you come to the staggering 222 billion-trillion pieces of information that are stored in body (222 sextillion). With very few exceptions every one of these numbers has to be right and located in the right arrangement or bad things start to happen. I do not think we can comprehend a trillion dollars being 63 miles of 1000 dollar bills, and I am sure that 600 billion times a trillion is not comprehensible – to say it is a HUGE number is a gross understatement. But this is all we are trying to get across at this point. I expect you are glad about that.
How Did David Know?
David speaking to God in Psalms 139:14 said: “I will give thanks unto thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Wonderful are thy works; and that my soul knows right well.” David did not have Google, and he hardly knew how much information was necessary to be stored in his body to make him function. But his soul knew that he was created by God, and he knew that his body was a manifestation of the sovereignty and power of God. His soul knew it right well (ASV, KJV, AMP, RSV), very well (NKJV, NASU, NASB, NRSV), full well (NIV), with all his heart (TEV). He was not just guessing or depending on “what all scientists believe” – he knew it.
David knew it! Do you know it? You have far more evidence that David did, and what appears above is not theory (as is evolution). Unlike the suppositions of evolution, these things have been observed through microscopes, and this science is being used to identify people today among many other things, including the development of effective treatments for cancer. Did you just fall together by luck?
What can you say about the way you were made after reading about the information that is essential to making your body function, and after looking at yourself actually living? Imagine David with long hours taking care of the sheep, observing them and the wild animals all around; imagine him comparing himself to these other animals and realizing the tremendous difference between his body and theirs … between his consciousness and theirs. Only God can give consciousness, and human consciousness is indeed unfathomable and orders of magnitude about that of animals. Can you imagine an animal contemplating what we are thinking about right now? That is part of what it means to be made after God’s image.
Those who believe that all of this just fell together by chance, small changes and mutations do so with a preconceived faith that there is no God. If you disallow the consideration of God being involved in creation, then there really are very few other alternatives, and this is the basis for what they consider to be proof. But we are not in the absence of God, and reasonable people will not just assume Him away. (Or perhaps it works just the opposite way – the desire to escape God makes evolution something that people want to believe.)
Yes, it takes faith to put God in our lives, especially in light of what we are told that “all the scientists believe” (which is a gross deception). But it takes far more faith to believe that there is not some amazingly intelligent Higher Power who put all of this together and who has the ability to sustain us and keep it all running. When we humble ourselves in the light of the infinite universe above us, and the most rudimentary understanding of own amazingly miniaturized cell structure, the truth of the statement: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” will be very easy to accept. And our amazement will be comparable to David’s.
Think it through – How much science did the author of Genesis depend on when he wrote that all living things reproduce “after their kind” (Gen. 1:11, 12, 21,24,25, 6:20, 7:14)? Did he know that most different animal species do not even have the same number of chromosones, and those that do have very significantly different information in the DNA within those chromosomes. In order for a new species to emerge from an existing one by mutation, the same mutation (or a highly complementary one – maybe even a bit different to make it totally complementary) would have to occur to both the male and the female of the species. This would have to occur very nearly simultaneously so that these two new-specie life forms could mate (assuming that they still could reproduce after mutating). If you cannot see how improbable this is, you are just not thinking it through. Or perhaps you have never had a significant mutation yourself.
The rationale by evolutionists is that “here we are” – “we have to have gotten here somehow” – and “it IS possible.” Yes, the bible teaches that with God all things are possible (Mt. 19:26; Mk. 9:23; 10:27; 14:36). But the fact that something is possible does not mean that it necessarily had to have occurred. Be reasonable – if all things possible had to occur then everything possible would have had to occur. Everything has not occurred – only ONE sequence of events has occurred. So mere possibility does not prove anything regardless of how much time it is given.
All the genetic experiments that have been done over the decades (mostly on fruit flies) trying to produce a positive mutation have never been able to produce anything but variations of the same species. Things do evolve within species (micro-evolution), we have ample evidence of that. But it is a leap of faith (hasty generalization) to think that a male and female could both mutate in the exact perfect way simultaneously and with the timing that would enable them to mate and produce a new species. And that this could occur over and over and over again with the intermediate forms just somehow disappearing from the fossil record.
In our next article we will talk about what happens when the DNA numbers and their placements are damaged and altered and yet they still have the capacity to reproduce, i.e., cancer.
2. Cancer – “… cursed is the ground …” (Genesis 3:17)
By Dave Brown
Review of Our Previous Article
In our previous article, entitled “Choose You This Day, Evolution or God,” we reported the scientific fact that mature human beings are on the average made up of at least 37 trillion cells. These cells reproduce at largely varying rates, some say up to 300 million copies being made every minute – no need for exact numbers here – needless to say, there is a lot going on under the hood.
Each cell of the human body contains 46 chromosomes, each chromosome being a package for its respective DNA. Geneticists have added up all of the DNA in the 46 chromosomes in one cell, and it totals up to roughly 6 billion pieces of information per cell. Multiplying these findings together reveals that it takes a staggering 222 billion-trillion pieces of information needed to keep our bodies tuned up and running properly. But let’s face it – we do not always run perfectly do we? Why is that? We will address some of our cellular issues in this article. First, let’s answer some basic questions with a few passages?
Scriptural Background
Why is everything, including our own bodies, in a state of decay?
Genesis 3:17-19
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and unto dust shall you return.
Is it still this way today? And when will this cease to be the case?
Romans 8:18-23
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.
23 And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for (our) adoption, (to wit), the redemption of our body.
Why don’t things just melt down and self-destruct right now?
Colossians 1:13-17
13 [God the Father,] who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love;
14 in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins:
15 who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
16 for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him;
17 and he is before all things, and in him all things subsist.
“Or are sustained. The meaning [of verse 17] is, that they are kept in the present state; their existence, order, and arrangement are continued by his power. If unsupported by him, they would fall into disorder, or sink back to nothing. If this be the proper interpretation, then it is the ascription to Christ of infinite power, for nothing less could be sufficient to uphold the universe; and of infinite wisdom, for this is needed to preserve the harmonious action of the suns and systems of which it is composed. None could do this but one who is divine; and hence we see the reason why he is represented as the image of the invisible God. He is the great and glorious and ever-active agent by whom the perfections of God are made known.”
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Hebrews 1:1-3
1:1 God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners,
2 hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in (his) Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds;
3 who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
We might ask then, if Jesus is in total control (which He is), why does he allow the deterioration of our bodies? See articles on the subject of suffering. Total control does not mean that Jesus is completely dictating all events (total predestination). It means that he can and will take control whenever He and the Father determine that the time is right to do that. Until then, the passages above provide the basis for the rigors of life as we currently know it.
The issues of God allowing evil, and the suffering that goes along with it, are indeed some of the most complex questions ever asked, and they are beyond our subject scope here. However, let us just say two things: (1) Adam and Eve were not created in a decaying situation – they were perfectly good – Gen. 1:31; and (2) God has limited our years, and it is well that we all reflect heavily on this reality. Read Psalms 90:10: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” If there was a way to extend life indefinitely, don’t you suppose the richest among us would not have availed themselves of it long ago?
In this article we are not discussing the way we want things to be; we are talking about reality – how things are. The explanations are those or recent discoveries in genetics and medical science, many of them since about 1943.
Cancer
Our bodies (including the DNA information stores within our cells) are under constant assault from the environment. The experts say that we suffer: “From 10,000 to 1,000,000 molecular lesions per cell per day, but this constitutes only 0.000165% of the human genome's approximately 6 billion bases.” Source: Wikipedia. It seems that the extremely large number of pieces of information within our DNA is one thing that comes to our rescue. The probability of any one piece of information getting zapped (e.g., changed, rearranged, deleted, disconnected) is about the same as the average person getting hit by lightning in a given year.
Nevertheless, some of them are getting smashed and the data within our DNA is then either altered or missing. These lesions (or wounds) are known to be caused by radiation (natural or man-made concentrations), ultraviolet light, certain chemicals (e.g., benzene, which is in tobacco and other smoke, motor fuels and engine exhaust), viruses, and chemical reactions that are both external and internal to our bodies. While taking measures to avoid the known carcinogens certainly helps, there is no practical way to avoid all of the damage possibilities.
There are at least four possible outcomes of any single damage to our DNA:
- The cell DNA is repaired, by a wide variety of amazing processes. This is by far the best of the outcomes and demonstrates the sustaining power of God in creating us to be able to withstand most of the attacks on our molecular structures. Without the dominance of this outcome we would all be dead in a few months.
- The cell is disabled in its ability to reproduce. This is a protective measure and since most normal cells ultimately die naturally, its effect is nearly as positive as repair.
- The cell DNA is so injured so that it can no longer sustain the life of the cell, and it dies. But again, since there are so many cells in the body, the short term effects are not that great. No doubt this contributes to the aging process over the long term.
- The cell DNA injury falls between the extremes – it is not repairable, but neither does it die or lose its power to reproduce. Thus, it reproduces other cells that contain defective DNA, which in turn generally continue to reproduce the same mutations. For reasons discussed below the reproduction speed of such cells seems to greatly exceed that of normal cells, and some of these mutations even have the power to invade other cells and cause them to mutate (metastasis).
This fourth outcome is called cancer, which is defined to be uncontrolled cell growth generally caused by damage to the DNA, alteration in the proper sequence of the chromosomes or other DNA abnormalities. In all such cases there is a disruption in the normal processing of the information within the cell’s DNA structures, resulting in uncontrolled cell reproduction. Some of the DNA information tells normal cells when their life is to be over – i.e., a death signal that tells them to get out of the way and let the new young cells do their jobs. In most cases this signal has been disabled in cells that are cancerous.
If your 222 billion trillion pieces of information are all functioning perfectly, then you have escaped the plague of cancer, and you are extremely fortunate – praise God and thank him for your health! It is difficult to understand how all of these numbers (the pieces of information stored in the DNA) stay perfectly in tune for a lifetime. The ability of DNA to repair itself is certainly a wonder of the universe, and we can only attribute this ability to the creative and sustaining powers of God (see Col. 1:13 and Heb. 1:3 above).
In my case and others with leukemia the problem is in the DNA or chromosomes of one or more of the stem cell(s) that produce blood within the bone marrow. In my case the chromosomes were translocated so that the 8th and 21st switched their positions in some of the stem cells. This, of course, resulted in some very twisted signals being sent to my body’s blood-producing operating system. Those signals could not produce the blood cells that are necessary to sustain life, those produced refused to mature and function properly, and they were quickly crowding out the good blood cells that were sustaining my life. If not treated this crowding out of the good blood cells can lead to death in many cases within a few months.
In the case of most other (non-blood) cancers, the mutant cell with injured DNA itself produces other mutants and fails to die. The table below indicates how often one authority felt that a complete renewal of all healthy cells takes place for certain parts of the body. For source, click here.
Cell Function Time to Replacement
Intestines 2-3 Days
Taste Buds 10 Days
Lungs 2-3 Weeks
Skin 2-4 Weeks
Red Blood Cells 4 Months
Nails 6-10 Months
Hair 3-6 Years
Bones 10 Years
Heart 20 Years
Eye No Evidence of Replication
Brain Most Cells Last a Lifetime
Recognize that a proportionate number of cells in all of these organs (except perhaps the eye and brain) are being replaced on a daily basis, and the above is the time estimated for the entire organ to be replaced (millions of cells). The old theory that we become a new person every seven years has been dispelled.
Why is it that some damaged cells can be repaired, others die, some just become dormant, and still others will reproduce in an unregulated way and cause cancer? It is probably the degree or the type of injury to the DNA that takes place. In 5 to 10% of cases genetics plays a part in making some people more susceptible than others, and some infants are effectively born with cancer. In most of us, however, it is a highly probabilistic process, meaning that we are all as liable to come down with some form of cancer as anyone else. This is not stated to scare anyone – indeed, even if you are diagnosed with it you should recognize that, like most other diseases today, there are treatments. If you are concerned about this, there is nothing like information to relieve your anxiety. See the American Cancer Society site for general risks of getting various types of cancer and the survival rate should you contract one of them.
Those of us who have had cancer have a very difficult time seeing how DNA/chromosome mutations can possibly improve on the originally perfect way that God has balanced each one of us internally. He has also balanced us with our environment, and He has balanced the universe in general. It would not take much to get the universe (or our bodies) out of balance. Indeed a final word of David should have all of us in agreement: Psalms 14:1: “The fool hath said in his heart, ‘there is no God.’” I expect that many people might say they are atheists in order to impress their peers, but the fool actually believes it in his heart. Let us all realize that our lives are totally in the hands of God. I thank God often for putting love into the hearts of those who prayed for my recovery, and to God for hearing their prayers. Yes, the doctors played a major part; but it was God that gave them the ability to acquire the knowledge. In the final analysis, all the glory must go to God.
3. Do “All Scientists Agree?”
By Dave Brown
I know you have heard it said that “all scientists accept the theory of evolution.” I was doing some searching recently and ran across some information on Wikipedia that highly complements the articles above. While there can be little doubt that God created and has used microevolution as the means to maintain the balance of nature, this excerpt demonstrates that there are many scientists who do not accept macroevolution. Definitions:
- Microevolution – small-scale evolution consisting of genetic changes occurring usually within a single species and over a shorter period of time than in macroevolution.
- Macroevolution – the theory that large-scale evolution has occurred over a very long period time resulting in the formation of new species and higher-level taxonomic groups.
The following excerpt of an article on Dr. Picard was obtained from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Picard
Rosalind Wright Picard (born May 17, 1962 in Massachusetts) is Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT, director and also the founder of the Affective Computing Research Group at the MIT Media Lab, co-director of the Things That Think Consortium,[1] and co-founder of Affectiva.[2] In 2005, she was named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.[3]
[Body of the article omitted. Click the URL above for the complete article.]
Picard says that she was raised an atheist, but converted to Christianity as a young adult.[24] She does not believe there is a separation of the "material body and immaterial spirit" but that there is "something else that we haven't discovered yet", and believes "that scientists cannot assume that nothing exists beyond what they can measure."[24] She believes it likely that there is "still something more" to life, beyond what we have discovered, and sees DNA as too complex to have originated through "purely random processes".[24] To her, the complexity of DNA shows "the mark of intervention," and "a much greater mind, a much greater scientist, a much greater engineer behind who we are."[24] She sees her religious beliefs as playing a role in her work in affective computing,[25] and explains that when "Digging into the models of how the emotions work, I find I feel even greater awe and appreciation for the way we are made, and therefore for the Maker that has brought this about."[25]
Picard is one of the signatories of the Discovery Institute's A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism, a petition which the intelligent design movement uses to promote intelligent design by attempting to cast doubt on evolution.[26] Although her view about the complexity of DNA "sounds similar to the intelligent design debate", reporter Mirko Petricevic writes, "Picard has some reservations about intelligent design, saying it isn't being sufficiently challenged by Christians and other people of faith."[24] She argues that the media has created a false dilemma by dividing everyone into two groups, supporters of intelligent design or evolution. "To simply put most of us in one camp or the other does the whole state of knowledge a huge disservice," she said.[24]
[End of Wikipedia excerpt.]
It takes humility to believe in God, for in doing so we deny that we (mankind) are the highest form of life in the universe. It takes great courage for Dr. Picard to express her faith since there is much persecution that comes to scientists who take the stand that she does. We appreciate Dr. Picard’s humility and her courage in expressing her belief in a Maker. We also agree with her position not to take an extreme position and follow others who have stampeded to the hasty generalizations of macroevolution.
Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God ; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Spiritual things will never be discovered by scientists because they are of God, and science deals only with the things that can be observed in the physical world. Spiritual things cannot be discovered by the scientific method. The only way that we can get any information on spiritual things is by God revealing them to us. We know of no other revelation of God than the bible, and the bible claims that it is the complete and totally sufficient revelation of God to enable us to be pleasing to Him and to live with Him eternally.
It should be no surprise that there are many mysteries that God has determined not to reveal. Let us give thanks for those things that He has revealed for us through His son (Hebrews 1). They are sufficient to enable us to have eternal life with God in heaven (Jn. 6:68).
Young people – when you are told in school that all scientists say or believe a given thing, recognize that the nature of scientific investigation is that of continued healthy skepticism regarding current theories. As such, we can almost say that there are very few theories in science that do not have their expert detractors. There are very few things, if any, in which all scientists agree.
When you hear of those who disagree with the majority being marginalized (i.e., made fun of) as proof of some scientific theory, you can be sure that that theory does not have a firm scientific foundation. For if it did, that foundation would be presented as opposed to disparaging those who choose for whatever reasons not to support it.
Jesus gives his conditions for salvation: God's Plan of Salvation
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