What is the Queen of Problems for evolution?

T​here are many significant problems regarding the idea of “molecules-to-man” evolution, but it has been stated that the “Queen of Problems” for evolutionary biology is the origin of sexual reproduction. (Yes, this article is “safe” for all ages. I made a concerted effort to discuss this issue very tactfully and respectfully, as well as biologically rather than relationally.)

      “There are significant gaps in our knowledge on the evolution of sex, according to a research review on                  sex chromosomes from Lund University in Sweden. Even after more than a century of study, researchers              do not know enough about the evolution of sex chromosomes to understand how males and females                    emerge.”  (Lund University, “Knowledge Gap on the Origin of Sex.” Science Daily, 26 May 2017.)

Let me set the stage. According to evolutionary theory, life began approximately 3.8 billion years ago when non-living molecules combined in just the right way to form a living cell, fully capable of reproducing itself. And the way it accomplished this reproduction was by making a copy of its “innards” and then splitting in two. These initial two cell copies were the product of the very first “single-parent” home. This is technically called “asexual reproduction”. That is, reproduction that does not require a male and female. (See how tactful I’m being?)

However, at some point along the evolutionary timeline something happened. “What was that?” you ask with baited breath. It was the very first “mom & dad”! Actually, when they first appeared they weren’t a mom and a dad just yet, but as fate would have it… they became just that! How exciting… the first proud parents of a bouncing baby… something or other. What would it have been? Well, most likely something much like what the parents were. But just like eating potato chips, they couldn’t stop with just one, because the rules have changed and now it takes two to tango. (More tactfulness, along with a dull sense of humor.)

Mr. & Mrs. FirstParents (we’ll assume they were married, not having cells out of wedlock), needed to have at least one additional child, but it had to be of the opposite gender. (I am going to be fairly politically incorrect and write from the perspective of assuming just two genders.) You see if you only have one child at this point, or only male children or only female, your family tree will end right there. There won’t be any grandchildren to fill with sugar and return to their parents. How sad!

So how did this major transition occur? How do you go from copying your DNA and splitting in two, to requiring two separate individuals, both with exactly half of the needed DNA instructions, in the same place, at the same time, having a delivery system to transport one of those halves to the other, and a safe environment in which to combine the two in just the right way to produce offspring which will in turn have half the genetic information from one parent and half from the other, but will only pass half of the total DNA on to its own progeny?

And it gets worse because there are millions of species of animals out there, plus plants and other living creatures. The concept of species is hotly debated amongst scientists, but for sake of our discussion, let’s consider a species to be a group of animals (or living beings of some kind) that cannot breed with other animals. They are incapable of doing so. (There certainly are exceptions and that’s one of the reasons it is so hard to define “species”.) The main point here is that every time a new species appears, there has to be both a male and a female, or the new species is toast. The millions of existing species include a vast variety of reproductive “equipment” and processes used to combine the two sets of DNA to produce offspring. Therefore, every time there’s a new system, there has to be not only one new creature created in the process… there needs to be a “male” version and a “female” version. Everything has to go just right the very first time, or it goes no further; any subsequent evolution is kaput. How does that happen time and time and time and time again for millions and millions of years? Secular scientists can’t even explain how it happened once, let alone millions of times!

The scientific literature is virtually silent about this problem. Oh, they’ll mention the challenge and even once-in-a-great-while speak fairly honestly about it. However, when they pretend to address the problem, they merely talk about the supposed advantages of sexual reproduction, but that doesn’t explain its origin. By way of an analogy, simply showing why there are advantages to being a multi-billionaire does not explain how to actually become one!

To say that I have only scratched the surface on this topic would be a gross understatement. There’s so much more to this and I plan on elucidating it much further in one of the DVDs we will be producing this summer (2018). For now, feel free to checkout the livestream broadcast we did on May 31, 2018, in which I discuss this in a bit more detail with some helpful (and also tactful) visuals.

More Questions of the Month

What exactly is a shaman?

Seems like nowadays you can’t go anywhere without seeing the word “shaman” plastered all over the place. It’s on billboards, sides of buildings, storefronts, lawn ornaments, and even the paper wrappers around our hamburgers. OK, maybe not… but you’ve at least heard the word before, right?

Is “Doctrine” Divisive?

Have you ever been told that you were divisive or met someone who was markedly divisive? Many of us would answer in the affirmative to this question.

Christians … Are We All Just Biased?

“You’re just biased… that’s why you believe what you do!” What comes to mind when you hear a claim like this? It probably isn’t anything positive. The initial response from many Christians is to become defensive and possibly more emotional. But what do you think about this? How should we respond?

What is Elephant Hurling?

No, it’s not an Olympic event, although we’ve had some unusual ones in the past (tug-of-war, club swinging, live pigeon shooting, croquet and underwater swimming to name a few). This phrase refers to a debate tactic in which the critic uses summary arguments from various areas to give the impression that voluminous supporting data exists, when little or none is actually given.

Is the Bible always rightin a world that is constantly changing)?

​I remember hearing a woman say she finally met “Mr. Right”. Unfortunately, she soon after found out his first name was “Always”! I’m not going that direction with this month’s question, so you can breathe a sigh of relief.

How can I use “starting points” in witnessing?

Some people will actually approach a total stranger and ask them point blank if they have placed their trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. There’s a pretty good chance that you’re not one of these people. I would not say this approach is wrong, but it takes somewhat of a special personality to have the desire to do so and to do it effectively. For the rest of us (myself included), we need to consider a different approach.

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