Mutations—part of evolution’s engine?

War of the Worldviews sneak preview series: part 3

See table of contents and list of authors.

by Pam S. Sheppard, staff writer, AiG–USA

“Mutation: it is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward.” – from the opening lines of the movie X-Men

When man sinned against God as told in Genesis 3, God cursed the ground and the animals, and He sentenced man to die. God withdrew some of His sustaining power and no longer completely upheld everything by His awesome power as He did before. As a result, mutations occur and DNA flaws accumulate in humans and animals.

So, which explanation of mutations is correct: the evolutionary one perpetuated by pop culture or the one based on the Bible? It comes down to a person’s belief about history, as Bodie Hodge, Answers in Genesis (AiG) speaker, writer and manager of the Answers Department, explains in the chapter on mutations.

“There are two dominant views of history—one that is evolutionary and one that is biblical,” says Hodge. “When looking at mutations, the common question that arises is ‘which of these two views of history explain mutations better?’”

Overwhelmingly, mutations favor the biblical account of history, as Hodge shows in this chapter. While genetic mutations are hailed as the dominant mechanism for pond-scum-to-people evolution by allegedly providing new information in the DNA strand, they are actually moving in the wrong direction.

“Instead of observing massive information-gaining mutations, we are observing massive amounts of information-losing mutations,” Hodge says. “This is a tremendous blow to pond-scum-to-people evolution, but is exactly what we would expect in the biblical framework,” Hodge explains.

Hodge says that Christians shouldn’t cringe when they hear the term “genetic mutations.” After all, mutations are a sign of the Curse and indicate that we are no longer living in a perfect world!

But aren’t some mutations good? Sadly, Hodge says, movies like X-Men and Spiderman help promote a concept that mutations are very good.

“Most mutations are not beneficial in any way,” Hodge adds. “The cancer ward in any hospital will show you that.”

That’s not to say that there aren’t any mutations that are beneficial. As Hodge points out in this chapter, some mutations can cause an organism to lose genetic information and yet gain some type of functionality or survival benefit. For example, if a beetle loses the information to make a wing on a windy island, the mutation is beneficial because the beetle doesn’t get blown out to sea and killed. Genetically, the mutation caused a loss of information but was helpful to the beetle.

As the manager of the Answers Department at AiG, Hodge sees the clash of worldviews on a daily basis through the thousands of emails, phone calls, and letters that AiG receives. And some correspondence comes from those who are very hostile to AiG’s message, to the Bible and to God.

“The primary reason for that is that they have been taught a different view—a different history of the universe,” Hodge says. “When they find out about the history in the Bible, that angers them sometimes.”

While Hodge says it is unrealistic to expect somebody to change their worldview overnight, he and others in the Answers Department have received accounts of people who write to say that they have reconsidered their thinking on a number of topics after receiving information from AiG.

Like Paul who spoke to the Greeks and had to first replace the people’s foundational belief with a biblical one, Hodge sees today’s battle of the worldviews in the same light.

“Many people are coming with a different foundation the same way the Greeks were. And we have to challenge that foundation, lay the biblical foundation and then explain to them Jesus Christ. That’s when you see the real changes,” Hodge says.

When you base your thinking on the Bible, the devastating effects of mutations should remind us of the Curse in Genesis 3. And those who place their faith in Christ, the Creator, can look forward to a new heaven and Earth where there will be no more pain, death or disease.

So, ultimately the question comes down to this: in whom will you place your trust—in Hollywood’s version of history or the Holy One’s?