This weekend Art Hobson, retired Physics prof at the University of Arkansas, wrote an article against creationists you can read HERE. The following is what I wrote in a public response to Dr. Hobson:
Wikipedia does not define “truth,” rather stating that it is relative to the perspective of those making such judgment. Oxford dictionaries say “truth”is what is “accepted as being fact or true. “Art Hobson [Times, July 5 ] certainly has the right and freedom to state what he believes to be true about creation. I am surprised (not really ) that a person so given to scientific fact uses such thin arguments. For instance, what is the basis for his determination that the fossils are indeed millions of years old ? What data is so irrefutable that can make (for him ) such a truth-filled statement ?
The chances of 200 strands of DNA being perfectly formed (and in order ), even if it took 8 billion years, is so astronomically improbable it is difficult to call it science. In addition to that formation, there is membrane, cell nucleus and an environment for all of this to happen. The only thing a person is left with, if denying God as Creator (not even speaking of Christianity at this point ), is that mankind is so amazing that even just the idea of us that was floating around out there for billions of years just compelled thousands of nonelements and chance activities to occur together and form us because we are just that amazing ! Ridiculous. The essential argument here really isn’t about science as much as it is philosophy. The truth is (I know, according to my truth ) that people like Art Hobson just cannot imagine a being anywhere more amazing than mankind, therefore himself. Evolutionists do this by putting man at the top of the evolutionary chain (at least so far ), denying that there is a Creator God. The level of arrogance in Hobson’s article makes the title and the opening almost a farce. Those of us who hold to such “malarkey”are in good company with the framers of the Declaration of Independence, brilliant minds like C. S. Lewis and William F. Buckley, not to mention the revelation of the Bible. Hobson seems to me to be one of the few that could actually stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon and think much of himself. (See Romans 1:18-23)
Mike Lumpkin / Fayetteville
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Now the paper did not want to print the full text of Romans 1:18-23, but I appreciate the fact they at least included the reference itself. I struggle with when and how to respond to public editorials like Dr. Hobson’s, but I am driven to do so, not because I think that the Bible or truth need defending in that sense, but simply wanting to state what I believe many in the Christian community would want to state themselves. I do not believe I am the voice of Christians in NW Arkansas, but I’m grateful for the freedom to make statements regarding biblical truth in a public forum. That has not been taken from us yet!
With that, let me commend to you what I told our interns in a recent lecture. 1 Peter 3:15-16 states, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.” Apologetics is not evangelism, but it can (and should) lead to true evangelism. This begins with personal holiness, which I feel a lacking of many times, and preparation. Part of preparation is being resolved in your doctrine so that much effort is given to gentleness and respect.
Our flesh loves to be right at whatever cost. To be gentle and respectful does not mean passive, wimpy, or necessarily soft spoken. It simply means you are not argumentative and if there is a sharpness, you mean no guile. I exhort you all to know God and His Word above all else and you will know any dissenting voices (whether an atheist / evolutionist or a secular pluralist – like Oprah). No matter how blatant or subtle, the enemies of the Christian faith are best battled by believers who resolutely love their Christ enough to know all that they can about Him. Remember, He is your HOPE and hope is something the world does not have…and it makes them ask questions!
Grounded 
I’m glad that Mike responded to Dr. Hobson’s editorial. I normally do not read his bi-weekly writings because I’m fairly certain that I will disagree with whatever position he is taking. The headline last Saturday caught my eye and therefore I did give in and read it. To me what may have been one of the most tellling points of his editorial was the statement “Good scientists never claim to know anything for sure…” This very statement undoes all of the rest of his arguments against a creator. The dating of fossils, the evoluntionary adaption of various lifeforms, etc. are all based on man’s observations, which may very well in the future be proven to be false. For many of us, we would simply like for evolution to be presented today as it was when I was in school, a scientific “theory”, not an irrefutable fact. And then allow students and professors the intellectual freedom to hold other views, including the view that everything was created by God.
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I appreciate our pastor speaking up on Dr. Hobson’s editorial as well. Christians should indeed be ready to give an answer for their hope that is in Christ. I am always amazed at the “evolutionist” stance on “millions” of years old and the fact that mankind evolved out of a soupy mix from a crawling slug into and out of a monkey. Talk about “faith”! Total blind faith in something that is as farfetched as anything could be. We know as Christians that God speaks of how people are blinded in their sin. Obviously Dr. Hobson is blinded by his. This may seem like a common sense statement but I always want to respond to folks that praise evolution and dismiss God as Creator with this question. Do you believe God the Creator made a mountain that was 1 day old? Trees that were 1 day old? Adam wasn’t an infant when God formed him. The earth was obviously created at the instant God spoke it into existence. We as humans though fail to realize that just like Adam wasn’t an infant when God created him, the earth was already “aged” too and God can put whatever age He wants on anything He creates. Adaptation is just another revelation of how great our God & Savior, our Creator and author of our Salvation really is! Everything that has been created has been by the hand of Christ! The Alpha & Omega, the Beginning and End, the First and the Last! One day every knee will bow!
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It’s great when Christians write letters to the editor. I always hear Christians talking about how misrepresented our ideas are in the media – the ideas are misrepresented because we don’t put them out there. If we constantly expect the media to come to us, they never will.
As an ex-media person, I can tell you that the newspaper probably appreciated your thoughtful and reasoned response (there’s nothing worse than a “you don’t know what you’re talking about” letter to the editor, riddled with grammatical errors and logical fallacies). They’ll probably even put you down as a possible source for future articles.
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The Bible says the fool says in his heart there is no God. 1 John says they speak as one of the world, therefore the world listens to them. Yet God’s Word is true though every man be a liar. I tremble when I think about the evolutionist, who spent his life denying and suppressing the truth of the Great Creator, when they bow before Him on that day. Oh how I pray that they come to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible says that God’s hand print is evident in creation so that no one has an excuse before Almighty God. In fact for anyone to come to the opposite conclusion, the Bible says they are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. How can God’s attributes be seen in what is created?? 1 Corinthians 14 says that God is not a God of disorder but of peace. So with that said we should see order in creation since it is created by the God of order Himself. WE DO!!! Creation whether on the astronomical scale or the biological scale is unfathomably ordered. We get our word cosmos (another name for the universe) from the Greek word kosmos. This word literally means order. There is order, in fact the evolutionist say that the scale of order that we see in creation is due to dumb luck and chance. Let me ask you when is the last time you ever saw a puzzle come together when left by itself? No it takes intelligence to put something as small as a puzzle together, how much more the complexity of the universe or a cell??
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