The theory of evolution by natural selection was popularised by Charles Darwin in the mid 19th Century. He observed that living organisms have the natural ability to adapt, and suggested that this ability accounts for the development of modern life from a primitive ancestor.
In the middle of the 20th Century, genetic mutation was proposed as the mechanism for evolution by natural selection. This brought about the theory we commonly refer to as Neo-Darwinism, which today is generally regarded and taught as fact. Over the last 150 years, the belief in the God of heaven as the Almighty Creator has greatly diminished.
It is however significant that when Darwinism and Neo-Darwinism were conceived there was no knowledge of the biochemical mechanisms by which life operates. For example, in the mid 20th Century, the enthusiastic Darwinian philosopher and naturalist Ernst Haeckel believed that a cell was a “simple little lump of albuminous combination of carbon”. Since that time, inventions such as the electron microscope have revealed the cell to be a chemical factory of phenomenal complexity. And the study of molecular biology, which was only just beginning when Neo-Darwinism was launched, has since revealed the amazing complexity of the chemistry of life.
Suppose it turns out that an organism is so complex that it would fail to operate if any key components were missing. If this should be the case, it stands to reason that it could not have evolved—it must have appeared fully assembled and functioning, therefore it must have been designed. This is the argument of ‘irreducible complexity’.
Darwin himself admitted: “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.” It’s interesting to remember that back in the 19th Century, Darwin had no idea how breathtakingly complex living organisms actually are.
Blood Clotting
A notable example of irreducible complexity is the process by which blood clots. We take it for granted (if our blood functions properly) that if we cut ourselves, within a few minutes the bleeding will stop and within a week or two the cut will have healed. Biochemical research has revealed that this automatic process uses a mechanism of staggering complexity. The wound triggers the production of a cascade of around 13 proteins, each of which is activated by the previous protein in the chain. The culmination of this cascade is the production of thrombin, which causes a meshwork of fibrin proteins to trap the blood molecules and seal over the wound. Then another set of proteins is released to stop the clotting process before it spreads too far, and to dissolve the clot once the healing process is complete.
It’s clear just how critical are the many steps of the clotting process. If any step of the cascade did not work, your blood clot would not form. If the controlling proteins did not work, all the blood in your body would solidify. In order to work, the whole system of proteins must be precisely balanced and complete. How did this amazing mechanism come into existence in small evolutionary steps, and while it was still developing why did our ancestors not bleed to death whenever they cut themselves?
Evolutionary Explanations
The mechanism of blood clotting is just one of many systems which appear to be irreducibly complex, requiring the presence of many biochemical components, each of which is essential to the system’s correct functioning. Although these systems have been thoroughly described, very few attempts have been made to show how they could have evolved.
Evolutionists often claim that nature in fact operates a system of ‘redundant complexity’. This is based on the observation that many enzymes have multiple functions, and in some cases if one enzyme is absent another will take over its role. So, the theory goes, new mechanisms might evolve by co-opting enzymes that are already being used for other pathways. But a more likely explanation for redundant complexity is that it has been deliberately built in. Just as a human engineer might include back-up systems when designing a critical piece of equipment, so God, the Great Designer, has built redundant complexity into biochemical systems in order to make them more robust. Redundant complexity is not a satisfactory explanation for evolution.
At the end of the day, evolutionists are forced to maintain that such complexity indeed arose in small steps, even though there is no rational explanation as to how this could have happened. It is simply a position of faith.
An alternative to faith in evolution as the explanation for life, is faith in the living God, Who made heaven and earth and has revealed Himself to us in the Bible. The wonders of the living world which are being revealed by molecular biology only serve to increase our sense of awe at His genius. The Bible invites us to ‘stop and consider the wondrous works of God’ (Job 37:14).
David Burges
Adapted from Wonders of Creation
reproduced by permission of The Christadelphian