Designed

Recently, my brother Kris made the observation that in wildlife documentaries the narrator will invariably state that an animal is "designed" for their habitat.  This statement generally falls among multiple references to how these animals developed via evolution.  Like with documentaries, non-fiction books on wildlife make the same "observations."  The last few weeks, I've read a couple of books on Bighorn Sheep (Ovis Canadensis) where similar statements were made, and currently I am reading The Wolf: Ghost Hunter by Daniel LeBoeuf.  

In one section, LeBoeuf writes that after "millions of years of evolution and adaptation, wolves have become skilled hunters" (pg. 68), but in another section he writes that a "wolf's legs are strong but slender-boned.  While large cats have thick legs that enable them to make short bursts of speed and to hold and crush prey, wolves' legs were designed for speed and endurance" (pg. 56).  

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, design is defined as: "to create, fashion, execute, or construct according to plan", "to conceive and plan out in the mind", "to have as a purpose", "to devise for a specific function or end", "to conceive or execute a plan", and "to draw, lay out, or prepare a design".  In which of these definitions does chaos or happenstance appear? Can evolution "have as a purpose" the design of a wolf's leg? Can evolution "create" anything "according to plan"?

Also according to Merriam-Webster, the applicable definition of evolution is the "historical development of a biological group (as a race or species)", a "theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations".

Question: What animal or group of animals decides what needs to be modified? How do they survive long enough to be modified? It literally makes no logical sense, although the predominant number of scientists today will use complex language to muddy the waters; when broken down to the simplest form, does evolution make sense? 

Note also that the number one definition in the Merriam-Webster dictionary for evolution is "one of a set of prescribed movements."  One set of "prescribed" movements? Prescribe means "to lay down as a guide, direction, or rule of action", "to specify with authority", and "to lay down a rule". 

How can evolution, which is treated as the sheer happenstance of circumstances, be guided? Who sets the guide? Another sub-definition of evolution is "a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a higher, more complex, or better state."  This definition was applied indirectly to society, but it is often applied to "scientific" evolution as well (think of terms like "evolved higher beings").  Why do we assume that if evolution is purely by happenstance and that there is no intelligence involved that it would automatically go from simple to more complex, or "worse" to "better"? How often do societies actually do so? 

It seems that even in the evolutionist's overwhelming desire to explain away God, some still logical part of their brain realizes the reality of an intelligent designer and they subconsciously understand that for something like the legs of a wolf to operate correctly a design must have taken place.   

The Bible: God's Inspired Word (First Principle Series #2)

Before we begin this study we should clarify that the intended scope is not a comprehensive study of all available evidences on the topic at hand.  To attempt such in this brief space would obviously be an insurmountable task.  Our goal instead is to provide a few foundational evidences that will aid in the building of faith in God and/or intrigue the reader enough that they to continue their study of the Bible. 

While it is possible to look at the world around us and derive that there must be an intelligent designer, this observation alone cannot reveal the mind of that intelligent designer to us.  No matter how well we may know another person, we cannot truly know what they are thinking unless they tell us.  Many people today will say that if God exists, than He MUST accept certain things based on their own preconceptions rather than looking to the Bible to see what God has revealed His will to be.  In 1 Corinthians 2:11, the Apostle Paul establishes the principle that we cannot know the mind of God unless He reveals it to us, just like we cannot know the mind of another person.

There is a rich history of God speaking at various times to various men and women by various methods.  In Hebrews 1:1-2, we are told that God “at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son…” The idea, as expressed by the writer of Hebrews, is that God has not left us to wonder what He wants of us, but rather has told us.  Consider 2 Timothy 3:16-17 where the Apostle Paul writes that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 

What is inspiration? How has God revealed His will to us? God the Father used the prophets, His own Son, and the Apostles to convey His will.  Consider, for instance, what is said in Deuteronomy 18:18, “I [God is speaking through Moses] will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.”  The “Prophet” spoken of here is a prophecy not only about the coming of the Christ, but also of how and what Jesus would speak.  In John 12:49-50, Jesus says, “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.  And I know that His command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”  Essentially, we have Jesus confirming that He was the Prophet prophesied about in Deuteronomy 18 and that He spoke only the things given to Him by God the Father to speak.

Refer back to Hebrews 1:1 where we were told that God spoke through the prophets in time past, then turn to Isaiah 59:21 where God is speaking to Isaiah the prophet: “As for Me,’ says the Lord, ‘this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth…”  Note the similarities in what is said to the prophet Isaiah here and what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2.  Like the prophets of the Old Testament, the Apostles were inspired both to speak and to write.  In 1 Corinthians 2:12-13, Paul writes that now “we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.  These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”  Paul is informing us that he spoke not of his own volition!  Like Jesus, he spoke only what the Father had given him to speak.  Consider a statement earlier in the same chapter where Paul writes, “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). 

The Bible has been provided for us through the inspiration of the writers of Scripture.  In many instances, these writers were passing on eye witness testimony.  In 1 John 1:1-4, John writes,

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life – the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us – that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.  And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.”

He speaks frequently about how they were bearing witness of the things which they had seen and handled.  Likewise,  in Luke 1:1-4 it is written, “Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.”  To clarify, the passages from 1 John and Luke 1 show us that in addition to being inspired by God, these writers were conveying their eye witness testimonies. 

Again, this article is not meant to be a comprehensive study of the inspiration of the Scriptures.  There are many, many secondary texts dedicated to showing how we have compiled the manuscripts now known as the Bible and there is far too much to examine here.  It is fair to ask questions about how we obtained the Bible, how it has been translated, and how it has successfully maintained its validity over the course of thousands of years.  Consider, however, that if God is the intelligent designer of the world, is anything too difficult for Him? Would it be impossible for God to ensure that we have His complete will? How would the rather simple task of translation be too much for Him?

Because God has provided us with His will, we must strive to live within it and to do as He commands us.  In Colossians 3:17 we read, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”  The term “in the name of” means, essentially, “by the authority of” the person (in this case, Jesus) named, such as the modern term “open up in the name of the law.”  Like Jesus and the Apostle Paul (and all other inspired prophets and authors), we must speak in accordance with the word of God (1 Peter 4:11, 2 Timothy 2:15).

As Peter has written, “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11).