The Evolution Delusion: A Scientific Study of Creation & Evolution
Author: Dr. Bo Kirkwood – Published
by: Truth Books, Athens, AL, 2016
As a Christian, a father, and a grandfather,
watching the impact inconclusive and unproven science has on our world and
loved ones, I find it very hard to resist “just one more perspective” on the
issue of evolution vs. creationism. So when offered an opportunity to review Bo
Kirkwood’s book on the topic, I took up the challenge. And a challenge it was – for reasons you’d
not easily guess.
Dr. Kirkwood is a Board Certified
Physician and on the faculty of two medical schools. Previous to medical
school, he earned a B.Sc. in Biology. He is also the author of Unveiling the Da Vinci Code as
well as a co-author, with his two brothers, Ron and John, both doctors, of A Case For Life: Christian Ethics &
Medical Science. Bo Kirkwood is also a Christian but that should not
prevent anyone from reading his book, as he approaches this topic with extreme
fairness to the “other side”.
The book is clearly not for novices
in this area. Kirkwood starts it off with a historical view on the origin of
species as well as material on homology, DNA and the Genome. He very carefully
addresses topics like irreducible complexity; the creation of life; birds,
moths, and a missing link; the human fossil record; Cambrian explosion; and
entropy. One of my favorite chapters was his treatment of evolution and racism.
At the end of the first section
Kirkwood gets very direct identifying what he calls the “elephant in the room”.
In a chapter by the same name, the author calls it out, “. . . if evolution is
so obviously philosophical and so diametrically opposed to the scientific
method how can so many very smart, extremely well-educated people, accept it so
easily and in most cases without question? . . . Many, many scientists today and in the past have
rejected evolution on a scientific basis . . . People like [and he lists them] do not accept molecules-to-man evolution and
this list could go on and on and on. So
the question remains, why can some see the problems scientifically [sic] with evolutionary theory and
others cannot? This seems to me to be the elephant in the room!” That chapter alone is worth the price of the
book.
In the second half of the book, Kirkwood
offers some alternative views when he tackles cosmologies; a fine-tuned
universe; the age of the earth; and beginnings. His passion though comes out
strongest in his last chapter entitled “What Does It All Mean?” He then
proceeds to answer that for both the evolutionist and the creationist.
Admittedly, someone with a scientific
mind or background would be able to navigate the book’s pages much better than
I did, but certainly having a keen interest in the topic as I do, helps one
follow the arguments both for and against both sides. Even though we know what
side the author lands on, he still encourages us to think for ourselves. His
biggest bone of contention is the circular arguments used by evolutionists
today and the fact that theory (which is what Darwin himself called his hypothesis)
is today passed off as fact.
The book helped me get a better
picture of the bigger “evolution vs. creation” world. It isn’t simple.
Evolutionists are divided on many counts. Creationists are not all marching to
the same tune. So someone who is really searching for answers has to do some
homework, and more importantly, be open to both possibilities. Kirkwood isn’t
so kind on those who start off with the belief of evolution and then reject all
arguments against it; nor is he too accepting of creationists that do not seek
to understand what science has indeed truly proven (vs. unproven theories) and
try to work that into their beliefs. And it’s this open-minded perspective that
makes Dr. Kirkwood’s book well worth reading for the Christian, the atheist, the
scientist, and the searcher. This is a book I’d want my grandchildren to read
before they embark on their post-secondary school studies.
In the process, I gained many gems
of knowledge that I found not only fascinating, but helping me to both better
argue for my own beliefs as well as understand the nature of the debate. Here
are but a few:
·
When experimentation cannot disprove the
hypothesis then that theory becomes much more relevant.
·
Both evolution and creationism require a degree
of faith.
·
What must be considered, however, is that
evolutionary studies already presuppose evolution.
·
Darwin was keenly aware of the biggest obstacle
with his theory and that was the lack in the fossil record of transitional
forms which should have been innumerable, thinking they would come later, but
never did.
The book clearly gives anyone who
is a creationist a sense of comfort that not all scientists (including some
non-theists) are letting evolutionists get away with bad science or worse
still, no science at all. And for that, Bo Kirkwood has done a great honor to
the topic and the debate.
By Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions
Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, May 13, 2016. www.accordconsulting.com
Get the book here: http://astore.amazon.com/accorconsu-20
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