The Origin and Beginning of Matter and Life

By Alphons V. Versne

The Evolution versus Creation debat is presented in the Western world as the choice between Science and Faith. Science is a system of acquiring knowledge, using observation and experimentation to describe natural phenomena. By this definition, Evolution is as much a matter of Faith as Creation is. The origin and beginning of what is cannot be observed and reproduced by experiments. The book unveills the academic and educational fraud in the Western world that retain that what is came into existence by random change and natural selection against the findings of the Sciences, especially over the last hundred years. The phenomena of irreducible compexity and the information concept reduce Evolution to science-fiction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Apr 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496977274

Alphons V. Versne

After a working life of 43 years in international business and industry, the author launched into theological studies and rounded these off with a B Th and M Th Degree at The Baptist Theological College of Southern Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa. Because of his background in the secular world, the further research is in the field of the application of biblical principles and values in secular society.

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© 2014 Alphons V. Versnel, B Th M Th. All rights reserved.

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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

Published by AuthorHouse 04/14/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-7726-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-7725-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-7727-4 (e)

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CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1 Theories On The Beginning Of The Universe

Introduction

The Universe Began To Exist And Had A Cause Of Its Existence

The Scientific Evidence

Conclusion

Notes For Chapter 1

Chapter 2 The Beginning Of Matter

Introduction

The Scientific Method Applied To The Physical Universe

Quantum Mechanics

The Standard Model

The ‘Big Bang’ Theory

Motion

The Forming Of The Universe

A New Theory Describing The ‘Outer Space’

The Age Of Things

The Earth: A Unique Place For Life

Conclusion

Notes For Chapter 2

Chapter 3 The Origin And Beginning Of Life

Introduction

Theories For The Origin And Beginning Of Life

The Plant World (10)

Animal And Human Life

The Irreducible Complexity Of Life

The Information Concept

Cosmic Design—A Single Designer

Conclusion

Notes For Chapter 3

Postscript

Endnotes

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day." (Genesis 1:31)

Johannesburg, April 2014

PREFACE

When my granddaughter, in her first year of veterinary sciences study in London, expressed her surprise that I still believed in the creation of the universe, as described in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, I did not have the ready knowledge of the sciences to enter into a meaningful discussion.

There are two theories that claim to explain the existence of the universe and life:

1.   Life and everything else in the universe is created by design by a Designer, whom we call God. This philosophy is represented by Creation.

2.   The other theory that was conceived in the nineteenth century by Charles Darwin claims that the universe and life evolved from unguided, random, events. This philosophy is called Evolution.

The evolution theory is based on the Primary Axiom: what is—matter and life—are merely the product of random mutations plus natural selection. This is the general accepted position of academics in the Western world that is taught in our schools and universities. ‘Creation’ theory is not ‘scientific’ and not allowed to be taught.

What is left out of the academic discussion is that the Primary Axiom, Evolution, is as much a philosophy, a belief system, as is Creation. The correct academic approach should be to test the validity of the two philosophies, by applying the discipline of the Sciences to the two belief systems.

The progress in the Sciences over the last 100 years enables us to have a much better understanding of the validity of the one or the other premiss. The fascinating journey through this is a convincing testimony to the creation of the universe and life by design, by the eternal Designer, whom we call God.

CHAPTER 1

THEORIES ON THE BEGINNING OF THE UNIVERSE

Introduction

Philosophy begins with a sense of wonder about existence and one of the most profound questions a man can ask concerns the origin of the universe [1]. This argument is known in philosophy as the Cosmological Argument [2]:

A pattern of argumentation that makes an inference from certain alleged facts about the cosmos to the existence of a unique being, identified with, or referred to as God.

Among these initial facts are that the universe came into being, that it is contingent in that it could have been other than it is, or that certain events in the world are causally dependent or contingent. From these facts philosophers infer that a first cause, or necessary being, or a personal being—God exists.

The argument arises from human curiosity as to why there is something rather than nothing? How did the universe begin? Why are we here?

Cosmology explains ‘unknowns’ with ‘unknowns’. We are using philosophical reasoning to choose our models. We create models. Then we make observations and interpret these to see whether these are consistent with the model. We cannot prove to be right.

Facts have to be interpreted within a framework (paradigm), which is built upon starting assumptions (unprovable beliefs).

The basic questions, then, which philosophy and science try to answer are

39904.png    How did the universe begin?

39907.png    Why are we here?

The modern, secular, world tries to find the answers to the first question in science-and so far fails to do so. But we argue that the answer to both questions is philosophical—the more we advance in the sciences, the more we have to conclude that the answer on ‘the origin’ cannot be found in science.

It is a conclusion of observational science that life arises only from life, therefore the question to be answered is what or who is the origin of what is. The answer cannot be defined in terms of physics and chemistry.

The universe began to exist and had a cause of its existence

The Philosophical Argument

Thomas Aquinas proposed Five Ways of what he considered five proofs of the existence of God in his Summa Theological. The fifth is taken from the governance of the world. Things which lack knowledge, such as natural bodies, act for an end, and this is evident from their acting always, or nearly always, in the same way, so as to obtain the best results. Hence it is plain that they achieve their end, not fortuitously, but designedly. These bodies are ‘programmed’. Therefore, an ‘intelligent being’ exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this ‘being’ we call God (3).

In Cosmology a theory is phrased, by extrapolating the observations backwards, to explain the observations, by applying the ‘laws of nature’ to the observations. This way science describes, mathematically, the beginning of the universe and predicts future observations, expecting to prove the premise. If this is not the case, a new model is phrased or the existing one adapted to accommodate the new findings.

Leibniz [4] argues that something rather than nothing exists because a necessary