I wish to share about three great British scientists who believed in
Creation and never saw any reason from their many varied researches and readings
to depart from this view. They are Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday
and William Thomson. Many are the accolades these men have received for
their hard work and various discoveries. Both Isaac and William were knighted.
Michael refused various honours, but received plenty. Sir William was later
named Lord Kelvin when he was made a Baron and a member of the House of Lords.
He adopted the name Kelvin from the river Kelvin in Scotland with due regard to
the association he had with Glasgow University and the area.
A more permanent record of their achievements is the way their names are now
part of daily science. Immortalised as follows: the unit of Force is called a
Newton (N); The unit of electrical capacity is called a Farad (F);
the temperature scale with zero as the absolute zero is called the Kelvin scale
(K). They are in good company today since there is an association of
scientists who share in this considered understanding. To be a voting member
they must have a scientific post-graduate degree in their own field. Their name
is the Creation Research Society
comprising of no less than 640 such members worldwide(1).
There is also, of course, a great abundance of those of like mind who don't
belong to the association.
Isaac Newton
In a paper of a few pages, entitled A Short Scheme of the True Religion
he discusses Godliness, Atheism, Idolatry and Humanity,
or our duty to man. Relevant to Creation he wrote:
. . . Can it be by accident that all birds, beasts,
and men have their right side and left side alike shaped, (except in their
bowels,) and just two eyes, and no more, on either side of the face; and just
two ears on either side of the head, and a nose with two holes; and either two
fore- legs, or two wings, or two arms on the shoulders, and two legs on the
hips, and no more? Whence arises this uniformity in all their outward shapes but
from the counsel and contrivances of an Author? Whence is it that the eyes of
all sorts of living creatures are transparent to the very bottom, and the only
transparent members in the body, having on the outside a hard transparent skin,
and within transparent humours, with a crystalline lens in the middle, and a
pupil before the lens, all of them so finely shaped and fitted for vision, that
no artist can mend them? Did blind chance know that there was light, and what
was its refraction, and fit the eyes of all creatures, after the most curious
manner, to make use of it? These, and suchlike considerations, always have, and
ever will prevail with mankind, to believe that there is a Being who made all
things, and has all things in his power, and who is therefore to be feared.
Life of Sir Isaac Newton Pages 347-348 (2)
Michael Faraday
Up until the beginning of the 20th century the sciences were studied under
the term Natural Philosophy. So that any reference by these men to philosophy is
our equivalent of mentioning 'science' today. Michael Faraday was a renowned
lecturer and experimenter and highly valued as a speaker at the Royal
Institution in London. In 1847, after Easter, he gave a course of eight lectures
on physio- chemical philosophy. He ended the course of lectures like this:
In conclusion, I may remark that . . . our
philosophy, feeble as it is, gives us to see in every particle of matter, a centre
of force reaching to an infinite distance, binding worlds and suns together, and
unchangeable in its permanency. Around this same particle we see grouped the
powers of all the various phenomena of nature: the heat, the cold, the wind, the
storm, the awful conflagration, the vivid lightning flash, the stability of the
rock and the mountain, the grand mobility of the ocean, with its mighty tidal
wave sweeping round the globe in its diurnal journey, the dancing of the stream
and the torrent; the glorious cloud, the soft dew, the rain dropping fatness,
the harmonious working of all these forces in nature, until at last the molecule
rises up in accordance with the mighty purpose ordained for it, and plays its
part in the gift of life itself. And therefore our philosophy, whilst it
shows us these things, should lead us to think of Him who hath wrought them; for
it is said by an authority far above even that which these works present, that "the
invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead."
Life and Letters of Faraday Pages 224-225 (3)
William Thomson
As did Newton and Faraday, Thomson wrote on a great many subjects. His great
strength in science was to effectively produce mathematical workings to firmly
establish his research and discoveries. He is known for the 2nd law of
thermodynamics and thereby the temperature scale mentioned. He also has many
patents to his name. On the issue of life on earth he said:
. . . Careful enough scrutiny has in every case up to
the present day discovered life as antecedent to life. Dead matter cannot become
living without coming under the influence of matter previously alive . . . This
seems to me as sure a teaching of science as the law of gravitation . . . I am
ready to adopt, as an article of scientific faith, true through all space and
through all time, that life proceeds from life, and from nothing but life.
The Life of William Thomson Pages 604-605 (4)
He also did some calculations based solely upon the constant loss of heat
from the earth as produced by the internal energy sources. The extreme age limit
of the earth possible to his generous calculations are 50 to 90 million years
old (pages 674-6754). Certainly in his mind no
evolution theory of life beginning on earth is given room to manoeuvre. More
recent calculations based on the decline in the strength of the earth's own
magnetic field show it to be well within a small fraction of that age (5). There are many more modern scientists who speak up. A
list is given us in Anti-Darwinian Scientists by Wendell Bird published
by Philosophical Library, New York 1987. Several are quoted in The Great
Brain Robbery by David C.C. Watson, Cambridge University Press 1975 which
includes a devastating 12 page critique of The Blind Watchmaker by Dr
Richard Dawkins. Sir Isaac Newton's concluding words on the subject of idolatry
in the above mentioned paper serves well to finish off:
We are, therefore, to acknowledge one God, infinite,
eternal, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, the Creator of all things, most
wise, most just, most good, most holy. We must love him, fear him, honour him,
trust in him, pray to him, give him thanks, praise him, hallow his name, obey
his commandments, and set times apart for his service, as we are directed in the
Third and Fourth Commandments, for this is the love of God that we keep his
commandments, and his commandments are not grievous, 1 John v.3 . . .
Life of Sir Isaac Newton Page 348 [1 John v.3 = 1
John 5:3] (2)
My question is:
Why, from the education in our lands, is the evidence from these great
scientists ignored?
Notes:
(1) Up to date information obtained by
e-mail 18th April 2002 from Glen W. Wolfrom Ph.D. Membership Secretary of the
Creation Research Society; (2) Full title is
Memoirs of the Life, Writings and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton by Sir
D.Brewster Volume 2: no permission required; (3)
Life and Letters of Faraday by Dr. Bence Jones Secretary of the Royal
Institution. Published by Longmans, Green and Co. of London 1870. Quote used by
permission. The Bible quote is from Romans 1:20; (4)
The Life of William Thomson - Baron Kelvin of Largs by Silvanus P.
Thompson. Published by Macmillan and Co. Limited, St. Martin's Street, London
1910; (5)
Origin and Destiny of the Earth's Magnetic Field by Professor T.G Barnes
of the University of Texas published by Institute for Creation Research 1983.
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