The Rise and Fall of Goal-Directed Evolution

Evolution cannot find the mechanism that drives evolution forward. They have also shot down theistic evolution's idea that God planted an "Omega Point" within each life form that is its ultimately state of perfection in evolutionary time. What does that leave us? God the Creator formed each kind of life at the same time, during Creation Week! We know this is true from His Word, the Bible, as told to the first humans, Adam and Eve...

"The collapse of each new attempt to explain the origin of new biological information in species is additional support for the creation origins views. The neo-Darwinian concept of mutations and natural selection may well also be discarded when its limitations are more fully understood."

Selections from The Rise and Fall of the Orthogenesis Non-Darwinian Theory of Evolution, by Jerry Bergman.

(These selections by Marko Malyj are of the article published in Creation Research Society Quarterly Journal, Volume 47, Number 2, Fall, 2010, to appear at http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq/abstracts/Abstracts47-2.htm).

Evolutionists have always struggled to come up with a final theory to explain the origin of new biological information in species. Darwin himself recognized that his initial theory was merely "a provisional hypothesis or speculation", the best so far that "until a better one [can] be advanced, it will serve to bring together a multitude of facts which are at present left disconnected by any efficient cause" (Darwin, 1896, p. 350). However, ever since Darwin's published Origin of the Species in 1859, no such final theory is in sight. It can continue to be said that "evolutionary theory is a tumultuous field where many different views are now competing for dominance" (Esenstein, 2003, p. 2).

What is Orthogenesis or Goal-Directed Evolution?

Orthogenesis was one of the leading evolutionary theories between 1875 and 1950. It tries to answer several issues.

First, "Darwin assumed that the variation of individuals occurred more or less at random" (Bowler, 1979, p.40). But early on, numerous objections were raised against Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Random variations, acted on by natural selection, are not a sufficient mechanism by which evolution might produce the life-forms existing today.

Second, evolution seems to have stopped for many forms of life. Called "living fossils," they have not changed much since their initial appearance in the geologic record. Evolutionary change ceases and stasis [stability] prevails.

Orthogenesis, also called straight-line or "goal-directed" evolution, raises the idea that "if variations were not random - if they tended to occur more readily in some directions than others - then the direction of variation might itself control the course of evolution" (Bowler, 1979, p. 40). In orthogenesis, there is therefore an "internal drive", a biological force that drives species to evolve to perfection. This force is built in to the organic world. Henry Fairfield Osborn, the "giant of paleontology", explained that once a "perfect mechanism evolved, evolution stopped" (Ruse, 1996, p. 265). Evolution continues until a maximized structure evolves, at which point evolutionary change ceases and stasis prevails. The evolution of organisms would be driven in one direction to a "state of perfection."

Of course, the most well known supposed example of goal-directed evolution is the famous human evolution progression series, which we will discuss further below.

The Spread of the Orthogenesis Idea

One of the earliest supposed examples of goal-directed evolution is the horse. Professor Othniel Marsh, a 19th century  paleontologist, collected a magnificent set of fossil horses and then attempted to trace its evolution

from a small three-toed animal "the size of a fox" through larger animals with progressively larger hooves, developed from the middle toe. Darwin thought Marsh's sequence from little Eohippus ("Dawn horse") to modern Equus was the best evolutionary demonstration anyone has produced in the 15 years since the Origin of Species (1859) was published (Milner, 1990, p.220).

Marsh's classic orthogenetic, unilinear horse evolution soon became "enshrined in every biology textbook and in a famous exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History" (Milner, 1990, p.220).

Osborn argued that evolutionary parallelism - today called convergent evolution - was persuasive evidence for orthogenesis. Convergent evolution is when animal structures evolve along discrete, but similar, lines to yield very similar structures (Colbert, 1994, p.64). Thus, wings are believed to have evolved separately at least three times (in birds, bats, and pterodactyls). To Osborn these examples proved the existence of the orthogenetic inward drive.

Orthogenesis was further popularized by Jesuit paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin. He argued for an orthogenetic evolution that would eventually reach a state of perfection, which he called the "Omega Point". De Chardin wrote that without orthogenesis life would only have merely spread out, but with it, the ascent of life became "inevitable" (1959, p. 109).

In recent years, orthogenesis was used by Calvin College physics professor Howard Van Till [who has moved away from Calvinism - MM] His theory concluded that a "complete initial creation" and an inbuilt "robust foundational formational economy" are responsible for the creation of all things, living and nonliving (1990, pp. 112-115). This form of vitalism credits God with constructing the seeds of life very early in the universe, and for this reason life contains the drive to perfect itself. (This view is simply another form of theistic evolution and orthogenesis).

Opposition to Orthogenesis by Evolutionists

Close to a century after Marsh's horse exhibit first appeared, the paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson reexamined horse evolution and "concluded that generations of students had been misled" (Milner, 1990, p.220). Simpson (1951, pp. 163-171) argued that horse evolution was not gradual. Teeth, toes, and even body size "varied in different lineages, independently of each other" (Milner, 1990, p.220). He concluded that orthogenesis did not provide an adequate explanation of horse evolution (Simpson, 1953).

Of course, the most well known supposed example of goal-directed evolution is the famous human evolution progression series pictured above. However, the prominent evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould (1989, p.30) concluded this series is a gross distortion of the fossil evidence.

Problems with the Human Evolution Progression Series, courtesy
http://thinkinginchrist.com/2010/02/human-evolution-drawings/

Ultimately, most evolutionists rejected orthogenesis because it fails to explain the source of the "unknown inner forces inherent in organisms" that moved them "toward some ideal goal". Simpson was opposed because he concluded it required "some mysterious inner force" that cannot be explained by science (Simpson, 1953, p. 125).

The orthogenesis theory has largely been abandoned, because no plausible physical mechanism for the postulated internal drive that caused life to evolve in a specific direction was ever found (Ruse, 1996; Simpson, 1967). Examples used to support it have all been shown to have many exceptions and irregularities or are just plan wrong. Darwinists vehemently rejected the conclusion that "direction" exists in evolution (Simpson, 1967, p.132).

Creation Science's Answer to Orthogenesis

Howe (1965, 1972, 1999, and 2000) has summarized and evaluated a great deal of evidence. It is erroneous to see "convergent evolution" as supporting orthogenesis. Instead, our Creator displays his extraordinary versatility by producing wings in different kinds of animals that are taxonomically widely separated. Such parallelism supports creation, not evolution.

The collapse of each new attempt to explain the origin of new biological information in species is additional support for the creation origins views. The neo-Darwinian concept of mutations and natural selection may well also be discarded when its limitations are more fully understood.

References (selected)

Bowler, P.J. Theodor Eimer and orthogenesis: evolution by "definitely directed variations." Journal of the History of Medicine 34(1):40-73.

Colbert, Edwin H. 1994. Four giants of paleontology, Natural History 5:62-67.

Darwin, Charles. 1896. Animals and Plants Under Domestication. Vol II. D. Appleton, New York, NY.

De Chardin, P.T. 1959. The Phenomenon of Man. With an Introduction by Julian Huxley. Harper, New York, NY.

Esenstein, J.H. 2003. Death to intelligent design. The Harvard Crimson Online Edition, March 3, 2003.

Gould, S.J. 1989. Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of life. Norton: New York, NY.

Howe, G.F. 1965. Homology, analogy, and creative components in plants. Creation Research Society Quarterly 2:11-21.

Howe, G.F. 1972. Homology, analogy, and innovative teaching. Unpublished manuscript. georgefhowe@sbcglobal.net.

Howe, G.F. 1999. Homology and origins. Creation Matters 4:1-5.

Howe, G.F. 2000. The origins of flowering plants. Creation Research Society Quarterly 37:66-67.

Milner, Richard. 1990. The Encyclopedia of Evolution: Humanity's Search for Its Origins. Facts on File, New York, NY.

Ruse, M. 1996. Monad to Man: The Concept of Progress in Evolutionary Biology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

Simpson, George Gaylord. 1951. Horses: The Story of the Horse Family in the Modern World and Through Sixty Million Years of History. Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

Simpson, George Gaylord. 1953. Life of the Past. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.

Simpson, George Gaylord. 1967. The Meaning of Evolution. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.

Van Till, Howard J. 1990. The scientific investigation of cosmic history. In Van Till, Howard, J., Robert E. Snow, John H. Stek, and Davis A. Young (editors), Portraits of Creation: Biblical and Scientific Perspectives on the World's Formation, pp. 82-125. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI.

Did God Design Eons of Death into the Creation?

If there were eons of pain, suffering, and death before the awful rebellion of Adam brought "death" into the world, then the suffering of our Lord Jesus becomes unnecessary.

Some have suggested that all living things were originally designed by God to die, that over the millions of years in which animal and pre-human life was developing, death played a perfectly natural role in the creation. Some have even taught that the death which God threatened Adam with was a "special" kind of death that applied only to humans.

Necessary death and long ages are exactly what atheistic science would advocate. How can the God who is life create death as part of His own signature? How ludicrous to think God would design death into His creation, and then agonize over the necessity of His own death in order to bring us salvation. Death by the design of God is absolutely foreign to the revealed nature of God (Romans 1:20).

In Genesis 3--the turning point in Scripture--all of the "good" was instantly withdrawn by God, who by His word activated the "groaning and travailing" of the earth and its inhabitants. The ground was cursed, yielding thorns and thistles, surrounding Adam with sorrowful labor for the rest of his life until he himself would return to the earth from which he was fashioned.

But was God lying? Was He now blaming Adam for what He Himself had done? If the death pronounced by God is nothing more than a "symbol" of a greater message, then death can be relegated to a mystical musing that has no tangible meaning.

A most dangerous extension of the "death" equation is that physical death becomes essentially irrelevant in the punishment of sin. Gethsemane's agonizing was for nothing, and the hundreds of warnings, curses, and consequences detailed in Scripture are now twisted into allegorical advice or suggestions.

If there were eons of pain, suffering, and death before the awful rebellion of Adam brought "death" into the world, then the suffering of our Lord Jesus becomes unnecessary. If the "wages of sin" is nothing more than some sort of spiritualized distance from the Creator, then the entire burden of sin becomes nothing more than a mental attitude. Heaven and hell are "what you make of it."

(extracted from Henry Morris III, "The Issues of Death", Acts & Facts, November 2009, Institute of Creation Research)

Parable of a Man and the Immovable Rock

A man was sleeping in his cabin one night when suddenly his room filled with light, and God appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock at the shore near the man's cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might…

So, obedient to the Lord's request, the man pushed day after day, week after week. For many years he toiled from sunup to sundown, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might!

Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Satan decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary mind: “You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and absoulutely nothing has happened. Don't you know that it is an impossible task? Why not just put in your time, and do the minimum amount of effort. That will be good enough.”

Feeling like a failure, the man decided maybe that's what he should do. However, he thought that since God had asked him to do this task, he would take his failure to God and see what God wanted him to do. “Lord,” he prayed, “You know everything. You know I have been faithful to Your request. But in all all this time, I have not even budged that rock even one inch. Why am I such a failure?”

Compassionately the Lord responded, “My friend, you accepted my request and were faithful to the mission that I gave you, to push against the rock with all of your strength. You have done this. But never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it.”

“Your task was to push. Look at yourself. Your back, your muscles, your hands are stronger than when you started. You were patient and obedient to my command. Along the way you have grown in faith and wisdom. That's why even in your discouragement, you didn't give in to despair, but you turned to Me for direction. Well done, good and faithful servant.”

(from a Christian newsletter, January 2011)

Please write Encouraging Letters to these Christian Prisoners

Li Ying, China: A Chinese court sentenced Christian Journalist Li Ying to 15 years in prison for her role in the publication of an underground church magazine in China. Only the state-controlled TSPM church can legally produce a magazine. All other Christian publications are illegal. Li Ying was arrested in April 2001 along with 16 others and was originally sentenced to death in December 2001. After a retrial, ordered by the Hubei Provincial Supreme Court in October 2002, her sentence was reduced to the current 15-year term. Arrest and imprisonment are not new to Li Ying, who is only in here early thirties. She has been arrested many times and spent a year in prison in 1996. Li Ying cannot have a Bible and is forced to work 15 hours a day. Prison officials, stunned by the thousands of letters she receives at the prison, ask her, "How many overseas relatives do you have?" Please pray that this young woman will persevere in faith during her imprisonment.

Please send an encouraging letter to:
Li Ying
No. 2 Division, Section 3
Wuhan Female Prison
Wuhan City
Hubei Province, 430032
Peoples Republic of China

Asia Bibi, Pakistan: Asia Bibi, a 37-year old Pakistani woman from the village of Ittanwali, was arrested in June 2009 after telling a group of Muslim women, "Our Christ is the true prophet of God, and yours is not true." The woman had been pressuring Asia to convert to Islam, but she held to her Christian faith. Christians there urged the police not to file blasphemy charged, but police claimed that they must go forward due to pressure from local Muslim leaders. On Nov. 8, 2010, a judge sentenced Asia to death. At press time, her attorney was preparing an appeal.

Please send an encouraging letter to:
Asia Bibi
District Jail
Sheikhupura
Punjab
Pakistan

Dmitry Shestakov, Uzbekistan: On Jan 21, 2007, Pastor Dmitry Shestakov was arrested during a raid on his Full Gospel Church in Andijan, Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan's Religious Affairs Committee claims that Shestakov, an evangelical pastor affiliated with the registered Full Gospel Church, is not an authorized leader of an officially recognized religious organization in Uzbekistan. They describe him as an "imposter" who leads an underground group of "charismatic Pentecostals" engaged in proselytizing. Pastor Shestakov is appealing his four-year labor camp sentence.

Please send an encouraging letter to:
Dmitry Shestakov
Ispravitelnoye Uchrezhdeniye 64/29
Novoyiskaya Oblast
Uzbekistan

(from Voice of the Martyrs newsletter, January 2011)

Iran rounds up Christians in crackdown

In the midst of tyranny, thousands of Iranian Muslims are finding hope in Christ! They are being invited to Iran's house churches by other Muslims who have turned to Jesus. And Iran's fundamentalist Islamic government is embarassed. They can only offer stepped up arrests and repression.

AP reports that "Iran has arrested about 70 Christians since Christmas in a crackdown that demonstrates the limits of religious tolerance by Islamic leaders who often boast they provide room for other faiths. Caught in the middle is the small community of Iranian Christians who get together for prayer and Bible readings in private residences and out of sight of authorities. They are part of a wider "house church" movement that has taken root in other places with tight controls on Christian activities such as China and Indonesia.

"Authorities increasingly view them with suspicions that range from trying to convert Muslims to being possible footholds for foreign influence."

Christian activists claim their Iranian brethren are being persecuted simply for worshipping outside officially sanctioned mainstream churches.

"Iran has claimed as a point of pride that it makes space for other religions. But in past years, authorities have staged arrests on Christians and other religious minorities, but the latest sweeps appears to be among the biggest and most coordinated.

"In the West, the followers are drawn to house churches because of the intimate sense of religious fellowship and as an alternative to established denominations. In places such as Iran, however, there also is the effort to avoid monitoring of sanctioned churches from Islamic authorities — who have kept closer watch on religious minorities since the chaos after hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed election in 2009.

"Tehran Governor Morteza Tamadon described the Christians as "hard-line" missionaries who have "inserted themselves into Islam like a parasite," according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

"It's the nature of the house churches that worries Iran. It's all about possible converts," said Fleur Brading, a researcher for Middle East and North Africa at Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a British-based group the follows Christian rights issues around the world. "It's a very specific and pinpoint strike by Iran."

"The wave of arrests began Christmas morning and since then, opposition websites have reported 70 Christians arrested, including those regarded as pastors in the house church movement. Many were later released, but the reports say more than a dozen remain in detention and officials have hinted more raids are possible.

"The use of the word missionaries instead of evangelicals is an intentional move by the government," she said. "As evangelicals, they are a group entitled to their faith. As missionaries, they are enemies of the state seeking to corrupt its people."

"What's most troubling about this wave of detentions is the fact that Iran is continuing its recent trend of targeting evangelical Christians, which they've been doing for years, and also leaders from the recognized and protected Armenian Christian community," said Leonard Leo, chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent government advisory panel.
"The manager of the Iranian Christian News Agency, Saman Kamvar, said authorities likely perceive some kind of challenge to the religious status quo and are "feeling insecure." "This, in my opinion, was a green light to the other authorities to crack down on them," Kamvar said from Canada, where he now lives.

(for more, see Iran rounds up Christians in crackdown, Brian Murphy, Associated Press)