Design: Does Evolution Care about You?
“Once you’ve reproduced, evolution doesn’t care about you anymore.”1
The BBC podcast, In Our Time, is one I listen to weekly. The host, Melvin Bragg is a BBC radio presenter of long standing. The programme usually features three guests who are experts in the field under discussion, whether it be music, literature, history, science, or what have you.
The opening quote came from an episode on mitochondria, the microscopic energizers of life in all complex-cell organisms, including humans. I always find these discussions quite interesting, but when the topic edges into science, you inevitably get evolution and millions or billions of years. For example, mitochondria, essential for life, are said to have “suddenly” arisen 1.45 billion years ago. You can probably find other numbers out there, with lots of zeros behind them.
One thing that fascinated me in this discussion was the comment like the one quoted above, “Once you’ve reproduced, evolution doesn’t care about you anymore.” A couple of similar comments also came up, about what evolution “wants” to do in developing life, etc. Another recurring theme was what the mitochondrial cells “want” to do.
All these descriptions sound purposive, as if there is some grand design behind it all. One of the participants caught themselves when talking about the mitochondria “wanting” something and said something to the effect of, “Well, they are just chemicals and do what they are programmed to do, they don’t want anything.” Melvin Bragg responded with something like, “It’s all just random, then?” And the guest said, something like, “Yes, but they are doing what they do according to their purpose.” (Or maybe the word “design” was used. — I don’t want to go back and listen to the whole thing to get the quote exactly right.)
Here is the thing. There is a purpose behind it. There is a mind behind it. There is design behind it. It’s not the impersonal force of the universe, rather it is the mind of God who has a purpose, who made all things, including the unbelieving scientists and professors who hold their views.
It constantly amazes me to hear those committed to an evolutionary worldview talking about design. They can’t help themselves. Everything is so intricately designed.
The Bible says,
Jer 10.11-12 ¶ Thus you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.” 12 It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens. [repeated in Jer 51.15]
Ac 17.24 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
Heb 1.2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
Ps 119.73 Your hands made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.
Ps 100.3 Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
This article demonstrates how evolutionists talk about design: Instead of design denial, delight in God’s design. In the article Philip Bell says,
“The hallmarks of design are everywhere we care to look. In making the point that Jesus was far greater than Moses, one Bible writer wisely affirmed, ‘For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God’ (Hebrews 3:4). This is not the place to delve further into that passage, but don’t miss the message: if the architect and construction workers are the ones who deserve the credit for an impressive house, the One who is ‘builder of all things’ even more so.”
When we hear evolutionists using “design” language, we should rejoice in the One who designed it all.
Don Johnson is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.
- For more on mitochondria, see the links found here: Answers in Genesis “mitochondria”
- Also see here: com “mitochondria”
This graphic file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
- Mike Murphy, University of Cambridge, on BBC Radio 4 – In Our Time, Mitochondria, original broadcast, June 1, 2023. [↩]