There is no ambiguity in the statements of evolutionist, George Wald, Harvard professor in biochemical sciences and Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine in 1967. Wald (1906 – 1997) was an American scientist known for his research on retinal pigments of the eye. He clearly spelled out the presuppositions of his faith against creation in 1954 in Scientific American magazine. What follows is a synopsis of his faith as presented in his own words in that publication.
“There are only two possible explanations as to how life arose. Spontaneous generation arising to evolution or a supernatural creative act of God…. There is no other possibility. Spontaneous generation was scientifically disproved 120 years ago by Louis Pasteur and others,[1] but that just leaves us with only one other possibility . . . that life came as a supernatural act of creation by God, but I can’t accept that philosophy because I don’t want to believe in God.[2] Therefore I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible,[3] spontaneous generation leading to evolution.”
“The reasonable view was to believe in spontaneous generation; the only alternative, to believe in a single, primary act of supernatural creation. There is no third position. For this reason many scientists a century ago chose to regard the belief in spontaneous generation as a philosophical necessity. It is a symptom of the philosophical poverty of our time that this necessity is no longer appreciated. Most modern biologists, having reviewed with satisfaction the downfall of the spontaneous generation hypothesis, yet unwilling to accept the alternative belief in special creation, are left with nothing.”[4]
“One has only to contemplate the magnitude of this task to concede that the spontaneous generation of a living organism is impossible.[4] Yet here we are as a result, I believe, of spontaneous generation.”
“The important point is that since the origin of life belongs in the category of at least once phenomena, time is on its side. However improbable we regard this event, or any of the steps which it involves, given enough time it will almost certainly happen at-least-once. And for life as we know it, with its capacity for growth and reproduction, once may be enough.”[5]
“Time is in fact the hero of the plot. The time with which we have to deal is of the order of two billion years. What we regard as impossible on the basis of human experience is meaningless here. Given so much time, the “impossible” becomes possible, the possible probable, and the probable virtually certain. One has only to wait: time itself performs the miracles.”[5]
Wherever life is possible, given time, it should arise. It should then ramify into a wide array of forms, differing in detail from those we now observe (as did earlier organisms on the earth) yet including many which should look familiar to us — perhaps even men.
We are not alone in the universe, and do not bear alone the whole burden of life and what comes of it. Life is a cosmic event — so far as we know the most complex state of organization that matter has achieve in our cosmos. It has come many times, in many places — places closed off from us by impenetrable distances, probably never to be crossed even with a signal.”
–Quotes from Wald, “The Origin of Life.” Scientific American. August 1954 pp. 46-53
Wald’s comments are illustrative of the general presuppositions and faith of evolutionists in general. The following numbered conclusions of this post refer to the quotes as notated above.
- First, he holds his faith despite clear scientific evidence to the contrary.
- Second, his personal desires/emotions govern what he will accept as fact.
- Third, his choice of belief is irrational.
- Fourth, scientists who do not accept special creation are left with no meaningful philosophy of life, except belief in the impossible.
- Finally, “left with nothing,” Wald places his faith in the imagined inevitability of biological life “at least once” in the universe. But he needs a miracle worker for the inevitable miracle of “spontaneous generation.” And he finds his miracle worker in vast time–“time itself performs the miracles.” Wald irrationally chooses his god, and his god is time. But simple mathematical probability denies Wald this philosophical refuge, since billions of years have clearly been shown insufficient to produce evolution of even lower life forms by chance mutations acted upon by natural selection.
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