On our web site we say that there are only two documented cases of inanimate objects coming to life—Pinocchio and Frosty the Snowman. We got the following e-mail response to that statement from someone calling himself "John".
We weren't really sure how to respond. Our first reaction was to say, "It's a joke, not an exhaustive list!" We know that we left out the Scarecrow of Oz, Frankenstein's monster, and Number 5 (from the movie Short Circuit). You can probably think of more fictional examples. But if we included a long list, then the punch line loses its punch, and the joke isn't funny. Of course there is a point to the joke. There are absolutely no observed cases (in the laboratory or in nature) of inanimate objects coming to life through natural processes. But the theory of evolution depends upon some mixture of chemicals (methane and ammonia are sometimes mentioned) coming together by natural processes to form Frankencell, which comes to life by some unknown natural process. It is contrary to science for such a thing to happen. As we reflected upon John's e-mail, we thought that maybe he had something else in mind. Maybe he was trying to say something like, "Why do you make fun of evolutionists for believing dead matter can come to life when you don't make fun of Christians who believe a dead body came to life? Isn't the Christian view just as irrational?" The short answer is that Christians don't claim that resurrection is a natural process. They claim it is a miracle that one must accept by faith. They do not claim it is a scientific fact that can be demonstrated in the laboratory. The long answer is more instructive. The Bible says eight other people were also raised from the dead. They are the widow of Zarepath's son (1 Kings 17:22); the Shunammite woman's son (2 Kings 4:34-35); a dead body that touched Elisha's bones (2 Kings 13:20-21); the widow of Nain's son (Luke 7:14-15); Jairus' daughter (Luke 8:52-56); Lazarus (John 11); Dorcas (Acts 9:40); and Eutychus (Acts 20:9-12). There were also "many holy people" resurrected when Jesus was crucified (Matthew 27:52). Those evolutionists who are atheists 1 don't believe any of these Biblical stories. They don't believe that fully-formed bodies, with all their bodily fluids, and all their internal organs intact, can come back to life after they die. Yet they believe methane and ammonia can come to life without any Divine intervention. It is inconsistent for them to say that a complete body can't come to life, but a random assembly of chemical molecules can. That's why we make fun of the inconsistency in their logic. We have landfills overflowing with disposable diapers. Each one is a rich source of ammonia and methane. We don't see new life forms crawling out of landfills, terrorizing the population. (Note to myself: contact Steven Spielberg about this idea.) Until this happens, we have to say that the claim that "life happens naturally" is science fiction, not scientific fact. Footnotes: 1 Some evolutionists are Christians. Here were are specifically referring to evolutionists who do not claim to be Christians. Dinobirds |
Does Life
Happen?
