Editor's Note: Dr. Van Dyke is Professor Emeritus of Botany at North Carolina State University, having taught there 38 years. He is a cofounder of TASC and has served in several positions, including chairman. In this article, Dr. Van Dyke relates how his academic and spiritual histories reflect God's faithfulness. As the scripture teaches: "for them that honor me I will honor" (1 Sam 2:30).

I'm originally from Illinois, and that has something to do with why I’m a bit “corny.” Of course this is the time of year when there are a lot of “acornies” around on the ground so I'm in good company. Growing up I was very interested in sports. I was involved with a Presbyterian church and was active in the youth program both locally and statewide and also in some National conferences. Looking back I see how shallow much of this was, and I did not have a good grasp on the idea of salvation through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. From an early time in my life, I do remember having spiritual highs, and I had a strong feeling of God’s touch on my life. My frequently quoted Bible verse was Romans 8:28 “All things work together for good to those who are the called of God.” I truly believed this but simply felt God was just out there somewhere, but not a close companion.

I was recently invited to give a talk on intelligent design to a college philosophy class on Darwin, Marx, and Freud. I have known the professor for a number of years and had presented to his classes before. He usually has had me come in and present the case for intelligent design (ID) at the start of the section on Darwinism. The professor is an atheist but interested in discussing various views. I can only imagine what he has to say about my presentations afterwards; no doubt he tries to counter my arguments. Since I only had one chance to speak to these students, I wanted to present them with what I considered to be the best evidences for theism. This article is based on that talk. The discussion here will be brief and in everyday language. References are provided for those who wish to learn more.

The title of my talk was “Science that Points to a Creator.” First I set the ground rules for investigation in the historical sciences (geology, archeology, cosmology, history of life, etc.) by discussing Causality and Inference to the Best Explanation. Then I presented six topics that point to a creator: The Universe Had a Beginning, The Fine-Tuning of Physics, The Origin of Life, The Origin of Phyla, The Origin of Humans, and Worldviews and Morality. Any one of these evidences suggests a designer. Taken together, they form a strong reason to believe in a supernatural creator. Here are the topics.

As biblical creationists, we are often thought of by most Christians as purveyors of a “side bar” or less important doctrine. The criticism goes something like, “Why get so worked up about creation and the Flood? After all it’s only Genesis—it’s the Old Testament. The gospel is what’s really important. It’s all about Jesus, right? Besides, science disagrees with Genesis, and we don’t want to be seen as ignorant and anti-science! The really intelligent people won’t listen to the gospel and be saved if we say we believe Genesis.”

Well, if you’re a regular reader of creation science literature you’ll recognize the flaws in that argument. Biblical creationists are not anti-science. Most of the leaders in the creationist community are credentialed scientists with one or more advanced science degrees from secular universities. Yes, as creationists we do primarily discuss issues dealing with Genesis, and, yes, the focal point of Christianity is Jesus – His virgin conception and birth; His sinless life; His substitutionary, sacrificial death on the cross to pay for the sins of the entire world (1 John 2:2); and His physical resurrection from the tomb.

From time to time we find it beneficial to invite our members and guests of TASC to a question and answer panel on creation versus evolution. We believe it will help your faith and your ability to “give an answer for your faith.” We did this at our recent August, 2016, meeting. Several of our TASC board members participated including Mark Stephens, MCS, moderator of the panel, and panel members, Joe Spears, MS; Gerald Van Dyke, Ph.D.; Jeff Gift, Ph.D.; and Dan Reynolds, Ph.D., who was out of town but graciously submitted written answers to questions for all our benefit.

Figure 1. “Tidens naturlære fig40” by Morten Bisgaard. From the book Tidens naturlære 1903 by Poul la Cour.   By Morten Bisgaard [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons, Licensed under Public Domain viaWikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tidens_naturl%C3%A6re_fig40.png

One's perspective makes a big difference in how one sees the function of the human body. An evolutionist looks at the human body as a collection of organs pieced together by random processes selected for survival by the challenges of the environment, while the creationist sees marvelous evidence for design and information that shout evidence of an omniscient creator.

Evolution theoretically occurs when mutations result in new traits. Advantageous traits increase an organism’s chance of survival and reproduction, thus preserving the trait. A trait that is neutral may or may not be preserved. Numerous traits are selected because their advantages for survival lead to the evolution of new organs and new species according to the theory. This is called natural selection.