June 1996

Incredible creation

Dear Editor,

Regarding the article 'The Incredible Woodpecker', I thoroughly enjoy articles that examine the amazing facts about God's creation.

Articles such as this are the reason I'm receiving Creation magazine.

I haven't been able to find any other periodicals that focus on the plant and animal kingdom and also give credit to God for His marvellous design.

Martin Trail,
Moscow,
Indiana, USA.

Adam and Eve's Eyes

Dear Editor,

I appreciated the Creation Question ‘It’s in your blood’ (December-February, p. 45). I have often used the example of eye colour in genetics.

The majority of text books use a simple assumption that eye colour is controlled by one gene pair. In fact, it may be controlled by as many as six or eight gene pairs, thus giving a wide range of eye colour, from light blue through to dark brown. Eye colour is an example of continuous variation.

Suppose Adam and Eve were both brown-eyed. If we assume that six gene pairs are responsible, then one possibility for their genetic make-up is:

AaBbCcDdEeFf

A capital letter denotes dominant feature, and lower case is recessive.

This would give 64 different combinations in Adam and 64 in Eve, providing 4096 different possible outcomes in the first generation.

If Adam and Eve were both hybrid for eye colour, as shown above, then a maximum number of different combinations would be possible.

Factors such as inbreeding, mutations, and war, which deplete the population's gene pool, are leading scientists to believe that the human race is now genetically much poorer than it used to be. An interesting thought, and one to which I subscribe!

M.H. Stubbs,
Geraldton, Western Australia.

Creator's Handiwork

Dear Editor,

I enjoy looking up at the stars and thinking about the great things God created in the universe. The different galaxies, different kinds of stars, and our own solar system.

But as I read about the things astronomers and scientists have discovered and written about, it greatly bothers me that their main reason seems to be not to enjoy finding new galaxies or stars, but to see if there is another life-form out there somewhere.

Why can't people just accept the fact that God created the Heavens and the earth? If they'd just read the Bible, the answers of life would be revealed.

Bronwyn Gunning,
North Rockhampton,
Queensland, Australia.

[See our article in this issue about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. It includes a humorous story about a false alarm last year among scientists who thought they had detected signals from alien life. — Ed.]

DNA Challenges Evolution

Dear Editor,

I find it difficult to understand how scientists who believe in evolution (in preference to creation) can pay any attention to DNA [molecules in living things which code genetic information for the transmission of inherited traits].

DNA is so obviously an intricate, complex system which could not have come into being by any process other than a Divine purpose-intended creation.

Laurie Polglase,
Hamilton, New Zealand.

[Dr Leslie Orgel, evolutionist and biochemist at the Salk Institute in California, once said: 'The origin of the genetic code is the most baffling aspect of the problem of the origins of life ...' . — Ed.]

High Award

Dear Editor,

I contacted you last year asking permission to use articles from Creation magazine for a talk I was giving to my class at college.

The talk, on the lack of evidence for evolution, was one of the hardest things I have done, as only 8-10 months ago I was one of the most dedicated believers in evolution and the 'big bang' theory.

But a lecture discussing evolution and creation really made me think. So I did some research, and about a week or two later I gave my life to God.

Since then I have been deeply studying creation, to the point where some of my friends don't want me to talk casually about it for fear of not shutting me up, which is a definite possibility, and also what happened when I gave my talk at college. Instead of a 15-20 minute talk I turned it into a 45-50 minute lecture, and that's not including the time I spent answering questions.

Despite this I recently found out I was awarded a merit+/distinction for my talk, which was joint highest in the class, and I just thank God for helping me with it.

I hope you would print this letter in the hope that it would provide encouragement to others.

Andrew Bassingthwaighte (18),
Dudley,
West Midlands, England.

Mountain Fossils

Dear Editor,

Recently my husband and I had the privilege of travelling to the Middle East, visiting Israel, Jordon and Turkey. While travelling in Jordan we stopped at a high lookout. We were 670 metres (2200 feet) above sea-level.

While there, young Arab lads came up, wanting to sell us fossilized seashells, which they had gathered from the valley below, which was 430 metres (1400 feet) above sea level!

I immediately thought of the great flood in the time of Noah. On asking our Muslim guide about the fossilized shells he said: 'This whole area was under water at one time.'

Margaret Lineage,
Hope Valley, South Australia.