Well, we come again to the crossroads of science and the...

Well, we come again to the crossroads of science and theology-- which means it's time to make derogatory statements about creationists.



Writer Paul Horgan has penned a Scientific American piece in which he is forced to admit (publicly) that scientists have no idea how life began: "Geologists, chemists, astronomers and biologists are as stumped as ever by the riddle of life."



Call the New York Times!



Oh, wait. The news already ran in the the Gray Lady.



In fact, that's what sparked Horgan's editorial. The "paper of record" mistakenly pulled back the curtain on the evolutionary road show.



Horgan seems concerned that people might get the silly notion that evolutionists don't know what they're talking about. So he describes some previous evolutionary theories. One of the most popular was self-replicating RNA.



RNA -- DNA's sometime assistant -- was supposed to be capable of severing and reattaching itself. Since this was a self-directed action, the replication meant RNA was evolving on its own. There was only one problem. In order to "self-replicate," RNA needed a serious catalyst; it required the scientist to make it happen.



Let that sink in a moment. Not only was RNA not self-replicating, the person making it happen was an evolutionary scientist.



Since life can't recreate itself by itself Horgan was forced to type a quote that probably made his fingers bleed. ". . . (E)ven if RNA did appear naturally, the odds that it would happen in the right sequence to drive Darwinian evolution seem small."



The only known fact is that life came suddenly, and it continued swiftly. On that evolutionists agree. Horgan quotes one scientist saying our origins resembled "Athena springing from the head of Zeus."



Alluding to mythological Greek gods won't get you kicked out of any peer-reviewed journals, because referring to the fictional stories of an ancient, noble, and pagan culture only proves you went to the right college.



But try uttering words like, "Six days." Or even, "God breathed." You'll find yourself lumped in with those crazies who believe in aliens.



Well, maybe not aliens.



Because Horgan says evolutionary scientists are returning to a 1950s theory which speculated -- wait, wait, hold on! Did I say speculate? That's not right. Let me find the exact word Horgan used . . . ah, yes, here it is. Conjectured. Much better.  Let me try again.



Horgan writes that evolutionary scientists have "conjectured that aliens came to Earth in a spaceship and planted the seeds of life here billions of years ago. This notion is called directed panspermia."



It must be a legitimate theory. There's a scientific term containing two Greek roots.



Except I'm not sure those roots are correct. The actual term for this theory is panstupidia. Definition: Widespread and obstinate resistance to any truth that extends beyond man's comprehension.



Horgan concludes his essay -- of course -- with an obligatory jab at people who believe in God.



"Creationists are no doubt thrilled that origin-of-life research has reached such an impasse . . . but they shouldn't be. Their explanations suffer from the same flaw: What created the divine Creator? And at least scientists are making an honest effort to solve life's mystery instead of blaming it all on God."



My kids used to argue like this, around age four. "Oh, yeah? Well, he did the same thing. And at least I tried to help."



If Horgan were intellectually brave enough to leave the peer-reviewed echo chamber, he would discover Christians and Jews wrestling with those very same questions -- and with the great questions of science. Faith-based thinkers don't view science and theology as binary. The mysterious equation is more algebraic, containing the unknown: God.



Scientific American boasts a long record of bias against biologists, geologists, and physicists who believe in God, and the think tanks that facilitate their work, such as The Discovery Institute.



But the real problem with Horgan's editorial -- and the voluminous yet vaporous tomes by Richard Dawkins et al -- is that it resembles nothing so much as a magic show. The magician on stage can't afford to let the audience see what's really going on, so he must move his hands back and forth, back and forth, conjecturing if you will, until the moment when he can finally reach into his hat and pull out . . . hang on . . .  it's coming . . . really . . . pretty soon, you'll see, God had nothing to do with any of this . . . please, stop believing in Him.



But thousands of years ago, a more humble scribe wrote the truth. Long before DNA was discovered. Long before supposedly self-replicating RNA. Before aliens and spaceships and seed pods. Eons before Scientific American.



"In his pride the wicked does not seek him," wrote the Pslamist (10:4), "in all his thoughts there is no room for God."