CREATION AND CONSERVATION
BY REV. JOHN A. GRAHAM
The creation model of origins proposes a period of special creation during which all the matter and energy in the universe was made. From that point in time, there would be no additional matter and energy either created or destroyed. That is, the total volume of matter and energy in the universe would be constant. The evolution model requires an increase in the volume of matter and an increase in the energy needed to change that matter from non-living to living and from simple to complex. Is the quantity of matter and energy increasing or is it fixed? To find out we will need to know a little about thermodynamics.
Thermodynamics is: “Physics that deals with the relationships between heat and other forms of energy.”‘ Dr. Robert Gange wrote that thermodynamics was “The study of the combined effects of heat and motion.”2 In plain English, thermodynamics deals with heat, its transfer, and its conversion into work. The First Law of this field is called the Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy. According to this law 3, “the total value of certain quantities remains unchanged during a physical process.”4 This means, simply, that matter and energy can neither be created nor destroyed. The total quantity in the universe is constant. To explain this point further, let’s consider two examples.
To release the energy in a fire log, we must heat the log to its kindling, temperature (i.e. burn it). When the log burns. It is converted into energy (heat and light). According to the First Law, the quantity of matter and energy before and after burning remains the same. The heat and light quickly become so spread out that they become unusable, but they are still there. A simpler example would be making a dress from five yards of material.
When the dress is completed, we will still have five yards of material, even though some of it will be useless scraps. We have changed the form of the material but neither created nor destroyed it. This is the essence of the Law of Conservation.
Having completed the universe in a condition of “very good,” we would expect the Creator to have added a principle to maintain that perfection. We find this principle in the First Law. |The Bible reveals this principle in Nehemiah 9:6: “Thou, even thou art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, … the earth, and all things that are therein, … and thou preservest them all…”5 As simply as this, God’s Word states a law that Isaac Asimov called, “. . . the most powerful and most fundamental generalization about the universe that scientists have ever been able to make.”6
We conclude that the facts don’t fit evolution. The volume of matter and energy in the universe is constant indicating that God made it all perfect and designed it to stay that way. The Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy is a great testimony to the Creator’s wisdom.
1) The American Heritage: Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition copyright 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO) Corporation
2) Gange, Dr. Robert, Origins. And I Destiny (Waco IX: Word Books 1986), Glossary.
3) A law of science is a description of what is consistently observed to he true.
4) The Cconcise Columbia Encyclopedia is licensed from Columbia University Press. Copyright 1995 by Columbia University Press.
5) See also 2 Peter 3:7 But the heavens and the earth are kept in store. . Other verses also speak of God s sustaining power.
6) Asimov, Isaac, In the Game of Energy and Thermodynamics You Can t Even Break Even,” Journal of Smithsonian Institute (June 1970), p 6.
Bro. Graham is a minister with the IL District. He gives presentations on Creation and welcomes questions and comments on these articles or other Creation/Evolution issues. He can be reached at: 123 E. 8th, Mt. Carmel, IL 62863-2011; 618-263-0783; or e-mailed at Jgraham@wworld.com.
THE ABOVE MATERIAL WAS PUBLISHED BY THE ILLINOIS DISTRICT NEWS, JANUARY 1998. THIS MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY BE USED FOR STUDY & RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY.
