by 
Daevid
ANSWERS: 6
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The theory of evolution presents many mechanistic and philosophical questions for those of us who believe in Divine creation. Among the many approaches to answering these questions, there are varying levels of questioning the existence of evolution and whether it could happen without Divine intervention to assist it. One argument that is commonly raised in this context that since entropy is disorder, and since evolution represents a greater state of order, therefore, evolution violates the second law of theromodynamics (that entropy is always increasing). In turn, this argument has led to the mocking reply that we believe in the "Sun God". The purpose of this present writing is to explain the relevant issues in this argument in a way that does not presume a high level of education in any of the subjects of physics, mathematics, biology, or chemistry. (see link for further discussion) http://www.charleswood.ca/reading/evolution.php
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It's simple and has nothing to do with divine intervention of violating the 2nd law. There are examples of order increasing all over the place. The common factor is the use of energy. Once all the energy in the universe is spent then entropy will take over. Life is one of the processes that, by burning energy, increase order.
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Yes, Galileo, Newton, and even Darwin were devout Christians. The difference is that Galileo was persecuted by the church, Newton was protected by the crown of England, and Darwin didn't publish his findings for almost 30 years for fear of the Christian backlash. Please read secular versions. Science isn't religious. Some of the early guys were influenced by it. But the science itself stands on its own.
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Not much. Anti-evolutionists hae claimed that evolution represents a decrease in disorder, hence a decrease in entropy, and hence the second law of thermodynamics (which says that the entroupu of a system always increases) proves that evolution wrong. The point they miss is that the second law of thermodynamics applies only to closed systems. In the contect of the Earth, the "closed system" must include the Sun, which is pouring gajillions watts onto the earth's surface. The increase in entropy of the sun makes any decrease resulting from evolution to be trivial. I am sure that most evolutionists would consider that if the world were separated from the Sun (and hence frozen to death) evolution, and hence its associated entropy decrease, would stop.
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Entropy says that 'things run down'. Evolution claims that DNA can mutate in a beneficial way given enough time or iterations. Problem is, mutation is another word for 'noise'. And noise by definition cannot pass or create information. That's why computer programs have so many safeguards against single bit errors. It doesn't matter how much energy you add to a system, if the information it contains gets degraded, it must eventually fail.
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It doesn't really. Overall, in a closed system, entropy will only increase. That is overall though - pockets of a system can experience a decrease in entropy. The earth is a classic example. It is not a closed system - it receives energy from the sun. That energy generates complex weather patterns from simple beginnings for example. It generates spontaneous complexity - such as snowflake patterns forming from ice crystals. Crystals themselves. Also life. It is not just the energy though - it is also the fact that physics and chemistry operate consistently in certain ways too. So, life in no way violates any current theory/observation regarding entropy or the 2nd law of thermodynamics...
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