Claim CH801:
The creation account in Genesis 1 lists ten major events in this order:
(1) a beginning; (2) a primitive earth in darkness and enshrouded in heavy
gases and water; (3) light; (4) an expanse or atmosphere; (5) large areas
of dry land; (6) land plants; (7) sun, moon, and stars discernible in the
expanse, and seasons beginning; (8) sea monsters and flying creatures; (9)
wild and tame beasts and mammals; (10) man. The odds of getting that
order correct by chance are one in 3,628,800.
Source:
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1985. Life--How Did It Get Here?
Brooklyn, NY, p. 37.
Response:
- The real order is: (1) a beginning; (2) light; (3) sun and stars; (4)
primitive earth, moon, and atmosphere; (5) dry land; (6) sea creatures;
(7) some land plants; (8) land creatures and more plants and sea
creatures; (9) flying creatures (insects) and more plants and land and
sea creatures; (10) mammals, and more land and sea animals, insects,
and plants; (11) the first birds, (12) fruiting plants (which is what
Genesis talks about) and more land, sea, and flying creatures; (13)
man and more of the various animals and plants. That is nothing like
the order endorsed by Jehova's Witnesses.
- The odds of choosing that particular order are not one in 3,628,800.
Much of the order is constrained. For example, the beginning must have
been first, and land had to exist before land animals and plants. When
these are taken into account, the chance of getting that order are one
in 5,760 at worst.
- The claim contradicts what Genesis says. Genesis does not say when the
sun and moon became visible (which would not have been until after eyes
were created in any event); it tells when they were created. Genesis
also refers to fruiting plants, which came after the first sea and
land animals.
created 2001-6-11
