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Writer's pictureBible Brian

The circularity of arguing from consensus


One of the most common arguments made by Evolutionists is the argument from scientific consensus. 99% of scientists all agree that Evolution is true, and therefore it is. Anyone who's ever joined a debate club can see the flaws in this argument. There are a grand total of three fallacies in it: Argumentum ad verecundiam (appeal to authority), argumentum ad populum (appeal to popular opinion) and circular reasoning.

Appeal to authority is a fallacy because a statement does not become true based on who makes it. Just because an authority figure makes a claim does not mean they're right. An example of this can be seen in the Great Chromosome Fiasco of the 1920s-50s. Theophilus Shickel Painter (1889–1969) was a famous American zoologist, and the distinguished Professor of Zoology at the University of Texas, where he served as its president until 1952.

Painter, using the best methods available to him at the time, made an honest mistake. He calculated that human beings have 48 chromosomes, since a sperm cell contributes 24. His reasoning was sound, but he reached the wrong conclusion. We have 46 chromosomes, not 48. His authority alone guided the scientific community for more than 30 years, and it's interesting to note that photographs did appear in textbooks at the time showing 23 pairs of chromosomes, whereas the captions below them presented the erroneous consensus view.

Appeal to popular opinion is a fallacy for the same reason. A majority of people, even a majority of experts, are not always necessarily correct. Aside from the above example, there is the more famous example of the heliocentric model. During the time of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), and later Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642), the scientific consensus view was that the earth was completely stationary, and all the heavenly bodies revolved around it. Copernicus and Galileo were in the extreme minority in their rejection of the geocentric model. And yet, now we know they were correct. The scientific consensus of their day was wrong.

Circular reasoning is a fallacy because if you have to assume a thing is true in your argument that it is true, only a believer will logically be able to follow that reasoning. It's like locking a key behind its own door. The only way to get at the key is if the door is already open.


Thus the argument from consensus simply doesn't work. It fails on three levels, making three basic and easily recognisable fallacies. Yet it is one of the most commonly used arguments. Even many scientists themselves use it. This should make us ask why this is. If Evolution is so well attested to, why do Evolutionists spend so much time barking about the evidence rather than presenting it? Michael Crichton said it best: "Consensus is invoked only in situations where the science is not solid enough."

And solid it is not. Evolution, far from being a fact of science, is a myth about history. It is not a conclusion reached based on evidence, it is a story made up to "free science from Moses" (Charles Lyell). But there's a reason science needed to be "freed" from Moses in the first place. Science needed to be "freed" from Moses because science is a gift from the God he served. As Evolutionary anthropologist Loren Eilsley notes, "The philosophy of experimental science…began its discoveries and made use of its methods in the faith, not the knowledge, that it was dealing with a rational universe controlled by a creator who did not act upon whim nor interfere with the forces He had set in operation." (Darwin’s Century: Evolution and the Men who Discovered It, Doubleday, Anchor, New York, 1961).


Thus, whereas Evolution is a myth using science to bolster its public approval ratings, science itself owes Creationism, specifically the Biblical kind, for its very existence. But we owe our Creator for far more than the philosophy behind science. We owe Him a great debt. A debt we cannot pay. Each and every one of us has sinned against Him, and it can be assured He will repay us for that.

Or at least, it could have been assured. In His infinite wisdom, God formulated a plan. All sin has to be paid for, but the sinner themselves does not have to pay for it. A worthy substitute can take their place. And so Jesus Christ, the Son of God, entered our world, lived a perfect life as a man, and died a sinner's death. On the third day, He rose again. Your debt is paid. The only thing left for you to do is claim that gift. Confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. Through that faith, and only through that faith, you will inherit eternal life. The alternative is a fate worse than Evolution.

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