From Wikipedia (See reference 1):
Irreducible complexity (IC) is the argument that certain biological systems are too complex to have evolved from simpler, or “less complete” predecessors, and are at the same time too complex to have arisen naturally through chance mutations.
A mousetrap illustrates this idea (the following is a quote from Michael Behe - see reference 2):
“If any one of the components of the mousetrap (the base, hammer, spring, catch, or holding bar) is removed, then the trap does not function. In other words, the simple little mousetrap has no ability to trap a mouse until several separate parts are all assembled.
Because the mousetrap is necessarily composed of several parts, it is irreducibly complex. Thus, irreducibly complex systems exist.”
Probably the biggest difficulty with being a YEC (Young Earth Creationist) had to do with how starlight from our vast universe could have traveled the immense distances to reach the earth so that we can actually see it. The difficulty boils down to the following:
distance = speed * time
When looking at stars and distant galaxies, the distance is measured in light years. (One light year is a measure of the distance light travels in one year, 9.5×10^12 kilometers. http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html.) The speed of light is approximately 300,000 km/s.
It is highly unlikely that the observed distances are inaccurate. According to the following website, http://seds.org/HST/97-25.html, the farthest observed galaxy is approximately 13 billion light years away.
The book of Genesis describes God’s creation of the universe, its corruption and destruction, amongst many other things. Now that we’ve made it through 2 Peter, these blogs are going to address specific issues and criticisms of the Genesis account of creation. While this may seem like a trivial subject, the reality is it cuts to the core of what we believe as Christians. If we accept millions/billions of years and evolution as the truth then we have completely missed the Creator’s first hand account of His work AND completely undermined the gospel. (If death and suffering occurred before Adam then sin and death didn’t actually enter the world through Adam…so what was the point of that whole Jesus thing again?)