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This article is from
Creation 23(3):48–51, January 2001

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Editor’s note: As Creation magazine has been continuously published since 1978, we are publishing some of the articles from the archives for historical interest, such as this. For teaching and sharing purposes, readers are advised to supplement these historic articles with more up-to-date ones suggested in the Related Articles below.

Laser expert points people to the gospel

Lita Sanders chats with physicist and evangelist Dr David Stone

David
Dr David Stone is a laser physicist with 5 degrees, including a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University. He and his wife, Bonnie, are currently evangelists in the Chicago area.

A laser physicist turned evangelist, Dr David Stone was raised religious, but became an atheist evolutionist as a teenager. Fortunately, a Christian from school befriended him. This friend, with the help of his parents, helped to answer all David’s questions about the Christian faith. Thus he knows from personal experience how important it is for Christians to have answers (1 Peter 3:15), as well as parents training their children properly (Proverbs 22:6).

Any Christian can—and must—do personal evangelism.
“I became convinced that the Bible is true historically, scientifically, and logically. In a flash I realized that if Jesus Christ is who He claims to be, I would be insane to stay on my self-centered path.”

Now 59 years old, he says that his excitement about serving the Lord is greater than it’s ever been.

Laser physics

Why did he choose his special field? He explains how he was inspired by the great creationist physicist James Clerk Maxwell:1

“Right from the beginning of my college course work, I was struck with the brilliance and the beauty of Maxwell’s equations describing electromagnetism. Those are God’s thoughts! Laser devices and the propagation of laser beams are wonderful applications of electromagnetic theory. I had the best job that exists on this planet—I was a tenured professor doing exactly the type of research and teaching that I loved best.” In addition to this, he and his wife were involved in evangelism, but they decided that part-time evangelism wasn’t enough for them. At age 50, they decided to get their finances in order so they could spend the rest of their lives in full-time evangelism, a goal which they reached three years later when they also moved to northern Illinois “where we won’t ever run out of lost souls to share the Gospel with.”
If you want to reach out to skeptics, lost and in need of the Savior, you must stand on biblical truth and be equipped with some reasonable arguments.

Is scientific training necessary for an evangelist? Dr Stone answers:

“Not really. As a scientist, I am comfortable talking with scientists and engineers, both students and professionals, but every argument I make is accessible to any Christian with a heart to share the Gospel.”

Furthermore, he insists that “any Christian can—and must—do personal evangelism.”

He is currently writing a book based on his own experiences in evangelism to help other Christians who want to share their faith.

Jesus affirmed Genesis and so should we

Dr Stone’s stand on creation is important in his witnessing:

“If you want to reach out to skeptics, lost and in need of the Savior, you must stand on biblical truth and be equipped with some reasonable arguments.” He finds this approach particularly helpful when talking to young people. “I love to talk to college-age atheists. It is actually quite easy to put a crack in their worldview.”

This echoes what we have heard from full-time evangelists many times before—a consistent worldview is a prerequisite for engaging intelligent atheists.

Furthermore, his stance on creation isn’t just a convenient tool in witnessing—it’s absolutely vital for a consistent faith, in his view.

“Simply put, you cannot be a consistent follower of Jesus Christ and, in effect, call Him a liar by rejecting His clear words. God states emphatically that He created the world and the starry universe in six literal days in Genesis, and reaffirmed it as He delivered the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8–11)—would He lie in the midst of giving His own law? Jesus affirmed it again when He taught on marriage (Mark 10:6–9 citing Genesis 1:27 and 2:24).”

Science and faith “completely in sync”

David and Bonnie

Dr Stone denies any conflict between his faith and his scientific work, saying that they are “absolutely in sync. As a young Christian I was awestruck at the simplicity, power, and beauty of the physical laws that underpin all of science and engineering. Purpose suffuses all of God’s creation and it is a humbling privilege to conduct research, hoping to ‘think God’s thoughts after Him,’ as the great astronomer Johann Kepler2 said.”

His scientific work actually reveals many evidences against evolution:

“My work in statistical physics and engineering design connects with the question of the origin of the nano-machines of life.3 Scientists are careful with use of the word ‘impossible.’ But I’ll state categorically that it is impossible for any protein,4 not to mention the larger structures inside the cell or the cell itself, to arise by undirected chemical processes.”

He points out the painstaking process required to design even simple functioning electrical systems. So how much more design is needed for far more complicated biochemical systems!

“God’s designs are so intricate and efficient that biochemists find it difficult even to sketch the structure of some basic bio-tools such as enzymes. Perhaps the most useful and painful lesson our brightest engineering students learned in our design course was just how incredibly difficult it is to design, build, test, prototype, and produce ANY useful electrical / mechanical system that actually works! Once a good design concept is on the table, painstaking calculations and relentless prototyping and testing, while suffering failure after failure, are inevitably on the path to a successful product. Anyone proposing a design approach equivalent to mutations, natural selection, and infinite time would be laughed at.”

Furthermore, he finds evidence against evolution in his own specialty:

“Laser technology is the designed application of God’s physical laws. A powerful, narrowband, high energy pulsed laser doesn’t happen by chance. How much more the nano-technology of life? Evolution is an anti-scientific fable intended to avoid accountability to God.”

He remarks,

“If evolutionary biologists would take an engineering design course—and pass it—they might get worried about their Darwinian faith.”

A blessed life

From the opportunity to conduct research in a field of science he loves, to a fulfilling teaching role, to his current full-time evangelism work, Dr Stone considers himself to be very blessed. He challenges the average Christian that it doesn’t take special expertise to share their faith. “The Lord is coming back. What are you doing with your life?”

Posted on homepage: 3 June 2013

References and notes

  1. Lamont, A., Great creation scientist: James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879), Creation 15(3):45–47, 1993; creation.com/maxwell. Return to text.
  2. Lamont, A., Johannes Kepler: Outstanding scientist and committed Christian, Creation 15(1):40–43, 1992; creation.com/kepler. Return to text.
  3. Thomas, B., ATP synthase: majestic molecular machine made by a mastermind, Creation 31(4):21–23, 2009; creation.com/atp-synthase. Return to text.
  4. Heinze, T., Did God create life? Ask a protein, Creation 28(3): 50–52, 2006; creation.com/proteins. Return to text.

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