Creation Versus Evolution
“Creation Versus Evolution.” What’s wrong with this title? Read it to yourself a few times, and then answer that question.
We’ve all heard of the argument. Creationism, the idea that God created all the species as they appear today, versus Evolutionism, the idea that all life evolved from simple bacteria to all the species that appear today, is a familiar controversy. Ever since Darwin first published the Theory of Evolution in his controversial 1859 book The Origin of Species, the debate has raged between religion and science.
But this debate is something that has always puzzled me. From the time I first understood what the Theory of Evolution was really saying, I found it difficult to reject. Scientifically, every shred of evidence in biology and genetics I have ever seen points to it, directly or indirectly. And religiously – Evolutionism does not contradict Creationism.
Evolution is based on two underlying principles that themselves are not at all controversial: heredity and natural selection. Heredity is the principle that organisms pass on different combinations of their traits to their offspring. If an organism has strong traits that help it to survive, then its offspring are likely to possess some of those same strong traits and themselves be more likely to survive. The second principle is natural selection, better known as “survival of the fittest.” According to natural selection, the organisms with strong, “fit” traits are more likely to survive long enough to reproduce than are the organisms with weak, “unfit” traits; thus over time, the strong organisms (as a species, or subspecies) will survive and the weak ones will die out. In this way, only the strong traits that help organisms to survive will be preserved over long periods of time. For instance, all the long-necked giraffes that were able to reach food in tall trees were able to survive, while all the short-necked ones weren’t able to compete and died out.
These two principles, taken alone, are not controversial. Most people seem to intuitively accept them as being true, because they make so much sense and because there is so much scientific evidence to back them up. However, when they are combined together in the Theory of Evolution, something happens. The assertion is made that, over time, species engaging in natural selection and passing on thei...
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...y displaces or precludes that same faith.
To react with such fear and narrow-mindedness to this “new-fangled” idea of Evolution, then, belies a fundamental problem with the Anti-Evolution Creationist viewpoint. These Creationists react with fear to this different way of thinking about the origin of life not because this different way is wrong, but because these Creationists are afraid that they are wrong in their beliefs. Secure Creationists who are confident in their faith have no reason to feel at all threatened by the Theory of Evolution; they are free to embrace it as just another argument for their faith. I believe that it is only the insecure Creationists who are Anti-Evolutionists, because on some level they realize that their faith is weak – that maybe their narrow view of things isn’t the only “right way” to look at the world.
But, as Comedian Dennis Miller (and any scientist concerned with the truth) would say, “That’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.”
Works Cited
Kimball’s (1983) Biology, 5th edition
Green, Joel B., & Longman, Tremper (Eds.). (1996). Holy Bible -- The Everday Study Edition. Dallas: Word Publishing.
IUK Correspondent, April 29, 1996
Evolution is deemed as being scientific because it is testable and correctable, unlike creationism which deals with “God’s will,” an unchanging and set in stone philosophy that contradicts any scientific notion it attempts to deliver. Evolution is the scientific explanation to how organisms developed the forms and functions
These days, most of the textbook only presents evolution theory as a fact to interpret the origin of life and the earth. More and more people get to reject creation unconsciously because they had no opportunity to compare and evaluate both worldview in same degree. I interviewed my three close acquaintances and heard a various responses from many people including my interviewees. Some of them had same belief with me, but some people had significantly different opinion with me. As a consequence of evolution theory’s monopoly in education, non-believers and Christians are unconsciously influenced by this secular worldview.
Darwin's theory of Evolution have been known by the world for many centuries. Even so, not all scientists supp...
The Creationist and Evolutionist worldview is one of, if not, the most controversial issue ever debated, and has been for centuries. The two oppositional worldviews are at, what seems to be, an unending war. Mainly because of their many blatant differences like: the age of the earth, the fossil record, the origin of plants and animal, but none more prominent than the issue regarding the origin of mankind.
Evolution and creationism: two warring beliefs that are constantly looking for an upper hand. With similarities and comparisons that Christianity does not deny, yet evolution quickly repudiates. Where do you stand? In a belief that has so many loose threads, like a puppet that has too many strings, you try to apply it, but the strings become tangled and unusable? Or in a belief that does have proof and undeniable evidence, one that has a promise of everlasting life as apposed to a dark nothingness? A decision must be reached. Whether through further evidence outside this paper, or just through your day to day life, your must know where your beliefs lie. Just know, that if what Christians say is true, and the evidence is overlooked and criticized, you will face something much, much worse than being castigated by those around you.
substantiates the evidence against the existence of God. This creationism counter-argument known as evolution has its roots in our contemporary understanding of a progressive process of natural evolution. This process shaped the nature of all living things beginning with single-cell organisms and ending with highly complex creatures such as humanoids.
The Evolutionists continue to build on shaky, ever shifting ground. Sometimes the ground that they build on is not even there.
...h they have been taught every week in Sunday school. But in no ways can they work to create a new theory based on scientific fact that would logically explain the origin of man, as does Darwin’s theory of evolution. “I know, but I cannot imagine what potential data could lead creationists to abandon their beliefs. Unbeatable systems are dogma, not science”-Stephen Jay Gould.
A lot of people, Christians and non-Christians alike often question the accuracy of the theory of evolution. Those who express doubts about the theory are often labelled “unscientific” or “backwards” by some in the pro-evolution camp. At times, the popular perception of evolution seems to be that it has been proven beyond all doubt and there are no scientific obstacles left for it. In fact, there are quite a few scientific flaws in the theory that provide many reasons for it to be doubted. It is true though, none of these questions necessarily disproves evolution, but they do show how the theory is less than settled.
After Sir Charles Darwin had introduced his original theory about the origins of species and evolution, humanity’s faith in God that remained undisputed for hundreds of years had reeled. The former unity fractured into the evolutionists, who believed that life as we see it today had developed from smaller and more primitive organisms, and creationists, who kept believing that life in all its diversity was created by a higher entity. Each side introduced substantial arguments to support their claims, but at the same time the counter-arguments of each opponent are also credible. Therefore, the debates between the evolutionists and the creationists seem to be far from ending. And though their arguments are completely opposite, they can co-exist or even complement each other.
The thought of evolution is filled with theories, ideas and beliefs. The definition of evolution is rather simple. According to Jerry A. Coyle, evolution is “the change in the inherited characteristics of biological populations over successive generations (2). Evolution gives rise to diversity when it comes to the hierarchy of life otherwise known as biological organization. Many people find the topic of evolution to be troubling and very confusing. Throughout history churches have preached that evolution is atheistic and a sin if even thought about. Famous scientist, Charles Darwin, is said to really be the first to formulate debated theory of evolution by the means of natural selection. Eventually in the 20th century genetics was compounded with Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution. Even today scientists continue to study different aspects of the theory of evolution.
It has been polled that many teachers across the country do not prefer to teach creationism in classrooms. A Plos Biology poll states that only 12-16% of the nations biology teachers are creationist in orientation. It also says that about 1/6 of the teachers professed the “young earth” belief and 1/8 say they teach creationism in a positive light (Plos Biology). This statistic tells the public that creationism is not very popular. Teachers who do teach creationism run the risk of being ridiculed in the way they are teaching their students. Some science teachers do not even know what is appropriate to teach in the classroom, and they are overwhelmed with their jobs. This is just one reason why many biology teachers and others are against creationism.
The information presented in evolution studies must be viewed with an open mind since there is no definite proof or law of evolution. The dilemma boils down to science vs. religion. God has been our creator since beginning of time, but the discoveries of recent science are sudde...
Talking on both sides of the debate, each side feels as though the other has no scientific reasoning come up with their theory. In reading the article written by Shipman, the evolutionists believe that intelligent design has no concrete evidence on how the world was crea...
One of the greatest questions of all time is: "Where the heck did we come from?" One of the most popular answers to this question is creationism, the idea that everything was created by a higher being. Another idea is evolution, the idea that all living organisms descended from a less complex organism. Up and coming in the last century, evolution possesses a new way of thinking that is being greatly accepted by the scientific community. Despite this fact many people argue that evolution has no facts to support it and there are several reasons why evolution can't happen.