Creationism vs. Evolution

Where we come from is a question as old as mankind itself. There are countless numbers of religions, each with their own twist on the origins of earth and mankind, but one of the most highly visible debates would be creationism vs. evolution. Depending on where your beliefs lie, the Earth has been around somewhere in the neighborhood of 6,000 years to 4.5 billion years. One would tend to believe that this vast difference in time would make it impossible to have 2 “theories” that are so widely accepted. However this debate gives you just that. Each argument has its variations, however it comes down to either God created the Earth and all things in it as they are now or that life today has evolved from a single one-celled organism.

According to Genesis God created the Earth and all things in it in 7 days (actually six days and one day for a little R&R). There are within the belief wide ranges of explanations for the scientific discoveries in modern times. In 2000 the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) created a committee to study the first three chapters of the Book of Genesis. What they found were 4 different views of creation days within their group. The first view is that God created the world in 6 consecutive days, with each day being a normal Earth calendar day (24 hours), any geological formations seen today (such as sedimentary rock formations with ten’s of thousands of years of different layers) are said to have come from the Flood in Noah’s time. The most generally accepted date of the creation of the Earth was October 22, 4004 B.C.E. Certain groups such as and especially Christian fundamentalists who believe in the inerrancy and literal interpretation of the Bible are the main subscribers of this train of thought. One example of how this would be possible even when scientific evidence suggest that the Earth is far older then 6,000 years is that when God created things, he created them with a history. Trees would have been created already containing rings. New mountains would appear already eroded. In short, the world would appear much older then it actually is. Other examples such as the “Gap Theory” states that the days were in fact 24-hour periods, however there were large gaps of time between each one of them, enough time to accommodate many geological ages. The second view is th...

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...tionism. Arkansas wanted equal time for evolution and creationism, while Louisiana was looking for either both be taught or neither. These laws were met with great resistance and were later deemed unconstitutional under the 1st amendment. In an ironical turn of events fundamentalist and evangelical Christians are now trying to get creationism back into the lesson plans of the science department, a total 180 from just 2 decades ago.

The evidence supporting evolution continues to increase, and someday we may be able to prove without a doubt that mankind developed from a more primitive species. Some fundamentalist groups though may never update their way of thinking no matter what science is able to prove, however, in my opinion, the vast majority of the “developed” world, will eventually make their way to a theistic evolutionary outlook. The combination of science and religion will offer someone the gift of knowledge with the piece of mind of knowing there is some guiding force, and not just some natural process without a specific goal. Albert Einstein said it best when he said, “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”