Origin Of Species Dbq

The theory of origin of species by Darwin came out in 1859, and how our world really began has been a controversial topic throughout time. Darwin hypothesized that all species originated from one or more original beings. For example, Darwin claimed humans have evolved from apes. This theory challenged the prevailing view at that time, and was questioned by the fields of science and religion. Nevertheless, in the 156 years after the theory was published, the debate continues on how the world has been created. People from different fields tried to use scientific, biblical and theoretical evidence to prove their viewpoint. Based on different viewpoints, people have provided different reasons for the origin of life.

In all the evidence that people

have provided, the scientific perspective is always the most argumentative one.

People’s view about the beginning of time has changed a lot since the theory of origin of species came out. Doc 1 is a part of a major concept from the book The Origin of Species, which caused a firestorm in the field of science. In Doc 1, Darwin stated that all the species are evolved by the natural selection. Darwin argued, “It may be said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinizing, throughout the world, every variation, even the slightest” (Doc 1). The idea that people have evolved from the results of natural selection ‘daily and hourly’ is declared in Doc 1. However, most of the people at that time believed in creationism, which is that God created the world and all the species. So this theory of natural selection completely overturned the traditional view of creationism. Regardless, after

the appearance of this theory, more and more scientists and evolutionists started to give their opinion on human evolution. A similar statement by Gould was presented 124 years after Darwin’s origin of species, “Human beings evolved from apelike ancestors whether they did so by Darwin’s proposed mechanism or by some other, yet to be discovered” (Doc 4). In some ways, the idea given by Doc 4 supports Darwin’s theory of the evolution of humans. In Doc 4, Gould also stated that evolution is a fact, “evolution is a theory. It is also a fact.… Facts do not go away while scientists debate rival theories or explaining them” (Doc 4). Gould argued that scientists are debating the causes of evolution, not if evolution is true.
The other perspective that is accepted by many people is biblical evidence. For a long period of time, most of the people believed in creationism. As people know, in the Old Testament the Bible says, “In the beginning of time, God created the heaven and the earth.” Creationists believe that God created everything, including humans, and there is no evolution. Doc 2 is one of the typical thoughts of Creationists,“ There are realities in the spiritual world which science cannot explain because spiritual things are spiritually discerned.” Bryan continued to state that, “We affirm, therefore: First, God can perform any miracle…the evidence of Bible, which is trustworthy, furnishes convincing proof that miracles have been performed by the characters in the Old Testament and by Christ” (Doc 2). In Doc 2, Bryan claimed that God can perform all the miracles, and the miracles that happened in the Old Testament are trustworthy. In all the miracles in the Old Testament, God’s creation of the world might be the biggest miracle. Also in this doc, people are convinced that the spiritual things cannot be explained by science, which stated that science cannot disprove creationism. As can be seen in the document, Bryan is a Christian. As a Christian, his perspective might be more simply on what his religion teaches. However, later in the 1950s, a fossil of leg bone was found in southeast Turkey. The fossil was huge and it proved to be a human’s bone. Doc 5 states, “This ‘Giants’ stood some 14-16 feet tall, and had 20-22 inch long feet…with arms to theirs sides, would be 6 feet above the ground” (Doc 5). Moreover, there are also some biblical records that stated that giants have existed on earth before. In Deuteronomy 3:11, it states that, “the Iron Bed of Og, King of Bashan was 9 cubits by 4 cubits or approximately 14 feet long by 6 feet wide” (Doc 5). The most interesting thing is that the fossil fits in to all the things that the biblical records has mentioned. All the biblical evidence that are provided had showed a different perspective for how did the world begin.
At last, another big part in the debate is the theoretical perspective.

This perspective is different from the other kind. It didn’t deny either the evolution of scientific theory or creationism by biblical belief. But at the same time, they didn’t take a clear stand for what they believe. They gave out their thoughts and waited for more discoveries. For instance, in Doc 6, the author mentioned Ussher’s date of when the world was created, and later Wells stated this as a “fantastically precise misconception.” The author didn’t show his own view but says, “a debate that had been running since Ussher’s date appeared in the Bible…At its heart is an inquiry of great significance to both religion and science-the research for the beginning of time” (Doc 6). As a non- professional, it is quiet normal of not giving a clear statement of how did the world starts. Then in Doc 3, Barnes’s scientific observation showed signs that the entire history of earth is only within a few thousand years, “the earth’s magnetic field has been measurably decaying at an exponential rate, demonstrating its half-life to be approximately 1,400 years” (Doc 3). As a professional and a scientist, he gave out an interesting statement which is differed from most of the scientific evidence. On the other hand, Doc 7 shows a new idea of intelligent design, “It is the possibility that an intelligent cause made fully formed and functional creatures” (Doc 7). The author made a hypothesis by using the word

“possibility”, but people cannot disprove this. In general, people who have given the theoretical evidence are still waiting to discover and prove their answers.
Despite all the documents have provided the scientific, biblical, theoretical perspectives, there are still more perspectives can be used in finding other ways of viewing the beginning of time. In all the documents given, only biblical evidence shows up as a religious perspective, and all the author were from western country. More religious perspective from religion like Hinduism, Islam would be a great way to lead to other viewpoint and gain a different understanding. Moreover, adding other resources that are written by the authors from eastern country might be valuable resources which provide different worldview.
As all the evidence provided above, people have different ways to view the beginning of time. Even though none of these perspectives have been proved as a fact, but people are still discovering the origin of the world.