Evolution Verses Creation: Does Biblical Religion Unravel The Mysteries That Science Forbids?
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For centuries man has pondered the origin by which this planet came to be. For some the Big Bang Theory suffices. Others believe that God said “Let there be light” and there was light. Humans have also questioned their own development and existence on this earth. While some believe that humans derived from apes through the process of Evolution, others feel that on the sixth day of creation God created man from the dirt. Religious practices or cultural ways of life such as Scientology combine biblical heritage and science but place the majority of its focus on science. According to “The Problem With Creation” some feel that the problem with religion is that it is based too heavily on faith rather than the more tangible concepts of science. On the other hand biblically religious people feel that in accepting scientific theory one must still rely on faith because no one has physically witnessed these theories. Those who doubt the teachings of the bible by using scientific theory seem to disregard the term theory meaning not established as a fact. More religiously inclined people respect those mere thoughts but turn to the proclaimed law of the land, the Holy Bible to sustain their perception of lively hood. Science offers very reasonable logic regarding the existence of mankind and earth however biblical religion also offers a valid explanation regarding creation, human existence, and the overall purpose of subsistence.
The Biblical account of creation is found in Genesis chapters one and two. In chapter one God creates the heavens and the earth. At the time the earth is desecrate, annulled and comprised of complete darkness. God gazes upon this space and decides to reconstruct it and populates it in six days by speaking what he desires for it to be into existence. He begins by speaking forth light and darkness, which he refers to as Night and Day. On day two he separates divergent levels of water on top of one another. He calls one of the bodies of water the Heavens. Then he speaks dry land into existence, he calls this the earth, and he calls the waters the seas. Upon the coming of day three God commands the earth to grow grass, seed carrying plants, and fruit producing trees. On day four God create the moon, stars, and the sun. Day five approaches and God makes birds in the sky and fish and other creatures in the sea. After that God makes cattle and beasts to roam the earth. Finally, on day six God creates, from the dirt, man “form[s] man of the dust of the ground and breathe[s] into his nostrils the breath of life” (Gen 2:7).This man is given dominance over all of earth and its animals. Man is lonely so as man sleeps God reaches in and pulls out a rib and closes up the flesh. From the rib, God makes woman. The man replies, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” (Gen 2:23). Now that everything is finished, God rests on day seven.
Ones scientific knowledge today derives from the scientific revolution in Europe during the fifteenth century. At sciences beginning, and until Darwins time in the nineteenth century, nearly all scientists believed in the Biblical story of creation. Since European culture was predominantly Christian or Catholic the Bible was the only source they had that described the beginning times, therefore many people immediately accepted this account. Although scientists looked around nature and saw God as the source through previous beliefs of the six-day creation story became increasingly questionable because of three disciplines referred to as geology, paleontology and taxonomy. The beginning date of the earths creation was assumed to be 4004 B.C., as calculated by Archbishop Ussher, approximately two-hundred years before Charles Darwin (Blakemore). Because the creation story talks about six days of creation, and Psalm 90 says a thousand years are but a day to God, the six days of creation would be considered as six thousand years to man. Discoveries by several geologists began to show that the earth was much older than six thousand years. Abraham Werner, an influential biologist, displayed that the crust of the earth was a collection of consecutive rock layers, proving that the earth was much older than assumed. Werner still believed in God and the story of creation but the general public had become flustered. To them, it seemed as though he was refuting the Bibles authenticity (28-9).
While geology helped change peoples views of how old the earth was, biology was changing peoples views of how the animals came to be. Like the geologists, the biologists faced derision by the Christian public as well as many scientists. Taxonomy helped solidify belief in creation of animals by God, because by the way they classified animals, each species seemed to have its God-ordered place. A long line of taxonomists believed in this “fixed” status of species. Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher, was the first believer. He believed that animals showed different levels of complexities, and could be classified thus (11). This view of his set the view for the later taxonomists of the Renaissance.
Then Frenchman Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck (1749-1829) came out and argued for evolution of species. He theorized that an organism acquires traits in its lifetime and then passes those traits on to its progeny. His views were strongly rejected by the English, who dubbed him the “French Atheist”. Though his theory has been proven false, he was right about one thing: organisms do pass on traits to their offspring (47-50).
In England 1844 an anonymous book was introduced to the public advocating evolution. The author, Robert Chambers (1802-71) published anonymously to protect the reputation of his profitable business. Though lacking scientific worth, the wildly popular book, Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, was useful to Darwin because it opened the British public up to the theory of evolution (51-2).
Charles Darwin, a Christian who was taught by many other Christian scientists, brooded upon the views of evolution that were arising in the world. At the age of 22 he went on five-year voyage on the Beagle around the world, sailing around South America and the lonely islands of the Galapagos (61). On this voyage he made many observations about fossils, animals, land, and plants, filling “1300 pages with geological notes, 24 notebooks with impressions, 368 pages with zoology, and a diary of nearly 800 pages” (60). However, he did not formulate his groundbreaking theory of natural selection yet.
After spending many years doing a reclassification of snails, he came back to his notes. A theory had formulated in his head and he spent 15 additional years gathering evidence to make sure his