A Matter Of Scale Summary

In Science and Religion: Are They Compatible?, Alvin Plantinga argues that proponents of naturalism, like Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett, tell us that, according to the theory of evolution, neither God nor any other agent has designed or created the living world, and that evolution, therefore, clearly contradicts the central tenant of theistic religion (which Dennett labels “entirely gratuitous fantasy” ). If what these experts say is true and we must understand evolution only in the context of naturalistic, unguided evolution, “then evolutionary theory is deeply incompatible with theistic religion, whether Christian…or Jewish.” However, Plantinga stresses that evolution does not need to be interpreted in this way, and that, because of this, religion does not have to be held in such opposition to science at all. Christian and Jewish doctrines require only that “God intended to create creatures of a certain kind…planned that there be creatures of that kind…and acted in such a way as to accomplish this intention,” and such a claim is clearly consistent with evolutionary theory in that naturalism is not a necessary requirement of the theory itself. In this paper I will explore the positions of the Jewish faith with respect to the question of evolutionary theory, and, more explicitly, will draw comparisons between Judaism and Christianity to investigate whether popular religion is as staunchly opposed to evolutionary theory as Dawkins and Dennett propose. If the work of

For more than 150 years, a revolutionary idea has been spreading all over the world. It helped us discover our origins and revealed our place in nature. It led to the unification of once independent fields of scientific inquiry. And it is being used today to tackle some of the most pressing problems facing modern civilization. But its implications go far beyond science. It has shaped our culture, politics, philosophy and religion, and it has been used to justify war and genocide. That idea is Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.

The Dawkins chapter speaks about the debate between religion and science and how religious people refuse to even give science teachers and professors the time of day. Most of the time people will refuse to listen to what has been proven due to their religious beliefs. Evolution professors have even been threatened with the loss of their jobs. Even though, many professors have tried to explain that evolution is a fact and one of the greatest of God’s works, still their time is wasted. The pope and educated priests and professors of theology have been known to no longer have a problem with evolution because they understand that evolution is a fact and not intended to be an anti-religious study.

Over one hundred fifty years after Darwin’s theory has been published, the evolution theory is still highly controversial. The idea didn’t go well with the public, Darwin was so embarrassed by the ridicule he received that the swimming-bear passage was removed from later editions of the book (Than). Darwin’s views brought him into fierce conflicts with others who continue to maintain that the account of divine creation contacted within the Bible was correct. According to Than, Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is one of

The late Stephen Jay Gould, a noted paleontologist who once described himself as an “agnostic leaning towards atheism,” wrote the classic treatise Evolution as Fact and Theory for Discover magazine back in 1981. His distinguished career and scientific achievements did earn him respect amongst his peers, but to the general public he is best known for his popular science writings and, to smaller circles, as a champion of evolution. As his treatise was written for a non-academic, science themed magazine, a basic understanding of science, and specifically evolutionary mechanics, was assumed of his audience. The treatise itself is on the often overlapping distinction between “theory” and “fact”; two words, he asserts, that creationists

In recent years, the political and religious movement that sought to integrate theories competing with the theory of evolution into the curriculum of various schools in the US. The theory that was offered was the theory of “intelligent design”, which even though not explicitly religious, makes for a theory much more compatible with religion than evolution. The danger of this move was that it was trying to dismiss a legitimate scientific theory as just one among the existing theories – an equal rival in pursuit of true explanation. However, what the advocates of this measure were actually doing is to equate scientific theory with a vastly inferior narrative about the world. It was, therefore, necessary for an author like Coyne (2009) to

Throughout many years, religion has been a support for many people; reading the bible and attending to church every Sunday, is essential if someone wants to follow God’s guidance. Even though there are many religions in America, Christianity is the most common one and for most Christian believing in the Theory of Evolution is questioning God’s Guidance which is unacceptable and disrespectful. However, analyzing Kevin Hovind’s overly emotional argument about the Reasons Why Evolution is stupid is notable the lack of logical thinking, unreliable information and offensive language which left the audience questioning about the credibility of his knowledge.

Near the beginning of the 1900’s, Christianity was challenged by the authority of science. One of the main leaders of this movement, known as the Enlightening or Scientific revolution, was an intellectual by the name of Charles Darwin. When his book Origin of Species challenged the idea of creationism with natural order and taxonomy (Pereboom, 1997). The answers to the questions that the church had deemed

Any point of contact with the scientific world in the 21st century will eventually lead one to the one of the most hotly contested topic in American education, that of evolution versus creationism. While the creationist point of view, as well as the evolutionary perspective, hosts a great variation of opinion amongst its supporters, Christianity is brought to the center stage time after time (Vuletic, 1994). Literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis’ account of creation falls contrary to the claims of the evolutionary paradigm (Vuletic, 1994). This then refutes the theory for some as ‘atheistic’, while many continue to claim the inability of science to explain metaphysical issues such as the existence of a deity, thus reconciling both perspectives (Vuletic, 1994). It is redundant then, to continue arguing in circles of the proof either side has for its claims. One must extrapolate other means of analyzing the situation.

Evolution is a topic that has been thoroughly discussed between religion (creationism) and science ever since Charles Darwin proposed its early theories in 1858 (O’neil, 1998), and to this day these theories are still controversial to some, and never completely agreed upon; moreover, we’ll discover that even though there are many true factors that prove time and again that the theories of adaptation are happening right before our eyes, and research over the last 158 years back the evolutionary scientific theories; there are still some folks that refute science’s evidence as conceivable, and will deem evolution as hogwash arguing their value that God is the world’s sole creator. Throughout this assignment we will discuss where two of the subfields

When addressing the origins of life, an unwavering dedication to the theories behind creationism & evolutionary and abiogenesis theories makes itself present. It is in this realm of debate, Darwin challenges the dogmatic approach to understanding made by religious doctrine with science and evolutionary precedent. The ongoing debate between evolutionary and abiogenesis biologists and religious leaders is the ultimate contest between science & pseudoscience. Evolutionary biology bases its claims behind the idea that a gene is a hereditary unit that can be passed generation to generation. Through this change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, natural selection acts upon the genetic variation of

The 1859 publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species had dramatic consequences, among them the creation of doubt about God’s place in a world where species independently evolve and continually change. Darwin had not merely questioned God; he had shaken one of the core Christian beliefs: that God had created a flawless and unchanging earth. When Darwin’s ideas were not scientifically disproven, the basis of Christianity itself was called into question. That questioning continued as scientific discovery advanced. The traditional view and place of God became less and less applicable to modern life, triggering an onset of nihilism in many as the foundations of their lives were chipped away by scientific progress. Scholars and

In this paper, I will discuss the theory of evolution and the concepts applied throughout the chapters of Jerry A. Coyne’s, Why Evolution is True. In each section, I will summarize the chapter, explain what the contents of that chapter mean to me, and explain how I apply them to my belief system. You may notice throughout the paper I switch between support of evolution and support of creationism; and this is because it is truly how I stand on the subject.

Some forty years ago, Theodosius Dobzhansky was a scientist credited with building the model of Neo-Darwinism. Science undergoes constant changes in secular theories and society about the beginning of the universe and of life on Earth, which gives way to the idea of existentialism. Through some research, I found that he is best known for one his evolution paper, called Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution. Dobzhansky states in the article his three predictions that have been disproven in the following years after its publication. These guesses include that Darwin’s theory of the tree of life will be confirmed through genetics, that biological science discoveries would focus on evolution-based work and, lastly, that Arab Sheik will always believe, contrary to scientific theory, that the Sun orbited the Earth. Nonetheless, Dobzhansky discussed several great key topics in this article.

Since Charles Darwin suggested the theory of evolution by natural selection in this best-known work, On the Origin of Species, controversy has followed. As a (computer) scientist, this student has no personal problem with the theory of evolution. However, since the debate of whether or not evolution actually exists is still alive and well today, a brief exploration of the arguments against is not only interesting, but also increasingly necessary. Why is there such disparity over this topic over one hundred and fifty years later? In order to understand the contrary side of this debate, the question must be asked: “why would evolution not be possible?”. This student will walk through possible reasons someone might not accept evolution as a scientific theory, as well as some of the more well-known arguments , and provide responses to those arguments from the side of evolutionary science .