Atheistic Evolution

The principle idea behind creationism is that the origin of natural objects is supernatural. As an example, the Christian tradition is that the land, sky, plants and animals were created by a supernatural or also known as God. As Young and Strode state, “Within this basic idea are themes are variations; some cultures believe that plants and animal species are unchanging,

The riddle of the origin of man has been subject to many ponderings and theories for thousands of years. In America, two theories concerning this timeless question have driven a spike through the general populace. These two beliefs, Evolution and Christianity, have driven a riff through the American populace and fueled several debates and conflicts over which is the truer theory. Incidents such as the decision of the Kansas school board to ban schools from including the Evolution Theory from their curriculum are becoming a tragically frequent and threaten to escalate if not checked soon. However, there is a growing belief in America today in the possibility of believing that evolution is an inescapable fact while still

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

The debate over Evolutionary theories and Creationism beliefs has been a major debate throughout our churches, education system, and even our homes. There have been countless scientists, theologians, journalists and Christians that have studied both sides of the spectrum, that argue how the world we live in was created. Many empty statements, with little to no facts, just assertions about this particular question have been stated in many debates all over the world. So on one side we have Creationism belief that essentially argues that God is the “intelligent designer” and on the other side Evolutionary theories that state the world has evolved over the centuries. In the Merriam- Webster dictionary, Creationism is defined as, “a doctrine or theory holding that matter, the various forms of life, and the world were created by God out of nothing and usually in the way described in Genesis “. Merriam- Webster dictionary also defines Evolution as, “a theory that the differences between modern plants and animals are because of changes that happened by a natural process over a very long time; the process by which changes in plants and animals happen over time; a process of slow change and development”. So is it possible to believe both of those definitions?

Similar in certain respects to deism, theistic evolutionteaches that God began the creative process by bringing the first organism to life.

When comparing science and religion there has been a great rift. As long as humanity has believed in a creator there as always been thinkers trying to quantify and evaluate the truth behind religion, trying to disprove or prove a supernatural force.

Evolution proves that there is no reason to credit the design of the universe to God, and therefore, atheists have no reason to believe that God does exist. It is much more logical for atheists to base their beliefs on something that exists rather than on possibilities that have no way of being proven. With that said, atheists can reasonably believe that there is no God or designer of the universe because there is no evidence showing that there is. Using the strength of Darwinian theory, it can be hypothesized that the universe came from no intentional designer. Rather, it came from the unplanned and mindless processes of natural selection. A look into nature reveals such processes; slow and gradual changes have been found in the historical

Dr. Mark Walker discusses possible objections to his argument in his journal article “The Anthropic Argument Against the Existence of God”. If one of these objections hold true it would contradict his conclusion by dismissing one of his premises. The first objection he discusses is the possibility of two omnipotent gods coexisting. Richard Swinburne argued that two all-powerful gods existing together is impossible because the first omnipotent god would be more powerful than the second and the second omnipotent god would be more powerful than the first god. Dr. Mark Walker responds by discussing, if God created other gods then he would be giving up a little of his powers each time.

The definition of Evolution is ¨the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth,¨ (Dictionary.com, 2018). Although, the actual definition is hard to comprehend. Some consider Evolution to be a somewhat ridiculous topic that is far from true. Though others believe that, ¨Evolution by natural selection is one of the best substantiated theories in the history of science, supported by evidence from a wide variety of scientific disciplines, including paleontology, geology, genetics and developmental biology,¨ (Than, 2018). The main idea of Biological Evolution is that all life on Earth share a common ancestor. The term is a way of understanding life.

Ever since Charles Darwin's idea of evolution, which he conjured up in the mid 1800's spread, several people adopted the idea of evolution, (so they could live in sin without guilt), but comparatively, few people learn the truth about creation. When atheists teach that the earth was created by a big bang millions of years ago, and we evolved from apes, they are unable to show us solid proof. No atheist has ever been able to show pictures of their great grandparents evolving from apes over the last few centuries. Some atheists say the bones of an ape called Lucy look like ours. The only reason they are even remotely similar is because Lucy's pelvis bone was shaved to look like humans and because we have the same creator. It's not evidence if

In 1895 Charles Darwin published a book describing his theory of evolution, and his theory of the natural selection process. This theory caused much uproar in the religious community because Darwin’s theory went against the story of creation portrayed in the Holy Bible. His theory claimed that all life currently in place had evolved and adapted from a single organism in the beginning. Over time and by process of natural selection only the dominant species were left over while the other, less dominant species, went extinct. His theory, backed by scientific analysis, had dismissed the idea of a single deity creating all life on Earth. It is not like Darwin had a personal agenda against religion or anything,

In the article, “On Being an Atheist”, H.J. McCloskey discusses the reasons of why he believes being an atheist is a more acceptable than Christianity. McCloskey believes that atheism is a more rational belief versus having a God who allows people to suffer so he can have the glory. He believes to live in this world, you must be comfortable. The introduction of his article, he implements an overview of arguments given by the theist, which he introduces as proofs. He claims that the proofs do not create a rationalization to believe that God exists. He provides 3 theist proofs, which are Cosmological argument, teleological argument, and the argument of design. He also mentions the presence of evil in the world. He focuses on the existence

Then we come to “The mixing of evolution and theology sometimes results in a theory called theistic evolution. The theory posits that through the process of evolution, God gradually developed life forms until finally they became human beings.” (Zinke, 2014) Theistic evolution is the proposition that God is in charge of the biological process. That God instructs the revealing of life and matter over a time span of millions of years.

The debate between creation and evolution has been around for a long time. For much of it, it has presented a choice between the two. Some claim that you either believe in God or evolution, not both. Others, that you have to choose young earth creationism simply because theistic evolution is not a viable option. Still more present young earth creationism as a naive understanding of both the Bible and science. However, since each position has evidence in support of it and against it, it is in no way true that any of them present us with an undeniable position of definite accuracy. Furthermore, the idea that there is only a choice between creation and evolution is false. Indeed, there are more positions than even creationism and theistic

When thinking about the origin of life, there are two main points one can come to, Intelligent Design or Natural Process (Ken Ham, 2008). “According to the former view, supernatural intervention was essential for the creation of life; according to the latter, living organisms could form spontaneously—for example, from the mud of the Nile” (Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2006). Creation can be defined as the original bringing into existence of the universe by God (“Creation”, n.d.). Intelligent design can be defined as “certain features” (Ken Ham, 2008). Intelligent Design can also be explained by finding features of the earth and explaining them by an intelligent cause ("Intelligent Design", n.d.). Creationism usually starts with religious