Creationism, The, And The Intelligent Designers

I. Acceptance of Creation is growing in spite of overwhelming evidence proving Evolution There is no easy resolution for whats true and evolution or creationism. It is a complex topic with profound scientific, religious, educational, and criticism. How can a student or parent come to grips with this issue? Evolution vs. Creationism provides a badly needed, comprehensive, and balanced introduction to the many facets of the current debates about what should be taught in a classroom or in reality itself. Evolution relies on scientific facts while creationism clings on biblical beliefs. But the legal and

Although this literal interpretation of the Bible does leave very little room for coexistence with evolutionary beliefs, practitioners of Theistic Evolution argue that several aspects of the Bible (or, more particularly, the Book of Genesis) cannot be taken literally. The primary reason for this theory is that the Book of Genesis has a major flaw: it states that God did not make the sun until the Fourth Day. The sun determines time because the sun is visible during daytime and not visible at night. The Christian theologian Augustine first called this shocking detail to widespread attention in the fifth century. Augustine also went on to theorize that God "made all things together, disposing them in an order based not on intervals of time but on causal connections." Both Augustine and modern practitioners of theistic evolution have pointed out that this minute flaw proves that time intervals in the Bible cannot be taken literally; which proves that Christianity and Evolution do not necessarily negate each other in regards to historical time spans. Augustine also pointed out the possibility that some things were made in fully developed form and others were made in "potential form" that developed over time to the condition in which they are seen today. Augustine may have been a Christian theologian of ancient times, but his opinions and viewpoints often coincide with

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?

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

Some would believe that evolution is a theory that scientist made up to convince us that there is no God. To be a scientist does not necessarily mean that you cannot believe in God. Author Karl Giberson backs this by stating “…the majority of scientists are not hostile to religion and many of them are actually quite religious.” (Giberson, Say It Ain't So 359). Thus, believing that living creatures have evolved over time does not mean that you cannot also have religious beliefs. One theory does not necessarily have to be completely separate from the other.

Stephen Jay Gould was an American paleontologist, biologist and also one of the most influential spokesman of his generation. Gould had written a lot of notable papers in which a few have landed around the word Evolution. Evolution has been divided in to two categories, evolutionists, who believe that living organisms have modified over a very long period of time and have ended up into evolving or, creationists who believe that we didn’t evolve from any form but that we were made from a supernatural being “God”.

Most arguments for the Genesis six day creation account stem from evidence against the Big Bang theory as the only two legitimate options for the origin of the universe are random choice or intelligent design. Therefore, anything that discredits the Big Bang model is building upon creationism. There have also been countless archaeological findings that support the relevance of the Bible. One example is that a number of Babylonian documents such as the Sumerian King List have been discovered that describe the same flood spoken of in Genesis Chapters 6-9. The Ark that Noah built and used

Theistic Evolution accepts all scientific discoveries, or theories, such as the Big Bang, Evolution, and that the world began millions of years ago. The controversy with Theistic Evolution, is that it is considered to contradict itself, choosing to interpret only some portions of the Bible literally. The problem is that Christians with this belief are accepting Humanistic world views, which contradict and are inconsistent with the Bible and Christian religion. While the book of Genesis states that God created the Earth before the Sun and the Moon, people of the Evolutionist belief say the opposite, claiming that the Sun and the Moon came before the Earth (Mortenson).

As a consequence, one may be able to better comprehend the sacred text through a non-literal interpretation. An example of a non-literal approach of the Genesis 1-2 is the Old Earth View, also known as the Day-Age theory which argues that God did not create the universe in six literal (24 hour) days, but rather each day represented a much longer, undefined, period of time, such as millions of years (Thompson, 1994). The Day-Age theory has been proven to go hand in hand with the idea of theistic evolution which is centered around the belief that evolution did occur, but it was guided by God (Thompson, 1994). The Day-Age theory has spread as a result of the attempt of trying to integrate the idea of evolution into biblical text, which without the appropriate amount of time is impossible to accept.

Chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis teach us about the natural world and that God created everything. The argument of evolution can be proved wrong reading the first chapter of Genesis. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth” (Genesis 1:1, NLT) He created the world in six days, on each day he would add something new to his list of creations such as light, darkness, sky, seas, plants and animals, and finally man and woman “On the seventh day God had

Theistic evolution is the most common worldview of how the earth and life started, some others are atheistic evolution (also commonly known as Darwinian evolution and naturalistic evolution) and special creation. Versions of theistic evolution come to the point between one of two extremes. “One view is close to deism, which says God allows only natural processes to influence the development of life. The other assumes that God constantly used miraculous intervention to guide evolution”(GotQuestions.org). The first problem of theistic evolution is that they state that there is a God, but He is not directly involved in the origin of life. According to this view, God created the building blocks and natural laws with the plan of there becoming life

Darwin’s theory of natural selection permits adaptation by natural means instead of divine intervention. The Theory of Intelligent Design uses methods used by other sciences to explain that the universe and living things were created by an intelligent cause, not a random process such as natural selection. As Wilson (2005) stated “Many, who accept the fact of evolution cannot, however, on religious grounds, accept the operation of blind chance and the absence of divine

One of the biggest interest groups to oppose the idea of adopting Creationism in K-12 public schools is the American Anthropological Association. Their findings show that teaching human biology and non-human biology are the key factors to students excelling in other subjects in science. Students cannot fully understand biology and natural science without evolution being taught. Teaching Creationism could conflict with students’ understanding other parts of biology and natural sciences. Evolution has debunked Creationism through scientific data and physical proof. The following are four independent validations of evidence for evolution. First is fossil records. Fossils are the remains of dead organisms often embedded in rocks and preserved for ages. The study of fossils has shown similarity and dissimilarity between the current living organisms or those known for centuries back. Fossils also date back the time of occurrence of such common ancestors. Similarity is what points towards ancestral relation while the lack of identical features shows evolution. Second is the chemical and anatomical similarities. Our genetic sequencing directly proves the similarity in genetic material between modern humans and their ancestors (chimpanzees and humans) while also showing common genetic features. Embryos of many mammals look similar. Third is the geographical distribution. The environment also supports existence of a particular species which might be non-existent in another region on earth. Charles Darwin found that finches on the Galapagos Islands have modified beak shapes suited for the food source available on the island. This shows how particular species have genetic feature to suit their environment. And finally there is both natural and artificial selection. This evolution is based on the fact that nature selects for the fittest which can survive in changing adverse conditions. Over time, populations of the evolved species either increases or decreases based on the environment. The selection show what is the breed of species with better traits so as to obtain an offspring with best traits of both parents and superior to them.

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