Evolution Through the Influence of God

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,

Since the beginning of the human race there has been a lingering question as to the origins of man and how all living things acquired their characteristics. The two main theories that arose over time were Creationism and Evolution, both of which provided very distinct answers to this question. Creationism based its answer on the idea of a supernatural power or being that created the entire universe, man and the numerous other organisms that live within it. While, Evolution theorizes that all living things have the potential to change and grow over time into something new and different. So in other words, one theory suggests that humans and all the organisms on Earth are the result of divine design, while the other indicates that they

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

Intelligent Design is the idea that living creatures on Earth are so complex that, they could not possibly have been created through the natural selection. It is the belief that there must be an ?intelligent designer? that created us all. This creator is usually referenced as God. However, it may also be

One of the fundamental questions that religions seek to answer is that of origin. How was man put on earth? Why and from what was he created? Who created him? What does his creation imply about the status of human beings? Some or all of these questions are answered by a religion’s creation stories. Every religion’s creation myths attempt to give solutions to problems present to that religious society. Because of this, each religion may have one or more creation stories, each of those different from one another in the questions they ask and the answers they give.

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

According to Ms. Witsaman, evolution is not the theory of how life began, which is a common misconception nowadays, but the theory of how life has changed over time. Theories are predictions which are backed up by several evidences and supported by scientists. The evidences that scientists use now to prove include fossils, homologous structures, analogous structures, vestigial structures, embryology, biogeography, and biochemicals. Fossils are the remains of living things that once roamed the Earth. Homologous structure are structures shared by different organisms that have similar structure but different functions. Analogous structures are the opposite, they have similar functions but completely different structure.Vestigial structures are

The study of science is defined as that which deals with the workings of the physical world we are able to observe and measure. The origin of life, however, is a topic that science has long grappled with, despite the impossibility of observing or proving any origins theory in a strictly scientific manner. Today, the widely accepted theory of life’s beginning is the theory of Evolution by mutation and natural selection, or Neo-Darwinism. Most people in our modern society accept this theory at face value because it is popular with the majority of scientists, but it must always be taken into account that our origins cannot be proven scientifically and that, in fact, the theory of Evolution is not the only or even the most logical theory

Anatomical Evidence – evidence relating to the structures of organisms and how they have evolved over time and might share a common ancestry.

The feud between creationist and scientist about the origins of the universe dates back to the 20’s during the Scopes trial. Scientist are against creationism because there is no evidence to support the theory. Scientist support Charles Darwin’s theory Darwinism, the theory that organisms evolve from simple to complex through minor adaptations over time, because it has held up for more than a century. Rowe’s article expresses how he believes that creationist created intelligent design to take the place of creationism in public schools after the Supreme Court ruled that

Creationism is the acceptance that the universe and living organisms originate from definite acts of divine creation, as in the Biblical account, rather than by natural processes such as evolution. A creationist is someone who dismisses scientific explanations for the origin of life and the universe, preferring a hypothesis of supernatural creation by God. The considerable amount of creationists in the United States are fundamentalist Christian Protestants, but there are creationists of other denominations as well. Creationism was the default hypothesis before Charles Darwin’s, but when the theory of evolution was proposed, its superior support and explanation led it to quickly win scientists over. Contrary to creationist, today there is no deliberate scientific debate

In the science of paleontology, the history of life is studied. Paleontologists study fossils to learn the past ecologies, evolution, and the origins of humans. In order to understand the processes that have led to both the origination and destruction of organisms since life began, paleontologists incorporate both scientific knowledge and studies. Fossil findings are critically important for confirming predictions of evolution theory. Of the many discoveries that are made yearly to add depth to the understanding of evolution, an example is a recent discovery of a creature they named Tiktaalik. The Tiktaalik was uncovered to be a transitional animal between shallow-water fishes and limbed animals. The creature supports the idea that it emerged from both mammals and reptiles, suggesting that the two are related. These findings support prediction of evolution, contradicting the belief that God

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,

Biological evolution is the name for the changes in gene frequency in a population of a species from generation to generation. Evolution offers explanation to why species genetically change over years and the diversity of life on Earth. Although it is generally accepted by the scientific community, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution has been studied and debated for several decades. In 1859, Darwin published On The Origin of Species, which introduced the idea of evolutionary thought which he supported with evidence of one type of evolutionary mechanism, natural selection. Some of the main mechanisms of evolution are natural selection, mutation, and genetic drift. The idea that all life on Earth shares a common ancestor has been around for

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