| Uniformitarianism vs. Catastrophism | Lara Anderson | | Dr. Travis Bradshaw | PHSC 201-A19 |
For much of history, humans have grappled with the question: Where do we come from? Today there are two main houses of argument which have many different names. They are called secular and religious, evolutionists and creationists, humanists and theists. However, each house subscribes to its own idea of how the world has come about and progressed through history. The secular/evolutionist/humanist view point is that the earth happened through chance and time over billions of years of processes repeating themselves in the same way they do today, a view known as uniformitarianism. While the religious/creationist/theists claim that the
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This was merely the adaption of Lyell’s theory of uniformitarianism to fit the living things on the planet. ()
Catastrophism
There is no doubt that certain catastrophes have happened on Earth over its lifespan. Most scientists today who do not agree with Catastrophism as a theory agree that certain events have happened, such as asteroid collisions with Earth. We still see catastrophes occurring today in the form of tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. However, the theory of catastrophism is that there have been massive catastrophes (one in particular) that have shaped the earth as we know and understand it to be today. () Catastrophists who are also Biblical Christians believe that the great flood of Noah is the main catastrophic event that affected everything from the layering of the fossils to the salinity of the ocean. Because the major base for catastrophism is creationism, since the time of Darwin, at least, most scientists have completely disregarded this theory as a possible explanation for the geological makeup of the earth. However, the theory has been gaining ground on the bases of new research and the questioning of long held scientific beliefs.
Differences and Similarities Though the theories of Uniformitarianism and Catastrophism do not seem compatible in the least, there are a few similarities to be found. As stated earlier, the subscribers of uniformitarianism also
Within the Christian/Biblical worldview, the question of origin is entirely rooted in God. This worldview believes that God created all that
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
When it comes to the question of origin, Christianity and Humanism have opposites beliefs. Christians believe that God is the creator of the universe and all living things. Humanist believes that there is a scientific reason for our creation.
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.
1. Uniformitarianism is the theory that the Earth has remained the same, or uniform, over hundreds of millions of years. With that uniformity of the rocks and sediments in the layers of the Earth, we can trace these geological principles back to the habitats of dinosaurs because we can understand that the rocks they may have walked on, are the same rocks we see today. This helps explain the findings of fossils; archaeologists often find fossils whether it be a leaf or carbon-print of a dinosaur bone in rocks that are hundreds of millions of years old. Thus justifying uniformitarianism and how Earth has stayed uniform after all these years and we are able to find dinosaur bones and remains from our planet that is extremely aged.
Where do we come from? The creation of the world has been told through many different stories, and from a variety of religions across the world. The argument between evolution and creation has been debated back and forth for years. So how do we know which claim is correct? Has all life evolved from simple bacteria to all the species that appear today, or did life on earth begin with God's creation of Adam from dust and his partner Eve from adam’s rib bone. As a child I grew up attending church every Sunday with my grandparents, attending bible school, and taught the ways of the Lord. I wouldn’t know any different until my eyes were opened in biology class where the theory of Evolution is justified. There are different explanations to
One of the biggest pieces of evidence for the Flood is the Cambrian explosion. The Cambrian explosion is taught by evolutionist to be a sudden burst of evolution caused by an increase in favorable environments. An evolutionist article states, “Fossils provide solid evidence that organisms from the past are not the same as those found today; they show a progression of evolution… The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past and shows the evolution of form over millions of years. For example, scientists have recovered highly-detailed records showing the evolution of humans and horses.” (Evidence of Evolution, n.d.) In reality the fossil record shows that there was a sudden and nearly simultaneous appearance of all known phyla as well as species from the most distant parts of the family tree during the Cambrian period, instead of a gradual evolution. (Wieland, n.d.) (Wise, 2009) Fossils have been found worldwide in Precambrian rocks, but they were too bizarre and different
What is The Great Flood? Throughout history, there have always been works of literature explaining a flood that had taken place, causing the human population to almost be extinct. Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh, both containing this very significant and important flood, have many similarities and differences showing their parallels, which include how they were ordered to save the human population, the differences and similarities in the test to find land, and facts about why and how long it lasts. All of these things began to prove the significant parallels within the two well-known works of literature.
Is “theory” a contradictory scientific term? Many people define “theory” as a set of unjustifiable propositions, whereas others believe a “theory” is a “coherent set of principles used to explain a class of phenomena” (Kingsolver 208). The contrasting interpretation of “theory” results from the fluctuating amount of information circulating on this term. Although the word “theory” is a prime example of how people interpret ideas distinctively, people can develop new insights on their previous ideas or thoughts once they gain more knowledge from books or experience. Barbara Kingsolver, a biologist, conveys in her essay, “A Fist in the Eye of God,” that humans are divided over the acceptance of evolution and the scientific understandings of
The Christian world view tells us in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (ESV). This is the basis for our real story of how the world begun. The world on the other hand has many different stories, some believe we evolved from apes after a cosmic big bang created the universe, some believe in their own deity who created the world. As Bartholomew and Goheen point out, in today’s world there is a commitment to pluralism. They state that this world believes that we “should not even look for any such overarching story, one that could be true for all people, all communities, all nations – for to find such a thing would imply that not all stories are equally valid” (Bartholomew & Goheen, 2009, p. 12).
The subject of origins, or how we got here, is one of the most fundamental questions that can be asked. The important question of why we are here can’t be answered by science alone. How we answer these questions provides the basis for how we think about things, it defines our world-view. The Evolution vs. Creation debate is often referred to as the Great Debate. 20th century science has made the compelling discovery that, at some point, the universe began. Both sides of the debate Evolutionists and Creationists agree on one thing only, that the universe has not always existed. This is where their agreement ends. The why and how the universe began is where the division and dispute begins.
what is the importance of uniformity ,dress right dress, and discipline in the army? the importance of uniformity is to make everyone become and look equal. there are no differences between us, no separation because we are all a team. what is the point of uniformity, when a whole platoon is uniformed it shows discipline and being in uniform is one of the things that is part of the foundation of the army. Without uniformity there cannot be discipline, and then it turns into a chain reaction and destroying the foundation of the army. being in uniformity shows soldiers how they can do things together and how working together, we as people can do anything we want to accomplish. it also teaches soldiers that uniformity also shows
We probably all believe that we got here either, by accident, being created by a superior being or both. The Jews and Christians both believe that they were created by a superior being named: God. The Judeo-Christian tradition is that God created the earth over the course of six days and that He rested on the seventh day. Genesis 1 also states that He made man in His own image, this is something that I agree with as a Christian. However how do others believe we got here? They either believe that we arrived here by accident, or by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, that is mentioned in his book The Origin of Species by Natural Selection. These ideas have been around for more than 250 years and people have seemed to side with either the Judeo-Christian tradition or Darwin’s theory of creation.
The Question of Origin. There are many beliefs as to where we came from. Naturalism believes that we “evolved” from a simpler life form or by accident (All About Worldview: Where Did we Come From?, 2015). That we exist because of science. Pantheism believes that everything exists together. That life is a circle (Rusbult, n.d.). Theism is the belief that there is something greater that created everything (Rusbult, n.d.). According to the Bible (Gen. 1:26-27), God created man
Starting over 500 years ago with Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton paving the way for the possibility of new scientific exploration into studies such as “stratigraphy, the study of the rock and soil layers of the earth” by Robert Hooke and Carolus Linnaeus’ study of taxonomy, “the system of naming and classifying organisms” based on morphological similarities and differences, humanity would begin to uncrack the code of where life came from in a nonbiblical sense. (Fuentes, 26) Further studies by George-Louis Leclerc – Comte du Buffon, Erasmus Darwin (Charles’ grandfather), Georges Cuvier, James Hutton and Charles Lyell as well as Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet – Chevalier de Lamarck’s studies in which he “correctly identified the environment as a challenge to organisms and adaptation as the result of changing to meet environmental challenges” helped prompt the formulation of the current understanding of evolution by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace each in their own special way.