Evolution V Creationism and Lds Beliefs

Evolution and Creationism in the world today seem to have two completely different and contradicting themes. Conversations on these topics usually start with some uneasy variation of the question, "Do you believe in evolution?" Evolution and Creationism elicit such a wide spectrum of responses in people that the discussants are rarely able to focus on a common concern long enough to achieve understanding, let alone appreciation, of one another's positions. Few people, especially members of the LDS church, are emotionally neutral on the subject. This generates in many a real uneasiness, if not fear. Many members of the church are uncomfortable discussing this topic and tend to avoid it or tune it out. While the concept of a creation is a true doctrine, many members of the LDS church narrowly perceive the concept of creationism to be in contradiction to the scientific theory of evolution. However, it has been established 1) that evolution is a supporting appendage to the belief in a creation and 2) that the theory of evolution is not a stumbling block to faith.

BACKGROUND

Creationists believe in the biblical account of the creation of the world depicted in Genesis. For Latter-Day Saints (LDS) this includes accounts found in additional scripture as well. Creationism is a theory that biological structures such as plants, animals and especially humans show evidence of having been designed by an intelligence. Biological structures as these have such complex components and functions that they could not have been developed through the process of evolution, and therefore must have been created or somehow guided in their development. The theory readily rejects science's reliance on explaining the natural world only through unguided natural causes, believing that any theory that relies on chance alone is incapable of explaining how all biological structures came to be.

The Theory of Evolution can be divided into two sub-categories: organic and inorganic evolution. Organic evolution is defined as a change in allele frequencies in a population overtime (Krogh 329). This basically means the DNA of a specific species changes, resulting in varying physical attributes, to better adapt to its environment (commonly knows as natural selection). Opposed to the belief in a creation of unchangeable life forms, organic evolution visualizes life having its beginnings as a prehistoric mass from which, over centuries of time, evolved into all present living organisms. Inorganic evolution, on the other hand, comes before organic evolution and is concerned with the development of the physical universe from unorganized matter. An example of this is the Big Bang theory.

1. EVOLUTION IS A SUPPORTING APPENDAGE TO THE BELIEF IN A CREATION

It has been established that evolution is a supporting appendage to the belief in a creation. A common misconception of biological evolution is the definition of a theory. Science proves that the universe is billions of years old. The Big Bang Theory does not contradict the LDS standpoint on the creation. The age of the earth exceeds that of 6,000 years as commonly believed among members of the LDS church. The fossil record supports evolution and the series of the creation.

1.1 EVOLUTION MISUNDERSTOOD

A common misconception of biological evolution is the definition of a theory. The definition of a theory commonly used today and given by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary is "1the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another, 2abstract thought: speculation, 6aa hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument and 6ban unproven assumption" (Merriam). The National Academy of Science defines theory in a scientific setting as "a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that can incorporate facts, laws, inferences, and tested hypotheses" (Teaching 5). Along with that the National Academy of Sciences explains:

In science, theories do not turn into facts through the accumulation of evidence. Rather, theories are endpoints of science. They are understandings that develop from extensive observation, experimentation, and creative reflection...In this sense, evolution is one of the strongest and most useful scientific theories we have (Science 2).

Because of the vernacular of the theory of evolution, many are led to undermine its credibility. In actuality, a scientific understanding of the word theory should be considered in the discussion of evolution.

1.2 THE BEGINNING

Science proves that the universe is billions of years old. There are three main methods in which scientists can calculate the age of our solar system and the universe. The sun yields energy by fusing hydrogen to produce helium. By measuring the energy yielded by the sun and the transformations it goes through, scientists have been able to compare the sun's current state to what it must have been like when the fusion process began. Scientists have concluded that the sun has gone through a gradual evolution of about 5 billion years. A second technique of estimating the age of the universe is calculating the distance of stars in our solar system and comparing that to the amount of time needed for the light of a specific terrestrial body to arrive at our earth. With the speed of light being 186,000 miles per second, scientists have found that the diameter of just the Milky Way Galaxy is more than 100 thousand light years. This means the age of only our galaxy is at least that (Godfrey 40-41).

While the previously mentioned means of measurement have been useful in estimating the age of the universe, in the 1930's a much more precise and accurate method was discovered. Edwin Hubble and a colleague studied Doppler shifts (the varied length of light waves when they arrive at a certain point from different distances) in the light from different galaxies. In their observation they found that the light waves given off by the various galaxies were increasing in length. This indicated that the galaxies were receding from earth. This phenomenon is now called Hubble law and is generally interpreted as proof that the universe is expanding (Godfrey 44-45). According to the National Academy of Science, through these observations and more modern calculations of speed and distance of the galaxies, scientists have been able to conclude that the universe has been expanding for 10 to 15 billion years (Science 4). Why is this so important? Because if the universe is constantly spreading out, "at some point in the extreme past all of the matter of the universe would have to have been packed together in an extremely dense state" (Godfrey 45). From this deduction came the Big Bang theory.

1.3