Evolution Vs. Cretion

Evolution vs. Creation

Was man created by an almighty power, or is he simply a product of evolution? Naturally, the scientific world backs the evolutionary viewpoint, while the religious community strongly supports creationism. Neither side has conclusive evidence to support their point of view and the struggle between church and science clearly will be never ending. In my opinion, the theory that has the most supportive evidence is evolution.

Although neither side has evidence proving their line of reasoning to be completely true, both sides have believable studies and documents suggesting their opposing perspectives to be acceptable. In order to understand the actual debate between Evolution vs. Creation, it is necessary to come familiar with the two opposing views on how life originated.

The scientific world has many different theories on how life began. Scientists even have conflicting opinions between themselves on which theory to adopt. A few examples of different theories of evolution in the scientific world would be Natural Selection, The Big Bang Theory and Punctuated Equilibrium. (What is Evolution?). To make things simpler, I am treating human evolution as one theory in its entirety. According to the evolution theory, organisms descended from older more simple forms of life through physical changes overtime. Animal life gradually transformed into other animal life forms by adapting to changing environmental conditions. This process of evolution was determined purely by natural forces, without input from any kind of God. Charles Darwin, "The Father of Evolution", believed that all creatures evolved from one-celled organisms to more and more advanced species over millions of years. (Facts about Charles Darwin) Most modern-day biological and earth scientists believe evolution is no longer just a theory, but an established fact that as the earth's structure changed, its life forms evolved. (How Science Responds When Creationists Criticize Evolution).

Although many people are firm supporters of evolution, others believe in the theory of creation. Creationists believe the Earth and all its creatures were created by God. The creationist perspective can only be fully understood by exploring it through Biblical scriptures.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Earth remained bare, till God said, "Let there be light!" Once light was present and God saw it to be good, God then created the bodies of water. Once earth was filled with water God separated the water from the land. Since God was to do this in only seven days, he had to keep moving. Due to this God said, "let the Earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seed in them on the earth," (Genesis 1:11) and it was so. This ended the third day. Beginning the fourth day God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth" (Genesis 1:14 and 1:15). God then made two great lights. One light was to control the day, while the other was to control the night. This concluded his work on the fourth day. Since the necessities were established, the fifth and sixth days were dedicated to animal and human creations. To fulfill his work on the fifth and sixth days, God equipped his creatures with the ability to reproduce and multiply in numbers. On the seventh and final day, God rested and admired his works. (Book of Genesis)

Having compared the two theories preached by both the evolutionists and creationists, I find more believable and convincing evidence in support of evolution. Even though exactly how evolution occurs is still debated, it is a scientific fact that it does still occur. (Evolution Happens) The science of paleontology, or the study of life, provides the most direct proof of evolution in the past through fossil remains usually found in rock. Scientists have found many transitional fossils which show a change between one species and another over time. (Transitional Vertebrate Fossils FAQ) Other evidence comes from relative studies of living animals and plants, including their structure, location and environment. It's easy to see that the evolution of man was directly influenced by his environment. Man's intellectual development directly effected the physical changes that we see. Physical specimens of the earliest humans have been proven to have a small brain capacity, which means their intellect wasn't fully developed. This is contrary to exerts in the Bible describing Adam and Eve being as the first people created by God. Adam and Eve were also somewhat intellectual because they had the ability to choose between good and evil. It is apparent through observation that the environmental changes also brought about some of the physical changes that man underwent. These environmental changes and intellectual development slowly advanced man's behavior, as well as his way of life. (The Evolution of the Human)

A contradiction between creationism and science is in the Biblical statement that God created man first and then woman was created from man. Medical evidence through ultrasound capabilities has proven that all early fetuses are female. So from a scientific viewpoint, if all early fetuses are female, then the male fetus comes forth from the female, and not the reverse. (Does the Fetus Begin as Female?)

The foremost proof Creationists draw upon to explain the beginning of life is the Bible. The Bible, is definitely an important piece of literature but for the Bible to stipulate that the age of the earth is only about 10,000 years old does not support the validity of the creationists. (How Science Responds When Creationists