Evolution and Creation

Evolution vs. Creation

How was the earth created? There are several different answers to this question. One is from a religious viewpoint and stems from the Bible. Another comes from the world of science and is based on evidence that has surfaced over the last century. The theory of evolution comes into direct conflict with another theory that has been around for thousands of years, the theory of creation. The theory of evolution claims that humans have evolved over thousands of years from apes. The creation theory discredits evolution and claims that God created man. As the teaching of the theory of evolution has been accepted into most public schools, a new controversy has arisen about whether or not the theory of creation should also be taught in public schools.

The theory of evolution was first presented in 1859 by Charles Darwin and has influenced history as an alternative to the theory of creation. Evolution is simply change; it is a process that results in genetic changes in a population spread over many generations. The theory of evolution suggests that all the species that have ever existed descended from a single ancestor from the past. This theory claims that humans, through gradual continuous changes, have evolved from the ape family. These gradual continuous changes arose from the need for species to better adapt to their environment. Since mutation is a random process, the changes can either be beneficial, unfavorable, or have no use at all. This theory is largely supported by the findings of paleontology, anthropology, and genetics and involves the process of natural selection. Fossil records have been used as empirical evidence to support the theory and have concluded that Homo sapiens share "clear anatomical, genetic, and historical relationships to other primates." This trend of evolution is never ending and continues to occur in all life forms.

The theory of creation is based on the first eleven chapters in the Bible, and is by some considered to be part of world history. This theory supports the notation that the world was created in six days and that Adam and Eve were the first humans. The theory states that the world is young, only ten thousand years old. The Bible states that man is made in the image of God, therefore God created mankind. Creationists use this to further justify that God created man, not apes. It also claims that all life was created in six days and that the Bible states ten times that life forms can only reproduce form their own kind. In an attempt to link the accounts from the Bible to science some creationist have noted that Hugh Ross, an astronomer and the author of the book, Beyond the Cosmos, theory of the formation of the earth has the same order as the creation account given in the Bible. Also as a far reach, some claim that God, the creator did not spontaneously create life on earth, instead that God said "Let the earth bring forth," insinuating that this statement implies time. It is acknowledged that our human limitations are not shared by God, the creator and our attempts to define and limit him are useless because God simply is.

Creationists have been attempting to discredit the theory of evolution since it was first established by Darwin, but the fact is that there is little or no empirical evidence to support the theory of creation. One form of evidence used to support the theory of creation is that science claims that dinosaurs and human did not co-exist, yet creationists dispute this and claim that human foot prints have been found along side those of dinosaurs, this discovery has not been validated with scientific evidence. Another form of evidence creationist use to support their theory is that since God created man in his own image, then men could not have possibly evolved from apes. The evidence is circumstantial though and there is no scientific data to confirm the theory of creation.

The teaching of evolution already takes place in many schools across the country. This is extremely upsetting to creationists who believe that the theory of creation should be given equal time. Creationists argue that by throwing out school