Creationism and Intelligent Design versus Evolution Theories
SOME TERMS, a Caveat and then OPENING STATEMENTS
COSMIC EVOLUTION: ‘The vast number of developmental and generative changes that have accumulated during all time and across all space, from big bang to humankind (Cosmic Evolution: The Rise of Complexity in Nature; Chaisson, Harvard Uni. Press, 2001).’ This includes Stellar and Planetary Evolution.
Microevolution: evolution involving small-scale changes within the species, occurring over a short period of time. Many include the term to mean the small changes that lead to new species; which involves natural selection, mutations and genetics – namely changes in allele frequencies that occur over time. Can refer to ‘horizontal’ changes with species and kinds, as oppose to ‘vertical’ changes theorized in natural selection.
Macroevolution: evolution of bizarre changes that occurs at species or higher taxonomic levels such as in Paleontology and developmental biology. Species is a classification given to the largest group of organisms in which two members are able to reproduce offspring. Taxonomy is the process or system of grouping living things, i.e. Kingdom, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species.
Natural Selection: includes various theories of the process in nature by which organisms or living things adapted to their environment and survive through change and differential reproduction. This was one of Darwin’s keys to the Theory of Evolution.
Big Bang Theory: the universe came into existence from a very hot state as a space-time singularity around 13.7 billion years ago and cooled and expanded.
NOTE: TheTRUTHsource does not support macroevolution and nearly all microevolution; yet, earnestly offers the best arguments and philosophies of their best scientists and supporters in order to get to the TRUTH and to understand how to counter such Theories.
OPENING STATEMENT FOR EVOLUTIONISTS
Since the THEORY of EVOLUTION, which in its broadest sense encompasses both microevolution and macroevolution from the origin and expansion of the universe and conception of man to the development and natural selection of species, gained widespread acceptance by the late 19th century, scientists and professors have sought to help students and society understand its philosophy and teachings. Nearly all academic administrations and scientists support evolutionary theory and the continued development of its theories.
Evolution not only involves the biological changes in species, but the cultural evolution and changes and acceptances of those changes within the human species. For example, modern humanity has in greater part or majority moved from superstitious religious myths to scientific rationalized disciplines and from old traditional heterosexual pairings of same-race and gender to a more natural and free sexual orientation and unbiased pairings.
By the late 1800s, scientific explanations offered from universities and schools to students and society begin to replace ancient religious ideas and traditional educational structure. Democratic political processes and more sound political administrations reduced the need and propaganda of religious ideologies and strongholds with systems which offered courses and teachings to educate the masses with scientifically developed theories and truths; as well as true freedom in thinking and living allowing for techno-globalization and the evolution of educational structure and methods.
For example, nearly all American public schools have accepted the 2008 American Psychological Association and LGBT GLSEN sponsored Just the Facts about Youth and Sexual Orientation and in 2014; educational systems accepted the GLSEN backed LGBT-Inclusive and Affirming Curriculum for All Students and Developing LGBT-inclusive Classroom Resources. These positions were supported and developed by 13 national organizations including the American Federation of Teachers, Association Interfaith Alliance and the National Association of Social Workers, and was accepted within COMMON CORE ‘Standards’ and thus public schools and universities.
Likewise, through such organizations and Common Core initiatives, the theories and scientific facts of Evolution have been accepted in nearly all 21st century scientific thinking, teaching and textbooks. More so, the highest courts have rightly separated evolution from creationism and expelled religious ideology from public education. This move alone has been possibly the greatest in promoting the Theory of Evolution within society.
The Pew Research Center has shown that since about the turn of the 21st century, Americans and for the most part people throughout Europe favor freedom of sexual orientation. Likewise, Pew’s research, along with Censuses, Gallup polls and other data has shown the non-religious increased in America since about 1980 at approximately 5% per decade, and today over 1/4 of the nation is non-religious. Moreover, it appears that our society is evolving towards academic and social sciences and away from past rituals and superstitions.
Now, the main theories of evolution include cosmic, chemical and biological evolution. Many include ‘the Big Bang Theory’ within cosmic evolution; yet, the origin of the universe and cosmic evolution does not necessarily need to stand on the foundation of such a THEORY. Nevertheless, evidence for the Big Bang Theory includes the Red Shift, cosmic microwave background radiation, the formation of galaxies, and the abundance of different elements in the universe.
Professor Eric Chaisson at Harvard University leads the Cosmic Evolution website at cfa.havard.edu. Chaisson displays the progression of Cosmic Evolution in 8 Epochs occurring over about 14 billion years. These include the Particulate, Galactic, Stellar, Planetary, Chemical, Biological, Cultural and Future Epochs. CFA stands for Center For Astrophysics which is a joint effort under the Science Education Department (SED) of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center supported by various grants including from the National Science Foundation. The SED through television and computer media provides workshops, research and articles to aid science teachers and students K – 12.
Other evidence for Cosmic Evolution includes the Stellar Initial Mass Function and the spin of massive black holes as taught by Department of Astrophysics from Cornell University to Oxford. Astrophysical black holes are described by mass and spin, defining the structure of space-time near to the event horizon. Most scientists now accept that every massive galaxy has a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at its center. Evidence for these things can be found in such places as the New York Times Bestseller from Stephen Hawking, Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays (1994).
Hawking also has been credited with solving the black hole ‘information’ problem in which we do not know what happens inside the event horizon of a black hole. Hawking uses quantum mechanics to show it is possible that the physical material never actually enters the black hole, but instead smashes into the point of no return and is encoded as a two-dimensional hologram. Then Hawking proposes that if the above is not satisfied, then black holes might serve as gateways into white holes and other universes. Nevertheless, studies of general relativity and quantum gravity support scientific cosmological theories far more than Religious mythologies.
Chemical Evolution or Abiogenesis deals with the origin of life. It involves the formation of organic molecules, which combine to make biomolecules, and the self-development of these molecules into living and evolving organisms. Chemical Evolution overlaps with Biological Evolution.
A 2009 joint studied by the Pew Research Center and For the People & the Press, Scientific Achievements Less Prominent than a Decade Ago, found that “nearly all scientists (97%) say humans and other living things have evolved over time – 87% say evolution is due to natural processes, such as natural selection. The dominant position among scientists – that living things have evolved due to natural processes – is shared by only about third (32%) of the public.” And a December 2013, Pew Research Center article, Public’s View on Human Evolution reported “six-in-ten Americans (60%) say that ‘humans and other living things have evolved over time,’ while a third (33%) reject the idea of evolution, saying that “humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time’.” The survey also revealed that 43% of Republicans and 67% of Democrats said humans have evolved over time.
Biological evolution is not a ‘theory’ in the way that Creationism is a theory. According to the National Academy of Sciences, a scientific theory is “a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that can incorporate facts, laws, inferences and tested hypotheses.” Thus, Evolution and Creationism are completely different. Biological Evolution can be proven by Fossil records, DNA comparisons and even Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria.
However, we are not without our significant religious support. The Catholic Church has not opposed and even supports evolution. In 1996, Pope John Paul II, in his Message to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences stated, ‘In his encyclical Humani Generis (1950), my predecessor Pius XII has already affirmed that there is no conflict between evolution and the doctrine of faith regarding man…” In 2004, the Vatican’s International Theological Commission admitted that, “while there is little consensus among scientists about how the origin of this first microscopic life is to be explained, there is general agreement that the first organism dwelt on this planet about 3.5 – 4 billion years ago. It has been demonstrated that all living organisms on earth are genetically related… descended from this first organism… Converging evidence from many studies in the physical and biological sciences furnishes mounting support for some theory of evolution to account for the development and diversification of life on earth.”
In 2006, Pope Benedict gave a lecture at the University of Regensburg, saying in part, “science has opened up major dimensions of reason that previously had not been accessible and have thereby provided us with new knowledge…” In 2014, in Pope Francis’ address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pontiff stated, ‘dear Academics, I am glad to express my profound appreciation and my warm encouragement to move forward with scientific progress and the betterment of the standard of living of people, especially of those in the greatest poverty…
You are addressing the highly complex subject of the evolution of the concept of nature. I will not go into the scientific complexity, which you well understand, of this important and crucial question. I only want to underline that God and Christ are walking with us and are also present in nature, as the Apostle Paul stated in his discourse at the Areopagus: “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). When we read the account of Creation in Genesis we risk imagining that God was a magician, complete with an all powerful magic wand. But that was not so. He created beings and he let them develop according to the internal laws with which He endowed each one, that they might develop, and reach their fullness. He gave autonomy to the beings of the universe at the same time in which He assured them of his continual presence, giving life to every reality. And thus Creation has been progressing for centuries and centuries, millennia and millennia, until becoming as we know it today, precisely because God is not a demiurge or a magician, but the Creator who gives life to all beings. The beginning of the world was not a work of chaos that owes its origin to another, but derives directly from a supreme Principle who creates out of love. The Big Bang theory, which is proposed today as the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of a divine creator but depends on it. Evolution in nature does not conflict with the notion of Creation, because evolution presupposes the creation of beings who evolve.”
Thus, to Christians and non-Christians I say evolution should be embraced not as a theory, but as the most reasonable method for the origin of all species and life, as well as the origin of our universe itself. Thank you.
OPENING STATEMENT FOR CREATIONIST
The Apostle Paul, one of the most educated person’s on the Earth in the first century, was taught in the best schools, even by the famous Rabbi Gamliel himself. Paul, who could speak at least three languages and understood history, science and philosophy beyond most – when he came to the Greeks at Corinth, said, “I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God; for I resolved to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
And after the Sanhedrin or Council of Jewish Sadducees and Pharisees turned him over to the Romans for trial, Paul said, “Men and Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; I am being judged concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead.” And today we stand at the crossroads, where certain forces, politicians and scientists are seeking to quench all teachings of God spoken Creation and Christ’s sacrifice which is the only work able to atone for mankind’s sins and open a door to eternal salvation.
We must stand and answer not only with eloquence and wisdom; but with the testimony of God and Christ. We Christians have been in two great ways silenced. First, most of us are silenced because of lack of knowledge; and second, we are silenced due to all those that work to separate Christ and State. Our Truths have been replaced with unsubstantiated materialistic theories; but to make things worse, our tax dollars have been used to not only purchase secular textbooks for public schools, but to fund organizations like GLSEN or the Center For Astrophysics and these organization are allowed to put their curriculums in public universities and public elementary and secondary schools, while we are barred.
A Christian should not fear arguing beyond ‘faith’ using ‘Science’ – for true Science as derived from its original Latin word base means ‘Knowledge.’ Yet equally, a faithful Christian cannot stray from the inspired Holy Scriptures and confessions of the works of Jesus Christ, least they build their foundations upon eroding sand, or they stumble upon the board way filled with the cowardly and the unbelieving, who like idolaters are in a dangerous eternal state. Oh good Christians, how is your soul? Do you confess the Holy One and His marvelous works; or do you fear man?
We will present scientific evidence and refute their many arguments and theories; but first dear souls, understand what is at the core of this debate – it is the nature and omnipotence of Almighty God and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is pure wicked doctrines of demons coated in confusing and strangely appealing attire versus the Word of God – incarnate and in Scripture. It is the heart of the Torah and the testimonies of the prophets, apostles, all which were followed by closely by generations of early church fathers and their teachings influencing centuries of Christians.
So, here is the TRUTH, albeit difficult for the spiritual blinded, as stated by Christ’s apostles, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible (Heb. 11:3).” For as John said, ‘God is Spirit, and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).’
These things more clearly stated, as Peter and John said, “We did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ… there were also false prophets among the people, as there are false teachers among you now… they speak evil and blasphemous things they do not understand… speaking with great words of emptiness… but you know that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of Jesus’ Coming?’ …For this they willfully forget, THAT BY THE WORD OF GOD THE HEAVENS WERE OF OLD, AND THE EARTH STANDING OUT OF THE WATER… and the heavens and the earth are now preserved by the word… until the DAY OF THE LORD… Yet, we, according to His promises look for a new heaven and a new earth… with a Holy City, the New Jerusalem (2 Peter and Rev. 21).”
Do not miss this great TRUTH, by the Word of God, the Earth and Universe was OLD. Adam was not a molecule, nor a fetus; but a grown man. And the mountains and trees and animals and fish were all created aged, not pebbles, or eggs and seeds, and definitely not a simply mixture of chemical elements with no thought to intelligent design.
Choose today whom you will believe; but understand, if you believe that God exists and that He is the Creator and that we shall all stand before Him, then why is it difficult to believe in the truth of His written Word, the power of His spoken Word, and the Word who is Jesus Christ the Lord of all who with God created all things that were created in the heavens and the earth (Col. 1)?
Even Plato and Aristotle believed in a ‘First Cause;’ but most scientist want to avoid that subject and simply say who don’t know those things or can’t be sure of what happened to initiate the origin of life. And some say that God is unknown. But Paul said to the Athens, “I found an altar ‘to an unknown god.’ So you are ignorant of the very thing you proclaim or worship; but I now proclaim to you, the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands… He gives all men life and breath and from one man He made every nation of men, to inhabit the whole earth (Acts 17).”
Now, not that I defend the Pope’s words, but John Paul completed the statement in that 1996 address saying that ‘there is no conflict between evolution and the doctrine of the faith regarding man… provided that we do not lose sight of certain fixed points.’ Fixed points like are stated in the Catholic Nicene Creed: “We believe in ONE GOD, the Father, the Almighty, MAKER of Heaven and Earth, and of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ… through Him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation, He came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit He was born of the Virgin Mary… For our sake He was crucified …died and was buried. On the third day He rose again… He ascended into heaven… He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead…”
Now the Pew Research Center reported that in 1987, 88% of adults said they never doubt the existence of God. As of 2012, this figure was down 8 percentage points to 80%. Yet, it is doubt for a Christian to yield and believe in some long process of chemical and biological evolution that produced mankind. There is no glory to God or faith in the power of God in that belief.
But let’s more closely examine the method or argument by the other side. Notice how they placed the topic sexual orientation and LGBT gender language with civil rights language of race. This is a flawed position, for one does not choose their natural born race; however, regardless of the propaganda of modern psychiatrists, one can choose or assume a sexual orientation relating to both marriage and identity. One race is not a moral subject, a child cannot choose its parents and race or socio-economical station, anymore than a fetus can defend its life.
Nevertheless, we stand with many in our defense. Over 800 scientists have signed the Scientific Dissent from Darwinism. (link: http://www.dissentfromdarwin.org/sign-the-list/) For the Christian to ‘lean not on our own understanding’ is not to be silent or to reason; it is to use our God given intelligence, wisdom, understanding, knowledge and talents to as the Pilgrims Mayflower Compact stated, ‘further the advancement of the Christian Faith.’ It is as Isaiah said, for us to ‘come and reason together.’
But we not rely on our own arguments; we can also use the words of their scientist against themselves. Notice those that earnest seeking truths when coming face to face to the point of origin or pre-origin, or the First Cause admit uncertainty.
I their opening statement they admitted that ‘the Theory of Evolution… gained widespread acceptance by the late 19th century.’ Before this in Christian nations few Scientist argued against the First Cause of all things. As for our evolving culture and the examples of the LGBT agenda; it should be noted that the same classes of physicians and psychiatrists for centuries knew the desire for one man to be with another sexually with abnormal and thus a disorder. But for God, it is not simply an abnormality but the Word says an abomination it which those that continue in the sin of homosexuality shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. To the true Christian, it is a stand of love for God and our fellow man to proclaim this warning with sincerely and compassion.
The fact that Common Core accepts the curriculums of such groups like GLSEN or the Center for Astrophysics does not prove their theories, it only shows the status of our High Courts and politicians and weak public of both silenced religious leaders and parents held behind a wicked wall of which William Rehnquist – then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court stated, “the ‘wall of separation between church and state’ is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging. It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned.”
Justice Kennedy said, ‘anytime you hear the concept of the separation of church and state being talked about these days, it is never in regard to maintaining the restraints on government; instead, it is always talking about what Christians and churches cannot do.”
President and founding father James Madison stated, ‘the civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief… nor shall any NATIONAL religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner… infringed.’ But in lifting up the theories and agendas of the Evolutionist and LBGT minorities, our nation at the same time not only infringed the rights of Christians, but has sought to legally silence their views from all public texts and education and thus from the minds of even their own children and future generations.
The longest-serving justice, Antonin Scalia said that President Thomas Jefferson, who’s credited with the concept of separation of church and state, wrote in the Virginia Declaration of Religious Freedom that, ‘God who made the mind of man made it free.’ Scalia has said, ‘our court’s latest take on the subject, which is quite different from previous takes, it that the state must be neutral… That’s just a lie… separation of church and state’ is not in the Constitution. And thus the numerous justices that came before the courts of the 1960s and 5 to 4 type religious decisions beyond, not only supported religious teachings, but the fact the America was by great majority and choice ‘a Christian Nation,’ not of a single National Denomination, but of those who believed in the Gospels and principles of Jesus Christ.
But now our religious teachings are greatly silenced and a great consequence. In Muslim nations the mandate Islamic studies and in Communist and Socio-political Nations they promote their brand of nationalism with secular science. And now while the youth of our nation is rapidly becoming irreligious and questioning the science of our founding fathers, Christian scientist are being silenced and this should ignite a flame of protest that should burn down the wall of separation of church and state, or at least separation of their secular religious belief of the origins of the universe and man versus Creationism.
Religion includes a particular system of faith and worship, and Evolutionists certainly by faith attempt to believe their theories and do worship them as well. Yet, I will offer all a proof of their ridiculous ‘millions and billions of year’s stances.’ Secular Nobel Prize winner Willard Libby who worked on the H-bomb in WWII and who discovered Radiocarbon dating or carbon-14 dating stated the isotope decays and has a half-life of about 5,700 years and thus to date beyond about 30,000 years very unreliable.
Secular scientists have been allowed to dominant the bookstores, libraries and textbooks. And when those like Hawking say his decade old theory on black holes was wrong, they are allowed to makeup new theories of parallel universes and rifts in time and white and gray holes in space which affect some speculative quantum mechanical formula of space-time relativity; and those speculates are granted space in the most influential texts.
Thus, to my fellow Christians and to my fellow citizens scattered throughout our nation and our world, evolution should be examined as a theory, and Creationism, the true origin of all species and life, and thus our universe itself, should be allowed it voice and position not only in the public arena, but most particularly in our taxed funded public textbooks. Thank you.
CREATION vs. EVOLUTION Debate Part III
The TRUTH SOURCE 