Creation essay.........................

I decided to post this because it was a challenge for me. Sharing this in a university setting was definitely outside of the comfort zone, none-the-less, it was received well and my review of my presentation was more than I expected. I have noticed that I don't receive the ridicule for having faith in Christ like I did when I was younger in my teens. Maybe that's because I kind of look like someone not to mess with, oh well. I have made some great new friends at the university, and my teachers as well, seem to have a high level of respect for me. The next semester which starts next week will have my current writing teacher, and a new class on anthropology studies. I'm sure I will get some new life stories up here as well. Enjoy!

The Creation vs. Evolution Essay and notes...

                                                           Creation vs. Evolution

Creation and evolution are equally scientific. This is not about religion versus science, but about

the science of one religion versus the science of another. I believe in the supreme creator, God

almighty. I believe simply because I have faith. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence

of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11.1) It is more esteeming and comforting to have faith in a God that

loves us, as opposed to say there is no hope for us, we have all just happened by chance.

Evolution teaches us that we have evolved as a species over perhaps millions of years. It is the

process by which living organisms are thought to have developed. The idea of organic evolution was

proposed by some ancient Greek thinkers but was long rejected in Europe as contrary to the literal

interpretation of the Bible. Lamarck proposed a theory that organisms became transformed by their

efforts to respond to the demands of their environment, but he was unable to explain a mechanism for

this. Lyell demonstrated that geological deposits were the cumulative product of slow processes over

vast ages. This helped Darwin toward a theory of gradual evolution over a long period by the natural

selection of those varieties of an organism slightly better adapted to the environment and hence more

likely to produce descendants. Combined with the later discoveries of the cellular and molecular basis

of genetics, Darwin's theory of evolution has, with some modification, become the dominant unifying

concept of modern biology. Although Darwin's theory carries some weight in subject, he does not

come to a conclusion of absolute beginning.

Evolution is, simply put, the gradual development of something, from a simple to more

complex form. In chemistry, it is the giving off of a gaseous product or heat. A modern translation

would be an “opening out” or “unfolding”, but does time unravel and unfold? The idea of natural

selection process shows a varying of traits over time. Another simple way of putting it, is survival of

the strongest species. If you have variation, differential reproduction, and heredity, you have natural

selection (Darwin).

Creation is the action or process of bringing something into existence as an act of God. In the

scripture Genesis, we are told about the creation story, starting with “In the beginning God created the

heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1.1) as written in the first book of the Bible. The word “genesis”

meaning, “gignesthia,” interpreted “to be born or produced”, is from the old text via Latin from

Greek. The scripture teaches that we were made from the dust of the earth, and likely so, to dust we

shall return. The real missing link in this is where did the beginning come from? “In the beginning was

the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1.1). The very nature of our

existence seems impossible for our own comprehension. Creation teaches us that God knows the

number of stars in the heavens as well as all the hairs on your head. Creation also gives us the

understanding of right and wrong, good versus evil. Where in evolution is good and evil introduced?

Intelligent design is another viewpoint of our existence. It involves complex and specified

information (CSI). This brings us to irreducible complexity which is to experimentally reverse-engineer

biological structures to see if they require all of their parts to function. Therefore, since we cannot

remove our parts to see if we will keep on living, we must have been designed. It's that simple. Not all

scientists support this hypothesis. Darwinists often take intelligent design and correlate it with

creationism. Intelligent design can still be used as a theory even if they leave the identity of the creator

out. Inferring design from nature is at least as old as Plato and Aristotle, and Christian writers have

used the inference for centuries to argue for God’s existence and attributes. The minimalist view

described above, however, emerged in the 1980s (“What is ID?”).

There have been many questions on both sides of the discussion. The look at the timeline of the

age of the earth is where many answers can be found, some but not all. From an evolutionary

standpoint, the earth is billions of years old. Simple creationists may say the earth is no more than

about 6 to 10 thousand years old. In theology, the scripture does not place an argument against

evolution. The main reason for this is the book of Genesis does not say how God created the heavens

and the earth. A simple viewpoint on that would be that the day of the Creator is longer than a typical

day of 24 hours. Is the day of God more than 24 hours?

The theory of evolution starts with basically a gas (The Big Bang), with no debate on either

side. I believe that a creationist of intelligence would look at the big bang as a generic term for the

earliest of beginnings. What elements were present at the time, and more so, where did they come

from? The history given in Genesis 1 is probably the earliest writing on the stars, sun and moon.

Genesis could very well be 6 days of Divine revelation, followed by a seventh day that is different from

the first six. A question; is this book of Genesis a summary? For our human knowledge we attest to a

beginning and an end. According to theology and Christian belief, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the

beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Revelation 21.6). - God. I have a sense of reverential fear

as I read that quote.

The strangest thing that evolutionists have come up with is “Piltdown Man.”

Piltdown man is one of the most famous frauds in the history of science. In 1912

Charles Dawson discovered the first of two skulls found in the Piltdown quarry in

Sussex, England, skulls of an apparently primitive hominid, an ancestor of man.

Piltdown man, or Eoanthropus dawsoni to use his scientific name, was a sensation. He

was the expected "missing link" a mixture of human and ape with the noble brow of

Homo sapiens and a primitive jaw. As the years went by and new finds of ancient

hominids were made, Piltdown man became an anomaly that didn't fit in, a creature

without a place in the human family tree. Finally, in 1953, the truth came out. Piltdown

man was a hoax, the most ancient of people who never were. (Harter)

The story of Piltdown man was more than likely Dawson's desire to find the search for the

origins of man. I suppose in his excitement he was passionate about his work, and thought he might be

onto something. Science, after all, is best guess. Evolution could simply be ok on its own with out his

discoveries.

The puzzling finding that I have on the case against evolution is where does good and evil fit

in? In every religion and in Christianity, we find the battle of good versus evil. Where did this all come

from? Christianity shows us the idea of original sin, or being born into sin since the fall of man

with(Adam and Eve). Even the apes that still are around today are not warring against each other like

us humans do.Animals have survival instincts, and they breed and care for their young till a certain age,

but they simply are not capable of the sin nature that we have. Not to mention they are not capable of

having the feelings that we have, and the emotion we express. On that, we could say “Nothing is what

it seems.”

The evolution of man is stated as homology, which is the similarities in genetic and anatomical

design. We evolved from an ape-like ancestor millions of years ago. That explains our tailbone that we

still have. Other modern apes have evolved on a different scale, which is why we still have apes.

Observations within the fields of anthropology, paleontology, and molecular biology, collectively, they

depict life branching out from a common ancestor through gradual genetic changes over millions of

years, commonly known as the "tree of life." The theory of evolution is under constant scrutiny

because it is based largely on an idea and not proof (“Evolution”).

Knowledge and intelligence is another place that can put evolution on the hot seat again. We

know that a single cell contains enough encoded information to fill nearly 30 volumes of Encyclopedia

Brittanica. Most scientists agree that intelligence comes before life, so answer this; does mind come

from matter? How can matter all of the sudden become intelligent with all the algorithms of life? And

to put intelligent design in the mix, should there be an “Intelligent Designer”? (“Why”).

There are very few common places that evolution and creation sit side-by-side. First with a

beginning of some matter that expanded and developed and at fast rate, and then slowed down and

cooled. But, what caused this? Where did the original matter come from? Maybe that's the only

place we really differ. Is it so wrong to acknowledge that maybe there is a God? I know that belief in a

God that we cannot see can be very difficult. I also believe that there are evolutionists that would like

to believe in God, but the ideas that some radical creationists have on the earths age, prevents them.

This is what I believe, and not to be offensive in any way, I choose hope. This is the very thing

that separates evolution from creation. Evolution does not offer us hope as individuals. I believe in a

mind, body, and spirit composition of our being. That being said, there has to be a spiritual side of life.

Most of us would like to believe there is something more to this life. I personally cannot bring myself

to believe we came from an ape-like ancestor. I simply choose, in the beginning – God. I think though

to many individuals and cultures, their definition of God can vary. There are more American believers

in a “Divine Creator” than not.

Eighty-three percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians. Most of the rest, 13

percent, have no religion. That leaves just 4 percent as adherents of all non-Christian

religions combined — Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and a smattering of individual

mentions. (“Most”)

I also believe that the evolutionists think what they do because of fear. A lot of religions will

sometimes paint a picture of a God that is angry, and people choose not to go where fear is. Honestly

there are some passages in scripture that are very scary to some degree, but how to read the scripture

and keep things in context is just as important. Another point is that in America, the meaning of the

word “christian”, individually can mean different things.

The evolutionist can believe in God, depending on how they choose to look at it. Personally I

don't understand the mystery of it all; the creation process. In all of our intelligence and being; the

beauty of the seasons; the stars at night; the planets in perfect order; the night from the day; the

splendor of the heavens and the fullness thereof; these awaken me to see there is a God of Divine order.

These things are written in the sky like one big love letter to us all. I think the more science has tried to

prove there is no God, the more they prove that He is. I believe in a trinitarian God-head, Father, Son &

Holy Spirit. It can be very difficult to grasp this, but the more and more I look, the more I believe. Our

culture has made it so if anyone believes in God that way, it can be an embarrassment to them. I don't

think this is healthy. We should not feel strange about our beliefs nor ridiculed because of them.

Works Cited

Darwin, Charles. “The Origin of Species”.

1859. Web. 19 Feb. 2012.

“Evolution of Man.” 2002.

Web. 22 Feb. 2012.

Harter, Richard. “Piltdown Man.”

1996-1997 Web. 19 Feb. 2012.

“Most Americans Say They're Christian.” Langer, Gary. abcnews.go.com

18 July, 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.

New King James Bible. Tyndale House Publishers

Wheaton, IL. 1996. Print.

“What is ID?”Web. 20 Feb. 2012.

“Why I Believe in God.” www.allaboutscience.org
allaboutscience.org. 2002-2012. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.

                                                           Presentation Notes

          ( I didn't use these notes verbatim, I had them on the podium as a guide for extras)

• Creation and Evolution are both equally scientific – it is not about religion vs science, but the science of one religion vs the science of another.

• I believe in the supreme creator, God almighty. I believe simply because I have faith. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11.1) It is more esteeming and comforting to have faith in a God that loves us, as opposed to say there is no hope for us, we have all just happened by chance.

• The scientific evidence confirming the biblical account of history. The finding of Noah's ark on Mt. Ararat. The Dead Sea scrolls, containing in it's entirety the whole book of Isaiah. More recently the discovery of Herod's tomb in 2007.

The tomb of Pharoah Ramesses, who would not let the Israelites out of egypt. Moses anyone?

The Shroud of Turin – this is not what I base faith on. I would still have faith even if there was no shroud. The remaining glaciers, indicating a time of ice covering the planet – before there was ice it was WATER – another piece indicating a flood of biblical proportions.

• The formation of the Grand Canyon, indicating another area of lots of water.

• The world created in 6 days, both Christianity and Islamic faiths say this, the difference is in the time, Christianity – a day of God is equal to that of 1000 years, In Islam a day of creation is equal to about 50,000 years. I believe in a direct interpretation of scripture.

• No one has been there in the beginning the conversation with Moses could have taken 6 days for God to tell him the account for which things happened.

• The length of time for mans existence. According to population growth at .05% we could only go back about 6000 years. If we were here for millions of years, where are all the fossils?

By way of definitions, I want to point out that when I speak of "evolution," I am referring to the popular contemporary use of the word, which in a nutshell is the belief that all life forms are related by ancestry, and that the first life form occurred spontaneously, all due to completely natural processes.

When I speak of "creation," I am referring to the inherently obvious fact that the origin of all life forms can be attributed to a creator who purposefully created them with planning and intent, and the documented fact that this occurred over the course of a week's time several thousand years ago.

  

      No matter what side you stand on, faith in an idea or a creator takes place.

      

      Living matter does not and could not have been spontaneously generated from non-living matter. The laws of biochemistry, probability and statistics, and basic information theory are against it. It has never been demonstrated in the laboratory.

Will a towel ever come out folded out of the dryer?

Computers, did they happen by chance or by intelligent design?

How many times will it take me to throw a bag of marbles and then have them line up in perfect order?

What are the odds of structured ordered evolution? Better chance on the lottery, and we know how hard that is.

Chance is the worst enemy of the evolutionist.

Random selection does not make sense, In a theoretical sense, the claim fails based on sheer probabilities and statistics. Randomness is associated with disorder, and disorder is not associated with selection.

Charles Darwin actually represented the fossil evidence as being a hostile witness to his theory, as documented in his famous book The Origin of Species. He claimed that the abrupt appearance of life and lack of transitional forms was the most serious objection to his theory.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Baby's don't happen by chance.

Genetics do not teach us chance they teach design.

Conclusion to the matter, I believe the scripture to be the inherent word of God. I once heard a preacher say, if this all wasn't true he would do it anyways just for the joy. I believe it is true. The more I travel and I see different cultures, the more and more I see, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made”.

Consider these things when you look at the sky at night and see the splendor of the heavens and say “ it all happened by chance” or say “ I was created By God in His image, and when He made me He said, “It is good.””.

Thank you so much for listening. God bless you as you continue your studies and in life.