Creation vs Evolution free essay sample

Almost everyone wonders if the universe was created and how it was created. People also ask, â€Å"How did human originate? † This is an argument that has been fought for many years. Although there are several ideas, society mainly argues over two of them. The first idea is that man was created by God during his creation of the universe. This is the idea of creationism. It is supported by many religious people. Creationism is supported by religion. The second way that humans could have originated is through a process called evolution. Evolution is a theory proposed by scientists to explain the origin of all species. Because both explanations are theories, neither can be proven right or wrong. To make a decision on which theory is correct, people must choose either religion or science. The first theory about the origin of man is called creationism. Creationism is taking the literal meaning of the Bible. This theory is supported throughout the world by many religions. Creationism is the theory that God created the universe and its inhabitants in six days. Because creation occurred long ago, the length of a day is undefined. In the language of Hebrew, a day could have been twelve hours, twenty-four hours, or an epoch. If the length was an epoch, creation could stretch back over billions of years (Stencil 759). The information to support creationism comes from the Bible. The Bible is not considered a science book, but many consider it to be scientifically correct. Currently, there is no scientific evidence that proves the Bible to be incorrect. Genesis, the first book of the Bible, contains the information about creation. Genesis 1 describes the physical events of creation. Genesis 2 describes the creation of human and other details. The creation process can be broken down into steps. First, God created the physical universe; this included space, tie, matter, energy, galaxies, starts planets, etc. The earth’s atmosphere transformed from opaque to translucent. The water cycle was then created. God then established the continents and oceans and put plant life on the continents. Next, the Brewer 2 earth’s atmosphere transformed from translucent to transparent; the sun, moon, and stars become visible. God then created small sea animals and later sea mammals. Next, He created birds. Afterward, He created land mammals; these were both wild and domesticated. The creation of mankind was the final step. The first two humans God put on the earth were Adam and Eve. In creationism, all humans are direct descendants from Adam and Eve. Creationism has yet to be proven wrong by scientific evidence (â€Å"Creation versus Evolution†). A creationist is someone who supports creationism. They believe in a God who is the absolute creator of both heaven and earth. They were created out of nothing and by an act of free will. They believe that God is constantly involved in his creation. He is also ready to intervene at any time that he feels is necessary. Creationists include Christians, Muslims and Jews. Because creationism means the direct taking of the Bible, creationists take the Bible as a true guide to the history of life. Creationists believe that God put Adam on the earth first. He then created Eve. They also believe that there was a world-wide flood after the initial creation. Some creationists believe the universe was created less than 10,000 years ago (Stencil 759). Creationists feel that evolution goes against the Bible. They also feel that supporting the theory of evolution is sacrilegious (â€Å"Creationism†). It is impossible to prove that God does not exist. Creationists believe that God can only be known as He wills to be known. As part of their religion, creationists support the theory of creationism (Morris). The second theory about the origin of man is known as evolution. Evolution refers to the cumulative changes that occur in a population over time. The changes are produced at a less drastic level. An organism’s genes may mutate and/or recombine in different ways during reproduction. When this organism is born, have minor to major advantages or disadvantages. The Brewer 3 rganisms born with the advantages will have a better opportunity to survive and reproduce. During reproduction, the advantages may be inherited by the offspring. When this process occurs to many individuals within a species, the organisms with the advantages will have a higher frequency. This will be higher than that of the organisms without the advantages. Eventually the organisms will become an evolved po pulation. The other population may survive or become extinct (â€Å"Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial† 7). The first scientist to introduce the theory of evolution was the Greek Anaximander in 520 BC. When the idea was proposed, it was not called evolution. Anaximander suggested that life began as slime and moved to drier places to develop. Until the nineteenth century, people thought only thought that each species was miraculously created out of nothing. Today, this idea is known as evolution. The main researcher of evolution was Charles Darwin. He was not well respected among others. He proposed his theory of evolution in the nineteenth century. He proposed that in each generation, a species contains individuals with characteristics varying slightly from average. These differences may be minor, but some give those individuals a better chance of surviving and reproducing. This will pass on the advantages to the offspring. That species may become extinct. Nevertheless, its offspring, the new species, are better at surviving the environment. Darwin came up with this theory after his many trips the Galapagos Islands, which are located in South America. Darwin’s theories were not accepted until later in the twentieth century (â€Å"What Darin Never Knew†). The theory of evolution is supported by science. Since Charles Darwin proposed his theory there is a large amount of evidence that has been discovered. DNA provides powerful evidence that humans evolved from human-like ancestors. Humans share 98 percent of their DNA with chimpanzees. This shows how closely humans and chimpanzees are related. The Brewer 4 differences in DNA distinguish the different species (â€Å"Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial† 12). Because humans and chimpanzees are so closely related, scientists have concluded that they share common ancestors. This means that both chimpanzees and humans evolved from an ape-like ancestor. The first ape-like animals walked on earth about six million years ago. Scientists are now discovering that there could have been several human-like species living at one time. Many wonder why the others have become extinct, and why humans, Homo sapiens, are the only ones that are still living (â€Å"Becoming Human†). Those who are not very well informed on the theory of evolution believe that man descended from chimpanzees, monkeys, and gorillas. This is false. Humans are not directly descended from apes. Humans, monkeys, chimpanzees, and gorillas are descended from a common primate ancestor, which lived millions of years ago. This ancestor is now extinct. Our more recent ancestors have evolved from this common ancestor. In evolutionary terms, these apes are like cousins to humans (â€Å"Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial† 10). Human ancestors separated from ape ancestors about thirty million years ago; human ancestors separated from chimpanzee ancestors about seven million years ago. There are five major evolutionary features between humans and chimpanzees. The first is that humans have an increased brain size. The second difference is that is that humans have shorter jaws than chimpanzees. Humans also have bipedal posture, which means they constantly walk on two legs. There is a major difference between the size of a male and female chimpanzee. However, there is not a major size difference between male and female humans. The fifth difference is the family structure of each species. Humans take care of their children for about twenty years. Also, humans tend to stay with their mate for most of their lives. On the other hand, chimpanzees usually stay with their mate until they reproduce. There was also a Brewer 5 change of culture when Homo sapiens evolved. The changes included scavenging-gathering hunting style, agriculture, and machinery. The theory of evolution states that humans evolved over millions of years Evolution is support by scientific fact (Cambell 399). When people make the decision on which theory to support, they feel as if they must choose between their religion and science. Because it is part of the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish faiths to believe that God directly created the universe and everything included, it would be sacrilegious to support the theory that man evolved (â€Å"Creationism†). It is impossible to prove that God does not exist. Also, there is no current scientific evidence that proves creation never occurred (Morris). Evolution is the theory of science. It has been proposed by scientists and has been supported by scientific evidence (â€Å"Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial† 7). Without sufficient evidence, people are unable to state that evolution. On the other hand, scientists do not have enough evidence to state evolution is absolutely correct (Ake 398). Today some choose to accept evolution but still believe in religion. All that evolution states is that life on this planet could have arisen by natural processes. By definition science cannot address super natural causes, because it is confined to the natural worlds. Science is no longer considered to be antireligious (â€Å"Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial† 8). The issue about the origin of man has resulted in many argument and trials. Duane T. Gish wrote the book Evolution, The Fossils No! , which pushed the literalist line. The book was supposed to help creationism become accepted in science. This eventually brought to a course case in Arkansas in the 1970’s. Creationism was ruled to be non-scientific, because it did not fit the requirements. There are five essential characteristics for something to be scientific. It must be guided by natural law. It has to be explanatory by reference to natural law. It has to be Brewer 6 testable against the empirical worlds. Its conclusions are tentative. Finally, it must be falsifiable (â€Å"Creationism†). Some parents do not allow their children to learn about evolution in school. There are many arguments that explain why evolution should be taught in schools. The theory of evolution is thought of as one of the most well established fields of science. Students need to know about evolution, because it is the key to fully understanding the biological sciences (â€Å"Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial† 8). People also say that if schools teach evolution they must also teach creationism. The federal court has ruled that creationism cannot be taught in schools because it is not science. The federal court also said that creationism supports a specific religion (â€Å"Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial† 9). There have been several court trials on the issue. All laws banning the teaching of evolution were overruled. All laws mandating the teaching of evolution were also overruled â€Å"Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial† 13). The debate on the origin of man has lasted many years and does not appear to be ending soon. Because both evolution and creationism are theories, neither has been proven right or wrong (â€Å"Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial† 15). Creationism is the theory religion. Evolution is the theory of science. To make a decision on which is correct, people must chose religion or science. Brewer 7 Works Cited Ake, Benn, ed. â€Å"Evolution and Creationism. † Issues and Controversies. 3:19 09 Oct. 1998: 393-400. â€Å"Becoming Human. † NOVA. Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 03 Nov. 2009. Web. 18 Apr, 2011. Cambell, Neil, et al. Biology Concepts and Connections. San Francisco: Benjamin Cummings, 2003. Creation Versus Evolution. † Clarifying Christianity. Institute for Creation Research, 2001. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. â€Å"Creationism. † Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University, 29 Oct. 2007. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. â€Å"Evolution. † Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. 1996 Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial. Boston: NOVA,200 7. Morris, Henry. â€Å"The Bible is a Textbook of Science. † Bibliotheca Sacra Oct. 1964. Stencil Sandra. â€Å"Evolution vs. Creationism. † CQ Researcher. 7:32 22 Aug. 1997: 745-767. â€Å"What Darwin Never Knew. † NOVA. Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 29 Dec. 2009. Web. 15 Apr. 2011.