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Creationism vs evolution debate essay
Creation vs evolution
Creation vs evolution
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“Life has no meaning. Jesus gives our life meaning, we must accept him to give meaning to our life. It futile to ask about the meaning of life when you are the answer.”
― Rob Geis
Creationism and the study of evolution has been a controversial debate for decades now, leaving many people on one side or the other. Creationism argues that faith should take precedent over science, basing its beliefs on one book for guidance, the Bible. God created the earth and everything on it, taking six days. Evolutionists believe that the earth is much older than the Bible describes, and that plants, animals, and humans are a result of a natural progression called evolution. There were no common ancestors (Adam and Eve) from whom we came; it was a natural selection process, stemming from inorganic compounds and nature. For many people in the scientific world, it is hard to take a final stance on this issue since there is evidence of evolution, but that is where faith in God and what God has done comes into effect. According to a great medieval philosopher, Moses Maimonides, “conflicts between science and the Bible arise from either a lack of scientific knowledge or a defective understanding of the Bible”(Schroeder, 3). This paper will reveal some topics that these two groups debate about, along with their viewpoints.
The Beginning
The beginning of the earth, along with the birth of humans is one of the biggest and most contentious issues among creationists and evolutionists. Scientific theory holds the opinion that the universe is eternal, while the Bible states that there is a beginning. It has been proven that there was an official beginning; the question that arises is when that exact beginning took place, a time...
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...Rapids, MI. 2013. Print.
Kitcher, Philip. Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA. 1982.
Miller, Kenneth R. Finding Darwin’s God: A Scientist’s Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution. Cliff Street Books: New York. 1999.
Montagu, Ashley (Ed). Science and Creationism. Oxford University Press: Oxford. 1984.
Pitman, Michael. Adam and Evolution. Baker Book House: Grand Rapids, MI. 1984.
Ruse, Michael. Can a Darwinian be a Christian? Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK. 2001.
Schroeder, Gerald L. The Science of God. The Free Press: New York. 1997.
Toumey, Christopher P. God’s Own Scientists: Creationists in a Secular World. Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, NJ. 1994.
Zetterburg, J. Peter. Evolution versus Creationism: The Public Controversy. Oryx Press: Phoenix, AZ. 1983.
In conclusion, it is possible for science and religion to overlap. Although Gould’s non-overlapping magisterial claims that creationism doesn’t conflict with evolution, it doesn’t hold with a religion that takes the biblical stories literally. Moreover, I defended my thesis, there is some overlap between science and religion and these overlaps cause conflict that make it necessary to reject either science or religion, by using Dawkins’ and Plantinga’s arguments. I said earlier that I agree with Dawkins that both science and religion provide explanation, consolation, and uplift to society. However, there is only conflict when science and religion attempt to explain human existence. Lastly, I use Plantinga’s argument for exclusivists to show that such conflict means that science and religion are not compatible. It demands a rejection t either science or religion.
The similarities between Okonkwo and Oedipus, of Things Fall Apart and of Oedipus the King are displayed on numerous occasions and are easy to recognize. Both men possess an egotistic nature and have an overwhelming sense of pride of their accomplishments, their successes of rising to power are short lived as they will lose along with their legacy as respected men, and Okonkwo and Oedipus were short tempered and were angered easily. The latter would contribute greatly to their downfalls. The tragedies of both Things Fall Apart and Oedipus the King link the protagonists regardless of the thousand year gap.
Olsen, Kirstin. "Understanding Lord of the Flies: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and ..." Google Books. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000. Web. 27 March. 2014.
"Introduction to Creationism Versus Evolution: At Issue." Creationism vs. Evolution. Ed. Eric Braun. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 18 May. 2014.
Young Earth creationists believe that Earth and everything on it was created by God between 5700 and 10000 years ago (Numbers, 2006). They believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible in terms of the age of the earth. They differ from old earth creationists who interpret Genesis metaphorically and believe that the Earth is 13.798 +- 0.037 old (Scott, 2000). Young earth creationists also interpret the passages in the bible of the flat Earth literally. They reject modern astronomy, physics, the big bang theory, the age of Earth and chemistry. They also reject biological modifications that happened throughout history. Young Earth creationists believe that God created every genetic variation in all living creatures on earth. Henry Morris was one of the biggest influences of young Earth creationism in the second half of the 20th century (Scott, 2000).
After Sir Charles Darwin had introduced his original theory about the origins of species and evolution, humanity’s faith in God that remained undisputed for hundreds of years had reeled. The former unity fractured into the evolutionists, who believed that life as we see it today had developed from smaller and more primitive organisms, and creationists, who kept believing that life in all its diversity was created by a higher entity. Each side introduced substantial arguments to support their claims, but at the same time the counter-arguments of each opponent are also credible. Therefore, the debates between the evolutionists and the creationists seem to be far from ending. And though their arguments are completely opposite, they can co-exist or even complement each other.
In 1859, Charles Darwin published his groundbreaking Origin of Species, which would introduce the seminal theory of evolution to the scientific community. Over 150 years later, the majority of scientists have come to a consensus in agreement with this theory, citing evidence in newer scientific research. In an average high school biology classroom, one may imagine an instructor that has devoted much of his life to science and a predominantly Christian class of about twenty-five students. On the topic of evolution, one of the students might ask, “Why would God have taken the long route by creating us through billion years of evolution?” while another student may claim “The Book of Genesis clearly says that the earth along with all living creatures was created in just six days, and Biblical dating has proven that the earth is only 6000 years old.” Finally a third student interjects with the remark “maybe the Bible really is just a book, and besides, science has basically already proven that evolution happened, and is continuing to happen as we speak.”
Ralph is the novel’s protagonist and tries to maintain the sense of civility and order as the boys run wild. Ralph represents the good in mankind by treating and caring for all equally, which is completely opposite of Jack’s savage nature. Jack is the antagonist in the novel and provokes the most internal evil of all the boys. Jack is seen at first as a great and innocent leader but he becomes t...
When looking at the British society, mental health disorders are actually extremely common. When viewing the National Statistics, it stated that about one in six adults will have a mental health problem. Leading to an additional study, stating that around 30 individuals out of every 100 will experience mental health problems and this is on a yearly basis. While looking at the National Statistic it was shown that depression and anxiety is the most common form of mental distress between the years 1993 and 2000. While anxiety and depression is most common, panic disorder and obsessive compulsive has remained the least common, for in the year 1993 OCD had a figure of 1.7% of the adult population which later on in 2000 decreases by 0.5%. Likewise panic disorder, which reduced from 1% in 1993 to 0.7% in 2000.
Humans have asked questions about their origin and their purpose on earth for eons. The Bible tells humans that God created them and explains their purpose. However, since the Renaissance, humanism answers questions about origins by naturalistic means and science has been redefined in the process. Most institutions of higher education and many individuals have adopted the naturalistic theory of evolution to explain human origin without considering its effects on faith. In contrast to prevailing thought at Goshen College, a literal six-day creation is foundational to the Gospel message. Combining evolution and Christianity makes one’s faith less logical and opens one’s science to new quandaries.
While the theory of evolution is very commonly accepted amongst most scholars and intellectuals, when the scientific facts used to 'support' it are closely examined, it becomes apparent that it is merely that: a theory. Inaccurate information, misguided philosophers, and in some cases, just plain ignorance, have all contributed to this 'scientific religion' that does nothing but lead people away from the true nature of our existence, the Genesis creation. The creation 'story' is much more than just a story, it is a scientifically provable fact, and one that should be treated as more than just a parable or story, as the Word of God is pure and the absolute truth.
Although there are not many characters in The Lord of the Flies, there are many different personalities and differences between them. The first character in the book is Ralph. Ralph is twelve years old with blond hair, and is the most charismatic of the group. He is described as being built "like a boxer," is somewhat charismatic and is chosen for chief, who makes it his job to lay down rules and try to organize a society. Throughout the novel he is always in conflict with Jack, who wants to be chief himself. Ralph and Piggy agree with each other’s ideas, but Ralph doesn’t realize how important Piggy really is to him until the very end of the novel. Although Ralph never reaches the understanding about the Beast that Simon does, he knows right from wrong.
While developing a software many complex activities are required which in turn have dependencies along them. Large software projects require the involvement of programmers, documentation specialists, program managers, architects, database analysts, system analysts, , and trainers and last but not the least testers. Along with their independent responsibilities these persons are also responsible to maintain and keep a check on the software system quality as well.
In the history of science vs. religion there have been no issues more intensely debated than evolution vs. creationism. The issue is passionately debated since the majority of evidence is in favor of evolution, but the creation point of view can never be proved wrong because of religious belief. Human creation breaks down into three simple beliefs; creation theory, naturalistic evolution theory, and theistic evolution theory. The complexities of all three sides create a dilemma for what theory to support among all people, religious and non-religious.
Users losing billions due to bugs. By: Thibodeau, Patrick; Rosencrance, Linda. Computerworld, Jul2002, Vol. 36 Issue 27, p1, 2p; (AN 6955885)