Difference between revisions of "Creation science, intelligent design and evolution"

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(Reduced length of quotation from Sir Cecil Wakely that I uploaded recenctly.)
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{{Infobox_Contents |  
 
{{Infobox_Contents |  
 
   topic_name = Creation Science, Intelligent Design and Evolution |
 
   topic_name = Creation Science, Intelligent Design and Evolution |
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   subtopics = [[Natural theology]] |
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   subtopics = [[Creation Science]] - [[Young Earth Creationism]], [[Old Earth Creationism]], [[Intelligent Design]]
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* [[Creationism among British scientists]]
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* [[Evolution]] - [[Theistic Evolution]], [[Multi-Region Hypothesis]], [[Out Of Africa Hypothesis]]
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* [[Natural theology]] |
 
   opinion_pieces = {{short_opinions}}
 
   opinion_pieces = {{short_opinions}}
 
* [[Creation science and evolution (G.G.)]]
 
* [[Creation science and evolution (G.G.)]]
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Christians may disagree to the exact way in which God created the universe, but regardless of views, Christians all recognize one God, who created everything. Some Christians believe in the literal 6-day creation account of Genesis and mark the universe as 6,000 years old. Others believe the account, but say the time-frames are not known. And some believe that the stories of Genesis should not be taken literally, but instead are symbols or representations of why the world is the way it is.  
 
Christians may disagree to the exact way in which God created the universe, but regardless of views, Christians all recognize one God, who created everything. Some Christians believe in the literal 6-day creation account of Genesis and mark the universe as 6,000 years old. Others believe the account, but say the time-frames are not known. And some believe that the stories of Genesis should not be taken literally, but instead are symbols or representations of why the world is the way it is.  
  
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===Creation Science===
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===[[Creation Science]]===
  
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Creation science is the theory that attempts to offer scientific evidence compatible with creation literally according to Genesis.  
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<center>"There is no evidence, scientific or otherwise, to support the theory of evolution."<br>Sir Cecil Wakeley KBE CB DSc MCh.<ref>Foreword by Sir Cecil Wakeley to the 1967 book by retired professor H Enoch, "Evolution or Creation", Evangelical Press.</ref>  President 1949-1954 of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.  Editor 1947-1969 Ann R Coll Surg Engl.</center>
  
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===Intelligent Design===
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Creation science is the theory that attempts to offer scientific evidence compatible with creation literally according to Genesis. This includes both the belief that the earth is only about 6,000 years old ([[Young Earth Creationism]]) and billions of years old ([[Old Earth Creationism]]). Although there are some out-spoken Christians with science-backgrounds who subscribe to these views, the vast majority of the world's scientists do not.
  
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Intelligent design is the assertion that certain features of the universe and of living things exhibit the characteristics of a product resulting from an intelligent agent (God), as opposed to an unguided process.  
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The letter from eight professors and three readers provides a useful introduction, at web page [[Creationism among British scientists]].  There is a literature review<ref>McIntosh A (2001), "Genesis for today", Day One Publications.  Also later editions.</ref> by Professor Andy McIntosh DSc FIMA CMath FInstE CEng FInstP MIGEM FRAeS of the University of Leeds.
  
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===Evolution===
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===[[Intelligent Design]]===
  
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Evolution is the theory by which living creatures acquire and pass on new traits from generation to generation, affecting the overall makeup of the population and even leading to the emergence of new species.
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Intelligent design is the assertion that certain features of the universe and of living things exhibit the characteristics of a product resulting from an intelligent agent (God), as opposed to an unguided process.  
  
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====Evolution of man====
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===[[Evolution]]===
  
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=====Multi-region hypothesis=====
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Evolution is the theory by which living creatures acquire and pass on randomly-acquired new traits from generation to generation, affecting the overall make-up of the population and even leading to the emergence of new species.
  
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=====Out of Africa hypothesis and Y Chromosome Adam and Mitochondrial Eve=====
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====[[Theistic Evolution]]====
  
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In paleoanthropology, the single-origin hypothesis (or Out-of-Africa model) is one of two accounts of the origin of anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens. (The other theory is the multiregional hypothesis.)
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In recent decades the theory of evolution, in particular, the teaching that humans can trace their origins back through earlier pre-human primates through evolution, has caused great debate among Christian circles. Many Christians have seen this as incompatible with Scripture, whereas others have conceded that, given the general scientific consensus, it is possible that our understanding of how best to interpret Genesis needs re-evaluation. Christian theology that considers the early chapters of Genesis symbolic and suspect that God brought about humanity through the process of evolution is sometimes referred to as "theistic evolution".
  
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'''Pre-modern (non-sapiens) hominids'''
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====[[Out Of Africa Hypothesis]] versus [[Multi-Region Hypothesis]]====
  
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Because of the scarcity of fossils and the discovery of important new finds every few years, researchers disagree about the details and sometimes even basic elements of human evolutionary history. While they have revised this history several times over the last decades, researchers currently agree that the oldest named species of the genus Homo, Homo habilis, evolved in Africa around two million years ago, and that members of the genus migrated "out of Africa" somewhat later. The descendants of these ancient migrants, which probably included Homo erectus, have become known through fossils uncovered far from Africa, such as those of "Peking man" and "Java man". The Homo neanderthalensis is also considered a descendant of early migrants.
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Interestingly, more recent scientific developments in understanding through genetic analysis have led to the theory that all humans living today can trace their ancestry back to a single woman (the Mitochondrial Eve theory) and a single man (the Y Chromosome Adam theory) who came from Africa (the Out-Of-Africa Hypothesis). Although this doesn't line up with the Genesis account on a number of levels, it is closer to the Genesis than the previous scientific Multi-Region Hypothesis of humans independently evolving in different continents.
  
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'''"Modern" humans'''
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==Quotes==
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According to the single-origin model, however, every species of the genus Homo but one, Homo sapiens, was driven extinct. This species had evolved in eastern Africa between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago and, some time afterwards, in a relatively recent exodus, began colonizing the rest of the world. According to the single-origin model, these more recent migrants did not interbreed with the scattered descendants of earlier exoduses. For this reason, the model is sometimes called the "replacement scenario". In support of it, advocates have drawn from both fossil and DNA evidence, in particular from mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA sequences. Research on the X chromosome claims to be the first genetic evidence against Out of Africa.
 
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'''Single exodus from Africa?'''
 
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Assuming only relatively recent migrants from Africa gave rise to today's non-African humans, was there more than one migration that left descendants? (for example, one each via the north and south ends of the Red Sea)
 
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* Stephen Oppenheimer is one proponent of a single exodus
 
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* John Hawks in Playing games with dates criticizes current presentations of the idea
 
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'''Multiregional hypothesis'''
 
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The opponents of a single origin argue that interbreeding indeed occurred, and that the characteristics of modern humans, including those that have been and still are perceived by some to distinguish races, could only be the result of genetic contributions from several earlier lineages that evolved semi-independently in different parts of the world. This is the "multiregional hypothesis".
 
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'''Mitochondrial Eve'''
 
  
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Mitochondrial Eve is the name given by researchers to the woman who is the matrilineal common ancestor of all living humans. Eve was a member of a population of humans around 150,000 years ago in Africa. We know about Eve because of mitochondria organelles that are only passed from mother to offspring. Each mitochondrion contains Mitochondrial DNA, and the comparison of DNA sequences from Mt DNA reveals a phylogeny. Based on the molecular clock technique of correlating elapsed time with observed genetic drift, Eve is believed to have lived about 150,000 years ago.
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[[Justin Martyr]], ''Justin on the resurrection,'' chapter VI.  In ANF1, that is, [https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01 Roberts A, Donaldson J and Coxe AC (1885) ''Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol 1'', at Christian Classics Ethereal Library.]  [No later than 300AD.]
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: And Plato says that all things are made from matter by God, and according to His design; but Epicurus and his followers say that all things are made from the atom and the void by some kind of self-regulating action of the natural movement of the bodies....
  
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'''Matrilineal descent'''
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==References==
  
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Although Mitochondrial Eve was named after Eve of the Genesis creation, this has led to some misunderstandings amongst the general public. A common misconception is that Mitochondrial Eve was the only living female of her time -- she was not thought to be. It is thought that there wer many women alive at the same time as Mitochondrial Eve, but only Mitochondrial Eve produced an unbroken line of daughters that persists today -- each of the other matrilineal lineages was broken when a woman had no children or only sons.
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{{reflist}}
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Consider a family tree of all humans living today. Now imagine a line from each individual to their mother, and continue those lines from each of those mothers to their mothers, and so on. Going back through time the lineages will converge as sisters share the same mother. The further back in time one goes, the fewer lineages there will be until only one lineage is left -- this is the common matrilineal ancestor of all the humans we started with, i.e. Mitochondrial Eve.
 
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The smaller a population, the more quickly matrilineal lineages converge.
 
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'''Mitochondrial DNA'''
 
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We know about Eve because of mitochondria organelles that are only passed from mother to offspring. Each mitochondrion contains Mitochondrial DNA (MtDNA), and the comparison of DNA sequences from MtDNA reveals a molecular phylogeny. Because of recombination, genes in nuclear DNA become mixed and therefore we can be is statistically less certain about their origins. Mutations that reveal, and thus diversity is magnified in mitochondrial DNA. Population bottlenecks are particularly magnified (Wilson et al 1985).
 
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As mitochondria are inherited matrilineally, Y-chromosomes are inherited patrilineally. Thus it is possible to apply the same principles outlined above to men. The common patrilineal ancestor of all humans alive today has been dubbed Y-chromosomal Adam. Importantly, he was not alive at the same time as Mitochondrial Eve but much more recently, and certainly was not her husband.
 
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'''Academic investigation'''
 
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Allan Wilson, Rebecca Cann, Steven Carr, M. George Jr., U. B. Gyllensten, K. Helm-Bychowski, R. G. Higuchi, Stephen Palumbi, E. M. Prager, R. D. Sage, and Mark Stoneking laid out the theoretical background for the analysis of mitochondrial DNA in 1985 paper. Cann, Wilson and Stoneking then proposed the concept of Mitochondrial Eve in a 1987 paper in Nature. Cann et al used restriction mapping on 147 persons from five separate populations to derive their data. Gradually mitochondrial DNA sequence data from more people around the world were collected, giving a better picture.
 
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'''Eve and the Out-of-Africa theory'''
 
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Mitochondrial Eve is sometimes referred to as African Eve, an ancestor who has been hypothesized on the grounds of fossil as well as DNA evidence. According to the most common interpretation of the mitochondrial DNA data, the titles belong to the same hypothetical woman. Family trees (or "phylogenies") constructed on the basis of mitochondrial DNA comparisons show that the living humans whose mitochondrial lineages branched earliest from the tree are indigenous Africans, whereas the lineages of indigenous peoples on other continents all branch off from African lines. Researchers therefore reason that all living humans descend from Africans, some of whom migrated out of Africa to populate the rest of the world. If the mitochondrial analysis is correct, then because mitochondrial Eve represents the root of the mitochondrial family tree, she must have predated the exodus and lived in Africa. Therefore many researchers take the mitochondrial evidence as support for the "single-origin" or Out-of-Africa model.
 
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The construction of family trees from DNA data is an inexact science, however. Critics of the "African genesis" model argue that the mitochondrial evidence can be explained as well or better by trees that associate Eve most closely to the indigenous peoples of Asia. As of 2003, however, following advances in computing power and in methods of tree determination, these criticisms have diminished. In any event, the strongest support that mitochondrial DNA offers for the African-origin hypothesis may not depend on trees. One finding not subject to interpretation is that the greatest diversity of mitochondrial DNA sequences exists among Africans. This diversity would not have accumulated, researchers argue, if humans had not been living longer in Africa than anywhere else. Analysis of Y chromosome sequences have corroborated the evidence that mitochondrial DNA has provided for an African origin for hominids.
 
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'''In popular culture'''
 
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Bryan Sykes has written a popular science book entitled The Seven Daughters of Eve.
 
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The Discovery Channel has produced a documentary entitled The Real Eve.
 
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'''Y chromosome Adam'''
 
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In human genetics, Y-chromosomal Adam (Y-mrca) is the male counterpart to mitochondrial Eve: the last male ancestor from whom all male human Y chromosomes are descended. Unlike other genes, those of the Y chromosome are passed exclusively from father to sons, just as mitochondrial DNA is passed to all children only by their mothers.
 
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The Y-chromosomal Adam is the last male ancestor of all humans, tracing only through the male line, through fathers, paternal grandfathers, etc.
 
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Y-chromosomal Adam hypothetically is not the same individual at all points in human history. The last male-line-only ancestor of humans alive today is hypothetically different from the one for humans alive a thousand years in the future: as male lines die out, a more recent individual, the Y-mrca of a subtree of the preceding Y-Adam, becomes the new Y-Adam.
 
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The Y-chromosomal Adam for living humans probably lived between 60,000 and 90,000 years ago, judging from molecular clock and genetic marker studies. While their descendants certainly became close intimates, Y-chromosomal Adam and mitochondrial Eve are separated by thousands of generations. They are named after the "Adam" and "Eve" in Genesis as a metaphor only, and are not considered to be the first humans. There would have been many others alive at the same time.
 
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Based on DNA analysis as of 2002, both Y-chromosomal Adam and mitochondrial Eve are believed to have lived in Africa, though approximately 85,000 years apart. This is part of the Out-of-Africa theory of human evolution.
 
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==Quotes==
 
  
 
==Links==
 
==Links==
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* [http://creationwiki.org/Intelligent_design CreationWiki - Intelligent design]
 
* [http://creationwiki.org/Intelligent_design CreationWiki - Intelligent design]
 
* [http://creationwiki.org/Evolution CreationWiki - Evolution]
 
* [http://creationwiki.org/Evolution CreationWiki - Evolution]
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===Young-earth creationism===
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*[http://www.answersingenesis.org Answers in Genesis]
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*[http://creationontheweb.com/ Creation Ministries International]
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*[http://www.icr.org/ Institute for Creation Research]
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===Old-earth creationism===
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*[http://www.reasons.org/ Reasons to Believe]
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===Progressive creationism===
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*[http://www.godandscience.org/youngearth/progressive.html Progressive Creation: An Overview] GodAndScience.org
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===Theistic evolution===
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*[http://www.theistic-evolution.com/ Theistic Evolution]
  
 
{{returnto}} [[Christianity]] -> [[God]] -> [[God is the creator]] -> [[Creation]]
 
{{returnto}} [[Christianity]] -> [[God]] -> [[God is the creator]] -> [[Creation]]
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{{returnto}} [[Apologetics]] -> [[Apologetics: Scripture index|Scripture index]] -> [[Apologetics: Genesis|Genesis]]
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[[Category:Creation science, Intelligent design and Evolution]]
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[[Category:Christian doctrine and debates]]
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[[Category:Apologetics]]

Latest revision as of 16:37, 20 January 2020

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
Creation Science, Intelligent Design and Evolution
RELATED TOPICS
SERMONS, ESSAYS AND OPINIONS
CONTENTS

Christians may disagree to the exact way in which God created the universe, but regardless of views, Christians all recognize one God, who created everything. Some Christians believe in the literal 6-day creation account of Genesis and mark the universe as 6,000 years old. Others believe the account, but say the time-frames are not known. And some believe that the stories of Genesis should not be taken literally, but instead are symbols or representations of why the world is the way it is.

Creation Science

"There is no evidence, scientific or otherwise, to support the theory of evolution."
Sir Cecil Wakeley KBE CB DSc MCh.[1] President 1949-1954 of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Editor 1947-1969 Ann R Coll Surg Engl.

Creation science is the theory that attempts to offer scientific evidence compatible with creation literally according to Genesis. This includes both the belief that the earth is only about 6,000 years old (Young Earth Creationism) and billions of years old (Old Earth Creationism). Although there are some out-spoken Christians with science-backgrounds who subscribe to these views, the vast majority of the world's scientists do not.

The letter from eight professors and three readers provides a useful introduction, at web page Creationism among British scientists. There is a literature review[2] by Professor Andy McIntosh DSc FIMA CMath FInstE CEng FInstP MIGEM FRAeS of the University of Leeds.

Intelligent Design

Intelligent design is the assertion that certain features of the universe and of living things exhibit the characteristics of a product resulting from an intelligent agent (God), as opposed to an unguided process.

Evolution

Evolution is the theory by which living creatures acquire and pass on randomly-acquired new traits from generation to generation, affecting the overall make-up of the population and even leading to the emergence of new species.

Theistic Evolution

In recent decades the theory of evolution, in particular, the teaching that humans can trace their origins back through earlier pre-human primates through evolution, has caused great debate among Christian circles. Many Christians have seen this as incompatible with Scripture, whereas others have conceded that, given the general scientific consensus, it is possible that our understanding of how best to interpret Genesis needs re-evaluation. Christian theology that considers the early chapters of Genesis symbolic and suspect that God brought about humanity through the process of evolution is sometimes referred to as "theistic evolution".

Out Of Africa Hypothesis versus Multi-Region Hypothesis

Interestingly, more recent scientific developments in understanding through genetic analysis have led to the theory that all humans living today can trace their ancestry back to a single woman (the Mitochondrial Eve theory) and a single man (the Y Chromosome Adam theory) who came from Africa (the Out-Of-Africa Hypothesis). Although this doesn't line up with the Genesis account on a number of levels, it is closer to the Genesis than the previous scientific Multi-Region Hypothesis of humans independently evolving in different continents.

Quotes

Justin Martyr, Justin on the resurrection, chapter VI. In ANF1, that is, Roberts A, Donaldson J and Coxe AC (1885) Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol 1, at Christian Classics Ethereal Library. [No later than 300AD.]

And Plato says that all things are made from matter by God, and according to His design; but Epicurus and his followers say that all things are made from the atom and the void by some kind of self-regulating action of the natural movement of the bodies....

References

  1. ↑ Foreword by Sir Cecil Wakeley to the 1967 book by retired professor H Enoch, "Evolution or Creation", Evangelical Press.
  2. ↑ McIntosh A (2001), "Genesis for today", Day One Publications. Also later editions.

Links

Young-earth creationism

Old-earth creationism

Progressive creationism

Theistic evolution


Return to Christianity -> God -> God is the creator -> Creation

Return to Apologetics -> Scripture index -> Genesis

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