EvolutionandCreationism

InschoolonlyonetheoryofEarthsdiverseorganismsoriginsistaught.Thattheoryis
evolution,thetheorythatalllivingthingsevolvedfromsimpleorganismsintothemillionsof
specieswehavetoday(Templeton,2013).Atheorythatwaskickedoutoftheclassroomsisthe
theoryofcreation,thattheEarthandalllifewerecreatedbyGodoraSupremeBeingaccording
totheirkinds(Eve,2013).Theoriesabouttheoriginsoftheworld'sinhabitantsrelyonan
individual'sinterpretationofevidence,someoftheevidencebeinggeneticmutationsand
geology.
Creationandevolutioncanbothuseevidenceofgeneticmutationstoprovetheirtheory.
Evolutionisdependantonthegeneticvariationthathappens
throughsexualreproductionandthegeneticmutationsthatmay
randomlyhappeninbothasexualandsexualreproduction.Those
whobelievethetheoryofevolutionbelievethatalllivingthings
descendedfromacommonancestor.Whenatraitispassedon,
eitherthroughgeneticvariationorgeneticmutations,itaffectsthe
animal'ssurvivalagainstselectionfactorsoftheenvironment.
Thosewhoinheritapositivetraitaremorefittosurviveagainst
theseselectionfactors.Thepositivetraitswillbepassedonanda
specieswillslowlyevolveintoanotherspeciesthatcannolonger
reproducewiththeoriginalspeciesbecausetheyareso
geneticallydifferent(Hill,2014).AsdisplayedinFigure1,simple
livingorganismsdiversifiedthroughtheseprocessesintothe
manycomplexorganismsweseetoday.Thetheoryofcreationis
alsodisplayedinFigure1.Thetheoryofcreation
acknowledgesthechangeamonglivingthings'kinds.God
createdlivingthingsaccordingtotheirkindswiththegenetic
abilitytoreproduceintothegreatvarietyofspecieswehave
today.Howeverasthesekindsbrokeoffandadaptedtotheir
environmentandmutatedtheyonlylostoralteredtheirgenetic
information.Mutationscannotaddinformationsuchasthe
informationforareptilekindtochangeintoabirdkind.Areptiledoesnthavethegeneticcodesto
makefeathers.IfyoulookinFigure1again,noticehowthegeneticinformationisnarroweddown
andbecomesmorespecificasyoutraveldownward.Thisisbecausethegeneticinformationis
beinglostoralteredasstatedbefore.Forexample,onawindyislanditisbeneficialforaonce
wingedbeetletohaveamutationthatleavesitwingless.Eventuallythewingedbeetlewilldieout
becauseitisnotfitforitsenvironmentleavingonlythewinglessbeetle.Thismaysoundlike
evolutionthroughnaturalselectionandthatswhatevolutionistssee.However,nowthatthereare
onlywinglessbeetles,thegeneticcodingforwingshasbeenlost.Nowlessgeneticvariationis
possibleamongthebeetlesbecausetherewillneverbewingedbeetlesagain(HamandWare,
2010).
Creationistsandevolutionistalsostudygeology,specificallyfossils,tofindevidencefor
theirtheories.Therearemanysystemsfordating.Relativedatingisputtinggeologicaleventsin
chronologicalorderwithoutdates.Stratigraphy,thestudyingofhorizontallayers,includesmany
principleswhichareusedinrelativedating.Absolutedatingestimatesdatesofgeologicalevents
andfossilspecies.Todothis,absolutedatingoftenusesradiocarbondating.Radiocarbon
datingstudiesthegradualdecayofanisotopeofcarboninlivingthings.Anisotopeisanatomof
anelement,buttheatomhasanabnormalnumberofneutronsandthereforethenucleusis
unstableandtheatomisradioactive(Peppe,2013).Theisotopestudiediscarbon14.Like
normalcarbon,carbon12,carbon14iscycledthroughlivingorganismsinthecompoundCO2.
Theratiobetweencarbon12andcarbon14remainsthesameinlivingthingsasinthe
atmosphereuntilthelivingthingdies.Thentheratedecreasesasthelivingthingisnolonger
havingCO2filteredthroughit.Carbon14wasalwaysturningintothemorestablenitrogen14,
butnowthatthereisnolongeracarbon14intake,thecarbon12levelsareremainingthesame
whilethecarbon14levelsaredecreasing.Scientistshavemeasuredcarbon14rateof
decrease.In5,730years,halfofthecarbon14inalivingthinghasswitchedtonitrogen14.This
iscalledahalflife.Intwohalflives,or11,460years,afourthofthelivingorganismscarbon14is
left.However,manycreationistsbelievethatcarbon14datingcanbeunreliablebecausethe
ratioofcarbon12tocarbon14isnotconstantintheenvironment.AstheEarthsmagneticfields
decrease,thecosmicraypenetrationincreasesandmorecarbon14isbeingproduced.This
makesthingstestforanolderagethantheytrulyare(Unknown1,2000).Evolutionistsgobythe
carbondatingandtheotherformsofdatingmentionedbefore.
Whenevolutionistsandcreationistsviewtransitionalfossils,theyinterpretthem
differently.Toevolutionists,fossilsprovidetheoriginofnewphysicalfeaturesandthetime
perspectiveforevolution.Anexampleoftheevolutionofspeciesistheevolutionfromanapelike
creaturetohuman.Thisevolutionhappenedoveraperiodofabout6millionyears.The
characteristicofbipedalismisbelievedtohaveemergedabout4millionyearsago,andtools,
languageandculturelateremergedaround100thousandyearsago.Paleoanthropologyisthe
studyingandcomparingofthegenes,socialbehaviorandmuchmorebetweenhumansand
otherspecies.Paleoanthropologyiswhatevolutionistshaveusedtostudyhominidevolution,
throughstudyingthebonesandtoolsofhumanancestors(Unknown2,2014).Froma
creationistsarticle,theearliesthominidfossilsthathavebeenfounddateto2,250B.C.andare
usuallylabeledasHomoerectus.Therearehominidfossilsthroughoutthislayerofearth,which
iscalledthePleistocenelayer(SnellingandMatthews,2012).Themostwellknownhominid
groupsaretheNeanderthals,CroMagnonMan,Homoerectus,Homofloresiensis,andthe
Denisovans.Althoughtheymayhavelookeddifferentthanus,withNeanderthalshavingbigger
browsandwidernasalcavities,andHomofloresiensisbeingonlythreefeethighandtherefore
earningthenicknameof"hobbits",theywereverysimilartous.Thetoolsfoundwiththefossils
areadvancedstonetoolsthatwouldhavebeenusedtobutchertheirmealsasseenbythe
bonesthatshowbutchermarksthatarealsofoundamongtheirremains.Therearecarefully
buriedNeanderthals,andHomoerectushaddispersedandtraveledoverseastotheIndonesian
islandsasseenbythedispersedtoolsalloverwhichbothrepresentanadvancedspecies
(MentonandUpChurch,2012).DNAtestinghasalsobeendoneonNeanderthalsand
Denisovans.Modernhumans,orHomosapiens,aremoregeneticallysimilartoNeanderthals
andDenisovansthansomechimpsaretoeachother.Creationistsarguethatalltheseseparate
hominidsarejustonespecies,human.AfterallpercentagesofDNAspecifictothesehominids
isfoundinmodernhumans.So,NeanderthalsandDenisovansmusthavereproducedwith
Homosapiens.Ifthisseparatespecieswereabletoreproduceandcreatefertileoffspring,thisis
thesignofasinglespecies(Purdom,2012).Fromanevolutionistarticleaspecificcavewas
mentionedthatholdstheoldesthominidfossils.TheywerefoundinSimadelosHuesos,acave
inSpain.Twentyeightindividualswerefound,alldatingtothePleistoceneepoch,andtheymost
likelylivedaround400,000yearsago.TheyhavebeenclassifiedasHomoheidelbergensis.
ScientistswereabletoextractDNAfromthefossilsbecauseoftheidealenvironmentinthe
cave.TheywereabletoreconstructtheDNAfragmentsandget98%ofoneindividual'sDNA.
EvolutionistsbelievethattheHomoheidelbergensisspeciesisanancestorfrombeforethesplit
oftheDenisovansandNeanderthals,butwouldneedtotestmoreindividualstobemorecertain
(Young,2013).
Inconclusionthereisstillalotofdebateovertheoriginsoftheuniverseanditsspecies,
asseenbytheconflictingdatainthepreviousparagraphwheretwodifferentdatingsystems
musthavebeenused.CreationandevolutionbothseeksupportfortheirtheoriesinDNAandthe
fossilrecords.Sincenoscientisthaseverfoundawaytobecertainabouttheirtheorywithout
involvingfaith,peoplewillforeverbedebatingthebigquestionoftheoriginsoflife.

Bibliography:

Source0Hill,Eric.EvolutionandTaxonomy.May.2014.

Source4Peppe,DanielJ."DatingRocksandFossilsUsingGeologicalMethods."Nature.com.
NaturePublishingGroup,2013.Web.20May2014.
<http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/datingrocksandfossilsusinggeolog
icmethods107924044>.

Source5Unknown1."HowAccurateAreCarbon14andOtherRadioactiveDatingMethods?"
ChristianAnswers.Net.Ed.DonBatten.CreationMinistriesInternational,2000.Web.23
May2014.<http://www.christiananswers.net/qaig/aigc007.html>.

Source6Ham,Ken,andA.Charles.Ware."TheTrueOriginoftheSpecies."OneRace,One
Blood:ABiblicalAnswertoRacism.GreenForest,AR:Master,2010.N.pag.Print.

Source8Unknown2."IntroductiontoHumanEvolution."HumanEvolutionbyTheSmithsonian
Institution'sHumanOriginsProgram.N.p.,27May2014.Web.01June2014.
<http://humanorigins.si.edu/resources/introhumanevolution>.

Source9Menton,David,andJohnUpChurch."WhoWereCavemen."AnswersApr.May2012:
4649.Print.

Source10Snelling,Andrew,andMikeMatthews."WhenDidCavemenLive."AnswersApr.May
2012:5255.Print.

Source11Purdom,Georgia."HowAreCavemenDifferent."AnswersApr.May2012:5859.
Print.

Source12Young,Ed."OldestHomininDNAEverSequenced|TheScientistMagazine."The
Scientist.N.p.,4Dec.2013.Web.03June2014.
<http://www.thescientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/38521/title/OldestHomininDNAE
verSequenced/>.

Sourcesusedtodefineterms,wereannotatedinapastpaper:

SourceTempleton,AlanR."Evolution."WorldBookStudent.WorldBook,2013.Web.27Mar.
2013.

SourceEve,RaymondA."Creationism."WorldBookStudent.WorldBook,2013.Web.27Mar.
2013.

Sourcesnotusedinpaper:

Source1Lehrman,Sally."TheChristianMan'sEvolution:HowDarwinismandFaithCan
Coexist."ScientificAmericanGlobalRSS.3Oct.2008.Web.19May2014
<http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thechristianmansevolution/>.

Source2Korthof,Gert."AReviewofJoanRoughgarden'EvolutionandChristianFaith'"A
Reviewof'EvolutionandChristianFaith'(JoanRoughgarden).20May2007.Web.19
May2014.<http://wasdarwinwrong.com/korthof85.htm>.

Source3Storm,Clint."CreationismvsEvolutionwithScientificFacts."HubPages.20Nov.
2013.Web.20May2014.
<http://stormy1990.hubpages.com/hub/CreationvsEvolutionwithScientificFacts>.

Source7Pojeta,John,andDaleSpringer."EvolutionandtheFossilRecord."Evolutionandthe
FossilRecord.N.p.,n.d.Web.30May2014.
<http://www.agiweb.org/news/evolution/examplesofevolution.html#whales>.