Evolution Creation Debate

Scopes Monkey Trial

2006-07-21T07:47:00.000-04:00

On this day in 1925, John T. Scopes, a Tennessee biology teacher, was tried for violating the Butler Act, a 1925 state law banning the teaching of evolution. This so-called "Monkey Trial" became a flashpoint for debate among religious scholars and scientists as well as the general public. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, though the verdict was later reversed. Despite the outcry stemming from the case, the Butler Act was not repealed until 1967.

Emergence Enters the Evolution/Creation Debate

2006-07-17T07:23:00.000-04:00

Emergence refers to nature's tendency to organize unpredictable and complex things out of simple components. Examples include: carbon atoms forming a diamond, water coalescing into snowflakes, neurons creating a memory.

Unlike intelligent design, which argues that only a supernatural architect could construct the universe, emergence scientists, hailing from physics, chemistry, and life sciences, say that since the big bang, just about everything has demonstrated an innate bent for processing information to create complex systems.

The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science will explore the subject at its 53rd annual Star Island Conference, Saturday, July 29, to Saturday, August 5, 2006 on Star Island, New Hampshire.

Katharine Jefferts Schori

2006-06-20T07:18:00.000-04:00

Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of Nevada, was elected June 18 to head the Episcopal Church. She becomes the first female head of an Anglican denomination anywhere in the world.

She was raised a Roman Catholic, is a qualified pilot and graduated in marine biology with a doctorate specialization in squids and oysters.

On the Evolution Creation debate, she said: "Evolution most definitely should be taught in school. It's a well-tested premise and the best model that fits the data available. Creationism can't make that claim. I believe in the creeds. They say God created the world, but they don't say how."

Language of God

2006-06-14T07:41:00.000-04:00

A new book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief makes the case for God and for science.

Its author is Dr. Francis Collins, head of the US National Human Genome Research Institute. In the book Dr. Collins considers and rejects several positions along the spectrum from atheism to young-earth creationism, including agnosticism and Intelligent Design. Instead, he proposes an active, caring God who created humankind through evolutionary processes.

The book will be published in July by Simon and Schuster.

Teaching Evolution at Christian Colleges

2006-05-03T07:51:00.000-04:00

The online version of Science & Theology News says that U.S. Christian college and university professors are teaching evolution with rigor equal to their colleagues at secular colleges.

However, the article does say evolution is not treated as a purely academic pursuit. Quoting Curt Blankespoor, a Biology professor at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI.

"It’s not strictly an intellectual process, I’m engaging not only minds, but hearts."

more

Portsmouth UK Genesis Expo

2006-04-14T20:51:00.000-04:00

The Creation Science Movement have opened a free creation themed exhibition in Portsmouth, England.

The organization started in London in 1932 as the "The Evolution Protest Movement". They believed then and continue to believe that there is scientific evidence against evolution and supports the biblical account of creation. They publish and distribute the quarterly journal 'Creation', pamphlets, books, video and audio tapes. They also provide speakers to lecture at universities, schools and churches in the UK.

Creation and/or Evolution: An Islamic Perspective

2006-04-04T07:30:00.000-04:00

In his book Creation and/or Evolution: An Islamic Perspective' T.O.Shanavas writes that for Muslims modern science is less problematic than for Christians. There is much agreement between Qu'anic revelation and scientific discovery.

'Both maintain that the universe originated from nothing and evolved into its present state over a long period of earthbound time. They agree that the universe is expanding and that at some future, it will collapse into a single entity or singularity where existing physical and chemical laws become nonexistant, mathematics would not add up, and numbers become infinite'

T.O.Shanavas was born India and is a naturalized U.S citizen. He is a practicing pediatrician in Michigan. He is a member of Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, Ohio and the vice president of Islamic Research Foundation, Louisville, Kentucky. His book is self-published through Xlibris Corporation.

Archbishop of Canterbury

2006-03-22T07:30:00.000-05:00

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans has said that only evolution should be taught in science classes. In an article published March 21 in The Guardian newspaper Dr Williams says also teaching creationism diminishes rather than enhances the biblical story of the origins of the world.

"I think creationism is ... a kind of category mistake, as if the Bible were a theory like other theories ... if creationism is presented as a stark alternative theory alongside other theories I think there's just been a jarring of categories ... My worry is creationism can end up reducing the doctrine of creation rather than enhancing it," he said.

Shroud of Turin

2006-03-17T19:15:00.000-05:00

What do science and scientists have to do with the Shroud of Turin, an old piece of cloth which folklore describes as being the very linen that wrapped the body of Jesus as it laid in the tomb over 2000 years ago?

This article shows the extent to which some scientists will ignore scientific evidence to ensure that scripture is not historically accurate, and that all physical phenomena can be explained by natural, not supernatural, causes.

You can post your views here.

The Clergy Letter Project

2006-03-01T07:19:00.000-05:00

In the fall of 2004 Michael Zimmerman, a professor of Biology and currently Dean, College of Letters and Sciences, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, along with some Wisconsin clergy prepared a statement for clergy to sign in support of teaching evolution. It currently has more than 10,000 signatures of clergy from across the United States at The Clergy Letter Project. The letter reads:

"Within the community of Christian believers there are areas of dispute and disagreement, including the proper way to interpret Holy Scripture. While virtually all Christians take the Bible seriously and hold it to be authoritative in matters of faith and practice, the overwhelming majority do not read the Bible literally, as they would a science textbook. Many of the beloved stories found in the Bible - the Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah and the ark - convey timeless truths about God, human beings, and the proper relationship between Creator and creation expressed in the only form capable of transmitting these truths from generation to generation. Religious truth is of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts.

"We the undersigned, Christian clergy from many different traditions, believe that the timeless truths of the Bible and the discoveries of modern science may comfortably coexist. We believe that the theory of evolution is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and achievement rests. To reject this truth or to treat it as 'one theory among others' is to deliberately embrace scientific ignorance and transmit such ignorance to our children. We believe that among God's good gifts are human minds capable of critical thought and that the failure to fully employ this gift is a rejection of the will of our Creator. To argue that God's loving plan of salvation for humanity precludes the full employment of the God-given faculty of reason is to attempt to limit God, an act of hubris. We urge school board members to preserve the integrity of the science curriculum by affirming the teaching of the theory of evolution as a core component of human knowledge. We ask that science remain science and that religion remain religion, two very different, but complementary, forms of truth."

Bill Gates and the Discovery Institute

2006-02-25T11:21:00.000-05:00

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given or commited to give the Discovery Institute more than $10 million. The Foundation donated $1 million in October 2000 and in July 2003 pledged $9.35 million through to 2013, including $50,000 of the Institute's founder and president Bruce Chapman's annual salary.

The Discovery Institute is a conservative Christian foundation, founded in 1990 based in Seattle, Washington. Its main division is the Center for Science and Culture which lobbies aggressively for wider acceptance of intelligent design and against the theory of evolution. Since 2001 it has compiled at list of 500 scientists who agree with the statement:

"We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged."

The Gates Foundation has said their grants are not used in the creation / evolution debate but to support research, development, promotion, and implementation of a long-term transportation plan for the Puget Sound region.

Hans Kung (b.1928)

2006-02-21T09:59:00.000-05:00

Swiss priest Hans Kung was in the news last August when he was invited to meet with Pope Benedict. He has long been a critic of Benedict, who as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was the Vatican's orthodoxy chief since 1981. Kung was stripped of the right to teach Catholic theology at the University of Tuebingen in Germany in 1979 after challenging Roman Catholic doctrines such as papal infallibility.

Kung is back in the news having recently published a book in Germany on evolution called "Der Anfang aller Dinge" (The Beginning Of All Things) that tries to reconcile theology with the latest scientific insights.

In a telephone interview with Reuters he said.

"There's no use casting doubt on (scientific) results with some little problems, as the intelligent design people or the creationists do. What's there is there. A theologian should not cast doubt on a scientific consensus, but see how he can deal with it.

"For science, God is not a valid category because God is by definition a reality beyond time and space and therefore does not belong to the world of our scientific experience.

"But there are questions that science cannot answer .... The fundamental question of philosophy, according to Gottfried Leibnitz, is 'why is there anything at all and not simply nothing'? Science can't answer that."

"The fundamental cause is God."

LINK: Blog post Science and Faith presents a view of the evolution / creation debate from a christian scientist.

Charles Darwin's Birthday

2006-02-12T07:05:00.000-05:00

Charles Darwin was born 12 February 1809 at The Mount, Shrewsbury. The house was built by his father Robert, a wealthy doctor and speculator. The house is currently used as offices for the District Valuers, a government agency that among other things value properties for the purposes of taxes.

Down House, Bromley, London was where Darwin lived from 1840 until his death in 1882. It was there Charles Darwin worked on his theories of evolution.

Episcopal Church on Evolution / Creation

2006-02-01T23:40:00.000-05:00

In March 2005 The Committee on Science, Technology and Faith of the Episcopal Church published on-line "A Catechism of Creation: An Episcopal Understanding." It is posted at www.episcopalchurch.org/science and is organized in question-and-answer format.

In 1982, the Episcopal General Convention passed a resolution (a) to “affirm its belief in the glorious ability of God to create in any manner,” (b) “and in this affirmation reject the rigid dogmatism of the ‘Creationist’ movement” and (c)
further affirmed “our support of the scientists, educators, and theologians in the search for truth in this creation that God has given and entrusted to us.”

The Episcopal Church has about 2.4 million members and 7,400 separate congregations in the United States. It derives its orders, doctrine, liturgy, and traditions from the Church of England. George Bush Sr is a member.

UPDATE: Katharine Jefferts Schori was on the Committee on Science, Technology and Faith. June 18, 2006 she was elected head of the Episcopal Church.

Britons unconvinced on evolution

2006-01-26T06:45:00.000-05:00

The Evolution Creation Debate will be examined on todays broadcast of the BBC's flagship science program Horizon. For the series over 2000 Britons were surveyed, and were asked what best described their view of the origin and development of life:

22% chose creationism
17% opted for intelligent design
48% selected evolution theory
and the rest did not know.

Evolution in California Caves

2006-01-25T06:44:00.000-05:00

It was announced Tuesday that 27 new animal species have been discovered in the caves of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California. Among the discoveries is a wood louse so translucent that its internal organs are visible, including its bright yellow liver.

Park officials said the cave-dwelling invertebrates can tell scientists a lot about evolution because of their sensitivity to surroundings.

Joel Despain, who helped explore the caves, is quoted as saying 'Not only are these animals new to science, but they're adapted to very specific environments — some of them, to a single room in one cave'

Utah Senate Vote

2006-01-22T08:46:00.000-05:00

Friday the Utah Senate voted 17-12 for bill SB96 which requires teachers to discuss alternatives to evolution. It still needs approval from the state's House of Representatives and Governor to become law.

Sen Scott McCoy proposed an ammendment that replaced reference to 'origins of life' with 'scientific'. He said evolution shouldn't be singled out if the aim of the bill was to critically analyze scientific theories upon which some scientists disagree on. The amendment failed.

If the law passes it is expected to be challenged in court by the American Civil Liberties Union. They contend that courts look not only at the letter of the law but the intent of lawmakers when determining if legislation is constitutional.

'Philosophy of Design' Class Taken to Court

2006-01-12T06:45:00.000-05:00

Americans United for Separation of Church and State on behalf of 11 parents filed suit January 10 against the El Tejon Unified School District in Lebec, California to stop a course they say advocates Intelligent Design and other concepts of creationism. The course taught at the Frazier Mountain High School is categorized as a philosophy class and is elective.

On the American United website Executive Director Barry Lynn says "Religious Right activists are looking for every opportunity to proselytize students into their doctrines. The so-called ‘philosophy’ course in Lebec is the latest maneuver in a long line of misguided schemes. This situation has nothing to do with academic freedom or teaching critical thinking."

Evo-devo next big thing

2006-01-07T09:42:00.000-05:00

Science popularizer Jay Ingram has an article in today's Toronto Star. He asks the question: If there is intelligent design, why do imperfections abound? For instance, the human eye is built backwards, with the light-gathering retina positioned behind nerves and blood vessels.

Judge Rules Against Dover School Board

2005-12-21T19:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III struck down the Dover, Pa. school board's decision to require biology students to hear about the concept of Intelligent Design.

He said “We find that the secular purposes claimed by the board amount to a pretext for the board's real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom, in violation of the Establishment Clause.”

More comments from his 139-page opinion are at: Globe and Mail

The actual text read to grade 9 students is at Dover Pensylvannia School District

UPDATES: The new School Board elected in November decided not to appeal and on January 3, 2006 unanimously voted to rescind the policy.

February 21, 2006 The Dover Area School Board agreed to pay $1 million in court costs

Textbook Warning Label

2005-12-15T07:39:00.000-05:00

The Washington Post is reporting that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments today whether stickers on text books calling evolution a theory, not fact, are unconstitutional.

In January, schools in Cobb County in suburban Atlanta were forced to remove the stickers by a federal judge. The labels read:

"This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."

Proposed Kansas University Course Cancelled

2005-12-03T07:21:00.000-05:00

Kansas University has cancelled a proposed course titled 'Intelligent Design, Creationisms and other Religious Mythologies'. The motives of religious studies department chair Paul Mirecki were called into question when he posted the following email on a Yahoo list-serv discussion board moderated by the student organization for which he served as faculty adviser :

To my fellow damned,

Its true, the fundies have been wanting to get I.D. and creationism into the Kansas public schools, so I thought “why don’t I do it?”

I will teach the class, with several other lefty KU professors in the sciences and humanities. Class is:

REL 602 Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationisms and other Religious Mythologies.

Tuesdays 7:00-9:30pm. Smith Hall room 100. Open to undergrads and grads.

Enrollment limited to about 120. 3 credit hours.

The fundies want it all taught in a science class, but this will be a nice slap in their big fat face by teaching it as a religious studies class under the category “mythology.” I expect it will draw much media attention. The university public relations office will have a press release on it in a few weeks, I also have contacts at several regional newspapers.

Of course, I won’t actually be teaching I.D. and creationisms, but rather I’ll be teaching ABOUT I.D. and creationisms as modern mythologies, indicating that these ideas have no place in a public school science class, but can certainly be analyzed in humanities classes for their function in society. Basic approach is my usual: anthropology with a focus on religious thought and behavior.

Any ideas for textbooks, guest lecturers and panels would be appreciated.

So far, six faculty have eagerly signed up to lecture. I can probably pull Chancellor Hemenway into this also, especially in the light of his public comments supporting evolution.

Doing my part to piss of (sic) the religious right,

Evil Dr. P.

UPDATE: The Associated Press reported December 6 that police are investigating a roadside beating of Paul Mirecki 6:40 a.m. Monday on a rural road south of Lawrence, Kansas. Mirecki told the Lawrence Journal-World that the two men who beat him were making references to his proposed course.

December 7 the university announced Mirecki had resigned as chairman of the religious studies department. 2 days later Mirecki told the Lawrence Journal-World he had been forced to step down.

Web Site For Teachers Being Sued

2005-11-27T07:18:00.000-05:00

A pro-Intelligent Design lawyer, Larry Caldwell, has sued the operators of a University of California-Berkeley web site designed to help teachers teach evolution. He says portions of the web site amount to a government endorsement of certain religious groups over others. Because the site is partly funded through a public money grant from the National Science Foundation (grant no. 0096613) that violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the religious freedom clauses of the California Constitution.

The website is Understanding Evolution For Teachers

By Design Or Chance?

2005-11-23T06:55:00.000-05:00

On Nov 24, the Listen Up television program on Trinity Broadcasting Network will look at Evolution versus Intelligent Design. Guests are Gary Chiang, Professor of Biology, Redeemer University College; William Dembski, Associate Research Professor, Conceptual Foundations of Science, Baylor University; Pamela R. Winnick, author of 'A Jealous God: Science's Crusade Against Religion'; Alanna Mitchell, author of 'Dancing at the Dead Sea'; Robert Mann, Chair of the Physics Department at the University of Waterloo.

Comments to Gary Chiang can be left at http://gchiang.blogspot.com/2005/12/intelligent-design-is-not-intelligent.html

Rev. George Coyne on God's Role in Creation

2005-11-19T07:39:00.000-05:00

The Rev. George Coyne, the Vatican’s chief astronomer, reaffirmed God's role in creation, but said science explains the history of the universe.

In an 6 August 2005 article, God’s chance creation, in the British Catholic magazine The Tablet, he said"If they respect the results of modern science, and indeed the best of modern biblical research, religious believers must move away from the notion of a dictator God or a designer God, a Newtonian God who made the universe as a watch that ticks along regularly."

Rather, he argued, God should be seen more as an encouraging parent.

"God in his infinite freedom continuously creates a world that reflects that freedom at all levels of the evolutionary process to greater and greater complexity," he wrote. "He is not continually intervening, but rather allows, participates, loves."

( Father Coyne, an American Jesuit, is an astronomer who divides his time between teaching astronomy at the University of Arizona and directing the Vatican Observatory. The Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest astronomical institutes in the world. It is headquartered in Castelgandolfo, Italy and operates a 1.8 metre telescope atop Mount Graham, Arizona.)

Recent Quotes

2005-11-17T07:43:00.000-05:00

"Evolutionists do not want students to know about or in any way to think about scientific criticisms of evolution. Evolutionists are the ones minimizing open scientific inquiry from their explanation of the origin of life." - Steve Abrams, chairman of Kansas' State Board of Education.

"How many people are there today who, fooled by atheism, think and try to demonstrate that it would be scientific to think that everything is without direction and order" Pope Benedict XVI, at a general audience at the Vatican Nov. 9, 2005.

"Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs - religious or otherwise - about the origin of humankind, but science teachers should not be forced to replace experimentation and observed data - the very definition of science - with faith-based or supernatural ideas." - the Minneapolis, Minn., Star Tribune, in a Nov. 11, 2005 editorial.

Darwin Exhibition in New York

2005-11-11T19:10:00.000-05:00

The American Museum of Natural History will mount what it calls the most in-depth exhibition ever mounted on Darwin from November 19, 2005 to May 29, 2006 .

The exhibition will feature live Galapagos tortoises and an iguana and horned frogs from South America, along with actual fossil specimens collected by Darwin and the magnifying glass he used to examine them. Also featured is an elaborate reconstruction of the naturalist's study at Down House and a time-lapse animation of the Sandwalk, the path Darwin strolled many times a day.

After it closes in New York the exhibition will travel to the Museum of Science, Boston; The Field Museum, Chicago; the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto; and the Natural History Museum, London.

Significant U.S. Court Rulings

2005-11-06T07:40:00.000-05:00

1925 - High school science teacher John Scopes (1900-1970) is found guilty of breaking the Butler Act, a Tennessee law against teaching "any theory that denies the story of Divine Creation and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals." The Butler Act remained on the books until 1967.

1968 - Epperson v. Arkansas - The Supreme Court kills a law prohibiting the teaching of evolution as an unconstitutional violation of the legally required separation of church and state.

1982 - McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education - A federal court rules against a balanced treatment of "creation science" vs. "evolution science." The court found that "creation science" is not science.

1987 - Edwards v. Aguillard - The Supreme Court finds that laws requiring the teaching that a supernatural being created humans improperly endorse religion.

2005 - Selman v. Cobb County School District - A federal judge finds that biology textbook stickers stating "Evolution is a theory, not a fact" violate the First Amendment. It is currently under appeal.

Seeing Creation and Evolution in Grand Canyon

2005-10-06T21:25:00.000-04:00

Today in the New York Times is an article reporting the contrasting perspectives of Evolutionists and Creationists on the formation of the Grand Canyon. The article is reproduced by the creationist mentioned at http://www.canyonministries.com/index_files/NYTimes.htm

Creation Museum

2005-10-03T07:15:00.000-04:00

A $25 million Creation Museum is being built just outside Cincinnati to be opened in early 2007. Set amid a park and 3-acre artificial lake, the 50,000-square-foot museum will feature animatronic dinosaurs, state-of-the-art models and graphics, and a half-dozen staff scientists. More at the Answers in Genesis-USA website.

Similar themed museums already exist in the U.S. For instance, there is the Museum of Earth History in Eureka Springs, Arkansas which was developed near the Great Passion Play, which draws about 400,000 people a year.

Dover Pensylvannia School District

2005-09-27T07:10:00.000-04:00

The lawsuit brought by 11 parents and the ACLU against the Dover Area School District began Monday at federal court in Pennsylvania. In October 2004 Dover became the first school system in the US to require that students be exposed to the concept of "intelligent design" before biology lessons on evolution. The text read to grade 9 students follows:

"The Pennsylvania Academic Standards require students to learn about Darwin's Theory of Evolution and eventually to take a standardized test of which evolution is a part.

Because Darwin's Theory is a theory, it continues to be tested as new evidence is discovered. The Theory is not a fact. Gaps in the Theory exist for which there is no evidence. A theory is defined as a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations.

Intelligent Design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin's view. The reference book, Of Pandas and People, is available for students who might be interested in gaining an understanding of what Intelligent Design actually involves.

With respect to any theory, students are encouraged to keep an open mind. The school leaves the discussion of the Origins of Life to individual students and their families. As a Standards-driven district, class instruction focuses upon preparing students to achieve proficiency on Standards-based assessments."

More from February 2005 Dover Area School District News

UPDATES:
November 8 voters replaced the school board.
December 20 U.S. District Judge Rules Against Dover School Board.
January 3, 2006 the School Board decided not to appeal unanimously voted to rescind the policy.

American Public Divided on Origins of Life

2005-09-10T07:50:00.000-04:00

A Washington DC thinktank, Pew Research Center, released a poll August 30, 2005 showing:

Most Americans believe that God was responsible for the creation of life on earth but divide on the question of whether and how life has changed since the creation. Overall, 78% say God created life on earth, while 5% think a universal spirit or higher power was responsible for the creation.

Despite this broad agreement regarding the origins of life, the public is deeply divided on precisely how life developed. A plurality of Americans (48%) say that humans and other living things have evolved over time, but nearly as many (42%) say that humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time.

The complete report is at http://pewforum.org/docs/index.php?DocID=115#3

Australian school to make evolution optional

2005-09-03T21:03:00.000-04:00

Pacific Hills Christian School in Sydney, Australia has become one of the first schools in Australia to teach Intelligent Design theory. Its principal is quoted as saying "Evolution is taught in the school system as if it's a universally accepted theory and there's no other way to view the origin of man and creation. I have trouble with this. We would teach evolution as a theory and ID as an alternative theory."

The full story can be seen in an article in The Australian

Michael Ruse

2005-09-01T07:17:00.000-04:00

Professor Michael Ruse of Florida State University uncovers surprising similarities between evolutionist and creationist thinking in his new book The Evolution-Creation Struggle.

A 24 page excerpt can be downloaded from http://www.hup.harvard.edu/pdf/RUSEVO_excerpt.pdf

Down House, Downe, Bromley, London.

2005-08-20T07:29:00.000-04:00

Charles Darwin worked on his theories of evolution by natural selection at this house. Darwin bought the house in 1842 and lived there for 40 years until his death there in 19 April 1882. It has been a museum since 1929 and was acquired by English Heritage in 1996. It has been nominated to become a world heritage site.

In 1877, a new study was added that holds his writing desk and chair. The old study where Darwin wrote The Origin of the Species was converted into a smoking room.
Darwin was born 12 February 1809 at The Mount, Shrewsbury

Darwin's Photo Album

2005-08-18T07:08:00.000-04:00

Charles and Emma Darwin had 10 children 2 of whom died as infants.

Darwin s thinking path

2005-08-16T14:25:00.000-04:00

The Sandwalk was created in 1846 when a 0.6ha area of land was fenced off and planted out with native trees and a circular path dressed with sandy gravel around the edge. Darwin would each day and walk a number of times around the sand-walk counting the laps with flints piled at the beginning of the circuit.

The greenhouses where Darwin studied plant growth, pollination and variation have been restored.

George Bush weighs into evolution debate

2005-08-14T07:23:00.000-04:00

The US president told newspaper reporters in Texas that children should be taught about intelligent design so they could better understand the debate about the origins of the universe. more from BBC News

Catholic Church rethinking evolution?

2005-08-11T17:45:00.000-04:00

Christoph Schonborn, archbishop of Vienna, in the Roman Catholic Church, which has long been regarded as an ally of the theory of evolution, is now suggesting that belief in evolution as accepted by science today may be incompatible with Catholic faith.
more from the Boston Globe

The Battle of Beginnings

2005-08-03T07:07:00.000-04:00

In his book Professor Del Ratzsch, Department of Philosophy Chair of Calvin College, Grand Rapids does not defend creationism or evolution, he writes "I do not pretend to know which is correct. But I will try to make the general case that large numbers of the critical arguments from each side against the other do not come to much--either because they themselves are defective or because no one holds the views against which they are directed," more ...

1 Young Earth, Recent Creationism

2005-07-18T07:01:00.000-04:00

God created all matter in 6, 24 hour days, sometime about 10,000 years ago. God created everything with the appearance of age. It is in total disagreement with modern scientific dating methods for ages beyond 10,000 years, but is in total harmony with the literal translation of the creation week.

More on Gary Chiang's new book at http://www.freewebs.com/gchiang/

2.2 Old Earth Creationism - The Day/Age Theory

2005-07-17T07:07:00.000-04:00

The creation days in Genesis describe creative periods of time, not six literal days. During each creative period, God increased the complexity of life by creating new life forms while also changing the earth to accommodate these new forms. There are variations on the Day/Age theory, and they differ according to how much the appearance of new organisms in the fossil record is attributed to God's direct intervention, or due to the process of God-directed evolution. Some proponents of the Day/Age Theory believe that we are currently in the seventh day (Davis A Young, G. Schroeder). Progressive creationism (Hugh Ross) is based on the Day/Age Theory.

There is more on Jim Schicatano's book at http://home.att.net/~jamspsu84/index.html

2.1 Old Earth Creationism - The Gap Theory

2005-07-16T07:03:00.000-04:00

The belief that there is a considerable amount of time between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis1:2. and that the cosmos, which was originally created long before the creation week in Genesis, became without form and void. In the creation week in Genesis, God "re-created" the earth and told mankind to replenish it. Some proponents of the Gap Theory believe that geological strata were created during the time before the re-creation of the world, and do not believe that Noah's flood was world wide. This theory has its origin with the founders of modern geology (e.g. Thomas Chalmers, Hugh Miller), and is referred to by some as the "ruin-reconstruction" view. This view is found in the Scofield Reference Bible, Dake's Annotated Reference Bible, and the Newberry Reference Bible.

3. Theistic Evolutionism

2005-07-15T08:09:00.000-04:00

God is the supenatural force who created the Big Bang and set down all the physical laws in order for evolution to occur. He used evolution to "create" the right environment and the right vehicle in which to place a living soul. When the time was right for Adam to appear, God took an evolved pre-man, and gave him a spirit and/or soul to create man in the image of God. This theory gives evolution a purpose, and in this way, it differs from Deistic evolutionism.

4. Deistic Evolutionism

2005-07-14T07:09:00.000-04:00

A supernatural force created the Big Bang, and set down all the physical laws. This force is no longer involved in the day-to-day operation of the universe. We exist via "evolution", and although a supernatural force may have initiated the process, we are here by chance.

5. Atheistic Evolutionism

2005-07-13T05:51:00.000-04:00

The universe and all the physical laws of nature were created by chance during the Big Bang about 15 to 20 billion years ago. We exist through a combination of random processes known as "evolution". There is no purpose or intelligent force which has directed our evolution. We are here only by chance, religion is a natural development in our evolutionary 'progress", and when we die, we no longer exist.

2005-07-10T21:47:00.000-04:00