The Earths Origin - Creationism and Evolutionism - Essay Example

Creation vs. Evolution Throughout the years, humans have struggled with finding a single, plausible explanation withregards to earth’s origin creating a rift between proponents of creationism and their opponents who favor evolutionism. Different scholars continue to advance arguments in favor of both sides leaving it at the discretion of people to critically appraise all presented arguments before deciding what side best explains earth’s origin phenomenon. Author, journalist and pastor, Lee Stroble is one such scholar who presents his findings in a series of books, which include; The Case for a Creator, and The Case for Faith. His investigation techniques entailed interviewing adept scholars who possessed extensive knowledge on creationism and evolutionism. Strobel outlines his arguments in a systematic way, easy to critic, understand and draw valid conclusions. However, relying solely on the arguments presented in Lee Strobel’s literal pieces limits ones understanding of the creationism vs. evolutionism argument. Therefore, discussed in this paper is a review of the philosophical foundations for both arguments and their impact on people’s understanding of earth’s origin (Moore 203). Arguments for the existence of God surfaced in the era of philosophers who lived in a period where logic and reasoning proved crucial to understanding and explaining the occurrence or existence of different phenomena. Majority of these philosophers’ beliefs, values and moral principles had their basis in religion, which revolved around the premise of the existence of an all-powerful, good God. An overview of the pre-historic philosophers indicates that each group believed in a superior element that had control over the functioning of all other elements. It is presumable that their choice of superior elements such as fire, water, and air functioned as a symbolic reference to a supreme deity that controlled the functioning of other aspects such as sustaining life on earth. Through dogmatic indoctrination, individuals’ beliefs and knowledge concerning their origin and that of the earth centered on God. Moreover, Science was still a relatively new discipline characterized with continuously surfacing schools of thought that advanced different theories in their attempt to explain existing phenomena. As a result, both philosophers and the individuals who relied on their teachings found themselves embracing the creation account detailed in the Bible as an explanation to earth’s and other organism’s origin. Genesis provides a chronological order of the world’s creation by an all-powerful, omniscient being (God). The zeitgeist of the philosophers’ era played a significant role in predisposing individuals to believe in creationism (Ross 166). The previously held presumptions soon changed with the advancement of Charles Darwin’s evolution theory. Darwin asserted that evolution guided the transformation of systems from simple forms to complex forms by undergoing mechanistic processes such as natural selection and mutation (Bowden 115). According to Darwin, the microevolution changes that occur to form complex structures are random and are not pre-designed by a supernatural force. Darwin asserted that these changes result from the innate need to survive, which causes organisms to adapt to their changing environment or risk facing imminent death that might result in the species extinction. Darwin’s evolution theory gained acceptance among many during the scientific era where people resorted to using empirical methods to test hypothesized theories. It is important to note that the scientific era sort to discredit religious explanations with regard to various phenomena (Bowden 116). The scientific era saw people critiquing issues using similar subject matter; for example, the principle of non-contradiction was used to refute the existence of God. The non-contradiction principle states that a statement cannot be true and false at the same time. In relation to the existence of God, the argument posed entailed analyzing the premises used to formulate the conclusion that God does exist (Bowden 117). This saw the introduction of the concept of evil; whereby, the existence of evil contradicted the premise that God is good. Evidently, by God being good, evil ought not to exist. Therefore, the fact that evil does exist functioned to undermine pre-historic philosophers who advanced that God’s goodness certifies his existence. Basing their arguments on the principle of non-contradiction, scholars in the scientific era such as Darwin sought to empirically test hypotheses in order to decipher factual, indisputable information that could be used to explain the origin of the earth and other life forms living on earth (Bowden 119). Intelligent design surfaced when proponents and opponents of both creationism and evolutionism failed to agree on either of the two as the plausible explanation for earth’s origin. Intelligent design borrowed from both evolutionism and creationism by asserting that a superior force is behind the systematic microevolution changes responsible for the formation of complex structures. Intelligent design disputed the notion that microevolution occurred as a result of random chance; instead, proponents argued that the changes were systematic and pre-determined. Critics of intelligent design argue that its core principles revolve around a religious viewpoint rendering it biased towards non-religious explanations of earth’s origin. For example, proponents of intelligent design as an alternative to the other arguments sought to convince those in charge of education to incorporate it into the curriculum as a counter explanation to the evolution theory. Education policy makers considered incorporating intelligent design into school’s curriculums but soon decided against it because of its religious connotations; whereby, it violated the constitutional separation of state and church (Ross 168). In relation to the philosophical viewpoints of creation vs. evolution, Lee Strobel’s work highlights the views of both skeptics and believers of God’s role in creating the earth. His interview with proponents of creationism shed some light on philosophical issues such as the problem of good and evil. As mentioned earlier, the scientific era sought to discredit creationism based on the fact that God’s goodness contradicted with evil’s presence. As a result, Strobel’s interviews addressed the question of good and evil in order to provide people with an explanation as to why evil and good co-exist. The explanation given to this revolved around the concept of free will. One of the scholars explained that, God gave humans free will in order for them to make choices as they see fit. Meaning, evil results from human’s freedom to make their own choices; whereby, wrong choices bring about suffering misery and other evil wiles in the world. According to the interviewed scholar, God allows evil to exist so that he can show his people mercy and goodness in spite of them using their free will in an unfavorable way (Strobel 56). Strobel also addressed the concept of intelligent design in detail with his interviewees by introducing concepts such as near-death experiences, abiogenesis and anthropic principle among others. Near-death experiences are hard to explain for both scientists and religious individuals (Strobel 45). This is because these experiences occur in the unconscious realm, which is intangible. Philosophers have and continue to struggle with the mind-body problem; whereby, it continues to prove difficult to analyze the functioning of the mind. It is for this reason that proponents of intelligent design advance that only a superior force is capable of transmitting messages through the unconscious realm. Near-death experiences are a prime example of the unconscious interacting with a superior force. Scientific explanations fail to provide an accurate account of the mechanism behind near-death experiences. Abiogenesis refers to a natural process characterized by life arising from inorganic matter (Strobel 50). Scientists mention abiogenesis as one of the processes that is attributable to earth’s origin. According to intelligent design, the process of abiogenesis requires the guidance of a superior force in order for it to occur properly. Moreover, because of the importance of the process, leaving it to chance would yield undesirable outcomes. Lastly, interviewee Robin Collins discussed the anthropic principle, which advances that the physical universe ought to be compatible with the conscious life observing it (Strobel 70). Individuals are able to observe phenomena such as gravity in action because the physical universe if compatible with the individuals. Meaning, near-death experiences, talking to spirits ought to be unconceivable because of the incompatibility between the physical universe and the individuals experiencing such situations. This is however, not the case. The existence of a superior entity enables individuals to observe phenomena which are incompatible with the universe such as near-death experiences. Therefore, this further supports the existence of an intelligent designer (Strobel 75). In conclusion, evidence presented by scholars in favor of creationism and evolutionism play a significant role in providing insightful information about the earth’s origin. Therefore, it makes little sense to choose one side over the other especially because they complement each other’s weaknesses. Adopting a concept such as the intelligent design proves feasible because the concept borrows from both ends. Moreover, Lee Strobel’s interviews provide insightful information with regard to the principle of non-contradiction and intelligent design. Strobel uses the argument of good and evil to highlight human’s free will and its consequences; whereby, evils is seen to result from unfavorable choices whereas God’s permissiveness towards letting evil occur seems strategic because evil provides a chance for God’s goodness and mercy to prevail. Finally, Strobel provides evidence for the existence of a creator such as near-death experiences, anthropic principle and abiogenesis among others (Moore 204). Works Cited Bowden, Malcolm (1991) Science vs. Evolution, Sovereign Publications. Print. Moore, John (2002) From Genesis to Genetics, University of California Press. Print. Ross, Hugh (1998) The Fingerprint of God, Sage Publishers. Print. Strobel, Lee (2004) The Case for a Creator, Zondervan. Print. Strobel Lee (2000) The Case for Faith, Zondervan. Print. Read More