The Concept of Evolution - Essay Example

Evolution As a concept itself Evolution can take many different ideas and one of the theories of evolution which has to be considered is the Theory of Intelligent Design which I feel is closer to the truth than others. Even before the birth of Christ, arguments for a natural designer were being debated by the Greeks. Through the historical chain, the concept of an intelligent designer was founded in Plato’s Timaeus in 4 BC; Aristotle termed the creator as Prime Mover in his work Metaphysics. In 45 BC, Cicero wrote about the Divine Power who encompasses all of nature in his literary writing, On the Nature of the Gods. More recently, creationist chemist Charles B. Thaxton with Walter L. Bradley and Roger L. Olsen published their 1984 MoLO - The Mystery of Life’s Origin (Wikipedia, 2006). This was only the beginning for the Intelligent Design Theory to be founded. I feel that there has to be a lot more to creation than simple random chance and haphazard occurances. A well-established and active proponent for the theory of Intelligent Design has been William A. Dembski. He claims the concept to have characteristics and the functionality in certain natural systems that can only be attributed to the work of intelligence. Signs of intelligence are sought in those particular systems that cannot be explained by science or through the evolutionary theories. Intelligent Design promotes an important link that all groups of Darwinism oppose – the Natural Creator. Even though the former does not deliberately identify with a designer, personal views of its supporters imply the being of the Christian god. The Theory of Evolution has itself evolved since its founding roughly three centuries ago. Timelines date the popularity of the theory in 1859 when its founder, Charles Darwin, published his book The Origin of Species. The book created revolutionary effects in its home-field of science but the stronger effects were felt in religion, mainly in Christianity. Followers of Christ or the Holy Son of their Father (God), criticized, publicly debated and even condemned the theory and do so till date. The concept, on the other hand, was publicized to the extent that an innovation was introduced in the early part of the twentieth century – Neo-Darwinism – and is the most dominant evolutionary theory backed by a strong following today. Considering personal faith and according to the Christian belief observed by Werner Gitt on ChristianAnswers.Net, the Bible has mentioned the creation of the heavens, the earth and all in between out of no solid matter. In other words, God created the universe from nothingness and yet its complexity cannot still be solved to this day. Neo-Darwinists firmly advocate that all matter present in this world was not created from scratch but that they have existed since billions of years ago. This is how the present-day living organisms have come into being – through evolution. Also, the idea of the earth being created first, our local galaxy and the lunar, solar and star systems added on the fourth day conflicts with the evolutionary Big Bang Theory (ChristianAnswers, 1996). NABT’s Statement on Teaching Evolution, published on the CSC website defines the fundamental doctrine of evolution. It believes that evolution is fuelled by the concept of natural selection based on the certainties in random mutation. The principle of random mutation is a purposeless and unpredictable system having no beginning or end goals even for the theory that it governs – the lifecycle of species (CSC, 2006). Christianity and thereby Intelligent Design directly challenge neo-Darwinism in this regard and encourages its supporters to an open debate. The ensuing paragraphs discuss the principles of neo-Darwinism and evolution in relation to the Christian-scientific viewpoint. On the other side of the equation, natural selection, as defined by Wikipedia (2006), is the process of the more able or dominant trait to compete in its natural surroundings than the weaker trait. The healthier traits are able to thrive and reproduce if they are given favorable conditions and are passed onto future generations (Wikipedia, 2006). Introduced by Darwin, natural selection is the cornerstone principle of evolution and neo-Darwinism. This principle has no bearing whatsoever in the Bible. Deepak Chopra M.D. in The Huffington Post declares that evolution even though being closely linked to survival has made the term ‘survival of the fittest’ rather stereotypical and clichéd which I feel is certainly overused in our culture. For the sake of some modified or dominant traits that tend to outlive weaker ones, we term them as the fittest. Nature does not prove so. Kiwis, dodo and other flightless birds may have proved to look and behave as fit as they survived longer than they should (maybe as ordained by the Higher Being). The DNA present in every living organism like the birds is a very volatile structure unlike a hydrogen or oxygen molecule because if exposed to pathogens, x-rays or solar radiation, the DNA structure will not be in a position to be termed as ‘fit’. The realm of survival is far beyond the Darwinian concept of survival of the fittest (The Huffington Post, 2006). As per neo-Darwinism, if mutations are stated to be random, then why do fossil records present the births of several new species? Positive mutations have far exceeded negative ones in creating more fossil records than claimed by evolutionists. It would also be prudent to ask an evolutionist about the nature of mutations that could possibly have taken a leap-frog change from scales to fur to feathers from a primordial skin cell (The Huffington Post, 2006). A person of Christian faith would find it impossible to believe something as so complex and intricate as a cell to be randomly mutated and adapted to whichever diverse environment it has been put in. The Bible with the support of Intelligent Design disclaims many well-grounded evolutionary beliefs. In 1 Corinthians 8:6, the one God, Lord Jesus Christ is the Prime Cause or Reason of all things to come into being. Evolution supports the one God as the God of the Gaps because He is allowed to be present in areas, systems or workplaces where evolutionary theories cannot define. He is defined as evolution himself in such cases (ChristianAnswers, 1996). This view contradicts the concept of Intelligent Design for it does not allow God to be the Creator for the workings of complete systems. The universe would not function as it should without the presence of an Intelligent Designer. I think that evolution cannot simply degrade beauty found present in most aspects of nature as a wave of random mutation. Birds, bees, fish and even reptiles can be found in various colours, designs and patterns that lure the opposite sex just enough for them to breed and reproduce. Those same designs allow for the organisms to camouflage themselves, e.g. chameleons, in front of their predators. Beauty as a factor of random mutation cannot justify less beautiful or unappealing naturally-designed creations or their centuries-long life spans. Sadly, in present times the historically reported Biblical events have been reduced to mythical imagery, the crucial concept of salvation from sin and the doctrine of undermining God’s Incarnation have created wider gaps between science and religion. The two disciplines do not seem to make any progress towards any compromise or understanding for our present and future generations to come. With a temporary theory of Intelligent Design in place, fanatical Christians would not accept such principles to effectively validate their belief system or integrate science into it. An awakening of the Truth can only be revealed at the appointed Day and Time when the Lord God will descend to ask all for seeking complete Salvation. Word Count: 1,182 Works Cited: Chopra, D. Intelligent Design without the Bible. Online Posting. March 23, 2005. The Huffington Post. December 1, 2006. CSC. 2006. Retrieved December 1, 2006 from the Center for Science and Culture website Wikipedia. 2006. Retrieved December 1, 2006 from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia website: Gitt, W. 10 Dangers of Theistic Evolution. Online Posting. September 1995. ChristianAnswers.Net. December 1, 2006. Read More