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Does evolution contradict creationism?
Talk Origins ^ | 1998 | Warren Kurt VonRoeschlaub

Posted on 11/30/2004 3:53:55 PM PST by shubi

There are two parts to creationism. Evolution, specifically common descent, tells us how life came to where it is, but it does not say why. If the question is whether evolution disproves the basic underlying theme of Genesis, that God created the world and the life in it, the answer is no. Evolution cannot say exactly why common descent chose the paths that it did.

If the question is whether evolution contradicts a literal interpretation of the first chapter of Genesis as an exact historical account, then it does. This is the main, and for the most part only, point of conflict between those who believe in evolution and creationists.

(Excerpt) Read more at talkorigins.org ...


TOPICS: Heated Discussion
KEYWORDS: creationism; crevolist; evolution; science
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To: Cinnamon Girl
Knowing that God exists and believing in evolution are not contradictory. Numerous scientists and and religious people and a great many judeo-christian organisations support evolution. It is a lie to say that to believe in evolution is to reject God.
781 posted on 12/21/2004 7:13:53 AM PST by Thatcherite (Conservative and Biblical Literalist are not synonymous)
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To: derheimwill
We infer nothing unfound or unfounded. That's the point. I will take on an "unprovable" premise if Scripture demands it and I admit it.

Then you are going to have some difficulty living your life, as you can't even infer from your own certain knowledge that the rest of the universe outside the room that you are currently in didn't just stop existing. So you had better stay where you are in case there is no oxygen anywhere else. Nobody is that nihilistic. You don't demand such standards of proof anywhere else in your life.

What you really mean is that you believe that evolution contradicts your interpretation of your holy book and therefore you reject it regardless of the evidence for it, which can never be so complete as to force acceptance if you are set upon rejection.

782 posted on 12/21/2004 7:21:38 AM PST by Thatcherite (Conservative and Biblical Literalist are not synonymous)
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To: Thatcherite
Then ...you can't even infer from your own certain knowledge that the rest of the universe outside the room that you are currently in didn't just stop existing.

This is not an "inference." Rather, it is "founded" on prior experience.

You don't demand such standards of proof anywhere else in your life.

You misunderstand my standard. Data must be found in nature or founded upon sufficient authority.

What you really mean is that you believe that evolution contradicts your interpretation of your holy book

You assume again. I believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis and in microevolution thereafter. How else could Noah have gotten the entire genepool onto the ark?

783 posted on 12/21/2004 7:38:01 AM PST by derheimwill (Love is a person, not an emotion.)
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To: derheimwill
What is the difference in this context between microevolution and macroevolution? Which modern animals do you think Noah didn't have on the ark? (eg how many insects and fish do you think he was carrying, and how many marsupials?)

Do you reject the abundant physical evidence that the earth is c 4 billion years old and the universe c 14 billion years old as well as rejecting evolution? If so you are rejecting pretty much the whole of science. I ask because anti-evolutionists seem to encompass such a wide spectrum of contradictory beliefs.

784 posted on 12/21/2004 7:46:21 AM PST by Thatcherite (Conservative and Biblical Literalist are not synonymous)
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To: Thatcherite
What is the difference in this context between microevolution and macroevolution?

If I understand your question, Noah had a gorilla on the ark but not an eastern-lowland gorilla, a mountain gorilla and a western gorilla.

Do you reject the abundant physical evidence that the earth is c 4 billion years old..."

No, I interpret it differently.
Light was created before the stars. That gets it down to a few hundren million. It also eliminates the need for string theory.
The deluge explains the rock strata. If you do an experiment with several thousands of gallons of water, some silt and sand and a few dead critters, you get the same thing.
Here's a question:How do fish leave fossils? "Modern" ones don't.

785 posted on 12/21/2004 8:14:25 AM PST by derheimwill (Love is a person, not an emotion.)
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To: derheimwill
How many insects and fish on the ark please?

Light was created before the stars. That gets it down to a few hundren million. It also eliminates the need for string theory.

How do you explain the light from distant supernovae that never occurred if the universe is young? Why did God create the light from such identifiable events that never happened? Is God an habitual liar?

The deluge explains the rock strata. If you do an experiment with several thousands of gallons of water, some silt and sand and a few dead critters, you get the same thing.

No such experiment has explained any such thing. The physical evidence of the age of the earth is as conclusive as any evidence ever can be.

How do fish leave fossils? "Modern" ones don't.

Fossilisation of any creature is an incredibly rare event. I would have thought the question "Why are there few fossils of modern fish?" a much tougher one for anyone who doubts evolution or supports the idea of flood geology.

786 posted on 12/21/2004 8:34:43 AM PST by Thatcherite (Conservative and Biblical Literalist are not synonymous)
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To: derheimwill
If I understand your question, Noah had a gorilla on the ark but not an eastern-lowland gorilla, a mountain gorilla and a western gorilla.

I forgot to remind you about marsupials. How did they get from Australasia (and Antarctica unless you accept an ancient earth and plate tectonics) to the Middle East to board the ark? How did they get back to Australasia after the disembarkation? How had they survived in Antarctica at all? (unless you accept an ancient earth and plate tectonics)

787 posted on 12/21/2004 8:45:35 AM PST by Thatcherite (Conservative and Biblical Literalist are not synonymous)
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To: Thatcherite
How many insects and fish on the ark please?

No fish. What is the problem with insects? a few thousand species would be sufficient.

How do you explain the light from distant supernovae that never occurred if the universe is young?

Dunno. My suspicion: Light begins at infinite speed and decreases exponentially toward 'c.' TORel says that light travels at the same speed regardless of spatial frame of reference but, we have no way of knowing if it is constant over time as we have only observed it with any precision for a few decades.

No such experiment

From IRC:
Experiments in the Colorado State University
Large scale experiments required the resources of a laboratory with the latest technology. Having read their reports on sedimentology, I contacted Colorado State University in the USA. This led to a series of experiments conducted in their modern hydraulics laboratory at Fort Collins. Pierre Julien, a sedimentologist, was in charge of the experiments. They took place in large glass-walled flumes, which allowed observation and filming from above and through the sides of the tanks.
Different sized particles of sand were poured into water circulating in the flume. Variations in current velocity caused the particles to be sorted according to size. At 1 m/s superposed laminae formed laterally in the direction of the current. A reduction of velocity to 0.5 m/s caused larger particles to collect on the previous laminae, always migrating in the direction of the current. An increase in velocity back to 1 m/s caused laminae similar to the previous ones to form, mainly due to friction, on top of the stratum of larger particles. The accumulation of sediment produced a deposit consisting of the downstream part of the lower laminae, part of the sloping stratum of larger particles, and the upstream part of the upper laminae. Each individual deposit formed successively downstream and was therefore younger than the one before it. Variations in current velocity, as found in rivers and oceans, could thus cause deposits to form both vertically and laterally at the same time in the direction of the current.
The flume experiments further demonstrated the mechanical nature of stratification, whereby: (1) Particles segregated according to their size when transported by a current of variable velocity; (2) Desiccation, or drying out, of deposits caused bedding partings; (3) Stratification of the deposit, under both dry and wet conditions, formed parallel to the slope of the deposit, which could exceed 30°.5"

Fossilisation... rare event... "Why are there few fossils of modern fish?" a much tougher one for anyone who doubts evolution or supports the idea of flood geology.

What are your referring to, specifically?

788 posted on 12/21/2004 9:11:56 AM PST by derheimwill (Love is a person, not an emotion.)
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To: Thatcherite

Noah had a hundred years to gather the animals into the ark. Besides, they came to him, according to Gen 6:20.


789 posted on 12/21/2004 9:15:09 AM PST by derheimwill (Love is a person, not an emotion.)
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To: Thatcherite

That was a lame list you posted. The "American Jewish Congress" is extremely liberal and certainly doesn't represent Torah Judaism. And certainly isn't a "great many Jews." In fact, there are some excellent Orthodox Jewish scientists who have debunked macro-evolution.


790 posted on 12/21/2004 9:18:38 AM PST by Cinnamon Girl (OMGIIHIHOIIC ping list)
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To: Cinnamon Girl
That was a lame list you posted. The "American Jewish Congress" is extremely liberal and certainly doesn't represent Torah Judaism. And certainly isn't a "great many Jews." In fact, there are some excellent Orthodox Jewish scientists who have debunked macro-evolution.

I don't suppose that the Roman Catholic church represents many Christians either? Is that a liberal organisation too?

791 posted on 12/21/2004 9:45:14 AM PST by Thatcherite (Conservative and Biblical Literalist are not synonymous)
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To: Thatcherite
I don't suppose that the Roman Catholic church represents many Christians either?

...depends on whom you ask...

792 posted on 12/21/2004 9:56:47 AM PST by derheimwill (Love is a person, not an emotion.)
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To: derheimwill
How many insects and fish on the ark please?

No fish.

Not good enough. The flood must have been saline or clear. Most fish species could not survive a year in the wrong type of water (and their food sources all require the right salinity too). The post-flood deposition event posits massive stirring of the water.

What is the problem with insects? a few thousand species would be sufficient.

How bizarre. You reject something you call macroevolution, yet you think that a few-thousand species of insect could diverge to between 2M and 30M species within 4? thousand years. In any case, how did 8 people care for even a few thousand insect species with their manifold dietary, heating, humidity etc requirements for a year?

How do you explain the light from distant supernovae that never occurred if the universe is young?

Dunno. My suspicion: Light begins at infinite speed and decreases exponentially toward 'c.' TORel says that light travels at the same speed regardless of spatial frame of reference but, we have no way of knowing if it is constant over time as we have only observed it with any precision for a few decades.

"Dunno" is not good enough when you are proposing bizarre mechanisms for relatively simple observed phenomenae. Your suspicion is disproved as follows: Time dilation works on distant observed events as predicted from their red-shift and a constant lightspeed.

No such experiment

(snip long description of experiment)

And this experiment explains the geological column (including fossilised burrows and inserted complete coral beds and some layers of fine powdery particles that take years to settle) how?

793 posted on 12/21/2004 10:04:57 AM PST by Thatcherite (Conservative and Biblical Literalist are not synonymous)
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To: bigdakine
"B: Well then, you're behind the times. I pity the company you work for. Because things like electrical circuits are now being designed by "Genetic Algorithms" which are mathematical algorithms which mimic Darwinian evolution.

I pity the other evolutionists on this board that are getting YOUR help...these programs that "mimic" Darwinian evolution were designed by who? Evolution?

"In fact Genetic Algorithms such as the Monte Carlo Method have been a staple of mathematicians and engineers for decades. I suggest you consider retirement, and let a younger generation of engineers who know what they are doing have a crack at it. "

UNBELIEVABLE! You are using human designed computer programs that mimic "so called evolutionary processes (whatever they are)" to prove that blind random chance can produce the same, or similar complexity that requires directed intelligence to produce. How do you even feed yourself without help? Your are the EXACT evidence that belief in evolutionary theory is a mind killer. You can't even recognize your hypothesis is self-contradictory, and proves MY point!

B: THat biological materials have complex properties and interactions is a fact of nature. Again, here we have a creationists that is at war with reality.

And here we have an evolutionist that spouts tautologies as revelation. We all know, maybe even your 5 year old brother knows that nature is complex, the question is how does insensate (mindless) matter eventually produce consciousness.

I am speaking for myself, cause I am not sure YOU are actually conscious of anything but what your professors have already thought, or allow you to think. I could only wish I could threaten Hell to evolutionists, seeing they are responsible for most of the philosophical foundations for most of the hell of man against man on this earth in the 20th century.

It used to be religions were the base of many human wars, but the killing fields of the 20th century were first seeded with the God-hating philosophy turned loose by Darwin.

Which is a religion and holding true to form in that it first kills the spirit (see Christ and His arguments to the "learned leaders" of His day)

Heck it's all just the "survival of the fittest," don't you know? You and your pals are not innocent of blood, even though your hands never pulled the trigger.

Your minds formed the philosophical bullets that were sold (and are still sold) into the hands of all the great tyrants of the 20th, and now this century. Behind all "isms," and fanatics you will find a godless philosophy that allows, then demands, the demeaning of all opposing viewpoints. You evolutionists are off to a good start.

Ultimately you end up with a Stalin, who after murdering about 10 million Ukrainians was quoted "You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs." And Stalin was the apex of communism, which came to us from Marx, who so loved "The Origin," he wanted to dedicate "Communist Manifesto," to Darwin.
794 posted on 12/21/2004 10:12:28 AM PST by Jehu
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To: Right Wing Professor

Those genes in all the same species could have all been designed...neither you or I have any way of knowing whether it was a mutation or designed. Which do you think is more likely?


795 posted on 12/21/2004 10:15:30 AM PST by Jehu
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To: Thatcherite

I'm Jewish. I can't explain on behalf of other religious groups what they believe.


796 posted on 12/21/2004 10:16:46 AM PST by Cinnamon Girl (OMGIIHIHOIIC ping list)
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To: bigdakine

Go read what DARWIN said about the absence of transitional forms in the fossil record, on more than one occasion. Or do you disagree with Darwin's assesment of the problem of the lack of transitional forms in the fossil record?


797 posted on 12/21/2004 10:17:21 AM PST by Jehu
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To: bigdakine
From Dinosaur in a Haystack, Gould has some to say about creatobabblers.. "The supposed lack of intermediary forms in the fossil record remains the fundamental canard of antievolutionism. Such transitional forms are rare, to be sure, and for two good sets of reasons geological (gappiness of the fossil record) and biological (the episodic nature of evolutionary change... ) But paleontologists have discovered several superb examples of intermediary forms and sequences, more than enough to convince any fair minded sceptic about the reality of life's physical genealogy.

Does this make anybody else laugh out loud? Gould is saying there are no transitional forms, (he says they are rare, but they're actually are NONE!) because...now hold on to your seat belts!

Because there are GAPS in the fossil record. Why folks, there are no transitional forms...because there are no transitional forms! IDIOTS! O, but there are complete species, suddenly appearing in-toto all the time in the fossil record. And most of them go on unchanged till today (Crocodiles, and Cockroaches 200 million YEARS!)

But wait...we don't get transitional forms, because Uranus was not in the right position, or it was always raining on the days when transitional species were on the earth. Or maybe all transitional species ran off the same cliff every time and we haven't discovered that particular cliff yet.

Or maybe they are hiding up the asses of all the evolutionists on the earth and we have to wait until they are buried and fossilized to discover them. What absolute freaking B.S.!! You people are intellectual children, let alone spiritual midgets, coming up with this petulant, pouting little theory, just because you cannot face a moral and demanding God. Pathetic!
798 posted on 12/21/2004 10:30:45 AM PST by Jehu
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To: Right Wing Professor

You name any transitional form and I will counter with another evolutionist that is NOT a creationist that says it is NOT a transitional form...let's play!


799 posted on 12/21/2004 10:32:37 AM PST by Jehu
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To: Thatcherite
Fish aren't mentioned in the Mosaic account. (Sorry for the non-answer.)

Insects would microevolve rather quickly in the absence of numerous predators.

Time dilation works on distant observed events as predicted from their red-shift and a constant lightspeed.

The universal speed of light (relative to different spacial frames) is a function of Planck's universal constant. The observed speed of light is always going to be the same as the speed of light in the observer's frame of reference. If object and observer are in the same time frame, there's no difference (between observed c at object and c at observer). If c was once greater, one would observe "fast" space as if it were older than it really is. If I really wanted to prove my theory, I would need a to examine 'h', not c.

As to the experiment, it shows that:

A. The principle of superposition: ". . . at the time when any given stratum was being formed, all the matter resting upon it was fluid, and, therefore, at the time when the lower stratum was being formed, none of the upper strata existed."

B. The principle of initial horizontality and

C. The principle of strata continuity:

are all disproven because: "Strata can form laterally and vertically at the same time; 2. Strata can form in the same way as sequences of facies; 3. Strata are not always a measure of chronology. "

- quotes from http://www.icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-328.htm

800 posted on 12/21/2004 10:36:29 AM PST by derheimwill (Love is a person, not an emotion.)
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