The Creation-Evolution Controversy
Pinebrook Junior College
Dr. Robert C. Newman
Lecture 1:
Evolution &Its Arguments
I. EvolutionDefined
A.Biological Change
Changeshave taken place in living things over the history of life on earth.
B.Descent with Modification from a Common Ancestor
If life arose on earth only once,and if all life comes from pre-existing life, then all life has descended fromone original life form, no matter how different it is now.
C.Darwinian Mechanism
The means by which living thingschange is the production of diversity (now called mutation and recombination)and the selection of the better varieties through differences in reproductionand survival in the various circumstances and environments on earth.
D,Other Uses of the Term ÒEvolutionÓ
1.Extension to cosmology, etc.
The origin and development of thewhole univese, our solar system, and the planet Earth is often referred to asevolution, though the elements of meanings A-C, above, are not involved.
2.Extension to any kind of development
The origin and development of anyobject or institution is often referred to by this term, even if this involvesintelligent design, e.g., Òthe evolution of the computer.Ó
II. Argumentsin Favor of Evolution
A.Arguments from Life on Earth Today
1.Animal and plant breeding
Humans, be selecting and breedingindividuals with particular traits, are able to produce large changes in a givepopulation, e.g., varieties of dogs, roses, pigeons. This is called artificial selection
2.Biological classification
All living things can becategorized by their resemblances and differences into a large ÒtreeÓ whichrecords something of the history of life on earth as it has developed by growthand branching, just as a tree grows up from a single seed.
3.Development of fetuses
As living things develop in theegg or womb, they provide a sort of fast playback of their evolution, beginningfirst with a single cell and developing into the mature baby.
4.Similarity of structure
When we compare the bonestructure, muscle system, blood system, etc., of various animals, we seecorresponding parts in each, though these have often developed in verydifferent ways; e.g., the forelimbs of humans, dogs, bats, whales.
5.Similarity of biochemistry
When we compare the proteins (say)found in various plants and animals, those which perform a particular functionare more similar in more closely related plants or animals and less similar inless closely related ones, and this in a way that parallels the physicalsimilarities in item 4, above.
B.Arguments from the Fossil Record
1.Geologic ages
Geologic evidence has continued toaccumulate that the earth is several billions of years old rather than just afew thousand, preserving a history of life on earth in the remains of plantsand animals which have been fossilized over the ages.
2.Sequences of living things
Within the various layers of rockdeposited over these geologic ages, we find that the oldest rocks contain nolife. Later rocks contain a fewexamples of the simplest one-celled life; later rocks show fossils of morecomplex one-celled life. Stilllater rocks contain the major non-backboned animals, then the primitive fishes,then amphibians, then reptiles, then mammals and birds, and finally humans.
3.Similarities & differences
Within the fossil record we findfossils of types of plants and animals that are no longer aroud today, thathave become extinct in the course of time. These fossils share the sorts of similarities and differencesmentioned under A-4, above, suggesting that they are ÒcousinsÓ descended from acommon ancestor also.
4.Geographic distribution
The various continents which aremore isolated (Australia, South America, Antarctica) have peculiar plants andanimals today, plus plants and animals with similar peculiarities in the fossilrecord. These look like theymigrated into these isolated areas, then evolved in their own peculiardirection, rather than that they were all created at one time.
Bibliography
Bird, WendellR. The Origin of SpeciesRevisited. 2 vols. NewYork: Philosophical Library,1987-89.
Darwin,Charles. The Origin of Species
Denton,Michael. Evolution:
Dunzweiler,Robert J. Course Syllabus forEvolution and Special Creation.
Eaton, TheodoreH. Evolution
Hayward,Alan. Creation and Evolution:
Jastrow,Robert. The EnchantedLook: Mind in the Universe
Kerkut, G.A. Implications of Evolution
McIver, Tom.
Miller, Jonathanand Borin Van Loon. Darwin forBeginners. New York: Pantheon Books, 1982
Pun, Pattle P.T. Evolution:
Simpson, GeorgeGaylord. The Meaning ofEvolution. New York: NewAmerican Library, 1951.
Sunderland,Luther. DarwinÕs Enigma:
Taylor, GordonRattray. The Great EvolutionMystery. New York: Harper and Row, 1983.
Lecture 2:
Scientific Problems of Evolution
I.
Small changes(microevolution) allow adjustment to changing environments.
Kerkut, Implicationsof Evol: no agreement on how to relatelowest forms of life.
Simpson, Tempo& Mode in Evolution:
About ¼billion fossils are cateloged in worldÕs museums; why no (or so few)transitions? (see comments of Gould, Stanley, Raup).
II.
Elaboratesystems: metabolism, photosynthesis, cell, nervous system
Optimization:
If
If
But
B. Turning offnatural selection to jump the gaps (non-selected innovation via pseudogenes)
1. Maybe changetakes place in genes not in use (called pseudogenes), then these are turned on,ready to go.
2. Calculationto show impossibility of such innovation here:
Suppose rspecific amino acids are required at specific positions on a polypeptide chain.
We have 61 basetriplets coding for 20 amino acids, or 3.05 codons per amino acid.
To reach aspecified amino acid at a given position, up to 3 mutations will be required:of the 63 possible changes, 9 require 1 mutation, 27 require 2 mutations, 27require 3. So geometric mean =2.16 mutations per amino acid reached.
Using mutationrate of 10-8 mutations/nucleotide replicated:
How manyreplications do we have available?
Biologicalactivity on earth today turns over 1016 moles of carbon per year.
A bacterium has10-14 moles of carbon.
Bacterial genomehas 5 x 106 nucleotide pairs.
Assuming allcarbon turnover is in bacteria, number of replications per 300 million years isR.
R = 1016x 1014 x 5 x 106 x 3 108
R = 1.5 x 1045replications
Number of cases Sin which r specified amino acids at given positions of protein would beobtained in 300 million years is:
| r | S |
| 2 | 5 x 1013 |
| 3 | 10-2 |
| 4 | 2 x 10-18 |
| 5 | 3 x 10-34 |
Result:
Carl Saganestimates the information content of a simple cell as about 1012bits = 100 million pages of the Encyclopaedia Britannica
Monkeys typingjust title ÒENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICAÓ is a job requiring some 30 billionbillion billion monkey-years!
WistarSymposium: Mathematical Challenges to the Neo-Darwinian Interpretation ofEvolution: Computer simulation shows theevolutionary mechanism to be inadequate; order is destroyed, not increased.
Evolution:
Creation:
III.
Creation solvesproblems insuperable to evolution.
We donÕt know allthe answers, but we should not be ashamed to hold to the Biblical teachinghere.
Bibliography
Bird, WendellR. The Origin of SpeciesRevisited. 2 vols. NewYork: Philosophical Library,1987-89.
Davis, Percivaland Dean H. Kenyon, Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins
Denton,Michael. Evolution:
Hayward,Alan. Creation andEvolution: The Facts and theFallacies. London: Triangle Books, 1985.
Pun, Pattle P.T. Evolution:
Sunderland,Luther. DarwinÕs Enigma:
Wiester,John. The Genesis Connection
Lecture 3:
The Origin of Life
I. TheStandard Scenario for the Naturalistic Origin of Life
A. Thecomplexity of a simple cell and the consequent need to form life in severalsteps:
B. Constituentsof life and their roles
1. Amino acids– function as structural elements of proteins, which form thestructure of cells and thecatalysts for biochemical reactions.
2. Nucleic acids– combination of sugars and nucleotides to make DNA and RNA, the bacisinformation molecules of life.
1. EarthÕs earlyatmosphere – to get amino acids, need to have an atmosphere which isreducing rather than neutral or oxidizing.
2. The role ofsunshine, lightning, thunder, heat – to break up consituents ofhypothesized atmosphere, need a strong energy source to split up molecules ofhydrogen, water, ammonia, methane into pieces.
3. Some evidencein favor of this:
a. Miller-Ureyexperiment – in 1950s, showed that some amino acids would be produced inspark chamber containing atmosphere of molecules listed in #2, above.
b. Organics,including some amino acids have been detected (remotely) in interstellarclouds.
c. Amino acidshave also been found in meteorites, stones that have fallen from space toearth.
1. The need toconcentrate the organics – to get amino acids and other organic moleculesto combine into long chain molecules such as proteins, they need to beconcentrated to a much higher level than they would be by forming in theatmosphere and falling into the oceans.
2. Theconcentrating mechanism:
a. A suitablereservoir – typically, a pond that lies on a seashore just above thenormal high tide level, so that it will not be replenished too frequently.
b. A heat source– to evaporate the water so that the organics become moreconcentrated. This would normallythe sun in a tropical area.
c. Repeatedaddition of new material – so as to increase the total volume of organicsavailable for reaction.
d. Protectionfrom:
(1) dilution– which would cancel the benefits of concentration.
(2) untravioletradiation – which would destroy the biopolymers which one wishs to make.
1. Microspheres– small spheres of a protein-like substance, formed when certain mixturesof amino acids were heated under dry conditions and then disssolved in warmwater and cooled. These have aboutthe size and look of simple cells.
2. Coacervates– tiny droplets of lipids or other high molecular weight organiccompounds that form when these materials are placed in water, rather like oildroplets.
F. StepFour: Proposed formation of simplecells
1. Differencesbetween prokarylotes and eukaryotes – the former are simple cells, thelatter much more complex; prokaryotes have no cell nucleus or organelles suchas mitochondria.
2. Microfossilsand their formation – there is evidence in the geologic record of fossilsof microscopic organisms, though these only form rarely in specialenvironments.
3. Correlationbetween geologic age and complexity – the earliest geologic strata appearto be lifeless, but evidence of life shows up very soon after the earth hascooled enough so as not to cook meat. The earliest evidence is for prokaryotic one-celled life, then later foreukaryotic one-celled life.
4. Comparisonbetween ancient microfossils and simple cells living today.
II. Problemswith the Naturalistic Origin of Life
2. Work onself-reproducing machines indicates that the simplest possible life would becomplex also, even if not nearly as complex as modern living things.
1. TheMiller-Urey experiment was only the first (and very small) step toward life,like the jump in complexity from one word to a few, or at most a sentence.
2. Was the earlyatmosphere free of oxygen? If not,these Miller-Urey type reactions wonÕt work. It looks like, due to the dissociation of water intohydrogen and oxygen due to ultraviolet rays, that the earthÕs atmosphere wasnot sufficiently free of oxygen early on.
3. No version ofthe Miller-Urey has yet formed all the amino acids occurring in life.
4. Protectionfrom ultraviolet radiation is also a problem. Without our ozone layer, UV can penetrate 100 feet ofwater. With our ozone layer, wehave oxygen in the atmosphere.
5. Laboratorysynthesis of nucleic acids (the predecessors to DNA and RNA) has beenunsuccessful with Miller-Urey type experiments.
1. Building uplarge molecules is opposed by entropy, the natural tendency toward disorder.
2.
3. Naturalreactions produce equal numbers of left- and righ-handed molecules, but lifedoes not. The amino acids inliving things (except for the first, which has no handedness) are allleft-handed. The sugars in DNA/RNAare right-handed only.
4. There doesnot appear to be sufficient time and space available in our universe to formthe simplest proteins used in life.
1. Microspheresand coacervates have only a superficial resemblance to cells.
2. The problemof the initial partnership between proteins and information molecules (DNA,RNA) is both critical and unsolved.
Bibliography
Shapiro,Robert. Origins:
Thaxton, Charles,Walter Bradley and Roger Olsen. TheMystery of LifeÕs Origin.
Lecture 4:
A Biblical Alternative to Evolution
A. EvangelicalOptions on Origins
Evangelical Christians have notbeen able to reach agreement on how to respond to evolution, though all aresatisfied that without God, evolution will not work. The three standard positions on relating the Bible andscience in the matter of origins are as follows:
1. Young-Earth Creation
a.The earth is only a few thousand years old.
b. The creationdescribed in Genesis took place in seven literal, consecutive days.
c. Typically,the geologi column was laid down during NoahÕs flood.
d. Young-earthcreationists vary on how much change has taken place in living things and whenthis occurred.
b. The creationdays are actually ages, or else they have gaps between (or before) them.
c. Geology andastronomy give us a reliable history of the earth.
d. Godintervenes to effect large-scale changes in life.
(2) No-Adamevolution: A whole population ofapes gradually evolve into mankind.
B. RelativeMerits of These Options
a. It is basedon the simplest reading of the Bible, though the Bible appears to have hints ofan old earth.
CampingÕsphysically small universe would make the dim stars too small to hold together.
Moon &SpencerÕs optically small universe would look like mirrors in clothing storesor amusement parks.
Setterfield seeslight speed infinite at creation, decreasing till now, but this would makedrastic changes in light from distant sources.
This iscommonest young-earth view, but it requires God to crete fictitious history,not merely creation with appearance of age.
Several modernones are too thick to have formed in 10,000 years, e.g., Eniwetok Atoll, 4600ft thick (at max growth rate of 8 mm/yr, would take about 150,000 years.
Many buriedreefs are underlaid & covered with hundreds of feet of sediments, yet areapparently in their growth position, e.g., Rainbow formation in Alberta, Canada
See Wonderly, Neglectof Geologic Data, 78-86.
Numerous allegedhuman footprints are extension of obvious dinosaur tracks.
The tracks areunderlaid by thousands of feet of sediments and are over a hundred miles fromany high ground.
Who was outrunning around in the middle of the flood, anyway?
See Glenn Kuban,Origins Research, Spr/Sum 86.
Cooling ratesdepend on thickness & conductivity of the rockmass itself, plus same forsurrounding rock which must carry off the heat, e.g.
See Young, Creationand the Flood.
a. It is basedon the simplest reading of nature, though gaps in the fossil record and inbiochemistry hint that abrupt appearance is more likely.
b. It hasserious problems with the Genesis account.
(1) The No-Adamversion must treat the account of Genesis 2 as parabolic, since (on this view) therenever was a single original pair. This raises fierce problems for the account of the fall, which is itselfthe basis for the atoning work of Christ.
(2) Even theAdam version has Adam made from an ape, which is a rather strainedinterpretation of:
Gen 2:7: ÒThenthe LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrilsthe breath of life; and man became a living being.Ó
(1) It takesboth the scientific and biblical materials seriously, but tries to construct a(more complex) model which will fit both.
(2) There areseveral varieties:
(a) Day-Age view– the days of Genesis 1 are long periods of time rather than 24-hourdays.
(b)Intermittent-Day view – the days are 24-hour but separated by longperiods of time.
(c)Gap-Restitution view – the days are literal & recent, but they recorda restitution of a previously-ruined earth.
b. Opponents seethis view as forcing a harmony which is not actually there.
(1) Varieties(a) and (b) have the sun created before the earth, which is claimed tocontradict Genesis.
(2) There is noevidence in the text for long days or gaps.
(3) Did theauthor of Genesis really have one of these views in mind when he wrote?
C. A Proposalfor Harmonizing the Bible and Nature
b. God designsand guides the development, and may have intervened on many occasions.
b. There is areal correlation between Genesis and science. See Newman & Eckelmann, Genesis One and the Origin ofthe Earth.
b. The fossilrecord and problems with Darwinian mechanisms favor intervention are the gaps.
c. There is acommon design, reusing some stock plans. E.g., God uses a common body plan, suitably modified, for vertebrates.
c. The creationof man (Homo sapiens) was probablyrelatively recent, perhaps 10 to 100 thousand years ago.
Bibliography
Morris,Henry. Biblical Cosmology andModern Science.
Morris,Henry M. and Whitcomb, John C., Jr. The Genesis Flood.
Steidl,Paul M. The Earth, the Starsand the Bible.
Whitcomb,John C., Jr. The Early Earth.
Wilder‑Smith,A.E. Man's Origin, Man'sDestiny.
Hayward,Alan. Creation and Evolution:the Facts and Fallacies.
Newman, Robert C. and Herman J.Eckelmann. Genesis One and theOrigin of the Earth.
Pun,Pattle P. T. Evolution: Nature& Scripture in Conflict?
Wiester,John. The Genesis Connection
Wonderly,Daniel E. God's Time Records inAncient Sediments.
Wonderly, Daniel E.
Young,Davis A. Christianity and the Age of the Earth.
Young,Davis A. Creation and the Flood.
Bube,Richard H., ed. The Encounterbetween Christianity and Science.
Hyers,Conrad. The Meaning ofCreation.
VanTill, Howard. The Fourth Day.