The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his065/evolhist.arj/EVOLHIST.TXT

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           INTRODUCTION TO THE CREATION - EVOLUTION CONTROVERSY

                          By Dr. David N. Menton
               (Given at the April 21, 1986 M.A.C. meeting)



Definitions from the Random House dictionary:

     "Creation - the act of creating; act of producing or causing
     to  exist.   2. the fact of being created.  3. the creation,
     the original bringing into existence of the universe by God.

     "Creation ism -  the doctrine that matter and all things were
     created, substantially  as  they now exist, by an omnipotent
     Creator,  and  not  gradually  evolved  or  developed."  (ex
     nihilo)

     "Evolution  -  1.  Any  process  of  formation   or  growth;
     development  :  the evolution of man; the evolution  of  the
     drama; the evolution  of the airplane.  2. a product of such
     development; something  evolved:  The  space  program is the
     evolution of years of research and planning in the fields of
     aeronautics  and  nuclear physics.  3. Biol. the  continuous
     genetic  adaptation   of   organisms   or   species  to  the
     environment   by  the  integrating  agencies  of  selection,
     hybridization, inbreeding, and mutation."

The term "evolution"  literally  means "unfolding".  Evolution is
often intentionally obscured by equating  it  to mere change, and
thus it is insisted that anyone who recognizes that things change
is  an  evolutionist!  At the famous Scopes trial  in  1925,  the
lawyers defending  John Scopes repeatedly confused evolution with
human embryology and  even  aging.   Lawyer  Dudley Field Mallone
said:

     "The  embryo  becomes  a  human  being  when  it   is  born.
     Evolution  never  stops  from the beginning of the one  cell
     until the human being returns in death to lifeless dust.  We
     wish to set before you evidence  of  this character in order
     to stress the importance of the theory of evolution."

Even  Dr.  Maynard  Metcalf,  a  zoologist  from   Johns  Hopkins
University, hopelessly confused the meaning of evolution  in  his
expert testimony in the Scopes trial:

     "I have always been particularly interested in the evolution
     of  the  individual  organism  from  the  egg,  and also the
     evolution  of the organism as a whole from the beginning  of
     life."

Perhaps the most unambiguous and accurate definition of evolution
as it is actually taught today is that of Julian Huxley:

     "Evolution  --   can   be   defined  as  a  directional  and
     essentially irreversible process occurring in time, which in
     its  course  gives rise to an increase  of  variety  and  in
     increasingly high  level  of organization in its products --
     The whole of reality is evolution  --  a  single  process of
     self transformation."

Throughout   this   course  of  study  we  shall  use  the  terms
CREATION ISM and evolutionism in the following way:

CREATION ISM:  The belief  that  the  whole  cosmos in general and
living  things  in  particular  are  necessarily  a   result   of
purposeful design, the work of a supernatural Creator.

Evolutionism:  The belief that matter, energy, time and space has
in  and  of  itself the natural tendency to transform into all of
the order and complexity we see in the cosmos.

These represent the only two fundamentally different explanations
possible for the origin of anything.

God was assumed as creator by the vast majority of all scientists
until the last half of the 19th century.  Almost all major fields
of science were  founded by Christian men of God who accepted the
Biblical account of  creation,  these  include:   Newton,  Bacon,
Pascal, Kepler, Linneaus, Faraday, Davey, Cuvier, Morse, Babbage,
Joule,  Dalton,  Agassiz,  Virchow, Mendel, Pasteur, Lord Kelvin,
Lister, Maxwell, Fleming.

The  "modern" concept of evolution  began  as  a  philosophy  and
religious  view  (not  in  laboratory  as  science).   Began with
ancient   Greeks.    Greeks  were  philosophers,  not  laboratory
scientists.  The ancient Greek philosophers specifically rejected
the idea that the universe  was  divinely created an operated but
rather  taught  that  everything arose  spontaneously  from  some
material substance that is eternal.

Thales: (640-550 B.C.)   Supposed  water  to be the basic element
from which all things evolved.  (This goes  back  to  the time of
the  fall  of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion and the fall of Jerusalem
in 586)

Anaximenes:   (560-502  B.C.)  Supposed air to be the fundamental
material  from  which  everything   evolved   by   a  process  of
rarifaction and condensation.

Heraclitus:   (535-475  B.C.)   Taught  that  the  three cardinal
principles  of  nature  were  -   1)  all  knowledge is based  on
perception by the senses, 2) everything is in  a  continual state
of  change  from  one  condition to another, and 3) fire  is  the
principle from which all things arise.

Empedocles: (435 BC)  Plants first.  Nature eliminates the unfit.

Aristotle:   (350  BC)   Gradual  transition  from  imperfect  to
perfect.

Epicurus:  (341-270 BC)  Father  of crass materialism.  The whole
basis of his physical system was the  dictum that "nothing can be
created out of nothing" and thus the universe is eternal, nothing
can affect it from without.  Everything  is  made  of  atoms, the
rest  is  void.   The  physical  world  is a result of fortuitous
combinations  of  atoms.   Sensation  is  the   sole   source  of
knowledge.

Lucretius:   (100 BC)  A strong proponent of Epicurus.  Wrote  De
Rerum Natura (The  Nature  of  Things).  The principal mission of
Lucretius was the emancipation of mens minds from 2 fears:
     1.  The arbitrary interference of the gods in the affairs of
     men.
     2.  Death.  No existence of the soul after death.
Tells of the existence of monstrous  creatures  which lived early
in the earths history and which eventually proved  to be unsuited
to their changing environment and consequently disappeared.
The ancient Greek philosophy of evolutionary materialism  led  to
two major behavioral consequences:

     Epicureanism:   Hedonism  -  "eat  drink  and  be marry, for
     tomorrow   you  will  die."   The  only  good  is  pleasure,
     interpreted as freedom from disturbance or pain.

     Stoicism:  A  philosophy  founded  by Zeno which taught that
     men should be free from passion and  unmoved by joy or grief
     and submit to the inevitable.

It  was  the Epicureans and the Stoics whom Paul  encountered  in
Athens on his third missionary journey (Acts 17:18-).

     (Acts  17:18)  And  also  some  of  the  Epicurean and Stoic
     philosophers  were  conversing  with  him.   And  some  were
     saying, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?"  Others,
     "He  seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,"  -because
     he was  preaching Jesus and the resurrection.  And they took
     him and brought  him  to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know
     what this new teaching  is  which you are proclaiming?  "For
     you are bringing some strange things to our ears; we want to
     know  therefore  what  these things  mean."   (Now  all  the
     Athenians and the strangers  visiting  there  used  to spend
     their   time  in  nothing  other  than  telling  or  hearing
     something  new.)   And  Paul  stood  in  the  midst  of  the
     Areopagus  and  said  "men of Athens, I observe that you are
     very religious in all respects.   For  while  I  was passing
     through  and examining the objects of your worship,  I  also
     found an altar  with  this  inscription  TO  AN UNKNOWN GOD.
     What therefore you worship in ignorance, this  I proclaim to
     you.  The God who made the world and all things in it, since
     He  is  Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in  temples
     made with  hands;  neither  is  He served by human hands, as
     though He needed anything, since  He  Himself  gives  to all
     life  and  breath and all things; and He made from one every
     nation of mankind  to  live  on  all  the  face of the earth
     having determined their appointed times, and  the boundaries
     of their habitation, that they should seek God,  if  perhaps
     they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not  far
     from  each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist.
     "when they  heard of the resurrection of the dead some began
     to  sneer,  but  others  said,  "We  shall  hear  you  again
     concerning this."

The Nicolaitans:   A  religious  sect that arose in the apostolic
     period of the Church which is mentioned twice in Revelations
     in letters to the church at Ephesus and Pergamos.  "Yet this
     you do have, that you hate the  deeds  of  the  Nicolaitans,
     which I also hate."  The general voice of antiquity  accuses
     them  of  denying  God  to  be the creator of the world, and
     attributing its existence to  other  powers.  (Ungers  Bible
     Dictionary)

Spontaneous    generation:    the   belief   that   life   arises
spontaneously from inanimate matter.  This was widely believed up
until about 1650  and  was  so  deeply  ingrained  in biological
thought  that  it took nearly 200 years of experimental  evidence
against it to successfully refute it.

Ancient Egyptians  thought  mice arose spontaneously from the mud
of the Nile.
Aristotle believed that frogs, crabs and worms arose from soil.

In 1600, J.B. Helmont reported  a  method  for  demonstrating the
spontaneous generation of mice.  One needed only  to place wheat,
cheese, and soiled linen together in a jar and mice  are  sure to
develope.

In  1650h Francesco Redi, an Italian physician proved that magots
formed  on  rotting  meat  from  the  eggs of pre-existing flies.
These experiments resulted in the law of  biogenesis which states
that "all life comes from pre-existing life.

With  the  discovery of the microscope and micro-organisms,  many
scientists persisted  in  believing  that at least these organisms
arose   spontaneously.   Even  with  the  development   of   food
preservation   by   canning  in  France,  it  was  believed  that
micro-organisms didn't  arise  spontaneously  because  of lack of
air.   The broth flask experiments of Louis Pasteur in 1850  laid
to rest  once  and  for  all that even micro-organisms arose from
previously existing organisms  of their kind.  At about this time
Schleiden and Schwann formulated  the  cell  theory  which states
that "all cells come form pre-existing cells.

Still,  evolutionists  who  believe in the spontaneous origin  of
life from inanimate matter must  accept  something very much like
the long discredited spontaneous generation.   In  his book, "The
Origins of Life", evolutionist Cyril Ponnamperuma said:

     "It  is  perhaps, ironic that we tell beginning students  in
     biology about Pasteur's experiments as the triumph of reason
     over  mysticism  yet  we  are  coming  back  to  spontaneous
     generation -- namely to chemical evolution."

Buffon:   (1707-1788)   French  naturalist.   Greatly  influenced
     geology.   Denied  a  universal flood.  Day age theory ie. 7
     days = 7 epochs.  Tried  to  reconcile  "science"  with  the
     Bible.

de  Maupertuis:   (1750)   credited  with  developing a theory of
evolution  which  included  a  process of mutations  and  natural
selection.  Maupertuis was very  outspoken  atheist  and used his
evolution  process  involving blind destiny and chance to  refute
the necessity for God  and  purposefully design in nature.  In his
book Essaie de Cosmologie  he said:
     "Chance  one  might  say,  turned   out  a  vast  number  of
     individuals; a small proportion of these  were  organized in
     such  a  manner that the animals organs could satisfy  their
     needs.  A  much greater number showed neither adaptation nor
     order; These  last  have  all  perished  -- thus the species
     which we see today are but a small part of  all those that a
     blind destiny has produced."

Jean  Baptiste  deLamarck:   (1744-1829)  Formulated  two  "laws"
which greatly influenced Darwin:
     1.  Life expands maximally to occupy its available niche.
     2.  Organs arise when needed.
     3.  Use and disuse = hypertrophy and atrophy.
     4.  Inheritance of acquired characteristics (giraffe).

August  Weissman:  did  not  accept   Lamarck's   views   of  the
inheritance  of  acquired  characters and cut off the tails of  57
generations of mice finding  that  mice  were  never born without
tails.

Charles  Lyell:  (1840)  wrote  a  profoundly  influential   book
"Principles of Geology" in which he established the principle  of
"uniformitarinism"  -  "the  present  is  the  key  to the past".
Darwin  read  this  book  during  his  voyage  on the Beagle  and
probably  would not have written The Origin of Species  with  out
it.

Robert  Chambers:    (1844)    Published   Vestiges  of  Creation
     (unsigned).  Proposed that man descended  from an ape.  Book
     was in 10th printing by Darwins time.

Charles Darwin:  Englishman and son of a wealthy  physician.  His
father wanted him to study medicine but Charles failed  at  this.
Studied  for  the ministry.  Published Origin of Species in 1859.
Summary  -  New species  arise  by  the  continued  survival  and
reproduction  of  the  individuals  best  fitted  or adapted to a
particular environment.

     Four postulates:
          1.  Variation- individuals of the same species vary.
          2.   Over  production-  more  born  than  can  survive,
               struggle for existence.
          3.  Survival of the fittest- (tautology)
          4.  Inheritance of favorable characteristics.

Darwin's book sold out quickly to laymen!  His ideas were eagerly
accepted for philosophical reasons.  Industrial revolution.  Free
market capitalism ie. survival of the fittest.

Variation  and natural selection was Darwin's main idea.  Pigeons
and dogs.  Darwin saw no limit to variation. In his first edition
of Origin of Species he said:

     "I can  see no difficulty in a race of bears being rendered,
     by  natural  selection,  more  and  more  aquatic  in  their
     habitats, with larger and larger mouths, till a creature was
     produced as monstrous as a whale."

Darwin's ideas  were  not based on scientific experimentation but
were rather mere speculations  to  account for the variety he saw
in living things.  His primary motive  for  the  direction of his
speculation   was   religious  and  philosophical.   Dr.   George
Grinnell, an authority on Darwin, said:

     "I have done a great deal of work on Darwin and can say with
     some assurance that  Darwin  also  did not derive his theory
     from nature but rather superimposed  a certain philosophical
     world-view  on  nature  and then spent 20  years  trying  to
     gather the facts to make it stick." (Pensee, May 11, 1983)

What were Darwins religious views when he developed his theory of
evolution?  In his autobiography  Darwin  said  that while he was
still a young man:

     "I  had  gradually  come  by this time to see that  the  Old
     Testament from its manifestly  false history of the world --
     was  no  more to be trusted than the  sacred  books  of  the
     Hindus, or  the  beliefs  of the barbarian."  "--I gradually
     came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation."

In  his autobiography he told his  children  that  his  study  of
evolution  and  the laws of nature made the miracles of the Bible
unbelievable.  He concluded:

     "Thus disbelief  crept  over me at a very slow rate, but was
     at last complete.  The rate  was  so  slow  that  I  felt no
     distress,  and  have  never  since doubted even for a single
     second that my conclusion was  correct.  I can indeed hardly
     see how anyone ought to wish Christianity  to  be  true --."
     To the moment of his death, Darwin never changed his mind.

Where does evolution stand today?

Phil Donahue show.  Guests: Carl Sagan and Steven J. Gould.

     Sagan:  "The universe is infinitely old.  Since the universe
     is infinitely old there is no question of where it came from
     or the origin  of  matter,  It's always here."  "at the very
     beginning  is  this  enormous   explosion   which  sent  the
     precursors  of  the  galaxies  flying  out from each  other,
     happened  about  fifteen  billion  years  ago."   "you  must
     imagine merely elementary particles, not yet  even  hydrogen
     atoms,  although  lots  of hydrogen atoms happen right after
     that."   "Cooling  off,  the  universe  gets  darker,  atoms
     combine to form molecules,  little lumps form and eventually
     we get bunches of atoms of such  large  scale that stars are
     formed."  "Condensing out of this great set of clouds of gas
     and dust is the Milky Way.  What is remarkable  is  that the
     earth condenses out.  The origin of life happens like a shot
     because  we  can  see  the  earliest life forms there  going
     almost all the way back to the origin of the earth."

Sagan  shows  his  animated  cartoon (from  Cosmos)  of  how  man
evolved:
     "What  you'll  see is life  beginning  as  a  collection  of
     molecules, the first cell, all of this, of course, happening
     in the sea.  The  evolution  of invertebrate forms you know,
     forms without back bones, then  fishy  eyes  that  have back
     bones,  amphibians crawling onto the land and then the  more
     or less familiar sequence which leads to us."

     Phil Donahue:   Before  we  show  that,  I  wanted  a  basic
     evolutionary  concept.   When the drought came and the water
     level went down, a lot of  the life in that pond died?  Some
     of it, however, over millions  of  years,  apparently  in an
     evolutionary way developed amphibious capabilities.

     Sagan:   "If  you  live  in a little pond which dries up and
     there's a bigger pond nearby  which  hasn't  dried up and by
     accident you're able to move your fins so that  you can sort
     of  flop  into  the  next  pond,  you have a good chance  of
     surviving  which  your  contemporaries   who  don't  have  a
     flopping fin capability don't have.  So the  guys  who could
     move in this way survived."

     Donahue:   "The  more  forms  of  life  that  flop, the more
     floppers we got and the longer they were able to flop?"

     Sagan:  "That's right , we come from the floppers."

     Donahue:  "Until pretty soon the floppers had legs  to move,
     to move efficiently and then we stood up, huh?"

     Sagan:  "Yeah."

     Donahue:   "So  that we could use our hands with instruments
     that we --"

     Sagan:  Yeah, yeah,  except  that that's much later and also
     so that it isn't that any creature  said  well,  it's time I
     stand up now, or I guess I'll flop, or I guess I'll  develop
     lungs  so  that  I  can breath the atmosphere.  It is to the
     best of our knowledge  the  sequence  of random mutations of
     which  only  a  tiny few turn out to be useful  and  a  vast
     preponderance turn out to be of no help whatever."

     Donahue:  "So most of lifes evolution didn't work?"

     Sagan:  "Yes.  Evolution  in that sense is very inefficient,
     lots of deaths in order to  get us to where we are now.  The
     secrets of evolution are  time and death."

Sagan talked about the future evolution of man:

     "We might evolve into something. We may simply loose our way
     and be followed by some other kind of creature.  It's in our
     hands.  It's up to us because  we  control our own evolution
     right now."

Sagan's religion:

In his book "Cosmos", Sagan said "the world  was  not made by the
gods, but instead was the work of material forces interacting  in
nature."   Sagan  said  of  himself  "I am a collection of water,
calcium and organic molecules called Carl  Sagan".   In  a recent
interview published in the St.Louis Globe Democrat Oct. 6,  1980,
Sagan  was  asked  if he were pessimistic or optimistic about the
future of man?:

     "I feel in order  to survive we someday must be able to give
     up our allegiance to  our nation, our religion, our race and
     economic  group  and think  of  ourselves  more  as  just  a
     temporary form of  life under the creation of a power beyond
     our comprehension."



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