a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by mk
mk  ·  4528 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Dangers of Creationism
I always wonder why those that doubt evolution try to debunk it. Why not just decide that it isn't so, and leave it at that?

    According to evolutionists, the organic compounds evolved into the first true cells, which evolved into more complex cells, (some of which began photosynthesis and produced the oxygen and ozone present in the atmosphere).

    Modern technology has allowed humans to discover some aspects of the cell. What was thought to be a murky lump during the time of Darwin has been discovered to be an unimaginably complex system. In the cell, there are power stations, complex factories, a huge data bank (with data enough to fill a 900-volume encyclopedia), storage systems, advanced refineries, and complex transportation systems.

    As W. H. Thorpe commented, "The most elementary type of cell constitutes a 'mechanism' unimaginably more complex than any machine yet thought up, let alone constructed, by man."

This states that on certain levels, life is complex. But, there is not a reason given as to why evolution can't lead to complexity. I agree, it's difficult for most to fathom, but so is the distance to the nearest galaxy. Honestly, these arguments don't scratch the surface of the wealth of knowledge that exists regarding the topic.

I could say: "According to the Creationists...", and list some contradictions, but what I would say would be shallow, and probably quite ignorant.

With all due respect, why not just leave it alone? Or, if your goal is to lead people to God, why not do it with empathy and scripture? Why try to disprove evolution? What is the purpose?





lambofgod  ·  4528 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I guess that I'm not trying to disprove evolution but understand it. I'm not a scientist and therefore cannot prove or disprove. I've posed the question here regarding some gaps in the homo-fossil record. Are there gaps or is this a false argument "creationists"?

My love for my lord Jesus Christ is strong but is not dependent upon evolution existing or not existing. I hope that this makes sense. I came to learn.

May god bless you

mk  ·  4528 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I am a scientist, and I can't prove it or disprove it either. I can only show evidence that I am aware of, or seek more.

The gaps in the human ancestral fossil record are somewhat exaggerated. There have been thousands (I believe nearly 10k now) individual Hominini fossils found. (These are apes that branched where one lead to chimpanzees, and the other branch to us) But not all of these are our ancestors. All but one Hominina branch (our branch) died out. So when a Hominini is uncovered, it isn't necessarily an ancestor of ours. It's also difficult work solving this puzzle, and scientists have debated as new evidence is uncovered. But, as the number of specimens has grown, we have been able to build a more sensible and consistent model of how these hominids related to one another, and which ones were part of our successful (so far) evolutionary path.

Wikipedia has a pretty good diagram showing a general overview.

If God wanted us to believe that we had ancestors that didn't look like us, and that all life on Earth shares a common ancestor, he did a very good job. It's an incredible story, really.

briandmyers  ·  4528 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Well said to both of you, mk and lambofgod.

It is a bit mind-boggling to think that not only did we humans come from other apes, but that further back, we ALL came from much simpler organisms ("we" here meaning all animals!). It is a very hard thing to accept, but it is what the evidence is strongly pointing towards.