Creationism vs. Science |
| Posted by The Masked Crusader (cschalk) on Mar 16 2010 |
One of the biggest arguments against creationist views is that the evidence points to an entirely opposite set of events that started with the big bang and ended several billion years later with us. I believe in the creation story as described in Genesis 1 (and again in Moses 2). First, it's important to look at both accounts and compare the order in which things happened. Moses wrote both his own book as well as the first 5 books of the Bible (known as the five books of Moses). So, comparing both accounts of the creation, he breaks up the series of events into days and each day is outlines here:
- First Day: Created Light, created Day and Night (Gen 1: 3-5)
- Second Day: Created a firmament, called it Heaven (Gen 1:6,8)
- Third Day: Created dry land and seas, planted grasses and trees, shrubs and such (Gen 1:9-13)
- Fourth Day: Created Sun and moon; set in motion days, seasons (Gen 1:14-19)
- Fifth Day: Created all creatures that roam the earth save man (Gen 1:20-23)
- Sixth Day: Created Man in His image to have dominion over the whole earth (Gen 1:24-31)
The first caveat I'd like to point out is that the periods of the creation are broken up in days, but please do not assume that the day spoken of is a 24 hour period not unlike the one we understand today. Let's rather correlate a Day in the creation to an epoch or a grand expanse of time. so, rather than calling them days, we can call them seasons, or periods of creation, whatever you want, but please, do not assume 24 hour periods, for this is not how I interpret it.
Now, I think it's interesting the order of the creation. I believe that God described to Moses the exact order of things that our scientists have discovered through observation. Let me see if I can explain each period in the creation in relation to the periods of known universal evolution which we have observed.
Period 1: Light/Darkness - Day and Night
Scientists believe that the universe began with a Big Bang, a singularity that may have contained all matter that ruptured with such force that all the universe was created. Shortly following the Big Bang was an expansionary period of inflation and then it went dark. The force of the Big Bang was so great and the energy consumed and/or created was so great that the light, the number of photons, that were created must have been tremendous. A period of great light followed by the universe's dark ages could possibly be the light that God created when he said, "Let there be light!" The light was naturally divided from the darkness because darkness cannot exist where light is.
Dr. Michio Kaku opened one of his television specials by stating that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God." He posits that the Word was the Quantum. I believe the Word was God, just as the scriptures say. It was God, Jehovah by name or the God of the Old Testament. I believe that by following the laws of Physics, that He was able to create the universe using a means that we do not or cannot understand, but it does fit in with the creation story pretty well. "Let there be Light!" - BANG - there was light! This theory ties in tightly with String Theory, and though I don't profess to be a String Theorist, I do believe that the String Theory answers many of the questions that we have concerning the universe. I'll dive into String Theory and how I understand and apply it in my view of the universe in another post.
Period 2: Created the Firmament, Called it Heaven
This one is hard to explain or justify. One must turn back to our first discussion and apply faith to this one. It seems that God separated the temporal matter, the matter that our planet, star, and everything we see and interact with, from a higher level matter; a more pure matter that God is created from. I believe that the same, more pure matter resides within us, each of us, as our spirit - or if you prefer our soul. It is about here that we start treading out on the ice of theology rather than the solid ground of science, but I believe it is valid. I refer to one religious text that states that "There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes;" (D&C 131:7-8). Therefore, just as we are unable to see what is inside an electron, we cannot see the more pure types of matter with our eyes made of less pure matter.
As with an electron, scientists believe that inside is a small particle called a quark. We've never seen one, but we believe it's there. String theory states that a quark is simply made of a closed string, or loop, that vibrates a different frequencies. At one frequency, the quark vibrates as an electron with it's negative charge. At a different resonance frequency, it generates a positive charge and can exist with a few other strings inside the center of a Proton. At yet another frequency, it is a particle of matter, it has weight. Yet another, it doesn't have weight, but it had energy - a photon. All these configurations are the same string, just at different states. Again, we'll get deeper into String theory in a bit.
So I suggest that this "more pure" matter does, in fact, exist. We can see it's signature in Dark Matter and Dark energy. We cannot see the matter that creates the mass, but we can observe the mass. A Nova podcast introduces us to Dark Matter:
What is this matter? I suggest that this dark matter is the more pure matter mentioned above. Matter that indeed has gravity, yet cannot be seen by our eyes or our instruments. I posit that it is this type of matter that God separated from the matter of the items that we can see and touch during the second period.
Period 3: Created Land, Seas and planted all manner of vegetation.
The third period is actually split up into 3 distinct sub-periods that can be explained by alleged scientific processes.
Part 1: The Dry Land. The first of these sub periods was the creation of the dry land, the earth that we know and love today. The scientists all acknowledge that planets are created along with the star from the accretion disk. An accretion disk is a region of diffuse unorganized matter that surrounds and orbits a central body. Most of this matter falls to the center of the region, creating a star. The star is initially dark and cold as the matter collects, but once a critical mass is reached, the star bursts to life as fusion begins to take place in it's core. The remaining matter collects into smaller regions that, in turn, surround the central body. These smaller regions grow in size until they settle into their orbit and clear their orbits of remaining diffuse matter. The size of the planet depends on how much matter is available. The following animation shows how stars and planets form in accretion disks:
Our solar system consists of eight planets and multiple comets, keiper belt objects and an asteroid belt. All of which formed at approximately the same time. The dry land appeared during the first part of creational period 3.
Part 2: The Seas. Scientists believe that after the third rock was complete, that the planet was bombarded over millions of years by comets and other flying space rocks that were either purely water-ice or contained water ice in them. It is uncertain how long this part lasted, but it obviously lasted long enough to cover our planet, at least partially, with water that became the oceans. The composition of the planet and the size thereof, melted the core into a glowing ball of magma, the cover of which cooled into a crust like a chocolate lava cake. The crust was able to move around creating mountains and valleys while the oceans collected into oceans and seas. The oceans and seas appeared during the second part of creational period 3.
Part 3: All Manner of Vegetation. The facts support the notion that living organisms called plants appeared first. Aristotle described plants as "Creatures that do not move." We know that life began in the seas and bodies of water, but it was the plants who first ventured out from the oceans to the dry land. Again, we don't know exactly when, but it seems that the plants left the oceans nearly half a billion years before other creatures. How did they do it? No one really knows, and that point is where evolution dies out and creationism takes over. How? I'll tell you.
99.9% of plants rely on another creature pollinate and aid in their reproductive cycles. A plant has both male and female parts, but due to the way they were designed, they cannot reproduce with themselves. They are sterile with their own parts. The pistol holds the seeds and the stamens hold the pollen. When pollen comes in tact with a seed, pollination (plantar fertilization) occurs. Some plants, such as trees and bushes, can rely on the wind to carry the pollen from one to another to aid in pollination, but the majority (99% or so) rely on an animal to do it for the, beit a honey bee, humming bird or another creature. So, if the evidence suggests that plants beat the animals out of the water by 500 million years, what creatures aided in pollination? I find that pretty compelling evidence that a God may have stepped in.
Whatever the case, both the creation story and scientists agree that plants arrived on the dry ground before animals or other creatures. This is the end of part 3 of the third creational period.
Period 4: Creation of Sun and moon, Set planets and seasons in motion.
The creation of the planet alongside the creation of the sun makes sense when we look at the accretion disk and how the celestial bodies are created therefrom. So, it is conceivable that the planet in it's small size could have completed it's formation before fusion took place in the star. Let's assume that's correct, for we will never know. So, out of the haze of the accretion disk a light flickered to life. The star began to burn and shed light upon our small little planet. The sun is so very important for life, for without it, life couldn't exist.
We are just far enough from the sun so that our planet remains approximately the same temperature - conveniently warm enough to sustain life. Not too hot, Not too cold. The planet resides in what is called the habitable zone, and any rocky planet within the habitable zone of a star should be able to sustain life. Our size is very important as well. If our planet were larger, then gravity would be stronger and life wouldn't be able to live. The dials for temperature, size, structure, ratio of water to land and the composition of this planet are just right to support life. Were it not so, then life couldn't exist.
The Moon is extremely important for life on our planet. It's size, shape, orbit and position all contribute to the stability of our planet. The moon holds us upright, on an axis which creates seasons. Without the stability of seasons and the moon steadying us as we spin, life couldn't exist. Let's look at another planet similar to ours that has doesn't have a moon: Venus.
Venus is almost identical to our planet in size, but vastly different in composition. So, could life exist there? Sure, why not? Just because it rains sulfuric acid and the atmosphere is 1000 times as dense as ours doesn't mean a life form could adapt to that environment. But without a moon, Venus tumbles rather than spinning on an axis. There are no seasons there, so no periods of growth and no periods of dormancy can exist, and the life that evolved on this planet adapted to the 24 hour period or revolution and the seasons to survive.
Period 5: Creation of all other creatures
I believe that all creatures were created, but I do not believe in evolution the science explains. perhaps this is a good time to discuss Evolution and the problems I have with Darwin and the whole Evolution train. The first thing is to define evolution. Do I believe that an amoeba can evolve into a human? No. But I do believe that a certain species can evolve, and by evolve, I mean adapt to a certain climate or ecosystem. An example:
Pelicans are traditionally known as fish eating birds. They use their beak and pouch to scoop fish and water out of the sea to eat. However, lately it's been harder for pelicans to find fish, so many species of pelican have started eating other creatures to survive. Recently, they've taken to eating other birds. On the BBC Special "EARTH", a segment shows southern Atlantic pelicans flying to another island 30 miles away to pilfer chicks from another bird population. Also, if you search "pelican eats bird" on youtube, you'll see many more videos of pelicans eating other birds. They've evolved to fit their environment. Some scientist 100 years in the future might say that the fish eating pelican species has spawned a new bird eating species, thus evolved.
Another dispute to evolution is a period of geologic history referred to as the Cambrian Explosion, where instead of evolving from an amoeba into a new creature, many creatures simply popped into existence in their current form. No evidence in the fossil record can verify the claims of Evolution, though every science class professes the theory as a law sans the proof.
Period 6: Created man in His [God's] Image
According to this period in the early bible, God created man in his image. If we are created in the image of God, then he has an image as well. His image would be that of a man, and logic suggests that if Man and Woman exist here, then a masculine god would have a feminine counterpart.
Last changed: Aug 22 2011 at 11:39 AM
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