Although this makes for a long post, allow me to present my
case properly:
As you will probably know, some people for religious reasons believe that life on Earth, including Homo Sapiens, did not evolve in the way that science has found. Instead, they believe that the explanation in the Bible (Genesis) must be taken literally.
This implies that Earth and all life forms, including Man, were created by God in six days. No evolution took place since. A close scrutiny of the Bible also reveals a more or less continous cronolgy, enabling scolars to date Creation. Most scolars agree that Creation took place a little over 6,000 years ago.
In a free world, anybody is entitled to his/her beliefs, so some people believing the above would really pose no problem, except for the fact that some are not content to believe; they also feel the need to try to convince others. For this purpose they, ironically, summond the science that they have otherwise denounced.They exploit the fact that, unlike religious beliefs, it is the nature of science never to be completely certain.
However, once Creationists (I use this term, somewhat incorrectly, to cover all who advocate a literal interpretation of Genesis) have moved into the realm of scientific argumentation, they naturally expose their own beliefs to the harsh light of Logic. Lets examine some of the allegations:
Earth with all its life forms were created more or less in its present shape in six days.
- Well it couldnt have taken much longer because, given the sequence of creation outlined, most ecosystems would have been unable to exist for long while being incomplete.
But the world is a strange construction if it must be viewed as an engineering feat. The complex and often fragile ecosystems seem to be an unsafe way to ensure the survival of life-forms. The unstable DNA system seems better suited for change than for preservation of species. The whole setup with food-chains, predators, parasites, harsh competition between life forms, etc. is surprisingly wasteful and cruel if its supposed to be designed as it is by a benevolent god.
Most plants, nearly all mushrooms and fungii, and numerous animals and micro-organisms depend on various dead material for nourishment. Did God create dead plants and animals for them to feed on in the beginning?
Man was created last and on the last day, but several parasites to man (including infectuous micro organisms) cannot survive for more than a few minutes outside the human organism. How did they manage till their host was created?
Earth was created 6.000 years ago.
Most geological structures have all indications of being vastly older, e.g. conglomerate rocks that consist of fragments of mountains that have been eroded down, sedimented in the sea (as shown by sea fossil inclusions), petrified, and can now be found high above sea level in the process of being eroded again. How can that have happened in 6.000 years? Or did God deliberately create them that way to lead scientists astray?
Fossils. Never mind the few spectacular hominids and giant dinosaurs, but we find whole mountain ranges built from the
fossil remains of near-microscopic sea creatures,
intersperced with fossils of billions of larger sea creatures, all extinct. How did these creatures manage to live, die, be sedimented, fossilized, and be pushed up into mountain ranges now in an advanced condition of erosion in 6.000 years?
How come we can see the stars? Most stars are more than
6.000 light-years from us. How can their light have reached
us yet?
--- I could go on, but this post is already far too long.
If Genesis is to be taken as the literal Truth, then the
world around us is filled with built-in deceptions and we
cannot believe anything our senses tell us.
Hans
case properly:
As you will probably know, some people for religious reasons believe that life on Earth, including Homo Sapiens, did not evolve in the way that science has found. Instead, they believe that the explanation in the Bible (Genesis) must be taken literally.
This implies that Earth and all life forms, including Man, were created by God in six days. No evolution took place since. A close scrutiny of the Bible also reveals a more or less continous cronolgy, enabling scolars to date Creation. Most scolars agree that Creation took place a little over 6,000 years ago.
In a free world, anybody is entitled to his/her beliefs, so some people believing the above would really pose no problem, except for the fact that some are not content to believe; they also feel the need to try to convince others. For this purpose they, ironically, summond the science that they have otherwise denounced.They exploit the fact that, unlike religious beliefs, it is the nature of science never to be completely certain.
However, once Creationists (I use this term, somewhat incorrectly, to cover all who advocate a literal interpretation of Genesis) have moved into the realm of scientific argumentation, they naturally expose their own beliefs to the harsh light of Logic. Lets examine some of the allegations:
Earth with all its life forms were created more or less in its present shape in six days.
- Well it couldnt have taken much longer because, given the sequence of creation outlined, most ecosystems would have been unable to exist for long while being incomplete.
But the world is a strange construction if it must be viewed as an engineering feat. The complex and often fragile ecosystems seem to be an unsafe way to ensure the survival of life-forms. The unstable DNA system seems better suited for change than for preservation of species. The whole setup with food-chains, predators, parasites, harsh competition between life forms, etc. is surprisingly wasteful and cruel if its supposed to be designed as it is by a benevolent god.
Most plants, nearly all mushrooms and fungii, and numerous animals and micro-organisms depend on various dead material for nourishment. Did God create dead plants and animals for them to feed on in the beginning?
Man was created last and on the last day, but several parasites to man (including infectuous micro organisms) cannot survive for more than a few minutes outside the human organism. How did they manage till their host was created?
Earth was created 6.000 years ago.
Most geological structures have all indications of being vastly older, e.g. conglomerate rocks that consist of fragments of mountains that have been eroded down, sedimented in the sea (as shown by sea fossil inclusions), petrified, and can now be found high above sea level in the process of being eroded again. How can that have happened in 6.000 years? Or did God deliberately create them that way to lead scientists astray?
Fossils. Never mind the few spectacular hominids and giant dinosaurs, but we find whole mountain ranges built from the
fossil remains of near-microscopic sea creatures,
intersperced with fossils of billions of larger sea creatures, all extinct. How did these creatures manage to live, die, be sedimented, fossilized, and be pushed up into mountain ranges now in an advanced condition of erosion in 6.000 years?
How come we can see the stars? Most stars are more than
6.000 light-years from us. How can their light have reached
us yet?
--- I could go on, but this post is already far too long.
If Genesis is to be taken as the literal Truth, then the
world around us is filled with built-in deceptions and we
cannot believe anything our senses tell us.
Hans
