Support of the Progressive Creationism Theory - Research Paper Example

of submitted A paper in support of the Progressive creationism theory. Through out time, man as searched of his own origin, and often made theories and rationalizations regarding how we got here. Some of these arguments were far-fetched, while others had solid points with matching evidences and literature to support them. Through history, we, as people have evolved and so have our creationism theories. These theories often revolve around a person's understanding, as well as his current beliefs. This paper aims to support and argue on one of these theories; the progressive creationism theory. This particular theory is neither purely scientific or atheistic such as the atheistic evolution theory, nor purely biblical like the theistic evolution or 24-hour day theory. It aims to mediate these two frames of thought by explaining creation in a way that addresses the concerns of both though patterns. According to Dale Tooley in his paper, “Progressive Creation: An Overview”, the progressive creationism theory is increasingly becoming accepted as a viable and arguable theory for the creation and origin of the world. In contrast to young earth creation theories, it maintains that the 6 days of creation written in the bible do not necessarily refer to 24-hour days, but instead refer to “ages”. This gives way to hard scientific evidence regarding the earth's age. Some may discard this theory due to some wordings in the bible that refer to actual days, however, we must keep in mind that we cannot compare God's day with our own. As Christians recognize that God's knowledge is infinite and encompasses and eclipses our own, we cannot compare his understanding to ours. This is supported by the bible in the book of Mathew, 24:36. “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the sun, but only the father.” This particular area of the theory also allows for intraevolution, or evolution and development within a species, but does not recognize interevolution, or evolution into other species. This gives us an explanation or rationalization for the 6 day-ages of creation. Some other theories will discount this theory saying that the bible states that death is a result of sin, and therefore, would mean that there was no death for ages until Adam committed the first sin. This can be answered in a very simple statement. Man is a very unique creation. We are not just a higher form of animal but instead were created in God's image. We were given higher thinking, rationalization, and a sense of right and wrong. Therefore, the weight or burden of sin only applies to us. Since animals do not have a moral compass, and are not accountable to God, we are the only creatures that are affected by sin. Therefore, death came to us as a result of our sin and disobedience, not because of anyone else. Also discussing humans as unique creatures, we must touch on the subject of evolution. We were presented with a theory concerning man's evolution from primates. Most, if not all Christians will not accept this,and for good reason. It is not about not wanting to be associated with monkeys, nor about denial of evolution, but about how the creation of man was described in the bible. If we look at it, creation of other creatures was described rather normally. There were not a lot of details that were given regarding how other creatures were created, but this is not the case with man. The bible gave details on how man was made. This indicates that our creation is unique, purposeful and special. The bible also describes that we were made in God's image and that life was breathed into us by God himself. This highlights just how special we are. The theory does recognize that within ages, animals can evolve and adapt, with the guidance of God. A good example of this is the abundance of different kinds of birds. Some swim, others walk, others fly. But never the less, all of them are still birds. This is not the same as the evolution of man from primates. We are not the same creature, and although scientists can argue that we are a mere few percent away from each other in terms of DNA, that few percent makes all the difference. As mentioned in the bible, we were made by God in the last day, which also highlights that the most special of creatures was saved for last. Another portion of the theory that deserves to be touched on is the regarding Gods guidance in the very start of the world. We all know the phrase “let there be light” Most creationists that credit this line would relate it to the big bang. All creationist theories agree that we started from somewhere but most arguments are contradicting. When looking at this event in a scientific stand point, this was a huge explosion that eventually created what we all know. When looking at it in a theistic view, this was the even in which God began creating the world. We can harmonize these statements by looking at it as one single event. Scientists theorize that there was a large explosion that happened millions of years ago which started the creation process, but have a hard time explaining where the explosion started. It is believed that this explosion, along with a multitude of things happened by the will of God. He used this explosion in order to create everything, and then guided the placement of everything in order for our planet to be livable. Think of it this way, a short distance closer to the sun, would be too hot, while a short distance further and it would be too cold. Because of these facts, the earth is perfectly placed in order to sustain life and to cycle water. A show on TV once argued that the odds of that happening would be like finding a winning lottery ticket everyday for more that a thousand years. This is another testament to God's love and a testament to how special we are as a species. We can also look at the situation in terms of what is provided for us. Before man was created, God created everything else first. This gives us the indication that the world was “prepared” for us. God ensured that we had everything we needed before we were brought into the world. Yet another portion of this theory that sparks argument is the argument about transitional species. Evolution is theorized to be a slow process of eventual adaptation, and that animals evolved into their current stated slowly as a result of this. However, no one has yet to find evidence of creatures that exist as a transition from on creature to another. Most fossils would be found to be in complete form and then remain unchanged for its tenure on earth; either til they become extinct or in some cases, even unto their current forms. Science has admitted that there are huge gaps between species that they theorized have evolved from each other. This begs the question, “how did they become what they are?” This is where God comes in. Christians believe that God created everything for a purpose. Everything in the world has some sort of useful trait, and weather we know it or not, these traits benefit us in the big picture. God has made it so that these creatures are governed by man. In the end, all of these arguments are only as good as the mind that is open to accept them. Yes, it may seem hard to comprehend how something can come from nothing, or how a man cam come from dust, but keep this in mind, life in its self is a mystery. How we developed in our mother's womb is a miracle in its self. Some people may not want to accept this theory because no one has seen it happen but when you think about it, you cant see a thought either, but you have one all the time. We have lots of things to learn in this universe, but before that, we should learn to accept where we came from. Resource Tooley, D. (2010) Progressive Creation: An Overview, godandscience.org, September 16, 2011, http://www.godandscience.org/youngearth/progressive.html Read More