Evolution Vs. Creationism In The Bible

Evolution vs. Creationism There are two main arguments dealing with how humans came to be. The first is that of creationism, which is the belief that there is one (or in some case multiple) higher powers that created the earth and mankind. The second is that of evolution, which is the idea that species change over time, and humans evolved from other species to get where they are today. There are arguments that back both claims. One of the most popular stories of creationism is that found in the Bible, the basis of Christian faith. There are many other creation stories from other cultures, such as Mesopotamian creation myths. Although there are few scientific facts to support this idea, the main “evidence” of these theories is found in religious

In the Bible, the text that Christians follow, the Book of Genesis tells the story of creation. The story starts with God creating heaven and earth on the first day, followed by the sky, dry land and plant life, the sun and the moon, sea life, and finally all dry land creatures including humans. God created the earth in 6 days, resting on the seventh holy day (Book of Genesis). Genesis 2 elaborates on the creation of humans on the sixth day in the Garden of Eden. As the story goes, God formed the first man, Adam, from the soil of the land and blew life into him. From the ribs of Adam he created eve, the first woman (Book of Genesis). In this Christian story of creation there were two humans, a man and a women, who gave rise to the entire human population. This story has one single center of creation, and one single divine creator. According to the Bible humans were created as they are today, with no evolution whatsoever. These types of stories are found not only in Christian faith, but also in numerous cultures around the

Charles Darwin was among the first scientists to speculate on this idea, publishing a scientific study on it in 1859 called On the Origin of Species. He concluded that humans came to be not by religious means, but through evolution over millions of years. In this book Darwin explained the theory of evolution through means of natural selection. He argued that the existence of variations among organisms and their tendency to overbreed lead to a struggle for existence, and therefore natural selection (Darwin). Natural selection is the process by which organisms that are better adapted to their environment tend to survive and reproduce more than those whom are not well adapted. The organisms that were better adapted had favorable traits that allowed for survival and increased fitness compared to other organisms, so these traits were then passed on to their offspring. Darwin called this idea the “survival of the fittest”, and argued that this was the mechanism by which organisms and species evolved. Darwin suggested that in order to allow time for evolution to occur, the earth must be millions of years old. From his findings, Darwin hypothesized that humans and apes evolved from a common lineage (Darwin). Darwin’s theory was strongly backed by science, however contradicted most religious