Creation or Evolution?

Basically, there are two conflicting theories about the origin of the universe and the origin of life. The most popular theory is the theory of creationism. This theory is believed by many to be the most truthful explanation about the cosmos and about ourselves. Creationism theory is an ancient theory. It is a well-established theory. Many powerful and respectable institutions (namely churches) were founded based on the creationism theory. Fundamentally, creationism theory proposes that the universe and life were created and being sustained by a supreme being. Most great world religions such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism firmly believe in the existence of a supreme creator. This creator or god is called by many names and endowed with many absolute characteristics such as omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and omni-benevolence. In other words, this supreme being is the most perfect being.

However, do his so-called creations and the mechanism involved reflect the supposed perfect nature of god? If the Judeo-Christian faith is to be consulted, it asserts that human life was especially created for a special purpose. Hence, human beings are the pinnacle of god’s creation. Humans are even said to be created from the image of god. This concept is truly inspiring. However, it is very doubtful. The creation story stated in the bible has all the characteristics of mythology. Some scholars even discovered that the entire book of genesis was based on the more ancient Epic of Gilgamesh that was written by the Babylonians.

Not going into any further details about the biblical creation story, the modern creationism theory tries to be more scientific in its approach. The debate whether the creationism theory should be taught in public schools along with Darwinian evolution theory is on going. However, the Darwinian evolution theory presently has the upper hand.

As far as secular authorities are concerned, the Darwinian theory of evolution is far more convincing than the creationism theory. Creationism theory simply attacks the Darwinian Theory without presenting concrete evidence for its own arguments. For instance, the Creationism theory asserts that evolution theory is false because the process of evolution cannot be observed or demonstrated. This is entirely untrue. On the contrary, evolution can be observed and demonstrated. One example of evolution in action is the physiological and morphological changes that the finches in the Galapagos Island had undergone for the past twenty years. The beaks of the said species of birds radically changed as response to the introduction of new species. The beaks of the said birds become modified to adjust to new food types that are not eaten by the newly introduced species.

On the other hand, the principles of evolution can be clearly demonstrated in the laboratory or even in your own body. The resistance that microbes developed after being exposed to antibiotics is evolution in action. Newer strains of bacteria continually evolved to adjust to the changing parameters in the environment. This is the very same reason why taking antibiotics more often is an unwise practice. Higher and higher dosage would be necessary to combat infection.

The evidences for the theory of evolution are overwhelming. The fossil records of now extinct species are the silent but tangible proof of evolution. Evolution required gradual changes in the span of billions of years. By contrast, creation supposedly only took seven days to be completed. If man is truly a special creation, then, why do we share 99% of our genes with chimpanzees? This is only possible if chimpanzees and humans had descended from common ancestors. The overwhelming evidence is simply not compatible with the theory of creationism!