I remember the first time I thumbed through my sixth grade history textbook in elementary school. We had just adopted a new textbook series. For my grade level, ancient civilization was the focus. I started in the middle of the book and worked backwards, looking at artistic depictions of Roman soldiers, Greek phalanxes, Persian chariots, the hanging gardens of Babylon, and cuneiform tablets. As I approached the front of the book, I realized that there was more material prior to the Egyptians and the first Mesopotamian cities. There was a section that identified Cro-Magnons, Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, and other forms of what the text referred to as "proto-humans."
Being a nerd, I had read enough to know that I was about to get my first experience in the public education system with the theory of evolution. Being a young member of my church, I viewed the presence of this content as offensive. I had been taught clearly that God had created man. As we began going through the material, I became increasingly uncomfortable, however, I remained silent with respect to my feelings on the subject. One day, one of my classmates pointed aloud before the class that the depictions of these "proto-humans" resembled monkeys. I did not shout, but I certainly did not politely raise my hand when I began saying that I was not a monkey, my father was not a monkey, and his father was also not a monkey. The class became silent. Finally the teacher gave a diplomatic statement regarding required curriculum, scientific evidence, and if I recall correctly that the subject had no bearing on what we may have learned in Sunday school.
Since then, I have learned much more with respect to both the theory of evolution and my church's belief in the creation.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints does not have a firm point on how the world was created. The church does maintain firm doctrinal stances on why it was created, and also that God is who created it.
Many people within the church have found this fact sufficient to reconcile the modern theory of evolution with their belief in God. After all, God could have caused the Big Bang ages ago to set everything into motion. He could have controlled all of the forces that led to the climate and elements present such that small creatures could adapt, survive, and emerge from the sea to evolve into a variety of species, one of which became the race of men.
It probably helps support this concept that the records in Genesis seem incomplete. There is very little information in the Bible about society after the fall of Adam. The events surrounding the flood make it easy for people to come to the conclusion that these are not literal stories, but symbolic representations of events for which we do not have all the details. Evolution provides a scientifically accepted, evidence-based context for how life on this world came to be.
In a conversation with one such individual, I recall them attempting to persuade me to accept evolution. They pointed out the development of children in the womb as proof that one type of living cell could become an entire organism in a short time under the right circumstances.
Another individual that had no belief in God defined evolution simply as "change." This is obviously an over simplification, otherwise I would be an expert on the subject from my experience "evolving" diapers for my two young boys.
In spite of its acceptance among so many people, few people really understand what evolution is. At the risk of producing a straw man argument, I wish to enumerate the major points of evolution.
1. Evolution is not manifest in acquired characteristics. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck is perhaps best remembered for promoting this theory. An example of this is that a parent that works out frequently and obtains greater muscle mass will not necessarily produce offspring that also have great muscle mass.
2. Evolution is manifest by changes in allele frequency by means of natural selection. In other words, those that have genetic characteristics that allow them to more successfully reproduce, or survive to reproduce will pass these genetic characteristics to their descendants. A tortoise that genetically has a longer neck and is able to eat higher food is less likely to starve, for example, and more likely to pass on its longer neck to subsequent generations. The result is the species evolves to have longer necks.
3. Evolution implies common ancestry. The idea that all species were once one and through various means life diversified and grew complex is central to the theory. In order to have enough generations to account for these changes, the time frame of this theory necessarily takes millions and millions of years.
4. Evolution requires assumptions. If life, death, and reproduction have not always functioned the way they currently are observed, changes in allele frequencies are impossible.
5. The concept of "species" is more complicated than many people believe. A common understanding of a species is a group of organisms that are still able to reproduce. Dogs for example are bred using unnatural selection to produce certain characteristics such as size (chihuahuas), strength (pit bulls), and speed (greyhounds), but dogs are still able to breed with one another and produce fertile offspring. The combination of a horse and donkey produces the sterile mule, thus horses and donkeys are considered different species. This definition obviously cannot apply to organisms that reproduce asexually.
Having presented these points, let me also present points of belief for creationism. Let me do so with the understanding that this represents my belief, and not necessarily those of anyone else.
1. Creationism does not forbid adaptations that come by means of changes in allele frequency. The Galapagos tortoises do not rule out creationism since creationism is a view on the past.
2. Creationism does not have to be limited to six 24-hour periods. It is also possible that it does represent six 24-hour periods. There is not a fixed definition for "day" in the scriptures.
3. Creationism rejects common ancestry of all species, but accepts common ancestry for humanity. Creationism accepts a literal man named Adam and his wife Eve as the parents of mankind. Adam and Eve are not figurative concepts for groups of advanced primates, they are actual individuals that were created with special attention and using different methods than those used for the creation of other plants and animals.
4. Creationism requires assumptions. While this is pointed out by individuals that enjoy antagonizing creationists, there is no point in denying it. Creationism assumes that life, death, and reproduction have not always functioned the way they are currently observed. Conditions prior to the fall of Adam, and even prior to the flood were not the same as conditions generally observed presently.
5. Creationism implies purposes for various species. While there exist evolutionists that believe in intelligent design and embrace the concept that man has a different purpose than other types of organisms, the implication is required in the creationist paradigm. Man is not simply an animal. God commanded man to "...be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28)
In the end, both creationism and evolution rely on assumptions about times that were very different than what we see now. A person that does not accept evolution is not guilty of forcing Galileo to recant. We simply accept different assumptions.
I believe that God created the world and placed life upon it. There was a time where life, death, and birth did not exist as we now know them. When Adam transgressed, everything changed. Mankind was sent to a place where their observational abilities were severely limited. We only detect a narrow range of electromagnetic radiation as visible light. We hear a narrow range of frequencies. We must be very close to smell, touch, or taste items. While science has brought miraculous new advancements that allow us to see things we have never before seen, we are still unable to detect theoretical particles that are very small, or comprehend distant astronomical phenomena that are very large. Certainly our observation is limited by time, and while we may be able to interpolate what conditions may have been like in prehistoric times, or predict what may appear in the future, confirmation is typically only available for time periods much closer to the present.
As limited as mankind is, God has promised that through his son Jesus Christ, the curses and limits under which we find ourselves can be removed. There is a great potential in each man and woman that can be realized by following Jesus. He even has power to redeem men after they die... and as difficult as the world may become, when he comes again, he will save us all.
Is it so hard to believe that "in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"?
