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The Other Side of the COin: Truths About Creationism
Try to imagine that, millions of years ago, small particles hit together and collided, spinning out of control, till BANG- they created multiple solar systems, stars, and planets. Does that sound reasonable? I think not. What kind of person would believe that? There are many scientists who devote their lives to trying to prove this so-called “fact”, but, of course, have not been able to. Even though there is no real proof, the Big Bang Theory has been taught in schools for quite along with evolution, which also has no solid proof. However, they are only telling one side of the story. In many schools today, evolution and the Big Bang Theory are taught to students, while Creationism is left for "church only". That is not fair. Creationism should be taught in public schools as well.
To begin with, if evolution and the Big Bang Theory can be taught, why not creationism? First, consider evolution. Scientifically speaking, simple life-forms cannot evolve into “more complex life-forms” (Problems), therefore, man could not have possibly come from apes. Also, if man came from monkeys, then why are there still monkeys? Some evolutionists answer this question by saying “Survival of the fittest”. However, that does not account for the weaker apes that are still living on earth. If they were to follow this “survival of the fittest” theory, then they should have died long ago, when man first appeared. In Mark 10:6, the Bible says, “But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female,” thus proving without a doubt that God created man.
Then, of course, there is the Big Bang Theory. There is not a single scientific law or demonstration that can be preformed that supports the “something from nothing” theory. How could two small particles hit together to create the universe and all the life in it, when, technically speaking, those two particles had not even been created yet? “Design demands a designer” (Wood), and it is as simple as that. Take for example the position of the earth. If it was just a little closer to the sun, everything on it would burn up. If it was just a little farther away, we would all freeze (Wood). Also, Earth is the only planet with free oxygen and water in its liquid form (Wood). In other words, our planet is the only one in our solar system capable of sustaining life. How could that have happened by chance? In Genesis 1:1, the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” so, only God could have done so.
Also, creationism should be taught in public schools because, according to the Bible, God created the earth (Gen. 1:1). So, why would anyone teach anything else? Of course, there are those out there who question the fact that the Bible is God’s written word. They say that it is nothing but a book written by a bunch of different men. The Bible is made up of sixty six books- thirty nine in the Old Testament and twenty seven in the New- written over a time span of 2,000 years, on three different continents (Asia, Europe, and Africa), in three different languages (Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic), however, there are no contradictions. This could only be the work of an all-powerful being. And so it was. II Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…”. So, basically, God told the writers what to say. He inspired them.
What proof is there that the Bible was inspired by God? To begin with, in Leviticus 17:11a, Moses said that, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood…”, yet this fact was unknown even in George Washington’s day (Thompson). People would use leeches to bleed out supposed ‘bad blood’ to help the sick get well. So, how did Moses know? Secondly, in Ecclesiastes 11:3a and Amos 9:6b, the writers both refer to rain falling from the clouds, but the water cycle was not completely accepted or understood until the 16th century. Pierre Perrault, Edme Marriot, and Edmund Halley all made discoveries on and added data to the idea of a complete water cycle. However, the Bible indicated a water cycle 2,000 years before their discoveries (Thompson). Next, in Job26:7, Job says that the Lord “hangs the earth on nothing.” Back in Job’s day, people had different beliefs on what kept the earth suspended in space, such as four elephants on a giant turtle, or the shoulders of an abnormally strong man. Job was way ahead of his time by suggesting that the earth “hung on nothing” (Thompson) (Job 26:7). How could he have known when everyone else was wrong? And finally, in I Corinthians 15:39, the apostle Paul says, “All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.” Paul is right! All four of these fleshes have a different biochemical makeup (Thompson). But how did he know? All of these situations point to one solution: God told the men what to write. Therefore, there is no possible way that the Bible could be made up by men because of the advanced sciences used in it. Given the sufficient evidence, Creationism should be presented alongside other theories of creation.
There are those in this world who say that allowing creationism to be taught in schools is a breech on their First Amendment rights. The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”, however, this does not mean that it is against the law to say “One nation, under God,” in the Pledge of Allegiance, print, “In God we trust,” on money, or teach creationism to students in school. It merely is saying that the Government will not make an established religion. One can believe in and worship anything or anyone they want. But, men can preach and teach about their religion to others. It is only fair.
In addition, the First Amendment was added by the founding fathers to keep the church from controlling the government, and they had good reason to be fearful of this. “Early settlers” in America wanted religious liberty; however, they refused to grant it to others (Gay). They set up the Anglican Church as the main religion (Gay). Others set up their own churches, but, they still had to pay taxes for the maintenance of the Anglican Church, even though they did not attend there (Gay). Laws demanded people to attend church (Gay), and if they did not, they could be fined, and even imprisoned. Other rules covered clothing, business conduct, education, and recreation (Gay). “Only members of the… established religion were allowed to vote (Gay)”. It is no wonder James Madison was careful about how much control the church would receive. All in all, separation of church and state was established to keep government control in the proper hands, not to forbid the teaching of creationism.
In conclusion, creationism should be taught in public schools because, even though some say it cannot be proven, it is the most reasonable solution to the creation of the world, and, if evolution and the Big Bang Theory can be taught, why not creationism? It has not been proved either. If schools are going to teach unproven theories, then why not add creationism to the list? One might as well tell both sides of the story if they are going to tell it at all. Besides, if Evolutionists are so sure that man came from monkeys, then what are they afraid of?
Bibliography
“Evolution.” The American Colledge Dictionary. 1964.
Gay, Kathlyn. CHurch and State. Brookfield: The Millbrook Press, 1992.
The History of Man. Sanford: Riebers.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1982.
Isaak, Mark. “Five major misconceptions about Evolution.” Talkorigins.org. 1 Oct. 2003. 18 Jan. 2009 <http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-misconceptions.html>.
McIntosh, Kenneth, and Marsha McIntosh. Issues of Church, State, and Religious Liberties. Broomal: Mason Crest Publishers, Inc., 2006.
“Problems for atheistic evolutionists.” Creationtips.com. 10 Nov. 2008. 18 Jan. 2009 <http://www.creationtips.com/evoluwrong.html>.
The Reality of God. Sanford: Riebers.
Roberts, Hill. The Second Law of Thermodynamics. 1986.
Suggs, Bill. “When did the U.S. Government pass a law dictating the separation of church and state? Where can this law be found?” Christiananswers.net. 18 Jan. 2009 <http://www.christiananswers.net/q-wall/wal-g004.html>.
Thompson, Bert. Scientific Evidences of the Bible’s Inspiration. Montgomery: Apologetics Press, Inc., 1981.
Wood, James. We Believe. 2005.
Works Cited
Gay, Kathlyn. CHurch and State. Brookfield: The Millbrook Press, 1992.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1982.
“Problems for atheistic evolutionists.” Creationtips.com. 10 Nov. 2008. 18 Jan. 2009 <http://www.creationtips.com/evoluwrong.html>.
Thompson, Bert. Scientific Evidences of the Bible’s Inspiration. Montgomery: Apologetics Press, Inc., 1981.
Wood, James. We Believe. 2005.
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JOIN THE DISCUSSION
This article has 347 comments.
The priests did, in fact, say that the Earth was the centre of the universe. And when certain astronomers (Gailileo included) tried to contradict them, they often burned them at stake. (They didn't burn Galileo 'cause he was lucky enough to have strong ties and stuff, but I'm not going to go into a history lesson here.)
Also, you're right. It didn't "prove" they Big Bang theory, per se. But it supported it immensely. The Big Bang is still a theory because scientists can't go back in time and witness the whole thing with their own eyes. And because it's not some recurring phenomenon, like gravity or motion, you can't view it again. That's why all theories on the universe's creation will remain theories till the end of time.
And I don't see why the Big Bang could not have occurred, through God's Will of course, and then after that (in six days or whatever), He proceeded to shape the universe and known world.
Here's one:
"Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way the sun goeth down..." Deuteronomy 11:30
In depth analysis:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7532112/Scientific-Errors-in-the-Bible (It's a rather...offensive article. Ignore the tone and just listen to the actual stuff the author is trying to say. It's also short. :D )
Anyway, I also read in the Deuteronomy that bigamy was allowed. I ahd thought that bigamy wasn't allowed in Christianity (besides in the Book of Mormon)? Could you explain that to me?
well... the basic message of the Bible is about the coming of Christ (old testament), the life of Christ (the first four books of the new testament), and how a christian should live (the rest of the NT). it teaches that to be saved, we must believe and then be baptized in order to recieve frogiveness for our sins, which we must do to go to heaven. not all will be saved.
yes, we believe that Jesus is God himself, and no at the same time. christians believe in the "God Head", or the "Holy Trinity", which is the father (God), the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit (sort of like the messenger of God who carries out His will). together, they make up "God", yet they act on their own. its very confusing to me. but, God is not simple.
does that answer any of your questions? :)
1. i have a problem because the Bible says God created the universe in 6 days, not all in one "big bang". 2. no, it has not been proven... thats why its called a theory. 3. we know it can be considered the original because we have found ancient manuscripts and such that date back to 100 BC (such as the Dead Sea Scrolls), and we have compared them to modern day translations and found little or no error. in fact, the only errors found were small gramatical ones, such as leaving out a comma.
i don't recall the Bible ever saying the earth was the center of the solar system. the Bible does not contradict science.
1. no, i dont think it would be fair. my point wanst that only creationism should be taught, but that it should be taught alongside evolution and the big band theory. 2. i believe that God makes it hard to believe because he wants us to have faith. if everything was obvious, there would be no point in an eternal reward. we might as well all keep living, bc there would be nothing to live for.
3. i didnt assume this would make anyone mad...
Hi clumsy_one123.
We believe that God sent down a lot of prophets for guidance like you believe. But we believe that Christianity, Judaism and Islam are from the same stem because they were God's true message. We believe God sent down 4 holy books, to David, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed. However when the first 3 books came down, people did not take care of them properly and the words in the books kept changing as they passed from one generation to another. So we believe that the Christianity and Judaism today are incomplete versions of God's true message. When the first three holy books got changed, God sent down a 4th book, the Quran to Prophet Muhammed and promised that He himself will protect this book from getting changed. God then named the religion, Islam and gave it to all humanity, saying that this is the final, complete message and after this there will be no further new prophets or guidance. For this reason we do believe in a lot of things said in the Bible. We also believe that even if the true version of the Bible or Torah would have existed today, they still would not have been the complete books because God also added new things to the Quran for it to be suitable for the whole humanity. One other thing is that, we believe Jesus never claimed divinity and Islam is completely against this concept so that difference between Christianity and Islam also counts as a major one because we believe God has no parents, no children and no other relations. He is the One and Only.
1. I think that the Big Bang Theory can very easily support creationism. I don't see why you have a problem with it.
2. The big bang theory was proven by the radiation discovered by two scientists (I forget their names, but they got Nobel Prizes). Anyway, when the Bang occurred, radiation was released, and the radiation was discovered by two physicists.
3. I'm confused about the Bible. It has quite often been changed by priests and monks, so how can it truly be considered the original? Also, didn't the olden-day priests, and the Bible in fact, say that the Earth was the centre of the solar system? Why did the Bible often contradict science? Also, why is the Bible changed so often? (I could find you examples, if you wish, but you can Google it.)
Anyway, those were my qualms with this article. Other than that, it's really well-written.
(Oh, and in case you were wondering, I'm a Muslim .)
Would it be fair to teach only creationism in schools?<br />
If there really is a God, why did He make it seem to some people that there is evolution and the Big Bang? Wouldn't it be better for Him to erase these and then have everyone believe in Him?<br />
I hope I haven't insulted you with these questions. The only reason I don't believe in God is because my father is a firm Atheist who believes that religion is a mass hallucination. <br />
Even though I'm an atheist, I'm not mad at the author for publishing this. Everyone has a right to their own opinion. However, I'm slightly annoyed at you for assuming that the article would make me mad.
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