Leoul Anteneh

Professor, Brian Martin

English 101

December 12, 2013

Theory of Evolution: The Gradual Process of Human Being

There are many controversies when we thought about the theory of evolution and its

differences with other religious views. Why are we here? How are we here? These are the

questions human beings have been asking for thousands of years. It has only been recently,

however, that science was complicated enough for us to be able to approach the factual answer.

Anyone can tell that one of the currently accepted scientific explanations of human origin is The

Theory of Evolution. In fact theory is built upon one or more hypotheses and evidence.

According to Kenneth R. Miller explanation he said, Most biologists would describe evolution

as "the process of change over time that characterizes the natural history of life on this planet."

The Theory of evolution contains reasoning and logical connections based on hypotheses and

proof. According to Genies God created human beings with in six days no more than 10000

years ago unlikely, the scientific Theory of Evolution argued that and propose a claim that

human beings are originated from apelike ancestor and evolved over a period of 6 million years

ago. Even though, there are many differences between science and religion, I believe our Theory

of Scientific Evolution is a gift from God to discover the gradual process of human being.

In the beginning of 1800 to the late 1800s, the Theory of Evolution was being formed in

the minds of scientists, biologists, and naturalists, but it was first given place for Charles

Darwins The Origin of Species (1959) book. In the Origin of Specious he proposed a process

called Natural Selection that acts on random variation within a species to cause only the most

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suitable of that species to survive and leave fertile offspring. Darwin describes Natural selection

we observe that more offspring are produced than can possibly survive, that favorable

variations are preserved and injurious variations are eliminated (147). Natural Selection is a

process that selects specific individuals based on their characteristics, by allowing them to

survive and multiply, while less suited individuals die out. Thus, over time, only those organisms

most suited to their particular environment survive, and they become specialized and

sophisticated. Even though, the theory of Natural Selection first proposed by Darwins The

Origin of Specious in 1859, nowadays, it has gaining more acceptances and supports from the

scientific biology. According to biologists evolution refers to the accumulative changes that

occur in a population throughout time. These changes are occurs during reproduction that genes

mutate and/or recombine in different ways and passed on to future generations. Sometimes,

creatures get a new character that gives them a survival and reproductive advantage in their

living environments; these characteristics tend to increase production frequently in the

population, while those are disadvantageous decreases quickly. This routine of differential

survival and reproduction is called natural selection.

Darwin's theory was widely welcomed at the time of its publication as being an

outstanding explanation for the diversity of living things on the earth, and as time has passed, it

has gained more acceptances and believes. The only opposition to Darwins theory of evolution

usually came from religious circles, especially from the Christian society. They believe that the

world was created in six days and God created all living and non-living things exactly as we see

them. According to Genesis And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very

good. And there was evening and there was morning, the six day (1:31). In fact many people in

our society still beliefs in it, this obviously did not have much support from the scientific world

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(people who believe in modern scientific theory). There is a little evidence for a creation, and

there are plenty of evidences for evolution.

The Theory of Evolution is well known and widely supported theory. Questions are just

being asked, and there is certainly a good possibility that many of them will be answered. This

type of questioning is precisely the type of method that leads to further understanding and

discovery in all the fields of science. Darwins Theory Of Evolution is the widely believed

notion that all life is related and descended from a common ancestor. According to Darwins The

Descent Of Man (1871) he explained the similarities between human beings and other animals

like monkey and apes. The most common three similarities Darwin proposes are body structure,

embryonic development, and rudiments (a part of something or unfinished). Those are the most

common likenesses among human beings and animals.

The bearing of the three great classes of facts now given is unmistakable. But it

would be superfluous here fully to recapitulate the line of argument given in detail

in my Origin of specious. The homological construction of the whole frame in

the membrane of the same class is intelligible, if we admit their descent from a

common progenitor, together with their subsequent adaption to diversified

condition (15).

Darwin believed those three class of facts are unmistakable evidences that shows the connection

between human beings and animals are descended from common ancestor.

One of the latest challenge evolution theory had to face was intelligent design. Many

people are not able to distinguish between what is science and what is not. As the result they

simply conform to something without any factual evidence. The intelligent design movement is

just an example of that. The controversy begins in October 2004 the school board of Dover, a

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small rural town in Pennsylvania, passed a policy in which biology teachers in Dover Area High

School must read a denial regarding evolution, stating that it is not fact and contains gaps in

evidence. It was eventually filed to stop the school district from authorizing the teaching of

intelligent design. According to Michael Behe definition, Intelligent design is a scientific theory

that proposes some aspects of life are best explained as the result of design, and that the strong

appearance of design in life is real and not just apparent. In fact intelligent design is also a

theory like Darwins theory of evolution but it propose an intelligent agent devises everything.

ID (intelligent design) also claims that life is extremely complicated to have happened at

random, that there had to be a designer, something that shaped how things were and went. What

are the problems teaching intelligent design, or creationism, beside evolution? One of the reasons

was that the federal courts have ruled that creationism, creation science, and intelligent design

are not science, but instead it endorses a specific religious belief. Therefore, these topics are not

appropriate content for a science class. Neither ID nor any other form of creationism has met any

of the criteria of science and they cannot be tested by the scientific method. Intelligent design is

not considered as science because its not testable. Miller criticizes that intelligent design claims

organisms are linked to only their designer Intelligent design teaches a history of life in which

organisms appear abruptly, are unrelated, and linked only by their designer. No evidence has

been observed in nature, where organisms appeared from nowhere. Instead, evolution, like all

other sciences, is established on observable and reproducible evidence in the physical world.

Again, the ID theory is established on theoretical explanations, rather than theoretical analyses.

Moreover a theory that is considered as scientific theory has lots information with well-

supported experiments. Theory is tested over and over and over again! Therefore, intelligent

design is totally not considered as science since it cant be tested.

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 Creationism is the belief that the universe and life on earth were created by a supernatural

entity (such as God). There are a few forms of creationism. In Christian Creationism they belief

that God created life on earth in its present form no longer than 10,000 years ago, as specified by

Genesis in the Bible. Scientific creation claims to use the methods of science to study the Earth

from the perspective of Genesis. As I said in the beginning, for many scientists and their

discoveries the Catholic Church was one of the challenges for the past centuries. The

disagreement between Galileo and the Catholic Church began back in the 17th century when

Galileo started proposing observations that supported Copernicuss theory that the planet Earth

was revolving around the sun rather then the sun revolving around the Earth. In 1992 Pope John

Paul II (the head of the catholic church from 16 October 1978 to his death in 2005) officially

conceded that the Earth wasnt immobile. The Church maintained that the scriptures indicated

that the Earth was the foundation. Everyone knows that the Earth was stationary and it was an

accepted fact. For thousands of years it had been accepted that the heavenly bodies all rotated

around the stationary Earth. And then Copernicus came along and published his book with these

revolutionary ideas on astronomy that states the earth was revolving around the sun. His ideas

were so radical that the Catholic Church didnt feel too threatened - that is until Galileo built his

telescope and began discovering the earth and other planets was revolving around the sun. This is

not, however, the attitude of Pope John Paul II. In 1979, he expressed the wish that the Pontifical

Academy of Sciences conduct an in-depth study of the celebrated case. A commission of

scholars was convened, and they presented their report to the Pope. He said, theologians,

scholars and historians, animated by a sprite of science collaboration, will study the Galileo case

more deeply and, in frank recognition of wrongs from whatever side they come, dispel the

mistrust that still opposes, in many minds, a fruitful concord between science and faith. What

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John Paul II wanted was a better understanding of the whole concern by both scientists and

theologians. He wished to make clear that science has a legitimate freedom in its own sphere and

that this freedom was unduly violated by Church authorities in the case of Galileo. Historically

Galileos discovery finally got the Scholars attention that his observation was in direct contrast to

the scriptures. They thought the scriptures could not be wrong so these unorthodox theories had

to be stopped. Finally they tortured him and burnt many other heretics over the years.

The common view that evolution is basically anti- religious is simply false. All that evolution

tells us is that life on this planet could have arisen by natural processes. For many people of

various faiths, showing that something is due to a natural process doesnt take it outside the

kingdom of the divine. Religious scholars across the world have written that merely showing that

something is natural created by the influence of God, the creator of all nature. By definition

science cannot address supernatural causes because its methodology is limited to the natural

world. Therefore science has nothing to say about the nature of God or about peoples spiritual

beliefs. This does not mean science is anti- religious; rather, it means science simply cannot

engage in this level of explanation. But some people say evolution is just another form of

religion itself. The idea of evolution did not begin or end with Charles Darwin. Many alternate

proposals about evolution already existed when Darwin published On the Origin of Species in

1859, but his work was quickly recognized as the most compelling explanation in the field of

natural history. Even though there is a conflict occurred between them we can reconcile them

because faith and science can properly understood and never be at odds.

In controversy some people say that Man cannot be descended from chimps, monkeys, or

gorillas. Like many Christians Henry Ward Beecher also believed in God and totally disagree

with the theory of evolution. He opposes by saying They have no conception of it as the history

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of the divine process in the building of this world (129). According to The theory of Evolution

our own ancestors branched off and formed a new species within the last few million years. In

evolutionary terms, chimpanzees, monkeys, and gorillas are like our cousins. Beyond those

animals, all other species are simply more distantly related cousins. In fact one of the reason to

believe the theory of evolution that proposes our origin came from something pre-exist billion

years ago and it also explains our relation to other animals.

To sum up, neither the Theory of evolution nor The Genesis claims the origin of human

beings in deferent way I believe we can reconcile them to find our origin. Biologists like

Kenneth R. Miller also said, I think, as many religious people do, that faith and reason are both

gifts from God. And if God is real, then faith and reason should complement each other rather

than being in conflict. Over all, for many people the answer is depends on what they believe

like people Henry Ward Beecher, Pope John Paul II the book of Genesis will be perfect answer.

On the other side, folks like Alex Rosenberg: Darwins theory of evolution and modern science

gives them a reasonable answer. In my opinion science is a gift from God to see the gradual

process of human being in our own view.

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 Work Cited

Charles Darwin. The Descent of Man. Dover publication Inc. Mineola, New york, 2010. Print.

Charles Darwin. The Origin of Specious. Johan Murphy, Albemarle Street. London, United

Kingdom, 1859. Print.

Intelligent Design on Trial

Science is "Exhibit A" in a landmark trial on the teaching of evolution. Aired

November 13, 2007 on PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/intelligent-

design-trial.html. Web.

Virginia Heffernan. Why Im Creationist. Yahoo News, July 11, 2013. Web.

Alex Rosenberg. Why Im a Naturalist. New York Times, September 17, 2011. Print.

Beecher Henry Ward. Evolution and Religion. The Pilgrim Press. Boston Chicago, 1885. Print.

Pope John Paul II. Losservator Romano. N. 44 (1264). 4 November 1992. Translated. Print.