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Religion/science conflicts & "hot" topics

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Theories of origins of life, plant and animal
species, the earth & the rest of the universe

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Scope of this section:

This section compares and contrasts three main belief systems about origins of the Earth's life forms, including:

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Hundreds of diverse, conflicting, beliefs promoted by various religions. This includes about a dozen theories of Creation Science derived from the book of Genesis in the Bible.

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The theory of evolution.

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Theistic beliefs about origins: a blending of scientific and religious beliefs. This includes theistic evolution and Intelligent Design (ID).

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Overview:

The media delight in talking about the warfare between evolution, creation science, and the new kid on the block: intelligent design. However, there are not just three conflicting belief systems concerning the origin of plants and animals. There are literally hundreds of theories which can be grouped into three categories: 

bullet Many diverse, conflicting religious views: According David Barrett et al, editors of the "World Christian Encyclopedia" there are 19 major world religions which are subdivided into a total of 270 large religious groups, and many thousands of smaller ones. Among these various faith groups, we estimate that there are hundreds of significantly different creation stories to draw from. Included among these hundreds of belief systems is a group of beliefs which is particularly popular in North America:
bullet Creation science: This consists of about a dozen different, conflicting, belief systems, based on different interpretations of the creation stories in the biblical book of Genesis. They can be subdivided into two groups:
bullet New Earth creationists believe that the earth, its life forms, and the rest of the universe were created by God during a six day, 144 hour, interval, fewer than 10,000 years ago.  Only very minor changes within various species have happened since creation. No new species have evolved or been created.  In North America, this belief system is mainly promoted by Christians who believe that God inspired the authors of the  Hebrew Scriptures (a.k.a. Old Testament) to write inerrant text.
bullet Old Earth creationists believe that geology and radiometric dating has shown that the world is billions of years old. They believe that God created the Earth itself, the earth's life forms, and the rest of the universe at that time. Those old earth creationists who believe in the literal interpretation of an inerrant Bible interpret the six "day" creation interval as occupying a very long interval of time.
bullet Scientific view: The origin of the universe occurred about 15 billion years ago. The earth coalesced about 4.5 billion years ago. Life subsequently began, probably as bacteria deep in rocks, and has been evolving ever since. These various processes have been driven by purely natural forces, without input from a God or a Goddess or multiple deities.
bullet Theistic evolution view: Evolution, etc. happened just as scientists believe. However, it is viewed as a tool created, used, directed, and/or controlled by God in order to accomplish a higher purpose -- the creation of humans. This includes Intelligent Design (ID).

Some of the material in this section extends beyond the study of the origins of plant and animal species. They discuss many related topics:

bullet Cosmology: The study of the origins and development of the universe. Of particular importance is the "big bang" model which describes the initial explosion which most probably occurred at the origin of the universe.
bullet Geology: This includes the study of the Earth's tectonic plates, volcanoes, mountain formation, etc.
bullet Abiogenesis: The study of the origin of life in its most primitive form: the transition from non-living matter to living matter.
bullet Other specialty scientific studies from acarology (the study of ticks and mites) to virology (the study of viruses).

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Topics covered in this section are:

bulletIntroduction: Please read this first, or the rest won't make much sense.
 
bulletBeliefs about the origin of the species:
bullet3 main world views, and many unique belief systems
bulletWhat is the theory of evolution?
bulletIs evolution "merely" a theory?
bulletWhat would it take to disprove evolution?
bulletWhat is creation science
bulletIs creation science really a science?
bulletWhat does the public believe?
bulletWhat do 17 different religions & faith groups believe?
bulletPhilosophies behind evolution and creation science beliefs
bulletIntelligent Design: finding signs of a supernatural creative entity -- in nature
 
bulletCarbon-14 dating techniques according to:
bulletAlmost all scientists
bulletNew-Earth creationists
 
bulletThe conflicts between evolution and creation science:
bulletHistory of the conflict
bulletWhy scientists generally disbelieve in creation science
bullet Specific reasons for scientists' disbelief in creation science
bulletIndicators that evolution never happened (with rebuttals)
bulletPossible resolutions to the conflict
bulletConflicts in the schools
bulletConflicts in the National Park Service
bulletRecent news items about the conflict between evolution, intelligent design, and creation science
bulletE-mail exchanges we have received about origins
 
bulletThe Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament):
bulletComparing Genesis 1 & 2 with:
bulletThe theory of evolution
bulletThe Babylonian creation story
bulletComparison of the Bible's creation stories with modern-day science
bulletHow religious conservatives and liberals interpret the Bible's creation stories
bulletGenesis 6, 7, & 8: Noah's flood:
bulletThe story of the flood
bulletA possible source for Noah's flood stories
bulletConflicts between the  Bible's flood story and the fossil record
bulletThree essays donated by Dr. Zvi Shkedi: On the harmony of a literal interpretation of the Torah and science
bulletThe Great Flood
The Age of the Universe: Theory and Observations; Physics, Functions, and Differential Equations  
bulletExposing the Myth of Evolution: A historical perspective; Darwin's theories - two for the price of one; new problems with the theory
 
bulletHow old is the earth and the rest of the universe?
bulletBeliefs in a the Earth's age by scientists and various creationists
bulletEstimates of the Earth's creation or coalescence
bulletIs there no way to prove the age of the earth?
bullet19 indicators of a very old earth with rebuttals
bullet22 indicators of a very young earth with rebuttals
bulletVisualizing the gap between an old and young earth
bulletAbout fossils, the length of the day and the age of the earth
bulletA failed attempt to enter into dialog with creation scientists
 
bullet Information:
bulletInternet web sites, books, and a DVD on origins
bullet Scientific findings in the media related to origins, creation, evolution, etc 2005 to present

Note: The term "billion" is used in its North American sense to refer to one thousand million.

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You can safely order the following books from Amazon.com's online bookstore.

On evolution:

On Creation Science:

On Intelligent Design:

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Site navigation: Home page > "Hot" religious topics > here

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Copyright © 1995 to 2006 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally published: 1995-NOV-3
Most recent update: 2006NOV-05
Author: B.A. Robinson

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