Pope Pius XII
HE STANDS HIS GROUND THAT EVOLUTION IS GOOD SCIENCE AND THERE NEED NOT BE CONTRADICTION BETWEEN EVOLUTION AND
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
• … science is here to stay.• … scientific knowledge, the theory of
evolution in particular, is consistent with a religious belief in God, whereas Creationism and Intelligent Design are not.
.
William Paley
• Committed to the abolition of slavery in the later half of the 1700’s• Wrote on Christian
philosophy, ethics, and theology
“There cannot be design without a designer; contrivance, without
a contriver; order, without choice; …means suitable to an
end, and executing their office in accomplishing that end without
the end ever having been contemplated.”
DR. AYALA’S ARGUMENT
“Chapter XXIII of Natural Theology is entitled ‘Of the Personality of the Deity’ and it would surprise many by its well-meaning, if naïve, arrogance, as Paley seems convinced that he can determine that God is a person, God’s ‘personality,’ and what his attributes are.” (21)
Charles Darwin
"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that ... from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved."
Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, p. 490
MORE ON DARWIN
• Darwin did not use the term “evolution,” which did not have its current meaning, but referred to the evolution of organisms by the phrase “common descent with modification”
• Darwin’s The Origin of Species addresses the same issue as Paley: how to account for the adaptive configuration of organisms and their parts, which are designed to fulfill certain functions. Darwin’s argument is that hereditary adaptive variations occasionally appear, and that these are likely to increase the reproductive chances of their carriers
• Darwin treasured natural selection as his greatest contribution
• In 1896, evolutionist James M. Baldwin formulated a hypothesis that would be later known as the “Baldwin effect.”
• Adaptive responses of organisms to extreme environments may become genetically fixed if the condition persists
• The Baldwin effect is often involved in the origin of evolutionary novelties. Evolutionary novelties are reorganizations of preexisting morphologies, which first arise in response to environmental challenges, but eventually become genetically determined if the particular environmental challenge persists and the adaptation contributes importantly to survival and reproductive success
James Baldwin
Archaeopteryx
Tiktaalik• Was recently discover on April 6, 2006• Characteristics
• teeth structured in two rows;• both internal and external nostrils;• tubular and streamlined body;• absence of anterior dorsal fin;• broad, dorsoventrally compressed skull;• dorsally placed eyes;• paired frontal bones;• lung-like organs;
BIOCHEMISTRY
• Rates of evolution are an important factor to evolutionists. They use slowly evolving genes to reconstruct remote evolutionary history, and faster revolving genes for recent history
• Ribosomal RNA is among the slowest evolving genes
• Used to construct the evolutionary relationships among bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes
• Cytochrome c evolves slowly, but not as slow as the ribosomal RNA genes. • It is used to decipher the
relationships within large groups of organisms such as humans, fishes, and insects
• Has 104 amino acids. In humans and chimpanzees the cytochrome-c consists of the same 104 amino acids in exactly the same order. Rhesus monkeys differ in 1 amino acid. Horses differ in twelve. Tuna differ in 33.
DR. AYALA’S ARGUMENT
• Molecular bio proves evolution in two ways
• There is unity in the nature of DNA (three condons, condon codes for amino acids, etc.)
• Current technology allows for inferences about lost evolutionary history
• The precision with which these events can be compelling
FOLLIES AND FATAL FLAWS
• In the 1990’s, several authors, notably biochemist Michael Behe, sociologist William Dembski, and law professor Phillip Johnson, among others, revived the argument from design. Often, however, these authors would rarely reference God, so that intelligent design could be taught in public schools
• Religious scholars in the past had struggled with imperfection, dysfunction, and cruelty in the living world, which are difficult to explain if they are the outcome of God’s design. A major burden was removed from the shoulders of believers when convincing evidence was advanced that the design of organisms need not be attributed to the immediate agency of the Creator, but rather is an outcome of natural process
