The 10 Things You Should Know About the Creation vs. Evolution Debate Read Online Free PDF

nature.
    What scientific observation clearly reveals is that variations
do occur within species (within fixed limits), but one species
does not transition into an entirely new species. So, to cite my previous example, variations have occurred within the "dog
kind," but we never witness the dog evolving into another
species. Variations have occurred within the "cat kind," but we
never witness the cat evolving into another species. Arguing for
the validity of macroevolution based on the observation of
microevolution is unscientific.

    Christian scholars Norman Geisler and Joseph Holden provide this helpful chart to summarize key differences between
microevolution and macroevolution36:

Darwin Was Aware of Problems with Evolution
    Charles Darwin was certainly aware that his theory of evolution had some problems. In fact, his book On the Origin of
Species, which is full of all kinds of observational data, catalogues
key problems with his theory, admitting he simply cannot answer
some questions but also suggesting possible solutions to some
of the problems.37
    For example, Darwin admitted that if his theory were true,
intermediate fossils should show transitions of one species into
another (macroevolution). At the time he wrote his book, no
such intermediates had been discovered. Darwin suggested,
however, that the fossil record was sketchy and incomplete, and
he expressed hope that one day intermediates would be discovered. He also suggested that the geological conditions under which a new species might emerge in a given area were such
that fossilization was not likely to occur, and therefore the fossil
records may contain less evidence of intermediates .31

    This answer served to convince many of Darwin's contemporaries of the validity of evolution. But since his day, massive
numbers (billions) of fossil discoveries have proved beyond any
shadow of a doubt that no true intermediate forms exist in the
fossil records. (I address this in detail in chapter 4.)
The Persistence of Evolution
    Despite the problems many have pointed out regarding evolutionary theory (I focus attention on these problems in subsequent
chapters), the theory persists and will seemingly not go away.
In fact, evolution now seems to permeate our culture far beyond
mere biological processes. Today evolutionary theory has been
applied to virtually every area of life, including the social sciences,
humanities, economics, business, and politics. Evolutionist Julian
Huxley said that following Darwin's discovery,
    the concept of evolution was soon extended into other
than biological fields. Inorganic subjects such as the lifehistories of stars and the formation of the chemical
elements on the one hand, and on the other hand
subjects like linguistics, social anthropology, and
comparative law and religion, began to be studied from
an evolutionary angle, until today we are enabled to see
evolution as a universal and all-pervading process .31
    One of the reasons why evolution is so "all-pervading" today
is that the philosophy of naturalism is all-pervading. We now
turn our attention to this issue.

    Naturalism is a system of thought that espouses the idea that
all phenomena in the universe can be explained wholly in terms
of natural causes and laws.' Nature is the "whole show." No
supernatural being intervenes in the natural world. Naturalists
reject miracles outright.
    The late famous scientist Carl Sagan, in his popular PBS
television show Cosmos, said that "the cosmos is all that is or
ever was or ever will be." More than one scholar has noted that
Sagan's comment seems to be a purposeful substitution for the
"Gloria Patri": "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to
the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be, world without end."2
    Of course, Sagan did not believe in the Father and the Son
and the Holy Ghost. He did not believe in the existence of a
Creator. To him, the universe was