creationism (kr-‘she-nzem) nounThe position that the account of the creation of the universe given at the beginning of the Bible is literally true. Creationism is the theory that man, the earth, and the rest of the universe was originally created rather than randomly exploding from nothingness into chance existence.
We reside on the surface of a small superbly crafted, autonomous self regulating space vehicle. Together with survival, conquest and death we bear witness to beauty, fragrances, love and music. Think about this. Mathematics, philosophy, springtime, depravity, farming, courtship, quasars, and bubble gum; all came from nothingness?, formed by chance.
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. ?Of all the generations thus far to inhabit the Earth, we have the least excuse for not recognizing the quiet presence of The Scientific Mathematician who set everything into motion around us. We should be in awe, not presumptuous and skeptical. About 3,000 years ago King David of Israel wrote (Psalm 8:3-4) “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that you are mindful of him? And the son of man, that You visit him?”Creationism is the product of a literal interpretation of the Biblical story of Genesis.
It holds that God created the world in a single act approximately 6,000 years ago-and that human beings, animals, and other forms of life exist today much as they did then. To many creationists, the theory of evolution is heresy. They argue that fossil records and other scientific evidence of evolution are either false or were themselves created by God. “In the beginning, God created the heaven and earth. “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
“And God said, let there be light: and there was light. “And God saw the light, that it was good; And divided the light from darkness. “And God Called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. “And God said let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters. “Ands God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; And it was so.
“And God called the firmament heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. “And God said, let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so. “And God called the dry land earth; and the gathering together of the waters called the seas: And God saw that it was good. “And God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit trees yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: And it was so. “And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding, fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind; and God saw that it was good.
“And the evening and the morning were the third day. “And God said let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. “And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth; and it was so. “And God made two great lights: The greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also.
“And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth. “And to rule over the day and over the night and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. “And the evening, and the morning were the fourth day. “And God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath light, and fowls that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
“And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind; and God saw that it was good. “And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. “And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. “And God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after his kind: And it was so. “And God made the beasts of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them. “And God blessed them, and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. “And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meal; and it was so. “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. “Darwinism (drw-nzem) nounA theory of biological evolution developed by Charles Darwin and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual’s ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. Also called Darwinian theorySome of the early forms of animals were poorly adapted, and their species did not survive. Eventually, the animals as we know them today were formed and survived. This preservation of favourable individual differences and variations, and the destruction of those which are injurious, I have called Natural Selection, or the Survival of the Fittest. The Scopes Monkey TrialsThe Scopes “Monkey Trial” makes headlines in July as Dayton, Tenn.
, schoolteacher John T. Scopes, 25, goes on trial for violating a March 13 law against teaching evolution in the state’s public schools. Backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Scopes has tested the law by acquainting his classes with the 1859 teachings of Charles Darwin. Defended by Chicago attorneys Clarence Darrow and Dudley Field Malone, he is prosecuted by former secretary of state William Jennings Bryan, found guilty, and fined $100.
Bryan dies of apoplexy July 26. Scopes Monkey trials:Williams Jenning Bryan, three-time Democratic candidate for President and a populist, was the leading figure in a Fundamentalist crusade to banish Darwin’s theory of evolution from American classrooms. Clarence Darrow, who was approaching 70, decided to join the battle in Dayton. Darrow was not the first choice of the ACLU, who was concerned that Darrow’s zealous agnosticism might turn the trial into a broadside attack on religion.
Scopes (skops), John Thomas 1900-1970American teacher who violated a state law by teaching the theory of evolution in a Tennessee high school. His trial (July 1925) was a highly publicized confrontation between defense attorney Clarence Darrow and the director of the prosecution William Jennings Bryan. Scopes was found guilty and fined a nominal sum, but his conviction was later reversed on technical grounds.
