Evolution Paper

Learning about evolution has been challenging for me. When I started to learn about it I
thought to myself this is foolishness, God created humans and the Earth and thats all there is to
it. Now I am not so sure. After learning about evolution and the theory behind it I can see that
parts of it do make sense. I have wondered and thought a lot about what I believe and I have still
not come to an exact conclusion on what I believe. However, currently I believe that God created
humans because of the fact that as a human I have a soul. I also believe that God created the
Earth and other species of animals. However, I do believe that a species can change so
significantly that they evolve into other species that are similar to themselves over time.
The Theory of Evolution is a scientific theory that explains the origin of all living things.
The theory proposes that everything has evolved from the simplest organism and is still evolving
or changing today. A significant part of evolution is natural selection, the process in which the
environment a species lives in causes them to change. One example of evolution is Darwins
finches. He realized that the finches living on an island, separated from the others of the same
kind on mainland had changed drastically. For instance, the beaks of the birds changed. Instead
of shorter beaks, the beaks became longer and more curved because the longer and more curved
beaks would help the finches in ways the mainland finches did not need.
The evolutionary arms race between snakes and newts is also is good example of
evolution. Newts were an easy food source for snakes, so, over time the newts built up a ton of
poison in there system so the snakes could not eat them without being harmed. For a while it
worked quite well. However, the snakes are building up immunity through the process of natural
selection. The snakes with low immunity are not able to survive, so the only snakes left to breed

are the snakes with higher immunity to the poison. Therefore, the newts will become more
poisonous since the ones will the most poison will survive the best and be able to reproduce.
Evolution does not correspond with the first part of Genesis. Evolutionists have come to
the conclusion that the first 11-12 chapters of Genesis are a parable or should be taken
figuratively rather than taken literally. This is where evolution has been a problem for me. I have
always been told and believed that Gods Word is true and should be taken literally. I understand
how evolutionists come to the conclusion, that the first part of Genesis is a parable because it is
written differently than other parts of the Bible. After much thinking I have come to believe God
created the world but maybe not in the exact same way the Bible describes the creation. The
Bible and science have always gone together for me. Learning about evolution has definitely
been challenging just because of the fact that science has always helped me understand His
creation better and evolution seems puts them up against each other. I still do think that science
holds many answers and can help me make better sense of the world around me.
I believe that the Earth is old because there is too much scientific evidence of an old
Earth. For example we can see galaxies that are that are billions of light years away. To me that
means that the Earth cannot be young because the galaxy we are seeing looked that way, many,
many years ago. I believe that the creation of the Earth took more than just six literal days.
However, since I do believe God created man, that once God was done creating humans, humans
existed in that moment. To me, this does not mean that God created humans in a day; it very well
could be that God took some time to make humans, since we are His most prized masterpiece,
the crowning glory of His creation.

Since I do believe that the Earth is an old Earth I can make sense of carbon dating and
other dating techniques. Astronomical events amaze me and as I said earlier just prove to me that
the Earth is in fact old. Since the fossil record includes fossils that arent humans and are similar
to monkeys I have a harder problem making sense of them. However, I dont think that they are
monkeys that were in the process of evolving into humans, because I do not think that we
evolved into humans from monkeys. As for the leg-like bones structures found with whale
fossils, I believe that it could have been a back fin for helping them steer. Dolphins and whales
have bones in their fins that have the same structure as human hands, so to me a whale fin on
their tail could have the same bone structure as a human leg.
I do believe that animals or a species can change or evolve over time. Animals or a
species can change so much over time that I do believe that they can eventually become a new
species. However I do not believe a species can change so much that they become something
totally different. For example, I dont believe a wolf could turn into a whale. I believe that
humans where created at a certain point in history, however I do believe humans have had and
still do have a big impact on the evolutionary process, because we change the environment
around us which causes animals to adapt and change as well.
Learning about evolution has been a struggle, but it was defiantly worth it. I am glad that
I have learned about it at a younger age so I can be prepared when this topic comes up later in
life.
Amber Kruis
2-5-13