Download A Personal Position Statement Regarding Biological

A Personal Position Statement Regarding Biological Evolution
Chuck Campbell, Russellville High School, 2008
It not infrequently happens that something about the earth, about the sky, about other elements of this
world, about the motion and rotation or even the magnitude and distances of the stars, about definite
eclipses of the sun and moon, about the passage of years and seasons, about the nature of animals, of
fruits, of stones, and of other such things, may be known with the greatest certainty by reasoning or by
experience, even by one who is not a Christian. It is too disgraceful and ruinous, though, and greatly to be
avoided, that he [the non-Christian] should hear a Christian speaking so idiotically on these matters, and
as if in accord with Christian writings, that he might say that he could scarcely keep from laughing when
he saw how totally in error they are……. The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided,
but that people outside the household of the faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the
great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as
unlearned men. - Augustine AD 408
Are you a Christian?
I am a conservative Christian. I believe the Scripture is God-inspired and contains no
error. (1 Timothy 3:16) I attend Grace Fellowship Church in Russellville. I adhere to the
belief statement of my church posted at
http://www.gracefellows.org/beliefs.shtml
In the 1600’s, both Catholic and Protestant Christians refused to believe the scandalous
Theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Many passages of Scripture were
interpreted to support Aristotle’s belief that the Sun and all heavenly bodies revolved
around the Earth. It took many hundreds of years for the public and the church to accept
the heliocentric model. Theology had to be rewritten. Man was no longer the center of
the universe. Earth became a tiny planet revolving around an insignificant star tucked
away in a minor galaxy all dwarfed by the vastness of the universe. This knowledge
made man smaller. It also made God bigger. We have all heard sermons declaring the
largeness of God using the illustration of the vastness of His creation. Before
heliocentrism, this would have been heresy. (visit http://www.geocentricity.com/. This
College Physicist believes in geocentrism and declares that you are apostate if you
believe in heliocentrism.)
God has caused our solar system (and indeed the whole universe) to be held together by
natural forces that we can understand and measure with scientific Theories. Few
Christians would argue against these Theories. What if God chose to set up natural
forces that control the creation of new species? What if scientists were able to
understand these forces and describe them in a scientific Theory called Evolution?
Nature does not revolve around man. Man is simply one of millions of species in the vast
diversity of life. Man becomes smaller. God becomes bigger.
Do you believe in Evolution?
I am often asked this question by my students, their parents, and my friends. Quite
frankly, it doesn’t matter what I think. Neither does it matter what you think. Christians,
of all people, should understand this idea. Most people in the world do not believe that
Jesus rose from the dead. Christians believe Jesus rose, not because there has been a
majority vote, nor because of a warm feeling in our hearts, but rather because there is a
preponderance of evidence that proves the event occurred.
Concerning Evolution, the evidence must be examined objectively. Feelings don’t
matter. The consensus among biologists is that the evidence indicates that Evolution is
true. The evidence is overwhelming. Whether I believe it or not, the evidence is there.
One does not “believe” in evolution in the same sense that one “believes” in Jesus.
Evolution does not determine my moral decisions nor my eternal destiny. Biblical belief
includes both an understanding of facts and a decision to commit one’s life to obedience
to God. Belief in evolution is no different than my belief in electricity. It’s not a moral
decision. It is an understanding of the scientific principles that govern the workings of
creation.
Isn’t Evolution just a Theory?
So is gravity. So is the idea that germs cause disease. As I teach my students:
“THEORIES MUST HAVE TONS OF PROOF!” John Rennie has done an excellent
job of answering this question in an article for Scientific American:
“Many people learned in elementary school that a theory falls in the middle of a
hierarchy of certainty— above a mere hypothesis but below a law. Scientists do not use
the terms that way, however. According to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), a
scientific theory is “a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world
that can incorporate facts, laws, inferences, and tested hypotheses.” No amount of
validation changes a theory into a law, which is a descriptive generalization about nature.
So when scientists talk about the theory of evolution—or the atomic theory or the theory
of relativity, for that matter—they are not expressing reservations about its truth.
In addition to the theory of evolution, meaning the idea of descent with modification, one
may also speak of the fact of evolution. The NAS defines a fact as “an observation that
has been repeatedly confirmed and for all practical purposes is accepted as ‘true.’” The
fossil record and abundant other evidence testify that organisms have evolved through
time. Although no one observed those transformations, the indirect evidence is clear,
unambiguous and compelling.”
-http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/textbookdisclaimers/wackononsense.pdf
Why do I teach Evolution?
1. The Science Curriculum Frameworks established by the State of Arkansas
require the teaching of Evolution.
HE.6.B.1 Compare and contrast Lamarck’s explanation of evolution with Darwin’s theory of evolution by
natural selection
HE.6.B.2 Recognize that evolution involves a change in allele frequencies in a population across
successive generations
HE.6.B.3 Analyze the effects of mutations and the resulting variations within a population in terms of
natural selection
HE.6.B.4 Illustrate mass extinction events using a time line
HE.6.B.5 Evaluate evolution in terms of evidence as found in the following: fossil
record, DNA analysis, artificial selection, morphology, embryology, viral
evolution, geographic distribution of related species, antibiotic and pesticide resistance in
various organisms
HE.6.B.6 Compare the processes of relative dating and radioactive dating to determine the age of fossils
HE.6.B.7 Interpret a Cladogram
NS.12.B.3 Summarize biological evolution
From- http://arkedu.state.ar.us/curriculum/pdf/biology_framework_9-12_06.pdf
2. The National Science Teacher Association encourages the teaching of Organic
Evolution.
The National Science Teachers Association supports the position that evolution is a major
unifying concept of science and should be included as part of K-College science
frameworks and curricula. NSTA recognizes that evolution has not been emphasized in
science curricula in a manner commensurate to its importance because of official
policies, intimidation of science teachers, the general public's misunderstanding of
evolutionary theory, and a century of controversy. Furthermore, teachers are being
pressured to introduce creationism, creation "science," and other nonscientific views,
which are intended to weaken or eliminate the teaching of evolution.
The Nature of Science, and Scientific Theories Science is a method of explaining the
natural world. It assumes the universe operates according to regularities and that through
systematic investigation we can understand these regularities. The methodology of
science emphasizes the logical testing of alternate explanations of natural phenomena
against empirical data. Because science is limited to explaining the natural world by
means of natural processes, it cannot use supernatural causation in its explanations.
Similarly, science is precluded from making statements about supernatural forces,
because these are outside its provenance. Science has increased our knowledge because
of this insistence on the search for natural causes. The most important scientific
explanations are called "theories." In ordinary speech, "theory" is often used to mean
"guess," or "hunch," whereas in scientific terminology, a theory is a set of universal
statements that explain the natural world. Theories are powerful tools. Scientists seek to
develop theories that (1) are internally consistent and compatible with the evidence(2) are
firmly grounded in and based upon evidence (3) have been tested against a diverse range
of phenomena (4) possess broad and demonstrable effectiveness in problem-solving (5)
explain a wide variety of phenomena. The body of scientific knowledge changes as new
observations and discoveries are made. Theories and other explanations change. New
theories emerge and other theories are modified or discarded. Throughout this process,
theories are formulated and tested on the basis of evidence, internal consistency, and their
explanatory power.
From - An NSTA Position Statement: The Teaching of Evolution
http://www.nsta.org/handbook/evolve.asp
3. Students who do not understand the Theory of Evolution do not score as well on
college entrance exams (ACT, SAT, AP) as students who do understand the
Theory of Evolution.
Go to http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/repository/ap03_cd_biology_0405f_4312.pdf, to
view the course curriculum for AP Biology. The College Board administers the AP and
SAT exams.
Although the ACT folks do not publish a curriculum like the College Board, my (long
ago) experience, my former students, and my own children tell me that Evolution appears
on the ACT test also.
College-bound students are expected to understand the Theory of Evolution.
4. Evolution is the best explanation for the current diversity if life. It is a theory
that explains large volumes of data in geology, genetics, taxonomy, molecular
Biology, and anthropology.
As the Christian molecular Biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky wrote “Nothing in Biology
makes sense except in the light of Evolution.” Read his essay at:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/10/2/l_102_01.html