Download Man and His Destiny

CONCEPTS OF ORIGINS
Cosmology is the field of study
that looks at how the universe
came into being, why it looks as it
does now, and what the future of
the Universe holds.
Cosmologists make astronomical
observations of the Universe in an
attempt to deduce theories that
describe how the Universe works
using the mathematical tools of
modern physics and the
observational tools of modern
astronomy. Thus, cosmology might
be thought of as a hybrid field of
astronomy and physics
3 major tasks in the field of
cosmology:
1. to understand how galaxies evolved
from the earliest times to the
present;
2. to refine and extend the scale of
cosmic distances; and
3. to test fundamental theories of the
expanding universe.
According to Aristotle,
philosophy begins with a sense
of wonder about the world, and
the most profound question a
man can ask concerns the origin
of the universe.[
The most basic question of life:
Why is there something rather
than nothing?
Leibniz answered this question by
arguing that something exists
rather than nothing because a
necessary being exists which
carries within itself its reason for
existence and is the sufficient
reason for the existence of all
contingent being. He identified the
necessary being as God..
Belief System Age of the
Universe in
Years
Young Earth Under 10,000
Creation
Science
Theistic
Billions
Evolution
Naturalistic Billions
Evolution
Old Earth
Billions
Creation
Science
Biological
Evolution
happened?
No
Evolution
driven by
God?
N/A *
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
N/A *
* N/A" Not applicable because they do not believe in evolution.
Thus God did not drive it.
More detailed descriptions of each belief
system: (Based on a Gallup Organization poll
conducted during 1997.)
Young Earth Creation Science: (44% public
support; 5% support among scientists generally;
0.15% support among earth and life scientists). 1
God created the universe during 6 consecutive 24
hour days, less than 10,000 years ago. God rested
on the seventh day. All of the various "kinds" of
animals that are present on earth today (and those
kinds like dinosaurs which once existed but are
now extinct) are all descendants of the animals
that God created during days in creation week.
Theistic evolution: (39% support). The
universe is over 10 billion years old; the
earth's crust developed almost 4 billion years
ago. God caused the first living cell to
appear. Humans evolved out of lower forms
of life under the direct guidance of God. God
steered evolution, at least to some degree, as
a mechanism to guide the development of
new species.
Naturalistic evolution: (10% support).
Same beliefs as for theistic evolution, except
that God is assumed to have played no part in
the processes. Evolution was driven by purely
natural forces.
Old earth creation science: (Under 7%
public support) 1They believe that each "day"
in Genesis may have been much longer than
24 hours; others believe that there were very
long gaps between one or more of the "days."
Young earth creation scientists: These comprise
about 0.15% of all earth and life scientists. Most are
Evangelical Christians who believe that:
• the world is less than 10 thousand years of age.
• all of the "kinds" of animals that ever lived were created
during creation week.
• a worldwide flood in the time of Noah wiped out all humans,
except for the 8 people on board Noah's ark.
• all of the land animals similarly drowned, except for the 2 or
7 pairs of each species who were lucky enough to get a ride
on the ark.
• the earth's life forms have never evolved. For example, God
created dinosaurs along with the other animals; they coexisted
with humans on earth until they died off and became extinct.
But minor changes within a "kind" have happened.
Theistic and Naturalistic Evolutionists Almost all
scientists who are not fundamentalist or evangelical
Christians believe that:
•the world coalesced about 4.5 billion years ago.
•the earth developed a crust about 3.9 billion years
ago.
•crude, primitive forms of life appeared shortly
thereafter.
•species have been evolving ever since.
•dinosaurs became extinct many tens of millions of
years ago, long before the first humans evolved.
Old Earth creation scientists: Some Christians
believe:
•The world was created by God billions of years ago.
•God created all of the kinds of animals over a
relatively short period, as described in Genesis.
•Kinds of animals are fixed. No new ones are being
created. But minor changes within a kind have
happened.
•Dinosaurs were created not long before humans, but
became extinct.
Can science determine the age of
the earth accurately?
Science will never be able to prove
absolutely that the world is over
10,000 years old. Collecting
countless pieces of evidence for an
"old earth", is supportive of their
theory, but is not proof.
Creationists can simply counter
scientists' arguments.
The heavens still declare the glory
of God, and yes, God's invisible
attributes are clearly seen from
God's creation. But to hear what
the heavens declare and to see
what the creation makes
manifest, we need to get rid of our
metaphysical blinders.
FAITH