Evolving - repost

The subject of evolution is a fascinating one. It was 150 years ago that Darwin first proposed his theory. Not that this was necessarily a new idea, but his contribution was more in the way of explaining the process of Natural Selection – essentially as I understand it – small mutations occur within species, some of these may be advantageous to the species and so the process of Natural Selection generally favours the mutations which give the alleged advantage. Apparently over time (large amounts of time), and many many mutations, one
species will become or will mutate into another species. In this way all forms of plant and animal life have evolved from a primordial soup and over billions and billions of years. 150 years ago, Darwin himself noted a problem in that the fossil record does not show evidence of these mutations.


Has there been much progress since then? Certainly there has. There have been many more fossils that have been discovered – with over 250 million catalogued fossils. However what about the variations in the fossil record – the missing links? These are still missing! The fossil record has abrupt transitions and offers no support for gradual change. So, a theory of major creative episodes; abrupt speciation, known as punctuated equilibrium - is proposed to account for the fossil record as it exists. I think that this theory does two things. It recognizes that Darwin’s theory is in fact wrong. It moves a little towards the concept of intelligent design. Certainly with intelligent design species would appear abruptly. However, there are still major issues with punctuated equilibrium. It is very unlikely that it can be expanded to explain larger systematic gaps – for example between a land mammal and a whale. It is even more of a miracle than Darwin’s theory to believe that these changes can occur with the abrupt appearance of a new species.

I read a bit about these subjects and find them fascinating. I am by no means an expert, wouldn’t even consider myself an amateur. But I wonder sometimes how with the lack of evidence and in some cases despite opposing evidence, how do theories still abound. In fact I see much information that expounds evolution as a fact, not simply a theory. I think that evolution requires a belief in miracles and postulate that it requires more faith to believe in evolution than it does to believe in a Creator.

So, what led to this note. The other day, at the worksite, I climbed up on scaffolding to inspect some of the workmanship. A ladder wasn’t in the immediate vicinity so I found a place to climb up. No problem, struggled a bit on the way up, but I got there. Thought to myself this would have been much easier if I were a monkey, chimpanzee or one of my closer relatives (ie Duane). Why did I give up those characteristics that would be of advantage to me right now? I climbed around a bit and looked at stuff. Finally, decided I was done and time to go down. Looked where I came up and decided I wasn’t going to go down there. Looked around and didn’t see a ladder or any other place that I thought was suitable to climb down. In a flash, I thought oh oh, I’m stuck. Mused to myself, just like a cat in a tree – so, exactly what branch did I come from anyway. Where is that fossil record with all those branches and mutations.

A little smirk came across my face. After all, I have just enough faith to believe in the miracle of creation, but not enough to believe in the miracle of evolution.