Adam Malooly

Creaton or Evoluton or both?

The debate over creaton versus evoluton is as longstanding as any debate. The nature
of man, why we are here and how we came to be is as pressing an issue as any. Was there a
creator? Or, have we evolved from a common lineage and from single celled organisms. Im not
completely solid on where I stand on it all as of yet.
I was raised in a Christan family going to church and Sunday school learning the stories
from the bible like most other American kids of my generaton. You trust and you take them to
be the truth as you would when trustng adults. In fact I teach Sunday school now, and I think
the stories are part of our culture, part of our heritage, and to just throw that away would be
foolish. I am stll a Christan today and I try to model my life, as much as I can, afer the
teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. I believe theyre not only the fnal word, I think theyre just
good and right for us as humans and as individuals. So thats what I believe, how does that
relate to my view on the creaton of the known galaxy? Its a complicated queston and I dont
have all the answers, and I dont think anyone does. To quote St Augustne The older I became,
the more shameful it was that I retained so much vanity as to be unable to think any substance
possible other than that which the eyes normally perceive (Confessions p.111) I have a similar
belief today.
How can I, when looking at the complexites of the universe and the complexity of even
our lone planet, say that I have all the answers? How can I say that the science that I know is
apodictc fact? If I say what I believe, I must say that I believe in intelligent design. What about
science, what about the theories of evoluton and the facts that Charles Darwins Origin of
Adam Malooly

Species and other theories similar like Michael Behes Biochemical challenge and modifcaton
to Evoluton in Darwins Black Box. Lots of people have a lot of diferent answers and a lot of
diferent facts to get us to those conclusions. For me, I arrive at the conclusion of intelligent
design with a blend of logic, and of open-mindedness to both sides. I believe in intelligent
design, but the details get a bit fuzzy for me afer that. I think that this universe is too balanced
and intricate to be brought around by luck. I cant bring myself to believe that we were just a
cosmic accident. Do I not want to believe that? Probably, but something in my gut, and the guts
of I would say the majority in the world believes otherwise.
I think that natural selecton is a real thing. If you can call this evoluton than sure, I
believe in a form of evoluton. Within a species populaton, there are genetc variances and
these variances can be passed down through a generaton. Did we all evolve from single celled
organisms? I dont think so. DNA is such a funny thing we are only frst startng to understand.
We have successfully mapped the human genome, but in no way have we completely
interpreted it. Weve argued about the missing link for decades and weve found some clues
here and there but nothing really concrete, so again its a hypothesis. Was the earth created in
a literal 7 days? Or was that an interpretaton of tme relevant to the early readers of the
text/oral history. We base all of this informaton on humans interpretaton of a text thats
thousands of years old. What if God is outside of tme, and what if his 7 days is thousands,
maybe millions, of years to us? C.S. Lewis a famous Christan apologist and theologian
wondered if we indeed did have pre-human ancestors, did they then evolve to a point where
they had the capacity to begin reasoning. Perhaps God then endowed them with ability to
discern between right and wrong at that point. These are all possibilites.
Adam Malooly

There are certain unanswered questons in scripture. Where did dinosaurs come from?
Scripture actually talks about a Behemoth and a Leviathan in Job 40 & 41. In Genesis 1:21
God creates the beasts of the sea. The Hebrew word for whale is Tanniyn which also
translates into dragon, sea monster, or venomous snake depending on the translaton.
Some may say its a stretch, but do we really know? How can you explain dinosaur bones in the
ground? Its such a complicated issue and I feel like the answers lie somewhere in between.
Does the theory that the earth is billions of years old disprove the existence of a creator?
I dont think it does, and conversely I dont think that the theory of a created world disproves
the theory that the world is billions of years old.
Scientsts use radio carbon datng, and Im not sold on its true validity yet. Its analysis of
rate of decay of certain isotopes assumes the history of those isotopes based on speculaton.
Its not an exact science, and therefore should not be accepted as an implied scientfc fact, but
instead as a hypothesis or theory. Every group of people who hold a certain belief look for ways
to prove it and when they fnd it they follow it unquestoningly, this is as true about spirituality
as it about science. I would go even as far as to say that science proves everything is a
philosophy in and of itself. We have recently uncovered the Boston-Higgs partcle, and I would
argue that this is proof that there is stll more out there than we understand and putng a
chemical formula or strictly ataching a spiritual explanaton to something does not answer it
completely. The universe is currently outside our realm of complete understanding. I would
also say that thats ok. From the Christan perspectve I think there are things that we cant
explain in our world, and thats ok. Science advances and the principles and the morality
behind humanity should contnue to strive to improve in all aspects.
Adam Malooly

The former head of the Human Genome Project Francis Collins, also an evangelical
Christan has started a website called Biologos.org with the goal of bringing the scientfc
community and the Christan community together. It was defnitely worth taking a look at and
will be involved in my search for wisdom and understanding.
The words of the bible dont change, but our interpretaton of them does to some
degree. I believe the same is true within the felds of science and the philosophy of scientfc
reasoning. To coin a phrase, How many licks does it take to get to the center of the tootsie
pop? The world may never know. As for believing in God? Id rather take the chance that
Im right, and be no worse for wear, than take the chance that Im wrong and end up being
wrong, and deal with the implied consequences of that. Logic dictates that I choose the former
rather than the later.














Adam Malooly

Sources

St. Augustne. "A Neoplatonic Quest." Confessions. Trans. Henry Chadwick. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. 111.
Print.
"Tanniyn." BibleStudyTools.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2013.