Two views
Article author: Jay Zeke Malakai
Article editor: Jay Zeke Malakai
Introduction
There is much confusion in the Creation/Evolution debate as to what it is that Creationists actually believe. In this article, I explain, compare and contrast both the Biblical Creationist view (more info) and the Evolutionist view, showing where they are similar and where they differ.
The above image displays a basic model of the views of both Evolutionists and Biblical Creationists on the origins of all the species we see on the Earth today (humans included).
On the left of the image is the Evolutionist view. The Evolutionist view is that life originated about 3.6billion years ago (this age changes frequently) in the form of prokaryotic cells ("simple" cells, like bacteria). This is represented by the single stalk of the tree. According to the view, all life on Earth is descended from this prokaryotic life, which itself originated spontaneously. Put simply, Evolutionists contend that all life on Earth shares a common ancestry. The more similar two life forms are, the more recently they diversified from a common ancestor. For example, humans and chimpanzees look very similar, so they had a very recent common ancestor, whereas humans and hippos do not look very similar, and so they evolved from a common ancestor further back in the past. Evolutionists also have a principle known as "convergent Evolution", which is when two animals that are not related (by Evolutionary assumptions) share several similarities.
According to Evolution, natural selection weeds out the individuals that are less adapted to their environment, enabling the more adapted of the species to continue to evolve. Mutations occur throughout the generations, which eventually leads to new features, like a wing or a lung. These new features provide a survival advantage, which allows them to populate their environment. For example, Evolutionists believe that land dwelling creatures evolved from fish that developped the ability to breath the air, allowing them to move onto the land.
On the right of the image, we have the Biblical Creationist view. This view is very different from the Evolutionist view. The Biblical Creationist view is that God originally created fully developed animals, much like the ones we see today, with the ability to reproduce according to their own kinds (e.g. mankind produces mankind). This is represented by the fact there are 5 trees, whereas in the Evolutionist view there is only one. This does not mean we believe there were only 5 created kinds, of course.
Contrary to popular belief, Biblical Creationists do not believe in the fixity of species, as is shown by the fact the "trees" do not go straight up, but still have branches. Rather, we believe God gave the original created kinds some limited genetic variability, allowing them to adapt to various environments. There are also a few times when the Bible says God specifically changed the design of his creatures, or the environment in which they lived. An example of this would be the fall. After Adam sinned, God modified the design of certain plants so they would grow thorns. He changed the design of the snake so that it would slither on its belly and eat dust. He modified the reproductive system of the woman so that she would bear children with difficulty. Then, of course, the biggest change would be the introduction of death into the world, whereas it did not exist pre-fall. It is also debated as to whether or not God changed the design of various animals to make them predatory, but most Biblical Creationists are wary of saying exactly when carnivory entered the world.
Another great change to the world would be the Noahic Flood, represented in this image by a line cutting through the multiple trees. Genesis 6-9 give full details of this event. As a basic summary, God caused a huge flood to completely destroy the world, killing all animals that breathed air through their nostrils. God, however, decided to spare the last Godly man on the planet, Noah, and his family (wife, three sons and their wives). He commanded Noah to build a large boat out of wood, on which he, his family, and representatives of each kind of animal would be preserved.
In the image, the left side of the stem stops at the line of the flood. This is because Noah did not have to take two of every species of animal, as is commonly claimed. In truth, he only had to take two representatives of each kind of animal. Others would have gone extinct, which is why many animals we find alive today have similar, but not identical representatives in the fossil record.
After the flood, the animals departed from the ark and spread throughout the world, where they would settle and adapt. This allows multiple species of the various kinds to exist today, however they do not diversify outside of their various kinds. As an example, a llama and an alpaca (alpaca depicted left) are slightly different creatures, however they are the same kind of animal. This means they both descended from one of the original kinds represented by the bottom of each of the 5 trees.
One of the main differences between the Evolutionist and the Creationist view is that the Evolutionist view attempts to link all the different kinds of animals together into one giant tree, whereas the Biblical Creationist view says that animals produce only their own kinds. Evolutionists claim that all life on Earth, plant or animal, shares a common ancestor, whereas Biblical Creationists believe the common ancestor of each species is an original created member of the same kind.
Another difference between Biblical Creation and Evolution is specialisation. Evolutionists believe that life can gradually get more and more complex (e.g. from bacteria to a fish), and that, given the chance and the pressure, a species can adapt to any environment. Creationists, however, believe that life deterierates and becomes more specialised. As an example, let us look at blind cave fish.
Mexican tetras, otherwise known as blind cave fish, have scar tissue, rather than eyes. Both Biblical Creationists and Evolutionists accept that, at one point in history, the ancestors of these blind cave fish most likely had eyes. Let us return to the original image. According to Evolutionists, the original ancestors of the tetras did not have any of the features that modern tetras do. They believe that a non-fish evolved into a fish with eyes, then that fish moved into a cave and lost its eyes. Biblical Creationists would agree with the latter part of the story. A tetra with eyes does, indeed, appear to be a relative of these fish. However, Biblical Creationists do not accept that a non-fish can evolve into a fish. We do not believe a creature without eyes can evolve eyes.
This puts Evolution and Biblical Creation on opposite spectrums. While both groups accept the possibility of losing features, like eyes, Evolutionists are the only ones that accept the possibility of gaining features, like eyes. In the Biblical Creationist view, the original created kinds were the "top" of the line. All possible traits that can ever exist were coded in their genes. Each generation, mutations destroy that information. This is what caused the tetras to lose their eyes. However, without breeding tetras that do not have eyes with tetras that do have eyes, blind cave fish will remain blind forever.
Evolutionists will point to almost any difference as "evidence" for their religion. That includes even the tinest change, such as the slight differences between children and their parents. As shown in this and other articles, however, these changes are insufficient to prove Evolution, and those using them as an argument are actually committing the fallacy of affirming the consequent.