Something to Think About
There is so much to think about when we are studying Evolution or Creation. Just thinking about God can take forever. There is no end to His wisdom, His power, His presence, or His love.
We can also study and think about everything God made. How does it work? How does God want us to care for it and use it?
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Below are some thoughts and questions about Evolution and Creation. You can think about these questions by yourself, and try to learn more about them. Or you can get together with others, study together, and share what you are learning. So have fun as you discover more about nature, about God, and about your place in God's Creation.
Changes in Nature
Almost everything in nature changes, almost all the time. We can say that it does evolve. Think about the weather, or the seasons. Think about birth, and growth, and death in nature. Let's look more closely at some of the changes.
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A) What can fossils tell us?
On the web, you can purchase a map of the fossils of Kansas. The cost is $5.00. Find map.
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The map gives a lot of information about the geology and history of life in Kansas over thousands of years. If you study the map, here are some things to think about.
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Read about the fossils on the back of the map. Make a list of the creatures that are probably still alive on earth today.
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How many of those creatures on the map are not alive anymore?
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How do you think that a fossil of a camel could have become buried in the rocks of Kansas? There might be a clue in what the Bible says in Genesis 1:9-10.
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How can you tell from the map that Kansas was once under water?
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Most scientists think it took millions or billions of years to form all the fossils. But if we know God, we have a better answer for how these fossils came to be buried in the rocks of Kansas. It happened even after people had been living on the earth for many years. Read about it in the Bible, in Genesis 6-8.
B) The Monarch Butterfly
The Monarch butterfly is a master of change. Very few of God's creatures go through as much change in their
lifetimes as the Mon-arch, or its relatives.
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You can learn about this on the web. Go to Study Monarchs. There you can find informa-tion to answer the questions which follow here.
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Where can we find Monarchs in the summer time?
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Make a list of all of the stages of the life of a Monarch butterfly. Tell about how long each stage lasts.
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How do you think a Monarch caterpillar (larva) first learned to make a pupa? Could it have learned this by Evolution over millions of years?
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Would a half-evolved pupa work? Would it keep evolving for thousands of years if it didn't work?
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How many generations of Monarchs are usually born each year?
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Where do Monarchs go to stay warm for the winter?
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None of the Monarchs who go south for the winter have ever been there before. How do you think they know which way to go?
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From the time it hatches in late summer, about how long does a Monarch have to live to make the trip south to keep warm, and then to head back north in the spring?
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The Monarchs that live in the middle of summer should have the best food and living conditions. They should be the most fit. But they do not survive the longest. What do you think this might tell us about the idea of survival of the fittest?
C) Two Kinds of Evolution
How much can nature evolve? Scientists disagree about the limits. They talk about two different kinds of Evolution.
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Micro Evolution is change within a certain kind of life form. The Monarch butterfly is an example. Whether it's an egg, a larva, a pupa, or a butterfly, it remains a Monarch, and does not become a new kind of creature.
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Macro Evolution is change from one kind of living form into a whole new kind. For example, scientists who believe in Evolution claim that birds evolved from dinosaurs. See Bird Evolution. This would have been a BIG change. It would have required a long time, and a lot of small changes, or "marvelous accidents."
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We know that God still uses MICRO Evolution in nature, because we can see the changes. Do you think God may have used MACRO Evolution in the process of creating? Do you think He had some dinosaurs turn into birds?
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Look at the record of Creation in Genesis 1. On what day were birds created? On what day were dinosaurs created?
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Did birds evolve from dinosaurs, according to Creation? ​Why or why not?
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Which story do you think we should believe, Evolution or Creation?
D) Does Theistic Evolution make sense?
Theistic Evolution is the idea that God may have used Evolution to create. Theos is a Greek word for God. Some Christians think that this may be the best way to explain how everything came to exist. After all, the world of science seems so certain that Evolution is the answer, even without God.
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God may have used a kind of Big Bang to form the heavens and the earth in the beginning, like it says in Genesis 1:1. But He was able to create everything from nothing. Let's think about some more questions.
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How can we tell, from the Creation story, that God did not use Macro Evolution to make all the plants and animals in existence?
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Scientists believe that new creatures were often the result of some "accidents" of nature. When a new life form is suddenly very different from its parent they call it "punctuated equilibria." See Hensel Twins on the web for an example. If Abigail or Brittany Hensel have children, do you think they will have two heads?
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Do you suppose that God would have just sat in heaven and waited for billions of years for all these "accidents" to happen so that He could enjoy life with us?
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Would God have wanted us to be formed "by accident"? Could He be sure we would have turned out like He planned?
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Evolution requires death. The less fit creatures have to die, so that the "fittest" creatures survive and pass on their abilities. Do you think God would have used death to do His creating?
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Does Theistic Evolution really make sense? Does it fit with the Bible? How "scientific" is it, really?