Old Earth Creationsm vs. Theistic Evolution

"Evolution"and "theistic evolution" defined Themodern-day theory of evolution, sometimes referred to as neo-Darwinism, hasfour parts. 1.Organic evolution, the composite of macro- and microevolution, occurs. In otherwords, the creatures we see today are descendants of other species that changedover time. 2.This change occurs through the gradual genetic transformation of populations ofspecies over a vast period of time. 3.Speciation, or the rise of a new species through the splitting of a single geneticlineage into two, occurs. 4.Natural selection plays a large part in the afore-mentioned processes.(1)" "Theistic evolution is the same as neo-Darwinism, except that it also teaches that adeity was involved to some unknown extent in the process. As I mentioned in thecomments, this deity could have 1) wound the whole system up and let it run or2) started it up and intervened here and there or 3) guided the entire processfrom the start to finish." Evidence for evolution There is an overwhelming amount of evidence supporting the theory of evolution. Iwill be presenting only a brief overview. The fossil record "Within the fossil record we find a progression of simple to complex fossils, with thesimplest being found in the oldest rock and the most complex being found in themost newly formed. To provide just one example, I quote an article from Bayloruniversity:" “Mammals,for example, are prevalent today and can be traced back in the fossil recordfor approximately 200 million years, but are not present as mammals in thefossil record before that; however, fossil forms that have reasonably beeninterpreted to be associated with the evolutionary precursors to mammals arefound in older rocks.”(2) This is exactly what the theory of evolution would predict. Similarities between the living creatures of a region and the fossils present in the sameregion. Darwin observed that the species that live in a region closely resemble the fossils ofextinct species found in the same region. This suggests that the livingcreatures are descendants of the fossilized creatures."(3) There are many other examples of different organismsappearing abruptly and fully formed in the fossil record. For example, thefirst bats, pterosaurs, and birds were fully fledged flyers. This photograph(below) of the Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon, shows that bats werealways bats.[4] http://pt.wikipedia.org... Paleochiropteryx tupaidon is one of the 'oldest’ (by evolutionary reckoning) fossil bats. It was found in the Messel oil shale pit near Darmstadt, Germany, and is ‘dated’ between 48 and 54 millionyears old. It clearly had fully developed wings, and its inner ear had the same construction as those of modern bats, showing that it had full sonar equipment.[4] Another example are turtles. They are well designed and specialized group of reptiles, with a distinctive shell protecting the body’s vital organs. “The ‘oldest known sea turtle’ was a fully formed turtle, not at all transitional. It had a fully developed system for excreting salt, without which a marine reptile would quickly dehydrate. This isshown by skull cavities which would have held large salt-excreting glands around the eyes.” (Ren Hirayama, Oldest Known SeaTurtle, Nature 392(6678):705–708, 16 April 1998; comment by Henry Gee, p. 651, same issue.) All 32 mammal orders appear abruptly and fully formed in the fossil record. The evolutionist paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson wrote in 1944: “The earliest and most primitive members of every order already have the basicordinal characters, and in no case is an approximately continuous series fromone order to another known. In most cases the break is so sharp and the gap solarge that the origin of the order is speculative and much disputed.”[4] Vestigial organs and behaviors "There are many vestigial organs and behaviors that can be found in nature. Theaccepted definition for vestigial organs among the scientific community is organs or structures remaining or surviving in a degenerate, atrophied, or imperfect condition or form." Examples include the wings of flightless birds, the sexual organs of the dandelion, the erector pili and body hair of humans, the eyes of blind fish and human wisdom teeth, among others.(5) Thereis absolutely no reason why God would give these creatures such features or the DNA to develop them later on." Why would these be such a bad feature to living organisms? Con needed to show the BoP for all these supposed “useless” vestigial organs that existed in present organisms today. How does Con know that Vestigial organs can’t be a sort of “back-up” organ for living organisms today? How is human body hair not useful? Body hair wicks away sweat, and can keep people warm. I am not going to go through and explain all the examples he gave, but I would like to rebut his example of the Human Wisdom teeth. According to a British anthropologist by the name of Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel at the University of Kent in England[2], examined 11 different people groups around the globe––six were agriculturalists and five engaged in a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.[3] The food that made up the diet of these two broad categories varies significantly in consistency. Hunter-gatherers eat food that is raw, requiring longer and more intense bouts of chewing. Agriculturalistseat much softer food. Research reveals that the jaw shape and size differs, depending on the means of subsistence. People who consume a soft diet (typified by an agriculturalist lifestyle) have shorter, broader jaws. Those who consume a hunter-gatherer diet exhibit longer, narrower jaws. The longer, narrower jaws of hunter-gatherers readily accommodate wisdom teeth. Conversely, wisdom teeth don’t easily fit into the mouths of people with shorter, broader jaws.[3] This result indicates that, fundamentally, the human jaw is designed to house wisdom teeth. For most of human history peopleemployed a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and impacted wisdom teeth and associated ailments were likely not present. It was only when humans implemented wide-scale agricultural practices that wisdom teeth caused problems. Still, shorter, broader jaws weren’t inevitably a problem. Without dental care until very recently, people throughout human history lost teeth. This tooth loss would provide room for wisdom teeth. And, of course, having replacement molars was welcome at a time when tooth loss was common.[3] Such advances take the teeth out of another evolutionary argument while sharpening the case for purposeful design. [3] "Imperfect designs There are many imperfect designs in humans and other creatures. To give just one ofmany possible examples, evolutionary biologist Jerry A. Coyne points out the" bad design of the recurrent laryngeal nerve--a nerve that runs from the brain tothe larynx, helping us speak and swallow. In mammals, this nerve doesn't take adirect route but descends into the chest, loops around the aorta near theheart, and then runs back up the larynx. It is several times longer than it needs to be.(6) Why would God create humans in a finished condition with such an imperfect feature? I am not sure how Con would think this would be a bad thing. So what if their RLN is longer than a human beings nerve. In fact Michael Egnor a neurosurgeon, has suggested that the RLN may have a medical function which gives the organism a warning that it is sick, and needs to healfrom an internal infection or disease originating in the chest area. “There is actually a design advantage to the course of the recurrent nerves, if onewishes to pursue this line of argumentation. The course of the nerves brings them through the mediastinum, where the heart and lungs meet. There are many lymph nodes there, and enlargement of these lymph nodes from processes such as cancer or infection (e.g. tuberculosis) often irritates these nerves and causes hoarseness or coughing. The course of the nerves reveals disease in anotherwise hidden part of the body (deep in the chest) by interfering with a process (speech) that is readily evident. It serves as an early warning to get medical care (or, with infectious diseases, as a warning to others that this person is ill), and this early warning has saved many more lives than theredundant course of the nerves has cost lives. The risk/benefit ratio needs to be examined comprehensively before one claims that the course of the nerves is biologically disadvantageous.”[1] This shows that God cares for animals. It would make sense that he would make something for them to alert someone or something to let them know that there is something wrong going on inside their body. Sources: [1]http://www.evolutionnews.org... [2] http://www.livescience.com... [3] http://www.reasons.org... [4] http://creation.com... Conclusion: We can conclude that we see small changes within differentkinds of organisms(Microevolution). But what we don’t see is a hugeextrapolation from one kind to another(Macroevolution). I would like to againthank Con for having this debate with me.