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Creation of the world (-4004 to -4004)

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Creation of the world Public Domain Painted by Michelangelo

Different views of how it all began

There are more or less accepted explanations about the origin of the world and the life today like:

- Big bang theory: Origin of the universe beginning with a big bang.
- Evolution theory: Is a description of the emergence of the species, which began with the emergence of life.  

It is claimed by many scientists that these theories are conclusive and coherent descriptions of the origin of the universe and the world.  

Beside it, however, above theories are doubted or rejected by (growing) parts of the population. They are mostly religiously inspired groups from the Abrahamic religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam. At Timeline-Of-Humanity we will explain the views of those groups but limit ourselves to the Christian point of view and explanation approaches. These are:

- Theistic evolution: this is a range of views that seek to unite religious faith and scientific theories on the origin of life.
- Young Erarth Creationism: Is the attempt to explain the origin of life based on the biblical story of creation. Thereby a final age of some thousand years and the existence of a Flood is postulated.

With all above views it must be stated in principle that nobody was present when everything came into being. Therefore all findings like excavations (fossils) or rock layers can be seen factually but interpreted just differently.  The interpretation is actually the crucial point: Because here it depends on the world view of the investigating person or scientist.

In the following points we will go into how the (Young Earth-)Creatinist perspective of the creation of the world is presented.

The theory of evolution has prevailed (1)

The theory of evolution has prevailed Public Domain Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck (1744-1829), one of the first notable evolutionary theorists.

The theory of evolution explains the origin of life without God's creation or intervention. Why the theory of evolution has become generally accepted is because for the explanation of the origin of the life no creating God is needed. Everything can be explained also in such a way, because the further development arose according to the evolution theory by selection and mutation or the superiority of the fittest. An important founder of the theory of evolution was Charles Darwin.

After the theory of evolution became accepted from the 19th century, universities and museums began to build up their teaching and display contents accordingly. In scientific magazines, other points of view were and are no longer endorsed (peer review).

As with many theories, which are constantly repeated and propagated, gradually in the collective consciousness of the people the assumption consolidates to the truth. Today, the theory of evolution is essentially regarded as a fact and the big bang theory as a logical prerequisite of evolution. The theory is no longer fundamentally questioned, although creationists believe there are good reasons to do so. Creationists are not taken seriously in the established media, their reasons are hardly examined or then dismissed with superficial arguments.

Sometimes creationists are even met with mockery and hate. At Timeline-Of-Humanity we will describe the most important arguments of the creationists and document them with videos. It is then up to the visitor to make up his own mind.

 Reasons why the theory of evolution has prevailed in the mainstream.

  • Brainwashing  
    If an idea or ideology is propagated again and again and is never questioned in the media in principle and this over generations, then finally everyone assumes that this is the truth. This phenomenon can be observed not only with the theory of evolution, but also with other topics in general.
     
  • Peer Reviews
    In leading scientific magazines, which set the tone in science, contributions from creationists are usually rejected. This is ensured by the peer reviewers who check and approve scientific publications before they are published. It is a career killer for scientists at universities if they represent the view of creationists. 
     
  • No research funds for creationists
    Since the research of the creationists is not taken seriously, they normally do not receive any research funds from the states.

Did dinosaurs and humans live at the same time? (2)

Did dinosaurs and humans live at the same time? Public Domain Tyrannosaurus fossil

Many evolutionists believe that dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago. Creationists assume that creation was destroyed by the Flood and that only the animal species living on land, not genera, were saved along with humans by Noah's Ark. Dinosaurs, therefore, also survived the Flood, but gradually became extinct as a result of post-Flood climate change and human hunting. The term "dinosaur" was first introduced in 1842 by Richard Owen an anatomist and means "terrible lizard." The reasons creationists give for the contemporaneous life of dinosaurs and humans are as follows:

  • There are many traditions of dragons around the world
    It is no secret that dragons are reported in very many cultures worldwide. These stories are dismissed today with pleasure (even if little convincingly) as myths. Partly, however, the descriptions of the ancestors are so detailed that one can actually assign them to dinosaurs.
     
  • Soft tissues found in dinosaur remains
    During excavations of tyrannosaur remains, tissue and even blood cells were actually found. Dr. Schweitzer a leading paleontologist could not believe this at first. In fact, it is inconceivable that animal tissue could be preserved for over 65 million years. For creationists this is indeed a "smoking gun" and seems to be a big problem for the supporters of the theory of evolution.

The fantastic Big Bang theory (3)

The fantastic Big Bang theory Public Domain Big Bang Simulation

The earth is estimated to be 4.54 billion years old, plus or minus about 50 million years, according to many scientists. The age of the entire universe is estimated at 13.8 billion years. Besides the "Big Bang" theory there are numerous other theories how the universe and the earth could have been created. With impressive documentations based on sophisticated simulations one can form a narrative. Whether all this is true, however, one can really prove. Mankind will always poke there in the fog and make explanation attempts.

It is an indisputable fact that the earth is exactly the right distance from the sun. If it were not, the world would not be habitable because it is too cold or too hot. The moon stabilizes the rotation of the earth and prevents it from rotating too fast.

Also with the moon the correct distance to the earth is decisive for the life. How exactly the moon was formed, there are various theories but we humans do not really know. What we do know is that the moon moves away from the earth by about 3.8 centimeters per year.

Missing Links (4)

Missing Links Public Domain Archeopteryx Berlin Specimen

The creationist view regarding evolution is the following. God has created different fish, insects, birds, reptiles, mammals etc.. These animals have in principle similar "blueprints" and from these also different kinds can develop further. So for example also different finches, as Darwin described them. This is called microevolution. The so-called macroevolution that is the further development of a fish to a reptile or a dinosaur to a bird or last but not least the further development of the ape to the human being reject the creationists.

As reasons the following arguments are added by creationists:

  • There are no convincing fossil findings, which prove perfectly that these are transitional forms. If this would be true, one would have to find countless transitional forms. But this is not done. If something is found that could be interpreted in this way, like for example the Archaeopteryx, one can also derive an extinct animal species from it, even if these have characteristics of dinosaurs and birds.
     
  • The idea that living beings have developed from selection and mutation is attackable, because how could a bird have developed. After all, it could never have evolved to fly over generations because, as an imperfect bird, it would have become easy prey for other predators.
     
  • An argument of the evolutionists that there were lower and higher developed animals in different rock layers can be observed but is interpreted differently by creationists. They say by the Flood the water rose rapidly and the higher developed animals could flee rather and then perished in a later phase by the flood and were petrified so. This epochal flood has also led to the fact that many animals were just surprised, what numerous fossilizations prove.

Evidence for a young earth (5)

Evidence for a young earth Public Domain Magnetosphere

Rapidly decaying magnetic field

From the creationists' point of view, there is evidence that life on Earth cannot be very old. The earth is surrounded by a magnetic field that protects all living beings from solar radiation. Without the magnetic field there would be no life. Now it is so that the magnetic field decreases surprisingly fast.

Since measurements began in 1845, the total energy stored in the Earth's magnetic field has decreased at a rate of 5 percent per century. Various archaeological measurements showed that the field was 40 percent stronger in 1000 AD. Recent records from the International Geomagnetic Reference Field show a net energy loss of 1.4 percent in just three decades (1970-2000). This means that the energy of the field halves about every 1,465 years. If the rate of decay has always been this way, then life could not have begun millions of years ago. Creationists believe that the Earth's magnetic field is caused by a decaying electric current in the Earth's core and naturally decays, losing energy.

Too little salt in the sea

Each year the continents add 458 million tons to the oceans and 122 million tons go away. If the ocean had been saltless at first, today's salinity would have been reached in 42 million years. If the oceans have existed for three billion years, then the salinity would clearly have to be much higher than it actually is today.

These assumptions do not take into account the possibility that God created a saltwater ocean for marine life. Likewise, that the year-long Flood poured large amounts of salt into the ocean through erosion, sedimentation, and volcanism. So today's ocean salinity fits very well into the biblical time scale of about 6000 years.

How old is mankind (6)

How old is mankind Public Domain Origin of mankind according to main-stream science

According to evolutionary theory, hominins first appeared about 6 million years ago, in the Miocene, which ended about 5.3 million years ago. The evolutionary path then continued through the Pilocene, the Pleistocene, and finally into the Holocene, which began about 12,000 years ago. Homo sapiens (modern humans) emerged about 300,000 to 200,000 years ago, probably in Africa, and Homo Neanderthalensis emerged about the same time in Europe and western Asia.

There is general consensus among scholars that the earliest form of writing emerged about 5,500 years ago in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Early pictographic signs were gradually replaced by a complex system of signs representing the sounds of Sumerian (the language of Sumer in southern Mesopotamia) and other languages.

The creationists believe that the earth is only about 6000 years old. If the modern man would be really about 300'000 years old, then one would have to find much more excavations. One finds also no perfectly assignable proofs which are much earlier than the invention of the writing. By the Flood before (perhaps) before 2348 BC would have taken place anyway no remains more available, since by this disaster everything was extinguished.

How life comes into being and passes away again. (7)

How life comes into being and passes away again. Public Domain DNA, the molecule containing the genetic instructions for the development and functioning of living organisms

Genesis 2:7 describes it this way: "Then the Lord God formed man of the ground from the soil and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Thus man became a living being."

Science cannot convincingly explain how a (dead) matter can be filled with life. This means we could technically clone a human being and he will live but how life originally came into the world is a matter of speculation. Creationists bring the Creator into play here. Through his act of creation, life came into being and continues to come into being.

Butterfly
How life is transformed can also be seen in the example of a caterpillar which becomes a butterfly through pupation. From the creationists' point of view, this is an example of how God has arranged life. From the evolutionist point of view, the process of pupation and the total transformation into a butterfly cannot be explained convincingly.

 

Embedded Videos

Does the Bible Mesh with What We Know about History?

Origins: What's the Biblical Age of the Earth?

The Language of DNA

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (full movie)

Dragons or Dinosaurs? - Darek Isaacs (part 1)

Dragons or Dinosaurs? - Darek Isaacs (part 2)

Dinasours and the Bible

Dinosaurs, Dragons, and the Bible Part 1

Dinosaurs, Dragons, and the Bible Part 2

Millions of Years

Science Confirms a Young Earth

NASA engineer says big bang theory is NOT true

The Failure of Darwins's Theory

Was Lucy an Ape or Man?

Was Archaeopteryx a Bird or a Dinosaur? - Dr. Todd Wood

The Missing Links in the Fossil Record

Scientific Evidence for a Young World - Dr. Russell Humphreys, Ph.D.

Mathematical Challenges to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

The Butterfly Enigma

Behold the Fowls

How life began on earth

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