The Origins of Life: Debating Evolution and Divine Creation Theory
During the early ages, fossils were objects of striking form and appearance, and were usually noticed and investigated in many different periods, cultures and by different scholars. However, only within Western civilization, and only since the Renaissance, did the study of fossils and their relation to origins of life became widespread and crystallized into a set of comprehensible intellectual objectives. The discussion of the nature of fossils reached a high level of sophistication during the renaissance period as it increasingly became clear that remains of ancient life forms provided a better explanation of our origins. Yet, despite the growing interest and the potential of fossils to answer some of mankind’s biggest questions, many natural philosophers often faced significant challenges when trying to explain fossils. This is a divine creation theory essay in which the topic of fossils will be considered within Christian perspective.
According to Christian teachings, the Earth was created by God and would later face destruction during the day of final judgment. This belief meant that time is a linear and progressive variable until such a time that Jesus Christ returned to save mankind. Because Christianity was a religion created about 6000 years, considering the time that elapsed since the time of Adam and Eve to the present day, those who ascribe to Christian teachings argue that the world has only been in existence for about six millennia. However, during the Modern Age, this belief began to be questioned as it increasingly became clear that there had been civilizations, such as the Egyptians long before the birth of Jesus Christ and the biblical creation of Adam and Eve. Ancient life was evidenced by the existence of numerous fossils of ancient animals that indicated the existence of plants and animals millions of years ago. However, because many of the natural philosophers during the eras of Renaissance and Enlightenment were heavily influenced by Christian views, the realization of such fossils and their association often presented a challenge for natural philosophers. In particular, most people at the time were very heavily influenced by religious beliefs and the notion that God created the world and therefore, the fossils of ancient life forms often resulted in difficulties explaining to Christians because it challenged the belief of God as the creator of the world.
In his book, ‘Faith and Fossils: The Bible, Creation, and Evolution’, Lester Grabbe argues that the biblical accounts of mankind and the world’s origins is not logical and scientific. The author notes that although the book of Genesis and its history of mankind seems ‘evocative and meaningful, almost poetic’ it does not describe reality. Grabbe, therefore, insists that the description of the world’s creation does not indicate the existence of any advanced knowledge or being that may have had the power to create the world in a matter of days. As such, the author contends that the biblical account of humanity’s origins is not only limited and ineffective in explaining the natural occurrence of life but the ‘Hebrew encounter with God that occurs within that thought world,’ is contradictory.
The claims are also supported by Howard Van Till, in his book, The fourth day: What the Bible and the Heavens are telling us about the Creation, who provides compelling evidence indicating that the world was already in existence long before the biblical narrative occurred. With only about 6000 years of history, many findings of ancient animal fossils and accompanying studies have shown the world and life existed millions of years ago. As such, given the strength of this evidence, it is clear that one would need highly compelling and powerful evidence from a biblical pint of view to challenge prove the idea that the earth was truly created by God. Yet, despite the clear evidence and strong scientific support for the theory of evolution, many natural philosophers still struggled to explain the association between fossils and prehistoric existence of life to Christians.
Horacio Capel attributed this argument to the fact that the essential effort of many scientists during this period was largely directed towards a rational interpretation of scriptures. Although natural philosophers understood the limitations of the biblical creation theory, they often sought to make interpretations that could be integrated into the biblical narrative, as it was essential for maintaining the Christian world view at the time.
One of the earliest philosophers to examine the issue of fossils was Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) who sought to answer how most petrified remains of ancient life forms were mostly found in odd places such as mountains. Da Vinci answered this question by correctly interpreting the biologic nature of fossil mollusks as well as their sedimentary matrix. One of the key challenges faced by natural philosophers at the time was the need to prove the existence of ancient life forms that would resemble the fossils found. Da Vinci succeeded in answering this question by taking into consideration the invertebrate ichnofossils to prove the nature and origins of fossils. He argued that ichnofossils played a key role in demonstrating not only the organic nature of petrified remains of ancient aquatic life forms, but also the sedimentary origin of the rock layers in which fossils were found.
Andrea Baucon notes that da Vinci described the hills around Piacenza and Parma as key examples that demonstrated the source of the abundant mollusks and bored corals that were found attached to the rocks. Da Vinci noted that ‘When I was working on the great horse in Milan, certain peasants brought me a huge bagful of them’. In essence, despite the lack of evidence physical evidence indicating the existence of the ancient life forms, the fossil borings enabled da Vinci to refute the inorganic theory, because the remains acted as a trace of movements of the ancient life forms which were consumed in the same manner as other life forms once they were extinct.
On the other hand, Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680), another natural philosopher at the time, held that fossils were merely games of nature produced by the force that nature has of making stones (the vis lapidifica) and requiring no further explanation. In particular, a growing number of scholars at the time believed that like stones, fossils were simply products of nature and therefore did not require further explanation or investigation. As such, Kircher believed that fossils were of inorganic origin and that they were symbols of an unchanging order of the earth. Paula Findlen attributed this line of thought to the church’s powerful influence at the time which played a key role in preventing scholars from challenging the creation theory.
This was evidenced in the explanations provided by other natural philosophers such as John Woodward (1665-1728) who believed that fossils were remains of ancient life forms affected by the great floods. While his view did not refute the organic theory, Woodward faced a significant challenge when it came to explaining why and how most of the fossils were found deep in rocks and not on the surface. For instance, although his theory acknowledged that fossils were remains of ancient life forms produced in large water bodies, Nicholas Jardine noted that Woodward’s theory failed to provide enough evidence demonstrating how most fossils were found buried in rocks.
Additionally, Francis Bacon (1561-1626), despite believing in scientific explanations of life and its origins still faced several significant challenges when dealing with Christians. Bacon believed that if rocks and animals were studied, scientists and anthologists could be able to make better observations and compare findings from different parts to make better conclusions about human history. According to Bacon, fossils seemed to be the remains of plants or animals that once lived but were buried in rocks as a result of continental changes. In particular, Bacon believed that the fossils were once animals or plants at the bottom of large water bodies that are now occupied by land.
However, due to the strong Christian world view during the 16th and 17th centuries, Bacon’s views on fossils and the possibility of humanity’s past before the biblical narrative could not be accepted by many. During this period, Christianity and the relationship with God was often used to define everything, including the earth’s origin. Ernst Mayr notes that attempts to challenge the Christian world view was often faced with great resistance as it not only went against one’s belief but it was also a sign of disrespect to the authorities. This issue could be attributed to the fact that law and governance were largely influenced by the church and therefore, challenging the biblical narrative or human origin was akin to disobeying the authority. This argument suggests that even though Bacon had a great scientific idea, his ability to explain and communicate his ideas to the largely Christian audience at the time was highly limited. As a result of the difficulties and risks involved, most natural philosophers at the time often directed their efforts towards providing rational interpretations that could be integrated into scripture.
Similarly, Robert Hooke (1635-1703) who was one of the earliest proponents of the organic fossil theory noted that species that became instinct were buried in rocks as they died indicating that their age can be ordered based on the number of layers of rocks they are buried in. The key point according to Hooke is that fossils are remains of once-living organisms and that even though their burial tend to occur in odd places within the earth’s crust, it can be clarified by the dislocation of land and sea that occur as a result of earthquakes. However, despite his compelling argument as to how fossils occur, Hooke increasingly lost support from people because his theory challenged the biblical notion of God as the creator of all life and that there was no life before Adam and Eve. In general, Hooke’s ideas and the fact that dating fossils found under rocks could suggest the existence of life before the start of the biblical narrative was seen as a threat to the dominant Christian world view at the time. As a result, he gradually lost support from the general public because he not only challenged their Christian faith but those who accepted his arguments also risked the wrath of the authorities.
In conclusion, according to traditional Christian teachings, the Earth and all living things in it were created by God. This belief effectively means that the Earth was created about 6000 years, considering the time that has elapsed since the era of Adam and Eve. However, with the findings of fossil remains of prehistoric life forms such as dinosaurs, the creationism theory increasingly faced a number of challenges as it could not explain how such life forms existed before God created the world. Although the evolution theory is widely accepted today, many natural philosophers during the 16th to 18th century faced many challenges when attempting to convince the general public. This challenge could be attributed to the dominant Christian world view about divine creation theory at the time and lack of adequate knowledge.
