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Revision as of 14:43, April 17, 2007
Template:POV-check Evolutionism is the term used by the pro-Creation side of the debate on the origins of life to describe the what they see as the philosophical views of those who favor evolution and scientific proof of an old Earth. Evolutionist is the term for a supporter of Evolutionism and both terms are rarely used by the pro-Evolution side to refer to themselves. These terms can be used in a pejorative fashion.
In the United States, 99.8% of U.S. biologists are of the opinion that the Theory of Evolution is the most credible theory explaining the variety of life on Earth and as such are called evolutionists by the pro-Creation side. [1]
Broken down into two categories, "Evolutionism" and "Evolutionists" usually involve Atheistic/Agnostic Evolutionists (evolution without God) and Theistic Evolutionists (evolution with God). Those categories can be further broken down, but they are the main two.
The word is used differently in different circles of thought. Generally Young Earth Creationists use it as a reference to what they believe is the worldview or presupposition aspect of the scientific theory of evolution. The term is not necessarily used as a worldview unto itself, but is more based off of and is possibly an extension of a variety of other worldviews including Materialism, Naturalism[2], and Humanism in its broadest sense. Many that hold to the theory of evolution have been known to be atheists as well, but this does not represent the entirety or whole.
- "Evolutionism is a world-view, which seeks to explain every aspect of this world in which we live. It encompasses a wide variety of topics, from astronomy to chemistry to biology. At its core, it teaches that there were different stages in the evolution of our universe..."[3]
Contents
Theistic Evolution
Theistic Evolutionists believe that God created the universe and did not intervene directly in the evolutionary process. In general, theistic evolutionists accept the
Foundational question/starting point
All the viewpoints take a step of faith as some might refer to it. In other words, there is a common starting point or foundational question (it's a God-related question) that each one asks, and then forms their conclusions around.
According to biblical Creationists (Young Earth)
God exists (worldview) > Therefore we need to explain everything based on that "fact" > Thus science is altered based on the "God exists" idea
Creationism comes before the Scientific Theory of Creation. The theory is based on the worldview.
According to biblical Theistic Evolutionists (Old Earth)
There is disagreement among Theistic Evolutionists, as not all hold that God is not involved presently in His creation.
Impersonal Evolutionist God
There is no personal/involved God (worldview) > Therefore we need to explain everything based on that "fact" > Thus science is altered based on the "no personal God" idea
Theistic Evolutionism comes before the Scientific Theory of Evolution. The theory is based on the worldview.
Personal Evolutionist God
There is a personal/involved God (worldview) > Therefore we need to explain everything based on that "fact" > Thus science is altered based on the "personal God" idea
Theistic Evolutionism comes before the Scientific Theory of Evolution. The theory is based on the worldview.
According to Atheistic Evolutionists
Some proponents of the scientific theory of evolution reject the idea of a philosophy or worldview that guides their conclusions in scientific experimentation.
There is no God (worldview) > Therefore we need to explain everything based on that "fact" > Thus science is altered based on the "no God" idea
Evolutionism comes before the Scientific Theory of Evolution. The theory is based on the worldview.
Comparison
The various viewpoints can be compared in general ways as they all have some sort of starting point. The general Creationist starting point is God, which then all the universe is based on including that of science. Some Theistic Evolutionists hold to a similar God idea, yet emphasize a somewhat secondary origin[4] in the evolutionary process. Atheistic evolutionists say that we must prove God by science, therefore their intellectual starting point is science itself.
Controversy
Usage of Terminology
The terms evolutionist and evolutionism use the suffix -ism, which is commonly used to designate varieties of philosophical opinion, and some people who use scientific grounds to support evolution bristle at the application of these terms to themselves. There seems to be no such objection to the term anti-evolutionism. This is all part of the controversy over evolution itself (see Origins debate).
Some Atheistic/Agnostic Evolutionists say that the term Evolutionism is simply a false Creationist perception, Template:Fact-political or pejorative assertion that science represents merely another religion. They disagree that the theory of evolution is based on a philosophy or worldview. They say that the perception finds no grounding in reality, other than as a rhetorical dramatization. However, according to creationists, this disagreement arises from a misunderstanding of terms. Biblical Young Earth Creationists hold both terms in philosophically equal light, up to a certain point. They would say that the term "Evolutionism" has the same or very similar meaning to "Creationism" as it relates to a supposed philosophical/foundational starting point or question (does God exist?). They say the term "Evolutionism" refers to a subset of a combination of worldviews, while the scientific theory of evolution is the result of the Evolutionist presupposition. In other words, they say that Evolutionism is the collective worldview behind the scientific theory of evolution. However, that's where the similarities end with biblical Young Earth Creationism.
Religion and Evolutionism
Some Creationists point out that they see various religious aspects, not in the theory of evolution itself (although they don't exclude that necessarily), but in the Evolutionists themselves. Some will say how Evolutionists have a religious fervor over what Creationists believe is false science. Some Evolutionists have historically misunderstood this for Creationists labeling science itself as a religion. M. Green, a Creationist, put it this way in his Faith of Darwinism (emphasis added).
- "Today the tables are turned. The modified, but still characteristically Darwinian theory has itself become an orthodoxy, preached by its adherents with religious fervor, and doubted, they feel, only by a few muddlers imperfect in scientific faith." [5]
Evolution has been a recent source of controversy in the United States[Citation Needed]. Some prominent Americans seriously question evolution[Citation Needed], based on a feeling that it conflicts with religious beliefs. However, according to Evolutionists, at least one aspect of religion and evolution is not mutually exclusive. Some deeply religious evolutionists believe that God set evolution into effect, which is no detraction to His majesty. This is referring to the theory of Theistic Evolution.
Biblical Young Earth Creationist's problem with a Biblical Old Earth
Taking the bible literally, there are no gaps permitting an undocumented period of time between the creation week and the fall of the temple in Jerusalem in 587 BC [6], which is well established by archaeology and secular history. Accordingly, the birth of Adam can be placed at approximately 4,163 BC and the initial creation of the universe six days prior.
Quotes
Evolutionism requires faith quotes[7]:
- "The fact of evolution is the backbone of biology, and biology is thus in the peculiar position of being a science founded on an unproved theory - is it then a science or faith?" [8]
- "The hypothesis that life has developed from inorganic matter is, at present, still an article of faith." [9]
- "Evolution requires plenty of faith; a faith in L-proteins that defy chance formation; a faith in the formation of DNA codes which, if generated spontaneously, would spell only pandemonium; a faith in a primitive environment that, in reality, would fiendishly devour any chemical precursors to life; a faith in experiments that prove nothing but the need for intelligence in the beginning; a faith in a primitive ocean that would not thicken, but would only haplessly dilute chemicals; a faith in natural laws of thermodynamics and biogenesis that actually deny the possibility for the spontaneous generation of life; a faith in future scientific revelations that, when realized, always seem to present more dilemmas to the evolutionists; faith in improbabilities that treasonously tell two stories—one denying evolution, the other confirming the Creator; faith in transformations that remain fixed; faith in mutations and natural selection that add to a double negative for evolution; faith in fossils that embarrassingly show fixity through time, regular absence of transitional forms and striking testimony to a worldwide water deluge; a faith in time which proves to only promote degradation in the absence of mind; and faith in reductionism that ends up reducing the materialist's arguments to zero and forcing the need to invoke a supernatural Creator." [10]
- "By calling evolution fact, the process of evolution is removed from dispute; it is no longer merely a scientific construct, but now stands apart from humankind and its perceptual frailties. Sagan apparently wishes to accomplish what Peter Berger calls `objectification,' the attribution of objective reality to a humanly produced concept . . With evolution no longer regarded as a mere human construct, but now as a part of the natural order of the cosmos, evolution becomes a sacred archetype against which human actions can be weighed. Evolution is a sacred object or process in that it becomes endowed with mysterious and awesome power." [11]
- "Today the tables are turned. The modified, but still characteristically Darwinian theory has itself become an orthodoxy, preached by its adherents with religious fervor, and doubted, they feel, only by a few muddlers imperfect in scientific faith." [5]
Evolutionism does not involve faith quotes:
- The concept of faith does not exist in other major religions[12]
See also
References
- ↑ "evolutionism." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 20 Mar. 2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/evolutionism>.
- ↑ CA601: Evolution and Naturalism - TalkOrigins Archive
- ↑ Evolutionism - AllAboutPhilosophy - Accessed on March 22, 2007.
- ↑ Some Theistic Evolutionists believe that God created the universe and yet He is no longer involved in it. Therefore "secondary origin" is referring to the idea that God is the origin of the universe, but not necessarily You and Me.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 M. Grene, Faith of Darwinism," Encounter, November (1959), p49.
- ↑ http://web.newsguy.com/rubyredinger/age.html
- ↑ Evolutionism - Is Evolution a Religion? - Northwest Creation Network
- ↑ L.N. Matthews, "Introduction" to Charles Darwin, Origin of the Species, pp. x, xi (1971 edition)
- ↑ J.W.N. Sullivan, Limitations of Science (1933), p95.
- ↑ R.L. Wysong, The Creation-Evolution Controversy (1981), p. 455.
- ↑ T. Lessl, Science and the Sacred Cosmos: The Ideological Rhetoric of Carl Sagan," Quarterly Journal of Speech, 71:178 (1985).
- ↑ A. Schlafly [1]
External links
Notes
- Affirmative websites that are pro-theory of evolution.
- Critical websites that hold the position that the scientific theory of evolution requires faith and belief just like any other religious system.
Other
Uses of the term Evolutionism on the Internet
