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Energion.com Classified Directory

Creation vs Evolution

Directory Index

Note: This directory is designed to cover the issues of origins, primarily biological, particularly those that deal with common descent, darwinism or neo-darwinism, abiogenesis and related topics. Some material referenced will deal with the broader topics of origins, such as the big bang, stellar evolution, etc.

Evolution

Any site with information either promoting the scientific theory of evolution, especially biological evolution without a specific philosophical or theological slant. Museums and most general nature sites will go here.


Directory Entries



Books

  • The Blind Watchmaker
    One of the best explicitly atheistic explanations of evolution available.
    Energion.com Review
  • What Evolution Is
    Mayr's book is one of those rare books that I would call exceptional. For me, it was tough reading, even though the book is intended for non-biologists. Mayr even says it is for everyone who simply wants to know more about evolution. I have a pretty good vocabulary, however, and I found myself reading with a dictionary at hand, and occasionally looking things up in my Webster's IIIrd International. In addition, regular references to species as examples of various processes without any indication other than the name as to how it might fit in had me looking regularly in the encyclopedia. I strongly recommend it to those learning about evolution.
    Energion.com Review
  • Evolution : The Triumph of an Idea
    Zimmer is strictly popular. Designed as a companion to the PBS series of the same name, Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea is rich with stories and illustrations, many of them in gorgeous color. The focus is on history, but it is history which presents the arguments in favor of the modern synthesis of evolutionary theory.
    Energion.com Review
  • At the Water's Edge : Macroevolution and the Transformation of Life
    This is an excellent book for the non-specialist to read in order to understand some of the modern evidences for evolution. It centers around the key process of populations moving from the sea to the land and then back to the sea. The style is journalistic, and I found the number of stories about where Zimmer was and how he met various scientists a bit distracting, but the content is good, and many people will like this book who might not read a more direct scientific treatise.
    Energion.com Review
  • The Structure of Evolutionary Theory
  • Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History
    Absolutely wonderful read-challenging! See my full review. [HN]
    Energion.com Review

Theistic Evolution

Any issue which deals with the relationship of divine guidance of the evolutionary process or the compatibility of theism with evolutionary theory. For the majority of theists who accept the theory of evolution, the physical description of the process will be no different than for a non-theist. You will find here also material on intelligent design and irreducible complexity where the advocate of those points does not postulate a special creation as an explanation.


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Books

  • The Fourth Day : What the Bible and the Heavens Are Telling Us About Creation
    Howard Van Till is a theistic evolutionist who believes that the universe is fully endowed with the power to produce life, and thus that God did the job right the first time. This is his key work, though he has also written many valuable articles on the internet. I regard Van Till and Kenneth Miller as the two key books to read for an understanding of theistic evolution.
  • Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution
    Miller argues the evidence for evolutionary theory forcefully and effectively. He first lays out the issues involved, then gives us a grounding in what evolutionary theory is and what it isn't. He takes issue with those who see evolution as a threat to religion and morality, whether they come from the theistic or atheistic side of the issue. He objects as strongly to Dawkins use of evolution in support of atheism as he does to the creationists' claim that evolution will destroy religion. (He does regard Dawkins's science as much better, however!)
    For more information, see my review. (HN)
    Energion.com Review
  • Back to Darwin: The Scientific Case for Deistic Evolution
    Energion.com Review
  • Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution
    This note comes late, considering this book was originally published in 1996. Some years ago I scanned it very briefly but didn't look at it seriously. Recently I decided to read it more thoroughly, so I want to make a few observations for readers of my web site

    First, Michael Behe is an excellent writer. He describes the process he is dealing with in this book very clearly. I found reading the first several chapters quite educational. I'm not a microbiologist, or a biologist of any variety, so while I had heard of many of these functions, I really didn't know how they functioned.

    Essentially Behe's argument, as anyone interested has likely heard by now, is that there are systems in nature, particularly biochemical systems, that are irreducibly complex (IC). By IC he means that the parts of the system would have no value individually, and thus there would be no reason to for any of them to be favored by natural selection. These systems would have to appear whole in order to be so favored. Thus Behe does not believe that there are possible neo-Darwinian pathways to produce such systems.

    Behe makes quite a point of the small number (according to his searches) of articles that answer, or purport to answer, the sort of questions that he is asking. But if you read the earlier portion of the book, you read Behe summarizing a huge number of scientific achievements--levels of knowledge that have been unanticipated, but have been attained nonetheless.

    Nonetheless, Behe proposes that for those systems for which we cannot find a Darwinian pathway by which they may have been developed, we should posit design. ID theorists these days are trying to get their "theory" accepted as science. I've been presented with the analogy of finding an artifact on Mars that one would assume was the product of an alien civilization. We would have no difficulty hypothesizing that such an artifact had been designed. This is supposed to be analogous to using the design hypothesis on natural systems for which there is no known Darwinian pathway.

    In chapter 10 he starts talking about powerful ideas--the wheel, the phonetic alphabet, and the zero, only to lead into calling ID a "powerful idea." But what's powerful about it? What does it explain? As Behe has it, it explains absolutely nothing. It just puts another label on "I don't know." In chapter 11 he continues by noting that he thinks this idea has not been accepted in the scientific community for one reason simply because people think it requires that the designer be God. Starting on page 248 he lets us know that we don't really have to identify the designer, but rather can just identify "design" as such.

    And here is where I think his "powerful" idea displays its impotence. Let's go to my artifact found on Mars (note that this is an illustration presented to me in a question, and is not Behe's, though he does reference aliens in passing.) Having identified "design" in the artifact, what would my next question be? I would, of course, ask who designed it. Any valuable information I might extract from the artifact would relate to who the designer is, how it thinks, for what purpose it designs. Because the ID arguments have tried to refuse to answer this question they have been left with a set of answers that do not, in fact, answer anything.

    Thus Behe's beautiful description of the advance of knowledge as various "black boxes" are opened up is used as an ode to ignorance, rather than to knowledge. We have discovered great things, and thus we can now extract the very powerful idea that we really can't know certain identifiable things.

    I have a more powerful idea: Let's just say "I don't know" whenever we don't know, and leave it at that. It requires less paper to present, and has the advantage of being completely honest.

Old Earth Creationism

Any site that supports the view that the earth is old, i.e. much older than the 6-10 thousand years allowed by young earth creationists, but that special acts of God were required in producing some or most species, in the creation of life, and particularly in the production of human life. Ruin-and-restoration sites are also listed here.


Directory Entries



Books

Young Earth Creationism

Any site that supports the view that the earth and universe is less than around 10,000 years old, and that special acts were required for all or most of the species on earth.


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Books

Ruin and Restoration

Any site that supports that the earth was created at some time prior to the Biblical story of creation and then restored in the events of the first chapters of Genesis.


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Books

Origins (General)

General articles on evolutionary theory, creation and the related science. This is reserved for background sites, not advocacy sites, though they may have assumptions either way.


Directory Entries



Intelligent Design

Intelligent Design theory doesn't quite fit into any of the other categories, but is often used in support of different ones.


Directory Entries



    Books


    Terminology

    Young Earth Creationism

    The belief that the earth was created in six literal days, followed by a seventh day of rest, less than 10,000 years ago. Sometimes known as young age creationism.

    Old Earth Creationism

    The belief that the earth was specially created by God, but is about 4.5 billion years old. Old earth creationism is distinguished from theistic evolution because old earth creationists believe that at least some groups of living things were specially created by God rather than being the result of evolutionary processes.

    Theistic Evolution

    The view that life on earth is descended from one life from by descent with modification, without any species or other animal group being specially created, while at the same time believing that the source of existence and possibly of the first life is God.

    Ruin and Restoration Theory

    The view that the earth was created a long time ago (most adherents will accept the geologically determined 4.5 billion year age for the earth), was then destroyed and devastated and then recreated in a recent (less than 10,000 years ago) creation week.

    Evolution (Fact)

    Variation in the genetic makeup of a population of living creatures over time.

    Evolution (Theory)

    The view that all existing species came into existence through common descent, variation plus natural selection.

    Intelligent Design

    The view that some specific biological systems can be attributed to intelligent design. This argument is generally made due to the complexity of the systems and the belief that there is no evolutionary process that could form such systems.
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