Evolution vs Creationism
A big debate in education is what to teach when it comes to teaching the origin of the world. The main two sides are evolution and creationism. Strange Notions (2016) describes these two sides. The main basis of creationism is that these people believe in God and that what is said in The Bible about creation of the world is true. Evolution theories can be broken up into two separate views. Atheistic evolution is what most people associate with when it comes to evolution. They believe strictly to what science theorists have said about the origin of the world. This includes that there is no God and the world is much older than The Bible says it is and took much longer to create. This view also thinks that every living organism has evolved over millions of years from smaller one-celled organisms (p.1). You can see how these two sides will clash with each other. The big problem with this issue is what are we supposed to teach students about the origin of the world?
Scientists love to prove things right, as it is a big part of their profession. The issue with the thinking of evolution with the origin of the world is that it is a theory. Merriam-Webster defines a theory as, “an idea that is suggested or presented as possibly true but that is not known or proven to be true,” (p.1). This shows that their “theory” cannot be used as proof. Scientists tend to poke fun at the idea of their being a God, which in reality is just as proved as their own theories. Devout Christians tend to not pay any attention to evolutionists’ views because they are afraid of betraying their own religion. Both sides are wrong in their thinking. They should be more open to each other’s views and be able to decide what they think for themselves. Kent Greenawalt says this from Does God Belong in Public Schools?, “ But science, as such, cannot tell us whether God exists, whether the universe has a purpose, or whether we can gain insights into reality through religious understanding,” (p.89–90).
Personally, I believe in theistic evolution. As a Christian I believe that there is a God. On the contrary, I do not think that he created to world in such a short time. I also do not believe that the world is as young as it is said in The Bible. I do not believe that all organisms evolved from single-celled organisms.
The reason this topic is so important to me is because I will be teaching high school science. With this big debate it is hard to go about teaching this controversial topic. A common issue teachers run into is unintentionally teaching their own beliefs and ignoring the other ideas. Teachers cannot put their own emotions into controversial topics. Some students can take the teacher’s instruction as telling the students what to think and being forced to think what they do not believe. A good way to solve this issue is to have a discussion rather than a lecture. Allow the students to talk and debate about the different views and as the teacher you should facilitate the learning instead of direct it.
Akin, J. (2016). What Is the Difference Between Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design? Retrieved June 04, 2016, from http://www.strangenotions.com/what-is-the-difference-between-creation-evolution-intelligent-design/
Kent Greenawalt, Does God Belong in Public Schools? Princeton Univ. Press, 2005.
Simple Definition of Theory. (2016). Retrieved June 04, 2016, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theory
