Transcript Biological Evolution - Shenandoah Baptist Church

Biological Evolution
The Beginnings
Jean Baptiste Lamarck
A French
Biologist in the
1800’s
Lamarck’s Theory of Evolution
• The Theory of Need
In order for an organism to evolve a
structure, it must need the structure
• The Theory of Use and Disuse
If an organism continues to use a
particular structure, it will continue to
evolve. If not used the structure will
degenerate and disappear.
• The Theory of Inheritance of Acquired
Characteristics
If an organism acquires a characteristic, it
can pass this characteristic on to its
offspring.
Giraffe Evolution
Theory of Need
Supposedly, the
giraffe’s ancestors
were deerlike
animals on the
African plain. A long
drought forced
these early giraffes
to stretch their
necks to reach tree
leaves.
Theory of Use and
Disuse
Their necks became longer by
stretching.
Theory of Inheritance
of Acquired Characteristics
Adults with slightly longer necks produced
offspring with slightly longer necks. After
many generations, the giraffe’s long neck
developed.
Remember the Padaung Tribe
Analysis of Lamarck’s Theory
• Most scientists today agree that the theory of
need is not an actual factor in the evolutionary
process
• Modern scientists have also disproved the
inheritance of acquired characteristics.
• The theory of use and disuse is unacceptable
based on modern genetics. Genes can be
turned off and on, but use or disuse does not
alter or destroy them for the next generation.
Charles Darwin
• Born Feb 12, 1809
(same b-day as Abraham Lincoln)
• Shrewsbury, England
• Relatively wealthy family
• In 1825, enrolled in University of
Edinburgh (family alma mater)
• Father wanted him to study
medicine but he was sickened
at sight of surgery without
anesthesia
• Showed little aptitude for subject,
abandoned his studies after 2 years
After leaving medicine. . .
• He transferred to Christ’s
college in Cambridge
• Studied theology
• Developed interest in
geology
• Accepted the
position of naturalist
on HMS Beagle
And
consider
this . . .
Contrary to what you might have
heard about Darwin, he seemed to
be a deeply committed Christian at
this point in his life. During this
part of his life, he said that he did
not “…in the least doubt the strict
and literal truth of every word in the
Bible”.
(Julian Huxley, Charles Darwin and his World)
SO
WHAT
HAPPENED
He began to read the writings of
men who rejected the Bible
Thomas Malthus- An Essay
On the Principals of Population- said
that all individuals within a population
struggle against each other to obtain
what is necessary in order to survive and
reproduce.
Charles Lyell, a geologist-One of
the first scientists to deny the
history of the world according to
the OT-”The present is the key to
the past”
"I really think my books come half out of
Lyell's brain," said Charles Darwin, "I see
through his eyes." But Sir Charles Lyell,
the great naturalist's friend and mentor,
had a hard time returning the compliment.
His faith began to erode while
on the HMS Beagle
During the earliest part of his voyage, he wrote in his
diary that he often bore the brunt of a good deal of
laughter “from several of the officers for quoting the
Bible as final authority on some moral point”
(Bern Dibner, Darwin of the Beagle, p. 82)
Only a few years after his voyage, he stated “…that
the Old Testament from its manifest false history of
the world, with the Tower of Babel, the rainbow as a
sign, etc., etc., and from its attributing to God the
feelings of a revengeful tyrant, was no more to be
trusted than the sacred books of the Hindoos [sic],
or the beliefs of any barbarian” .
(Dibner, pp. 82-83.)
He Put His Faith in Science
“A look at Darwing’s life can show you how horrible the
results are when you put your faith in science. Science is
limited and is constantly changing. What we thought
were scientific laws less than a century ago are now known
to be wrong. We now know that most of Darwin’s ideas
were very wrong. You simply cannot put your faith in
something as limited and subject to change as science.
Had Darwin realized that, he would not have allowed this
errant theory that has had such a devastating effect on the
faith of others.”
Exploring Creation with Biology, p. 265
He became bitter after the death
of his daughter
• Man’s usual response to tragedy is to
blame God, as Charles Darwin did after
the death of his beloved daughter Annie.
• “Annie’s cruel death destroyed Charles’s
tatters of beliefs in a moral, just universe.
Later he would say that this period chimed
the final death-knell for his Christianity . . .
. Charles now took his stand as an
unbeliever.”
•
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/why-does-creation-include-suffering
Darwin’s Theory
• Completely formulated
by the time he left the
HMS Beagle
• Did not publish for
another 23 years
• Part of delay to perfect
his work but mostly
due to his wife, who
recognized the
devastating effect it
could have on the
church.
He Noticed …
• There was a variety of
different beak types
among the island
birds- depending on
the food source.
• He hypothesized that
they were
descendants of an
original pair of finches
He developed the Theory of
Natural Selection
• There is variation within species
• The individuals within a species
that are better suited to the
environment will survive. (Survival
of the Fittest)
• Traits are passed to offspring
Actually Natural Selection Wasn’t
Darwin’s Original Idea
• He only popularized the
idea
• He borrowed
(plagiarized) much of it
from several others,
including Edward Blyth, a
creationist, who believed
God created original
kinds and that natural
selection acted by
conserving rather than
originating.
Look At The Theory of Natural
Selection Again
• There is variation within species
• The individuals within a species
that are better suited to the
environment will survive. (Survival
of the Fittest)
• Traits are passed to offspring
Any Problems so Far?
• No- we see great genetic variation among
all “kinds” of animals.
Problems?
• No!- God has
equipped
animals to
survive in
many
environments
The Problem with Darwin’s
Theory
He extrapolated that
ALL living things must
have come from a
common ancestor
•
•
•
1. to infer (an unknown) from something that is
known; conjecture.
2. Statistics . to estimate (the value of a variable)
outside the tabulated or observed range.
3. Mathematics . to estimate (a function that is known
over a range of values of its independent variable) to
values outside the known range.
Descent with Modification
Newer forms of
organisms are
actually the modified
descendents of much
older descendants of
much older similar
organisms, therefore
All living things must
have descended from
a COMMON
ANCESTOR
Descent with Modification
Newer forms of
organisms are actually
the modified
descendents of much
older descendants of
similar organisms-
COMMON
ANCESTORS
Neo-Darwinism
Mutation-Selection Theory
•
•
•
•
Adds mutations as the mechanism for
change.
Rememberin order for evolution to occur, new genes
must form and enter the gene pool
mutations are random
mutations must be in reproductive cells in
order to be passed on
MUTATIONS ARE HARMFUL
Theory of Natural Selection
• The environment may affect individual
organisms in a population.
• Survival of the Fittest- organisms struggle
to survive- those with the best
characteristics survive and pass on their
genes.
• He applied this concept to human beings
to explain how man originated.
Evolution vs Creation
Evolutionist’s Tree of
Life
Creationist’s Orchard
IT’S A DIFFERENCE OF ORIGINS- AND
THAT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE!
Creationist Lawn
Creationists do NOT
believe this
Evolution vs Creation
Evolutionist’s Tree of
Life
Creationist’s Orchard
IT’S A DIFFERENCE OF ORIGINS- AND
THAT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE!
Remember
Natural Selection CANNOT
Natural Selection CAN
• Increase or provide new
genetic info.
• Allow organisms to
evolve from molecules to
man
• Act as an originator
• Support evolutionary
“tree” of life- change from
one kind to another
• Decrease genetic info.
• Allow organisms to
survive better in a given
environment
• Act as a “selector”
• Support creation’s
“orchard” of life