Transcript Charles Darwin

Pope Pius XII
HE STANDS HIS GROUND THAT EVOLUTION
IS GOOD SCIENCE AND THERE NEED NOT BE
CONTRADICTION BETWEEN EVOLUTION AND
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
• … science is here to stay.
• … scientific knowledge, the theory of
evolution in particular, is consistent with a
religious belief in God, whereas
Creationism
and
Intelligent
Design
are
not.
.
• Committed to the
abolition of slavery
in the later half of
the 1700’s
• Wrote on Christian
philosophy, ethics,
and theology
William Paley
“There cannot be design without
a designer; contrivance, without
a contriver; order, without
choice; …means suitable to an
end, and executing their office in
accomplishing that end without
the end ever having been
contemplated.”
DR. AYALA’S ARGUMENT
“Chapter XXIII of Natural Theology is entitled ‘Of
the Personality of the Deity’ and it would surprise
many by its well-meaning, if naïve, arrogance, as
Paley seems convinced that he can determine that
God is a person, God’s ‘personality,’ and what his
attributes are.” (21)
Charles Darwin
"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its
several powers, having been originally breathed
into a few forms or into one; and that ... from so
simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful
and most wonderful have been, and are being
evolved."
Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, p. 490
MORE ON DARWIN
• Darwin did not use the term “evolution,” which did not have its
current meaning, but referred to the evolution of organisms by
the phrase “common descent with modification”
• Darwin’s The Origin of Species addresses the same issue as
Paley: how to account for the adaptive configuration of
organisms and their parts, which are designed to fulfill certain
functions. Darwin’s argument is that hereditary adaptive
variations occasionally appear, and that these are likely to
increase the reproductive chances of their carriers
• Darwin treasured natural selection as his greatest contribution
• In 1896, evolutionist James M. Baldwin
formulated a hypothesis that would be
later known as the “Baldwin effect.”
• Adaptive responses of organisms to
extreme environments may become
genetically fixed if the condition
persists
• The Baldwin effect is often involved in
the origin of evolutionary novelties.
Evolutionary novelties are
reorganizations of preexisting
morphologies, which first arise in
response to environmental challenges,
but eventually become genetically
determined if the particular
environmental challenge persists and
the adaptation contributes importantly
to survival and reproductive success
James Baldwin
Archaeopteryx
Tiktaalik
• Was recently discover on April 6, 2006
• Characteristics
• teeth structured in two rows;
• both internal and external nostrils;
• tubular and streamlined body;
• absence of anterior dorsal fin;
• broad, dorsoventrally compressed skull;
• dorsally placed eyes;
• paired frontal bones;
• lung-like organs;
BIOCHEMISTRY
• Rates of evolution are an important factor to
evolutionists. They use slowly evolving genes to
reconstruct remote evolutionary history, and faster
revolving genes for recent history
• Ribosomal RNA is among the slowest evolving genes
• Used to construct the evolutionary relationships
among bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes
• Cytochrome c evolves slowly, but
not as slow as the ribosomal RNA
genes.
• It is used to decipher the
relationships within large
groups of organisms such as
humans, fishes, and insects
• Has 104 amino acids. In
humans and chimpanzees the
cytochrome-c consists of the
same 104 amino acids in
exactly the same order.
Rhesus monkeys differ in 1
amino acid. Horses differ in
twelve. Tuna differ in 33.
DR. AYALA’S ARGUMENT
• Molecular bio proves evolution in two ways
• There is unity in the nature of DNA (three
condons, condon codes for amino acids, etc.)
• Current technology allows for inferences
about lost evolutionary history
• The precision with which these events can be
compelling
FOLLIES AND FATAL FLAWS
• In the 1990’s, several authors, notably biochemist Michael Behe,
sociologist William Dembski, and law professor Phillip Johnson,
among others, revived the argument from design. Often, however,
these authors would rarely reference God, so that intelligent design
could be taught in public schools
• Religious scholars in the past had struggled with imperfection,
dysfunction, and cruelty in the living world, which are difficult to
explain if they are the outcome of God’s design. A major burden was
removed from the shoulders of believers when convincing evidence
was advanced that the design of organisms need not be attributed to
the immediate agency of the Creator, but rather is an outcome of
natural process