Special Creation Research Articles

Darwin's explanation of design: From natural theology to natural selection

Copernicus, Galileo, Newton and other physical scientists ushered in a conception of the universe as matter in motion governed by natural laws. Their discoveries brought about a fundamental revolution, namely a commitment to the postulate that the universe obeys immanent laws that can account for natural phenomena. The workings of the universe were brought into the realm of science: explanation through natural laws. Darwin completed the Copernican revolution by extending it to the living world. Darwin demonstrated the evolution of organisms. More important yet is that he discovered natural selection, the process that explains the “design” of organisms. The adaptations and diversity of organisms, the origin of novel and complex species, even the origin of mankind, could now be explained by an orderly process of change governed by natural laws. The origin of species and the exquisite features of organisms had previously been explained as special creations of an Omniscient God. Darwin brought them into the domain of science. Evolution is a creative process that produces genuine novelty. The creative power of evolution arises from a distinctive interaction between chance and necessity, between random mutation and natural selection.

Are We Born and do We Die?

AbstractThe stranglehold on our imagination by the mind-body dualisms that permeate the culture is such that most people seem to suppose that “body” and “soul” name distinct and separable entities. Resisting such dualisms in favour of an old-fashioned Aristotelean view of the soul as the form of the body, this essay considers two questions: do human parents produce human beings, and do human beings die? The doctrine of the special creation of the individual soul seems to require us to answer the first question in the negative because, according to this doctrine, parents only produce matter for the God-given soul to form. As to the second, many people seem to suppose that human beings do not die, only their bodies do. Arguing against the view that immortality is a natural property of human minds, the essay suggests (with the help of Joseph Ratzinger) that, whether we speak of “immortality” or of “resurrection”, life from death is neither nature, nor achievement, but gift.

ANADOLU SU KÜLTÜRÜ TÜRK HAMAMLARI VE YIKANMA GELENEĞİNİN KÖKLERİ VE GELECEĞİ

From the sacred springs watched over by the formidable deities of Anatolia’s prehistoric past to the modestly beautiful clusters of domes of hamams that grace almost every neighborhood of Turkish cities, baths have become an intimate and inseparable part of Anatolian civilizations. The highland palaces of Bronze age and Iron age settlements, such as Hattusa, Aslantas and Zincirli, had bath chambers with remarkably advanced water supply and drainage systems. Greek and Hellenistic gymnasiums of Asia Minor displayed marble basins and pools for the use and enjoyment of athletes. The bath-gymnasium complexes of the Roman imperial era with their lofty, vaulted interiors and sparkling swimming pools were the special creations of Anatolia’s diverse cultural traditions and the pinnacles of pride for Anatolian cities. This heritage of water and bathing smoothly and seamlessly ushered in the culture of baths and bathing that flourished through Christian, Byzantine and Islamic-Turkish period down to our day. The classical tradition of bathing and hygiene resonated through Anatolia’s past, sustained by the Islamic core beliefs in cleanliness and leading to a new blossoming of public bathing habits and a renaissance of Islamic-Turkish bath architecture. The thermal magic of the warm, steamy interiors of the Turkish hamam under the twin kling lights of floating domes offered physical and social regeneration and, especially in the hidden world of women’s baths, the intimacy of a classless society. Hamams and spas intrigued and charmed many European visitors -such as Lady Mary Montague in the 18th century, and Julia Pardoe a century later- and provided inspiration for many Orientalist painters in memorable works such as Ingres’ Le bain Turc (1862). In the West, following the misplaced Early Christian notion of alousia (or the sanctity of “being unwashed”) and aided by the fear of several devastating plagues, bathing and water evoked feelings of fear and repulsion. In sum Islamic East washed, Christian West did not. Finally, in a world where traditional values and habits are steadily loosing ground, what is the future of Turkish baths and bathing culture? Can we restore the historic baths of Anatolia to their former glory and endow them with new functions relevant to those of the contemporary world including, perhaps, tourism? Can we re-locate them in their original and sustaining neighborhood context? Can we reestablish and embroider the sacred traditions of water and bathing into the diverse cultural past of Anatolia where they belong?

Teaching & Learning Guide for: Can a Darwinian Be a Christian?

Teaching & Learning Guide for: Can a Darwinian Be a Christian?

Evolution and the Embryo: The Evidence for Special Creation

Evolution and the Embryo: The Evidence for Special Creation

Joseph Hooker Takes a “Fixed Post”: Transmutation and the “Present Unsatisfactory State of Systematic Botany”, 1844–1860

Joseph Hooker first learned that Charles Darwin believed in the transmutation of species in 1844. For the next 14 years, Hooker remained a “nonconsenter” to Darwin’s views, resolving to keep the question of species origin “subservient to Botany instead of Botany to it, as must be the true relation”. Hooker placed particular emphasis on the need for any theory of species origin to support the broad taxonomic delimitation of species, a highly contentious issue. His always provisional support for special creation waned during the 1850s as he lost faith in its expediency for coordinating the study of plant geography, systematics and physiology. In 1858, Hooker embraced Darwin’s “considerable revolution in natural history,” but only after Darwin had carefully molded his transmutationism to meet Hooker’s exacting specifications.

WWW.Cell Biology Education: Evolution Web Sites

WWW.Cell Biology Education: Evolution Web Sites

The evolution of learning.

Most processes or forms of learning have been treated almost as special creations, each as an independent process unrelated to others. This review offers an evolutionary cladogram linking nearly one hundred forms of learning and showing the paths through which they evolved. Many processes have multiple forms. There are at least five imprinting processes, eleven varieties of Pavlovian conditioning, ten of instrumental conditioning, and eight forms of mimicry and imitation. Song learning evolved independently in at least six groups of animals, and movement imitation in three (great apes, cetaceans and psittacine birds). The cladogram also involves at least eight new processes: abstract concept formation, percussive mimicry, cross-modal imitation, apo-conditioning, hybrid conditioning, proto-pantomime, prosodic mimicry, and image-mediated learning. At least eight of the processes evolved from more than one source. Multiple sources are of course consistent with modern evolutionary theory, as seen in some obligate symbionts, and gene-swapping organisms. Song learning is believed to have evolved from two processes: auditory imprinting and skill learning. Many single words evolved from three sources: vocal mimicry, discrimination learning, and abstract concept formation.

NOMENCLATURE OF CULTIVATED PLANTS: A HISTORICAL BOTANICAL STANDPOINT

NOMENCLATURE OF CULTIVATED PLANTS: A HISTORICAL BOTANICAL STANDPOINT

Stem Cell Research: Why Medicine Should Reject Human Cloning

Stem Cell Research: Why Medicine Should Reject Human Cloning

Etienne Geoffroy St.-Hilaire: father of "evo-devo"?

In the early decades of the nineteenth century, the most important disagreement among comparative anatomists was not evolution versus "special creation" but between advocates of "transcendental morphology" and those of teleological anatomy-form versus function. In France this dichotomy was represented by the 1830-1832 public debate between Geoffroy St.-Hilaire (form) and Cuvier (function). Geoffroy's aim was to establish links of homology (known to him as "analogies") between the four "embranchements" into which Cuvier had divided the animal kingdom. Despite the fanciful nature of some of his homologies, Geoffroy, who was guided by his "principe de connections," set in motion a school of morphology, some of whose conclusions, notably the homology of the dorsal surface of segmented invertebrates with the ventral surface of vertebrates, has been corroborated by recent studies in developmental genetics.

Here Come the Secular Creationists

Most biologists reject the supernatural as a valid scientific explanation for understanding nature. To us, such explanations (e.g. demons, special creation) are scientifically useless because-among other things-they are supported by no testable evidence, provide no testable hypotheses, and produce no new directions for research. However, some biologists disagree-they embrace the supernatural as a of understanding the world. For example, a surprising number of biology teachers are who preach biblical literalism and similar claims (e.g. that all life began over six 24-hour periods, that plants appeared before the sun, that dinosaurs became extinct because they fell off Noah's Ark). Other try to disguise their belief in the supernatural by euphemistically claiming to be theistic evolutionists. According to these creationists, a deity has intervened in the biological history of humans, and evolution is God's way of explaining life's diversity. Although this perspective is neither scientific nor testable, it is popular; are powerful forces for using science classes to preach religion and salvation. If these weren't damaging enough to science and enlightened thinking, let me introduce you to the newest opponents of science education: the secular creationists of the academic left.' Here are a few of the key claimsalways presented in deliberately tortuous and pretentious language2-made by these intelligent and seemingly angry people:

Darwinism, Creationism, and Intelligent Design

The publication in 1859 of Charles Darwin's epoch-making book On the Origin of Species touched off a national debate that continues to divide American society. Scarcely a week passes without some evolution-related story appearing in the news: religious leaders declaring the scientific legitimacy of biological evolution, politicians expressing their belief in divine creation, local school boards wrangling over the teaching of origins, professors being ordered to refrain from questioning evolution in the classroom, state legislatures debating whether to fire teachers who present evolution as a fact, biology textbooks carrying disclaimers denying the factual basis of evolution, scientists claiming that they have discovered evidence of Intelligent Design in the natural world, and public-opinion polls showing that nearly half of all Americans believe in the recent special creation of the first humans.

The Precious Moments Chapel: Suffering, Salvation, and the World's Most Popular Collectible

In May 1996, Joan Frankhauser made her first visit to the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, Missouri. Sixteen months previously, her husband of forty-two years, Fred, had died from a heart attack while she and her daughter attempted to provide CPR. Upon entering the chapel, Joan expected to find a modest space adorned with a few paintings of Precious Moments figurines. However, as she opened the doors of the sanctuary she discovered a shrine laden with dozens of murals and highlighted by the multi-story piece named Hallelujah Square. This work, which represents the unique vision of heaven crafted by the Precious Moments creator, Sam Butcher, was especially pertinent to Joan, as she had purchased a print and hung it beside Fred's photograph shortly after his death as a testimony to his afterworldly existence. Averting her eyes from that mural, Joan looked to her left and saw a representation of the Jacob's Ladder narrative, with Jacob lying on the ground watching a band of angels descend from above. Once again allying the art with her own personal experience, she wondered (in her own words), If Fred might have seen a similar scene as he lay there that morning. Determined to purchase Jacob's Ladder prints for herself and her three children, Joan discovered, to her dismay, that the picture was part of a retired series and thus unavailable through the gift shop. The next morning, while eating at one of the dining establishments on the grounds of the chapel, Joan noticed that Sam Butcher was seated at an adjacent table with some business associates. She asked the waitress to request an audience, and Butcher left his meeting to join her party. After recounting her story to the artist, he told her to remain at the restaurant while he went to his house and searched for the elusive prints. Returning with a leather portfolio in hand, Joan pondered what she would say to him when asked to purchase a series which sold for $500 before retirement and hundreds more on the current secondary market. However, she was never confronted with such an uncomfortable situation, because Butcher offered the series as a gift, an act of benevolence which Joan claims ministered to our whole family and prompted an amazing six visits to the chapel from Seattle over the next year. At the close of her reminiscence, published in the Precious Moments Chapel's official magazine, Chapel Bells, Joan echoed the sentiments of most of the pilgrims who offer testimonials by stating, Thank you, Mr. Butcher, for creating that atmosphere, for being sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and showing compassion to so many hurting people (Frankhauser). While Joan's story is certainly unique and uplifting enough to be highlighted in the site's literature, the general tone of her saga is often mimicked by many of the estimated 500,000-750,000 pilgrims who pour through the chapel on a yearly basis. Articles in Chapel Bells and numerous newspaper reports recount a variety of healing experiences facilitated by the power of consuming Butcher's special creations. Thus, the Precious Moments Chapel presents an observer of contemporary American with a distinctive example of the delicate melding of and consumer culture which, while pervasive throughout the history of Western religion, has only recently come to the forefront of academic study. In addition, the chapel serves as a sparkling case study for the examination of and the ways in which piety manifests itself outside the walls of a formal ecclesiastical setting, removed from the gaze of conventional church authorities and structures. While foundational thinkers in the field of religious studies such as Emile Durkheim, Mircea Eliade, or Rudolph Otto have theoretically drawn a thick line between holy situations and practices and all else that is deemed unholy, suggesting that religion is bracketed and confined to explicitly sacred realms, this discussion of the religiosity of the Precious Moments Chapel aims not only to examine the intersection between the pious and or consumer culture, but also to suggest that the site's ethos is a premier example of that which is deemed popular religion. …

A Scientific Approach to Teaching about Evolution & Special Creation

A Scientific Approach to Teaching about Evolution & Special Creation

Teaching the origin of the first living systems

The most fundamental of questions in biology, namely that of the origin of living systems, is being lost to teaching and a new technique to rekindle interest in it must be found. This paper presents a novel idea of teaching a scientific concept using a poem, which describes the major perspectives on the origins of living systems, as the medium of instruction. All of the major schools of thought — chemical evolution, DNA vs. RNA, protocell formation, coacervates, panspermia and special creation — are discussed. The aim of the paper is not to be a definitive review on the origin of living systems, but rather to be a focal point on which to hinge further discussion.

The Origin of Species, Man's Place in Nature and the naming of the calcarine sulcus.

In The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection of 1859, Charles Darwin provided a detailed, coherent proposal: species changed into new ones by the action over time of natural forces in the environment acting continuously on the variations always present within species. Readers immediately extrapolated Darwin's argument concerning lower animals to the implications for humans, and its denial of a special creation of humans. In opposition to Darwin's theory, Britain's preeminent paleontologist and comparative anatomist, Richard Owen, argued that man was unique among all creation in the possession of a particular structure within the brain, the 'Hippocampus minor'. Darwin's great defender, Thomas Huxley, demonstrated that this structure also existed in monkeys and apes, and that it was simply a manifestation of a 'particular sulcus' in the posterior cerebral cortex, which he named as the 'calcarine' sulcus. The home of the visual striate cortex was thus named as part of the controversy surrounding the birth of evolutionary theory, soon to be accepted as the great unifying concept in all of biology.

Hearts and minds in the science classroom: The education of a confirmed evolutionist revisited

Journal of Research in Science TeachingVolume 34, Issue 1 p. 89-91 Comments and CriticismFree Access Hearts and minds in the science classroom: The education of a confirmed evolutionist revisited Brian J. Alters, Corresponding Author Brian J. Alters Philosophy of Education Research Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138Philosophy of Education Research Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138Search for more papers by this author Brian J. Alters, Corresponding Author Brian J. Alters Philosophy of Education Research Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138Philosophy of Education Research Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138Search for more papers by this author First published: 07 December 1998 https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199701)34:1<89::AID-TEA7>3.0.CO;2-KCitations: 1AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat References Jackson, D. F., Doster, E. C., Meadow, L., & Wood, T. (1995). Hearts and minds in the science classroom: The education of a confirmed evolutionist. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 32, 585– 611. Newman, R. C., & Eckelmann, H. J. (1977). Genesis one and the origin of the Earth. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press. Ross, H. N. (1993). The creator and the cosmos. Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress. Ross, H. N. (1994). Creation and Time. Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress. Stoner, D. W. (1992). A new look at an old earth: What the creation institutes are not telling you about Genesis. Paramount, CA: Schroeder. Wiester, J. L. (1983). The Genesis connection. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. References in Quotations Herein that Were Cited in Jackson et al. (1995) Bishop, B. A., & Anderson, C. W. (1992). Student conceptions of natural selection and its role in evolution. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 27, 415– 427. Gish, D. T. (1978). Evolution: The fossils say no! San Diego: Creation-Life Publishers. Gish, D. T., Bliss, B., & Bird, W. (1981). Summary of scientific evidence for creation ( Impact series, No. 95). San Diego: Institute for Creation Research. Lawson, A. E., & Worsnop, W. A. (1992). Learning about evolution and rejecting a belief in special creation: Effects of reflective reasoning skill, prior knowledge, prior belief and religious commitment. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 29, 143– 166. Morris, H. M. (1976). The Genesis record: A scientific and devotional commentary on the book of beginnings. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. Morris, H. M. (1977). The scientific case for creation. San Diego: Creation-Life Publishers. Parker, G. (1980). Creation: The facts of life. San Diego: Creation-Life Publishers. Citing Literature Volume34, Issue1January 1997Pages 89-91 ReferencesRelatedInformation

Genesis 1-11:26 (review)

Hebrew Studies 38 (1997) 108 Reviews notable characters of the Hebrew Bible. One can easily redefme his analysis according to the perspectives of one's own community. Paul L. Schrieber Concordia Seminary St. Louis, MO 63105 GENESIS 1-11:26. By Kenneth A. Matthews. The New American Commentary. pp. 528. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1996. Cloth. Kenneth Matthews' commentary is a work of considerable dedication and industry. It has also succeeded well in fulfilling the aims of the series in which it appears. Its editors have chosen the NIV as the standard text for the series and in their preface state that the authors who write in it all "affinn the divine inspiration, inerrancy, complete truthfulness, and full authority of the Bible." While readers who do not fully share these presuppositions but are committed to the historical-critical method might feel that these aims leave the commentator wrestling with the text with one hand tied behind his back, it must be admitted that Matthews has wrestled manfully and has succeeded in producing an interesting, often infonnative, and sometimes challenging commentary. A lengthy introduction (91 pages) deals with literary structure, Genesis and Canon, the theology of Genesis, history of interpretation, the relationship of these chapters to other ancient literatures, and creation in contemporary interpretation. The many footnotes to this wide-ranging discussion provide evidence, amply illustrated throughout the commentary also, of Matthews' broad knowledge of the secondary literature. Although it is impossible to summarize such a discussion, its flavor might be indicated by a single quotation. In discussing Pentateuchal Criticism, Matthews concludes (p. 81) "that Moses...should be the Genesis compiler agrees with what we know of this early period," a conclusion that is perhaps decisive for almost everything that follows. The commentary divides Genesis 1-11 into six sections: I:1-2:3; 2:44 :26; 5:1-6:8; 6:9-9:29; 10:1-11:9; and 11:10-26. In each case, following a discussion of introductory matters relating to that section, especially structure, the NIV text is set out, often just a few verses at a time, and comment follows each segment of text. In keeping with the emphases of the series, Matthews makes many expository and theological points, and it is a Hebrew Studies 38 (1997) 109 Reviews weakness of layout that a clearer distinction is not made between exegesis and exposition. Although good indices are supplied, especially of scholars and scripture cited, one misses the bibliography lists and well organized textual discussion that have been valuable features of many recent commentaries . It is not that textual problems are entirely ignored, but they are given less priority than they have received in some other commentaries and. together with the somewhat more frequent discussions of vocabulary and grammar. they are scattered throughout the commentary. Citations in footnotes are not entirely consistent. and the lack of bibliographies means that one often has to check backwards and forwards between index and footnotes several times to discover full publication details of some references . Occasionally, adverse comment is passed on the NIV translation; for example. on page 371. we are told regarding Gen 7:1 that "'Found' is a metaphorical translation of... 'saw'... which obscures the contrast to 6:5 and 6:12." Discussion of works such as Atrahasis and the Enuma EUsh as well as Ugaritic literature tends to distance Genesis from the ancient Near Eastern materials rather than to point out any light comparative mythology may shed upon Genesis. Despite that, it is still surprising to discover. in his discussion of Gen 1:6-7, that Matthews accepts the rather loose NIV translation of l1'P' as "expanse," which he understands as the atmosphere, with the "waters above" defined as "atmospheric waters or clouds" (p. 150). Even if the exposition is driven by a particular theological commitment, one can only wonder at Matthews' judgment that 6:7b "underscores God's sorrow at what his special creation (imago Dei) has become. God is not capricious as are the deities that make up the pantheon of pagan invention. His irrevocable action against humanity is the just deserts for so debased a people" (p. 345). More disturbing still is the equanimity with...

Fabry-Perot observations of globular clusters. II. 47 Tuc, NGC 6397, and M30.

Using the Rutgers Imaging Fabry-Perot Spectrophotometer on the CTIO 4-m telescope, we have measured radial velocities for 548 stars in 47 Tuc (NGC 104), 128 stars in NGC 6397, and 132 stars in M30 (NGC 7099), with uncertainties between 0.5 and 5 km s<SUP>-1</SUP>. In 47 Tuc and NGC 6397, the dispersion profiles at first increase with decreasing radii but then flatten in the central 0'.4. This is the same behavior seen in our previously published profile for M15. The measured stellar velocities show that 47 Tuc is rotating, with a projected rotation axis that is aligned with the isophotal minor axis. We also find a similar alignment for the rotation that we previously measured in M15. A map of the average velocity in the central regions derived from the integrated light shows rotation for NGC 6397 and 47 Tuc. For 47 Tuc, NGC 6397, and M15, the amplitude of the projected rotation measured at a radius of 0'.6 using the individual stellar velocities is equal to, or smaller than, that measured at a radius of 0:2 using the integrated light. This is not consistent with the solid-body rotation usually assumed for the inner regions. To study further the form of the projected rotation we have used two-dimensional spline smoothing to derive a mean velocity map for 47 Tuc using the individual stellar velocities. This map shows that the projected rotation velocity reaches a plateau at a radius of 3, and that the radial dependence of the projected rotation velocity deviates significantly from solid body beyond 2'. We have repeat measurements of the two "high-velocity" stars of Meylan, Dubath, and Mayor. However, we detect more stars with similar large offsets from the cluster mean velocity. The number of stars that we measure with large velocity offsets is consistent with a normal distribution, so that there is no need to invoke a special creation mechanism for these stars.