HW 5 (Due 6/29 by 5:00 PM)

Part 1
For the sake of simplicity, I shall simply refer to all of modern evolutionary theory simply as Evolution. This includes Darwin’s ideas about natural selection, Mendel’s ideas about genetics, and Lyell’s ideas about the age of the Earth. Essentially, “Evolution” refers to the most commonly accepted and taught version of evolutionary theory. Do your best to answer these questions. Do not be frustrated if you do not know the answers to many of these questions.

1. What is the scientific method?
2. When someone says an idea is scientific, what does he mean?
3. What is the difference between science and history?
4. How old is the Earth according to Evolution? What evidence is used to support this belief?
5. What does the Big Bang Theory claim? What evidence is there to support this idea?
6. How was the Grand Canyon formed? Is this the only possible explanation?
7. What killed the dinosaurs? Why didn’t it kill everything else?
8. What does the phrase “survival of the fittest” mean? Can you give an example of this idea?
9. Where do improvements in biological structures come from according to Evolution?
10. What is the best evidence you know of supporting Evolution?
11. How does Evolution explain the different races of humanity?
12. What experiment or evidence would disprove Evolution?
13. When did the words “dinosaur,” “prehistoric,” and “cave man” come into the English language?

Part 2
Many people prefer to read the Bible as if it were a collection of fables and stories. However, it claims of itself to be an accurate historical account. For the purpose of comparison to the theory of Evolution, read the following passages and consider them as historical claims to see if they make any sense when read as history. Genesis 1-11, Job 41, Matthew 19:1-9, and Romans 5. Then answer the following questions. If you do not have a Bible, every library will have one you may borrow.

1. Genesis--When it says “according to its kind,” what does this mean for biology?
2. Genesis--When the Bible says that Adam lived to be 930 years old, how is that possible?
3. Genesis--Where did Cain get his wife?
4. Genesis--How does the Bible explain the races of humanity?
5. Job--What kind of a creature does Leviathan sound like to you?
6. Matthew--What opinion did Jesus seem to have about the accuracy of Genesis as history?
7. Romans--According to the Bible, is the world getting better or worse than it was originally?
8. Romans--Is the creation account in Genesis important to Paul’s concept of Christianity?

Part 3
1. What should we teach children about human origins?
2. Does it matter what a person believes about origins? How so?
3. Can a person who does not believe in Evolution be a scientist?
4. Is there any practical discovery which could not have been made without believing in Evolution?
5. If “survival of the fittest” is the true reason we are human, what does that mean for ethics?
6. Where do our rights come from, according to the Declaration of Independence?
7. If Evolution is true, do we have any fundamental rights? From where?
8. If people arose by Evolution, then are all people created equal? Why do you say so?
9. If Evolution is true, is there any purpose to life? Why?
10. According to Evolution, is there anything which fundamentally separates humans from animals?
11. Where does the idea of marriage come from as opposed to simply living together?
12. Why does the entire world operate on a seven day week?
13. Would it be acceptable to teach children in public school history class that Jesus never lived or in science class that resurrection is impossible? Why?