In my short life on this planet I have come to question things that many take upon blind faith. We all know that we must some day die; yet we continuously deny the forces at work inside ourselves, which want to search out the answers of what may or may not come after. It is far easier for humanity to accept that they will go to a safe haven and be rewarded for their lives with pleasures and fantasies of an unfathomable scale than to question the existence of a supposed omnipotent being. Yet, there are a few of us humans who tend to question the why’s and wherefore’s that society puts forth to us.
We question the existence of God, or the creation of mankind rather than blindly accepting faith-filled beliefs we may received from our parents as children. Perhaps it is because we live in a nation filled with many peoples of different beliefs whose Gods are all so varied and different that it is difficult to fathom that they are all the same divine being. It is also plausible that we just have a desire to quench the thirst for knowledge that lies deep within ourselves. As for myself, I cannot believe in a being which created a universe and a multitude of worlds in a rather short period of time then deigns to lower itself into becoming a puppet-master and “pulling the strings” of the Earth and all of the people therein. Since this paper touches upon many scientific terms, I feel that in order for the reader to correctly grasp the content I must first define three words: Theory, Law, and Hypothesis. The definitions will allow for a greater understanding of this essay and give us an even ground upon which to begin.
Theory; (th1e-r, thr1) noun 1. a. Systematically organized knowledge applicable in a relatively wide variety of circumstances, especially a system of assumptions, accepted principles, and rules of procedure devised to analyze, predict, or otherwise explain the nature or behavior of a specified set of phenomena. b. Such knowledge or such a system.
2. An assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture. Law; (l) noun 12. a.
A formulation describing a relationship observed to be invariable between or among phenomena for all cases in which the specified conditions are met: the law of gravity. b. A generalization based on consistent experience or results: the law of supply and demand; the law of averages. Hypothesis; (h-pth1-ss) noun 1. A tentative explanation that accounts for a set of facts and can be tested by further investigation; a theory. 2.
Something taken to be true for the purpose of argument or investigation; an assumption. It is important that you thoroughly read the above definitions or you will be at a disadvantage if you do not. You will note that there are several different definitions to each word. I felt it was important to include the added definitive statement to theory because it shows the difference between a scientific theory and an “everyday” theory based upon conjecture.
The additional definitions to law and hypothesis are both added for a further understanding of these words. The definition of creationism is somewhat more complex. One must start by saying that the belief in the creation of the universe given at the beginning of the Bible is literally true. Creationism is a belief based solely upon faith (which is a belief in and of itself).
There are no scientific facts as a basis for this belief, solely conjectural theories and speculations. It is ingrained into our minds, as children that a belief of a force, or supernatural entity, which is all powerful and all knowing, is watching over us and taking care of our needs. Yet, to me, saying this very sort of thing is heretical in its very essence. To be so crude as to think that some being which created the universe itself and all things in it would take the time to care for each and every individual is incomprehensible. In practically all ancient cultures, the biblical included, the universe was thought of as an original chaos into which order had been introduced by a creative hand: This was the essence of creation.1 In this statement alone we can see one of the major flaws of creationism. While science can prove without doubt the universe up to the first 20 milliseconds of existence, we cannot prove anything before that point at this time.
The statement above, regarding creationism, suggests that there was no beginning, only chaos. Subsequently this “creative hand” structured the order of the universe out of chaos and applied physical laws to that chaos so it would form itself into motion and order. Yet, creationism as a whole does not touch base upon what came before the chaos. While science admits that there was a time in which different laws and order applied; creationism attempts to deny this existence by saying that there was always something. For if there was indeed a beginning and there was no God before this time, where did God come from? We can scientifically prove that there was a beginning.
We cannot yet ascertain what was before this beginning, but we now know that there was one. To suggest that the universe has always existed is a mere myth today. Much like the myth that the world was once flat. Today, we take for granted that the world is indeed round, for have we not seen pictures from the space shuttle in orbit of the earth. Not to mention the multitude of orbital shots from satellites. Consequently we would consider it preposterous if someone attempted to tell us that the world is a flat surface.
Yet, upon blind faith, some are content to believe that a “creative hand” structured this existence. Although the figures (Gods) differ from mythos to mythos, all the ancient stories intend simply to give a poetic accounting for cosmic origins.2 In the scientific community there is a well known and accepted theory known as the “Big Bang Theory”. Most people know of this theory because they were taught it in school. Yet it usually contradicted what their parents and pastors taught them in church.
As a result, the Big Bang Theory was generally discarded as something that intellectual minds which cannot exist upon the true faith alone, must accept as truth. The Big Bang Theory is stated in condensed form as follows. As the universe expanded, the residual radiation from the big bang would continue to cool, until now it should be a temperature of about 3 K (about -270 C/-454 F). This relic radiation was detected by radio astronomy in 1965, thereby providing what most astronomers consider to be confirmation of the big bang theory.3 In this statement we have our first of arguments over creationism by evolution.
We have the beginnings of a proof that there was a time or rather, I should say, a point in time where there was indeed nothing. Many creationists will argue that the universe is too ordered; the path of the planets (which meant wanderers, or great wanderers in early Grecian society) is too ordered, too perfect. I will start by asking you to attempt …
