Creationists say that there is no evidence for evolution and that all the evidence points to creationism. Is this true?
There is absolutely no evidence for creationism. When you take all the evidence in every science, it all adds up to evolution. We have a lot of evidence for evolution, such as:
The fossil record. Evolution predicts that the fossil record should show a progression of simple life forms to more complex life forms over time. And that is exactly what it shows. Evolution also predicts that we should find transitional fossils, and we do. There have been many such finds in just the past year. Tiktalik, a fossil fish with tetrapod features, is a transitional from aquatic to land animals. Evolution also predicts that all organisms share a common ancestor. By looking at the fossil record we can see the ancestral organisms by comparing the derived characteristics of varying organisms.
Creationism can offer no explanation for the fossil record. (Tim M. Berra, “Evolution and the Myth of Creationism p. 31-46) Please see here
The genetic evidence. Evolution predicts that the more closely related two species are, the more genetic similarities we should find. And we do. Humans and chimps share almost 99% of the same DNA. We share less with gorillas and other apes. This means that humans and chimps both split off from the other apes at a later time, and that we both share a common ancestor. Humans and chimps also cannot synthesize vitamin C naturally. The gene that synthesizes vitamin C is broken, at the same place in the DNA in both humans and chimps. This can easily be explained by sharing a common ancestor who had this broken gene. Since both humans and chimps can get vitamin C from food, it is not life threatening and could be passed down through the generations.
Creationism can offer no explanation for genetic similarities. Please see here and here.
Vestigial organs. Vestigial organs are leftovers from the evolutionary past. Since evolution is a bottom up designer, it can only modify existing structures. Evolution predicts that we should find such organs, and once again we do. The human appendix is a classic example. The appendix was used by our ancient ancestors to help with the digestion of tough roots. Since we haven’t eaten these for tens of thousands of years, the appendix has lost its original function. Other examples of vestigial organs are hips in whales. Whales are entirely aquatic mammals that are descended from terrestrial animals. Since whales can survive in the ocean with hips, evolution can leave them. Also vestigial doesn’t mean useless. These organs have been adapted to serve other functions. The human appendix is used by the immune system, but people can survive just fine without it. It is not a vital organ. Whale’s hips are used during mating. Evolution can give reasons why organisms posses such structures, it is the bottom up design of evolution.
Creationism cannot explain why a designer would give useless or unneeded organs and structures to living things. (Tim M. Berra, “Evolution and the Myth of Creationism” p. 22) Please see here.
Atavistic features. Atavistic features are “reappearance of a lost character specific to a remote evolutionary ancestor and not observed in the parents or recent ancestors of the organism displaying the atavistic character.” Please see here. A good example is whales with legs. Since whales evolved from land animals, they still carry the genetic instructions for legs. So evolution would predict that occasionally whales will be born with legs. And there have been whales found to have legs. Human tails are another atavistic feature.
Creationism can give no explanation for the appearance of atavistic features in living animals.
Morphology. Morphology is the scientific study of form and structure of organisms. Morphology was used by taxonomists in the past to classify living things, since that was all they had to go on. Shared similarities and differences are in fact how animals and plants are classified. The reasons for similarities and differences are that some organisms are more closely related to each other by common descent than others are. The forelimbs of such diverse animals such as frogs, whales, bats, horses, lizards, and humans all share essentially the same boney parts, relationship of parts, and embryological development. They are similar because they share the same blueprint from a common ancestor. The forelimbs of each creature have been modified by evolution to survive in different environments and for different uses. The basic structure used by terrestrial animals is inherited from lobe-finned fishes that also had the same arrangement of boney structures.
Creationism can give no reason why an omnipotent designer would give the same basic structures to many different organisms that live in completely different environments and live completely different lifestyles. (Tim M. Berra, “Evolution and the Myth of Creationism” p. 20)
Embryology. Embryology is the study and growth of the early development of an organism. Evolution predicts that species that are more closely related should go through similar embryonic development. And they do. The early embryos of all vertebrates resemble each other. Embryos of creatures that breathe air go through a gill slit stage, complete with aortic arches and a two-chambered heart, like those of a fish. Creationism can give no valid explanation to why this would occur. (Tim M. Berra, “Evolution and the Myth of Creationism” p. 22)
These are just some of the examples of evidence for evolution. There is a vast amount of information on the subject, but hopefully this will give the reader a little more understanding about evolution and why it is accepted by the scientific community. There is just not one piece of evidence that has evolution written on it. It is a convergence of evidence from many different fields that leads the scientific community to say that evolution happened.
One of the main differences between evolution and creationism is that evolution has explanatory power. Evolution offers natural explanations that we can make predictions about and test for their validity. Creationism makes no predictions. Every time that creationism has given a testable hypothesis, it is proven incorrect. Creationists have to rely on attacking science to make it seem like modern science is incorrect, and by some twist of logic, that somehow makes creationism automatically correct.
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