Learning Outcome #1
History of Evolutionary Theory:
1. Who was Thomas Malthus? What idea did he contribute to Darwin’s theory of evolution? Thomas
Malthus was a British scholar who popularized the idea of rent. His contribution to Darwin’s theory was
that unchecked population growth would eventually harm man.
2. Thomas Chalmers? He was a Scottish mathematician, and promoted the concept of
pre-
evolutionary natural history.
3. George Curvier? He was a French naturalist, and is known for establishing extinction as a fact.
4. Herbert Spencer? He was an English philosopher, and coined the phrase, “Survival of the fittest.”He
believed strongly in natural selection.
5. What conclusion did Louis Agassiz arrive at to explain sedimentary rock layers? Agassiz was the
first to describe that the Earth had experienced an Ice Age. In different sedimentary rock layers he
found clear evidence of ancient glacial activities.
6. What is common to the theories of origins in all-ancient writings? They all placed Europe at the
center of civilization, evolved or not.
7. In the 1800’s which areas of study made contributions to the modern theory of origins? John
Dalton’s Atomic theory, Mendeleev’s periodic table of elements
8. What and when was the “Enlightenment”? Why was it important in the theory of evolution? The Age
of Enlightenment occurred
simultaneously in Great Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy,
Spain, and Portugal. There is not a definite agreement on the period of Enlightenment; however, it may
have started in 1804 and lasted to 1815, to coincide with the Napoleonic wars. During this time, the
ideas of freedom, reason, and democracy were championed. Immanuel Kant described it simply as
freedom to use one's own intelligence.
9. What was a principle
reason that the theory of evolution was so attractive to the naturalist’s
mind? Darwin’s theory of evolution describes a pace that takes a long time to occur, and this
appealed to naturalists who felt that rapid change was radical.
10. How is the Bible used to infer the age of the earth? The Bible itself makes no statement
about Earth's age, but various religionists have tried to infer the age from biblical narratives.
The most famous and influential attempt was made more than three centuries ago by the Irish
churchman James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, who summed the
lifespans of the patriarchs listed in the Book of Genesis, refined that sum by making some
theological assumptions, and deduced that the biblical god had created Earth on 23 October in
the year 4004 BC. This result, which Ussher promulgated in 1650, has been printed as a marginnote in many editions of the Bible and has acquired the force of scripture among many
fundamentalists Bennetta W. (1997). The Textbook Letter.
http://www.textbookleague.org/81wrong.htm).
11. Did early taxonomists like Ray and Linnaeus believe that it was possible for species to change or
did they think species were immutable? Ray and Linnaeus believed that species were subject to
creationism.
Learning Outcome #2 – Population Genetics:
1. How do Neo-Darwinists define evolution? Population? Natural selection with Mendelian genetics.
With genetics, they believe there are mutation and variation in a population of species.
2. What are the requirements of a group of animals to be termed a population? They belong to the
same species and live in the same area.
3. What does Dr. Detwiler mean by “devolution”? This is the loss of some species to lose functions,
and basically go backwards
4. For a creationist, where does perfection of form and function lie—in the past, in the present, or in
the future? The past, present and the future. All were made by God.
5. How is the term “adaptation” defined? A population becomes better suited to its habitat
6. What word does Dr. Detwiler prefer to use instead of adaptation place? Why? Mutation.
7. What is stabilizing selection and why can it be good for a population? Genetic diversity decreases as
a population stabilizes. Prevents changes in form and function over a period of time.
8. What type of natural selection helps to maintain maleness and femaleness in a species? Stabilizing
selection. (Procreation).
9. In laboratory experiments what does long-term directional selection lead to? Optimum allele
10. How can new combinations of genes come about? What processes or forces generate new gene
combinations? How does a new allele arise? Mutation, recombination. Mutagens, evolutional pressure.
New alleles appear as gene sequences change through mutation.
11. What do evolutionists believe about past organisms that explains to them why most mutations
today are harmful to organisms. Our bodies may have been killed by the tons of mutations necessary
to survive, and we certainly would not have benefitted from the mutations. Mutations only weaken the
organisms that already exist as all mutations are harmful.
12. In an unchanging environment, what kind of natural selection is most prominent and most helpful?
Stabilizing selection.
13. How might new species arise? Does your instructor believe that such change is generative or
degenerative?
Learning Outcome #3 – Evidences sited by materialistic thinkers for long term macro-evolutionary
thinking
1. Why do evolutionists believe there are so many harmful mutations today? Fodder for evolution…
2. In terms of scientific methodology, which is more demonstrable: micro- evolution or
macroevolution? Microevolution.
3. Why must evolutionists believe that gene frequencies are directional while a creationist can chose
the option of gene frequencies being cyclical?
4. What is a neutral mutation? This causes a different amino acid to be translated in to the code, but
there are no effects to the being.
5. Why is it difficult to identify what a good mutation would look like? Some mutations are thought of
as ‘bad,’ but actually have a positive outcome for some
6. Antibiotic resistance by bacteria is a real threat to our health; how does it come about in a
population of bacteria? Resistance can be brought about by mutations within the bacteria, and then
passed on to other bacteria so that the trait can spread quickly.
7. What is the ultimate physical data source for determining the actual history of life on this planet?
Solid rock.
8. What does an evolutionist believe to be true about two structures that said to be “homologous”?
Homologous structures are similar only in developmental terms, not morphological.
9. Why does it seem impossible, even to some “evolutionists”, that the eye evolved by simple
Darwinian evolution from a simpler organ? No simpler organs share any of the functions of the eye.
10. What did Louis Agassiz believe was the cause of the sedimentary layers containing the fossil
record? The Ice Age, and movement of ancient glaciers
11. How does a creationist explain structures like a bat’s wing and a man’s arm that appear
“homologous” to an evolutionist? Divine intervention.
12. Which theory, creation or evolution predicts the existence of “primitive, less adapted” species on
earth today? Devolution.
13. Why can’t more time solve the problems of evolutionary theory? New species will have evolved by
then.
14. Evolutionists and creationists both explain how an insect comes to be resistant to a pesticide in
the same way. The insect is resistant because it: changes.
15. By what rare genetic process do evolutionists feel organisms slowly went from having small simple
genomes to sporting large complicated ones? (Salmonella to Sam and Ella)
16. What effect does a prolonged dry spell have upon the beaks of the finches of the Galapagos
Islands? The finches adapt the length of their beaks to meet the available food.
17. Evolutionists say that small molecules spontaneously combined to form just the right large
biomolecules? How should this assertion be viewed by careful scientists? What atmospheric condition
does this theory depend?
18. How does an evolutionist explain the origin of a “ring” species? Species live near enough each
other that they form a ‘ring.’ The species will interbreed. Nevertheless, there are at least two potential
end species for the ring species.
19. What would an evolutionist seeing a specific pattern of bones in a variety of different organisms
assume about those organisms? That they all evolved from the same ancestor.
Learning Outcome # 4 & 5 – Briefly describe and compare a short earth Biblical creation model and
an evolutionary model and establish a scientific creation and Biblical creation models:
1. What is the definition of a scientific model? This is a way to describe a complicated issue in a
simplified way.
2. What possible value is there in the idea that fossils and great ages of rocks might be assignable to a
creation earlier than the one detailed in Genesis 1: 3-31? This supports the theory of evolution.
3. What features of the Bible causes some creationists to believe that the earth is very young? The
Genesis creation model says that God created the earth in 7 days, so the earth could not have been
present very long.
4. What does your instructor believe will be the final result when the Bible and the fossil record are
both interpreted correctly?
5. When scientists set about to interpret data, what are some difficulties they encounter? Mistakes.
6. What are some problems we encounter when trying to deriving science from the scriptures?
Persona bias.
7. What are some possible meanings of the Hebrew word “bereshiyth”? In the beginning: when God
created the world, When God created the first thing to be known in the world, when life began.
8. The earth in some cases has a thickness of sequence of fine sedimentary strata suggestive of great
age. How might a young earth creationist respond to this data? The data had been misinterpreted.
9. The layers of sedimentary rocks all over the earth are evidence of a historical record to
evolutionists. What does their sequence mean to a young earth creationist? Again, the data had been
misinterpreted.
10. What are some features of sedimentary rock layers that young earth creationists currently have
difficulty explaining? Isochron for dating
11. To a creationist, what would piloerection (erection of hair) on a cat and on a human being mean in
regard to the origin of the cat and the human? That both are part of God’s plan.
Learning Outcome # 6 – Human Origins
1. If we wanted to argue that the Bible teaches an evolutionary origin for man, then what would the
term “Adam” actually have to represent or stand for? A Man
2. What does the term “nephesh” mean in Hebrew? How does its use in Genesis support the thought
that man was created directly from dust? Soul. God infused the soul in to the dust.
3. What is Australopithecus? What do many (but not all) evolutionists consider Australopithecus to be?
A genus of hominids that are now extinct. They are considered the pre-cursors to man today.
4. If anthropologists discovered proof that Australopithecus members worshipped, would Dr Detwiler
consider them to be ancestors or descendents of Adam?