Charles Darwin, the father of the Theory of Evolution, earned
a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Christ College at Cambridge University
in 1831. He could have been the priest of a church in England. It’s
fairly safe to assume that if he had a degree in theology, he studied the
Bible.
Charles Darwin based his theory of evolution on the proposition
that all living things descended from a common ancestor and are the product
of
a mechanical
process that alters every species over the course of millions of years.
Darwin waited over 20 years to publish On the Origin of Species by
Means of Natural
Selection in 1859 because he knew Christendom would get their panties all
knotted up.
There is no shortage of controversy over when the first texts
of the Hebrew Bible were written. There is nevertheless no doubt that the
Dead Sea Scrolls
predate all Hebrew texts that eventually became the Hebrew Bible. Most
of the scrolls were written on parchment and papyrus circa 350 BCE. They were
written mostly in Hebrew but also in Aramaic and Greek. Hipparchus laid
the foundation for trigonometry circa 140 BCE, 210 years after the Dead
Sea Scrolls
were written. Nevertheless, in 350 BCE, there were no microscopes or telescopes.
The most advanced technology of circa 350 BCE was the wheel, which, ironically,
is probably the most significant amelioration leading to the evolution
of
human civilization. The wheel was invented in the 4th millennium BC.
Did the Bible inspire Darwin’s Theory of Evolution?
Creationism and "Creation Science," which is religion
and does not even qualify as a pseudo-science, are based upon the Hebrew Bible
stories.
The similarities between creationism and the theory of evolution almost
certainly suggest that Darwin's theory was influenced by the Bible
The chronological order of creation according to the Bible: Day 1:
Light; Day 2: Atmosphere / Firmament; Day 3: Dry ground and plants;
Day 4:
Sun, moon, and stars; Day 5: Birds and sea creatures; and Day 6:
Land animals
and humans.
The chronological order according to cosmology is: 1st:
Big Bang (light); 2nd: matter accretes and forms stars, planets,
and moons;
3rd: atmosphere
suitable to form life on earth appears; 4th: life forms in the
oceans and fish evolve; 5th: sea life evolves into land animals and birds;
6th: humans
evolve from land animals.
The Creation chronology simply isn't logical. How could the
atmosphere on earth appear before the sun, moon, and stars appeared? So the
earth
existed
before the entire universe? The explanation for that could be as
simple as a scribe error or that the scribe had too much beer the night before
and had
a hangover. A more plausible explanation for that is that the philosophers
of the day lacked the technology to test their hypotheses.
How did people with no scientific equipment or understanding
of calculus and trigonometry formulate a basic understanding of cosmic evolution? Arguing
about the differences in the chronological order is balderdash. Both theories
say the same thing. What fascinates me are the similarities. What makes sense
is the Theory of Evolution was inspired by the bible.
