THE CONCEPT OF BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
THE concept of biological evolution is attributed to the British naturalist, Charles Darwin (1809–1882). On his bicentenary birth anniversary which was celebrated in 2009, his ideas were extensively covered in the media.
Jean Baptiste Lamarck had presented the concept of evolution in its elementary form before Darwin. However, the speciality of Darwin was that he presented the concept of evolution in a more organized manner.
What is the concept of evolution?
The Theory of Evolution proposes that all species of animals and plants
developed from earlier forms by hereditary transmission of slight
variations in genetic composition to successive generations.
The age of the earth is totally inadequate for man and other living species to have come into existence through the process of Evolution.
In his book, The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin wrote that life was first created by God in the form of a unicellular organism. Afterwards through mutations based on natural selection; which was a process of survival of the fittest, different life species came to be developed. Finally a developed creature like man came into existence. And all this took place on its own through a gradual evolutionary process.
Darwin had given God the position of 'The First Creator' (Prime Mover) in his book, but later supporters of the concept of evolution eliminated God’s name altogether.
This entire process of the journey of evolution had taken place on the present earth but later research revealed that it is just not possible for an evolutionary journey of this kind to take place on Earth. For instance, the age of the earth is far less than what is required for an evolutionary process of this kind to reach a high stage of development as required for the evolution of man.
The concept of evolution presupposes that if one species evolves into another, it is due to biological changes, mutations. For instance, a goat-like mammal underwent innumerable changes generation after generation, until the accumulation of these changes, led to the production of a giraffe-like animal in the last stage of the goat’s evolution.
This long journey was marked by innumerable phases. However one small favourable change in the DNA structure of only one individual would require billions of generations; and the evolution of a complete sequence is clearly not possible in the time span since the formation of the earth.
Age of the Earth and Evolution
The age of the earth was not known in the times of Charles Darwin.
But with the development of science and technology, the age of the
earth has been ascertained with certainty. Geologists have calculated
that the earth came into existence 4.5 billion years ago. Much of the
earth was molten and extremely hot due to volcanism and frequent
collisions with other bodies. Over time it cooled and water came into
existence. According to geological studies, the first simple life forms
appeared around 3.5 billion years ago. Photosynthetic life appeared
2 billion years ago and life remained mostly small and microscopic until
about 580 million years ago, when complex multicellular life arose.
There exists no planet favourable for life, similar to earth, anywhere in the vast universe.
Now, according to Darwin’s supposition, man and other living species came into existence through a biological process. But the age of the earth is totally inadequate for this process. This evolutionary process can just not result in the evolution of man within 580 million years.
Panspermia
In the second half of the 20th century, when the age of the earth was
discovered, biologists felt that their theory was not workable. Now they
added another concept to evolution. They developed the theory that
the initial form of life had come into existence on another planet, from
where it travelled to the earth. The subsequent biological processes
then took place on earth. This concept is termed ‘Panspermia.’
After the Second World War came the age of space science and research. Spacecraft, satellites and space stations were built with newly developed electronic instruments and telescopes, which were extremely powerful. Without the limiting effects of the earth’s atmosphere, these space observatories were able to study and photograph remote parts of the universe that were hitherto not observed. But these studies revealed that there existed no planet favourable for life, similar to the earth, anywhere in the vast universe. Thus the concept of ‘Panspermia’ no longer held ground.
Explosive Evolution
Further research continues in an effort to resolve the issue of the
limited time span required for the evolution of life as it is today.
One other theory proposed to side step the issue of time is what could
be called explosive evolution. This however, does not resolve the actual
question regarding evolution. What it does, is provide a new technical
term for the justification of the concept of evolution. The traditional
concept of evolution was based on the principle of gradual mutations.
That is, with slight variations over many successive generations,
one species is changed into another. This concept of classical mutation
was unable to answer the question as to how exactly this change
occurred. For, no research has proved that these innumerable changes
can occur gradually.
The popularity of the concept of Evolution is not due to the fact that it has been scientifically proved. Its cause certainly is traceable to the attempt at explaining life without the introduction of God.
This new theory now only makes a guess based on volcanic eruptions and claim that these evolutionary changes did not occur gradually but explosively. These scientists believe that just as volcanoes erupt all of a sudden, in the same way different forms of life appeared one by one through a series of explosions. It is only an attempt to solve the problem of a limited span for the evolutionary process by supposing that biological evolution has taken place as a form of explosion. One of the statements proposed in this theory is:
‘These are like volcanoes in the genome, blowing out pieces of DNA.’ However, the actual problem still remains unresolved. This theory is only an attempt to explain genetic changes (mutation) based on supposition, rather than on an explanation of how innumerable changes occurred within the limited age of the earth. In relation to the limited age of the earth, this is as inadequate as the ancient classical explanation. All that it says is that these changes are of an explosive nature rather than occurring as a gradual process. But even in the light of this theory, there still remains the question of the limitless age that is required for this process of countless changes to take place. Such an occurrence on our planet is just not possible. This concept of explosive evolution or evolution eruption is not based on any scientific discovery. It is again based on irrelevant suppositions, just like the theory of evolution initially formulated by Darwin.
Missing Links
There were many missing links in the concept of evolution. However,
the researchers of the time supposed that these missing links would
be discovered in time and on this supposition, the concept of evolution
received general acceptance. The same is true of modern research in
evolution in which there are a number of unknown links. By ignoring
these missing links, evolutionists devised their modern concept on the
basis of mere guesswork.
There is an unbroken relationship between God and man which continues at every moment without any interruption.
The concept of evolution supposes that living species have continually undergone repeated changes and that these changes came into existence by action and reaction in the environment. This evolutionary principle is called adaptation. It has been supposed that the changes that take place due to this adaptation get accumulated generation after generation and finally one species evolves into another.
However, no argument or example exists in favour of this supposed concept of adaptation. Some irrelevant examples are cited, but these examples are nothing but fallacies. Let us take the example of the moth, often cited by the evolutionists. Observations revealed that the moths who live in green trees turn green and the moths who live in hilly areas take on the colour of stones in that area.
This example does not prove the claim of evolutionists. What it proves, at best, is that environmental factors affect the external colour, like the white skin of people living in colder regions and the darker skin of those living in hotter regions. The actual subject of discussion in relation to the theory of evolution does not pertain to the changes in the external colour of the body, but rather to the change in species. That is why the example of the moth does not prove the principle of any change in species.
Evolution being a gradual, continuous process, innumerable intermediate species should have lived during the periods between these transformations. Evolutionists refer to these creatures which they believe lived in the past as intermediates or ‘transitional forms’. If such animals had really existed, there would be billions and their remains should necessarily show up in the fossil record.
Just as man is dependent on God for his existence, so is he totally dependent on God for his survival.
Even Darwin accepted this fact and asserted that when the fossil record had been studied in detail the missing links would be found. But despite more than two hundred years of fossil collection and studies, the fossil record still does not yield the picture of infinitely numerous transitional links that are expected. It has become abundantly clear that the fossil record has not and will not confirm Darwin’s prediction. The truth is that the concept of biological evolution was an unscientific concept in 1859 when Charles Darwin’s book was first published and today also it is equally unscientific.
It is claimed that the theory of biological evolution has gained general acceptance among the educated and elite in modern times. But as events unfold the popularity of this concept is not due to the fact that it has been scientifically proved. Its cause certainly is traceable to the attempt at explaining life without the introduction of God. Such people believe that they have found a workable theory in the form of the theory of evolution. Yet no real academic basis exists for the theory of evolution.
The Theory of Evolution and Religion
In the initial phase of the theory of evolution, the Christian Church
had turned hostile to it but now probably due to the pressure of
circumstance, the Christian Church has accepted its authenticity. One
media report says:
The Vatican has admitted that Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution should not have been dismissed and claimed it is compatible with the Christian view of creation. According to a February 11, 2009 report in the Telegraph, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, the head of the pontifical Council for Culture, said while the Church had been hostile to Darwin’s theory in the past, the idea of evolution could be traced to St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. Father Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti of the Pontifical Santa Croce University in Rome, added that the 4th century theologian St. Augustine had “never heard of the term evolution, but knew that big fish eat smaller fish” and forms of life had been transformed “slowly over time”.
Such an opinion regarding the evolutionary theory has also been expressed by certain Muslim scholars, such as Sheikh Nadin Algisr of Algeria, Pakistan’s Mohammad Rajiuddin, etc. These people hold that the concept of biological evolution is not akin to the denial of God, for they believe in God being the first cause to have brought life into existence. They explain that even if life came into existence in accordance with the supposed evolutionary method, it was still the one God who initially brought life into existence.
The Theory of Evolution is in effect a negation rather than an affirmation of God.
But this explanation is not right. According to the religious viewpoint, the position of God for us is not just that of the first cause; God is rather continuously involved in our life. Religious belief holds that God is controlling the universe continuously. There is an unbroken relationship between God and man which continues at every moment without any interruption. Besides, God is the Reckoner and man is accountable to Him for each and every deed he performs on this planet.
On the Day of Judgement, God in his capacity as Master of the Day of Judgement will decide the eternal future of all human beings. All these positions of God get eliminated in the concept of evolution. In such a case, the concept of biological evolution can never be acceptable from the religious viewpoint.
The desired relation between man and God is that of a living relationship. This relation exists at all times and at every moment through the remembrance of God, prayer, worship, contemplation, reflection and drawing lessons from God’s signs, etc. Man asks God for blessings at every moment and he receives them from God at every moment. Just as man is dependent on God for his existence, so is he totally dependent on God for his survival. If God ceased to sustain him even for a moment, man would be destroyed. In accordance with religious belief, God is not only the Creator but also the Sustainer. That being so, the theory of evolution is, in effect, a negation rather than an affirmation of God.
Others Make History
There are two types of people in this world —
the self-making type and
the history-making type.
The aim of those who are self-making
is to serve themselves,
whereas history-making people,
seek to serve humanity as a whole
People have to be patient with one another,
putting other’s needs before their own,
thinking of the good of others rather than
what they themselves desire.
It is through the sacrifice of individuals
that there can be such a thing
as concerted effort.