rning the origin of man, which contradict the traditional idea of creation. The best known of these explanations is the theory of biological evolution. Simply stated, biological evolution encompasses the changes experienced by a particular species over thousands and millions of generations as it reproduces varying offspring, more of which are generally better suited to survive in their environment than the generation before (Britannica Encyclopedia Online). Evidence for biological evolution can be seen in the diversity of life that surrounds us. It is estimated that there are over two million species on Earth, all of which have similar defining characteristics. Every living organism on Earth has basic structural units called cells. This simple fact alone is key evidence that all species on Earth have common ancestry. Furthermore, the history of life recorded by fossils presents compelling evidence of evolution. The fossil record shows that the first complex life, jellyfish and worms, appeared on earth about six hundred and eighty million years ago (Britannica Encyclopedia Online). As the fossil record is evaluated further, it can be shown that these life forms evolved into more complex life-forms, and those life-forms into more complex ones, and so on. Because evolution can be clearly seen in fossil records, it is highly probable that evolution is responsible for our species' coming to being. Despite the overwhelming evidence in favor of evolution, theists still champion the idea of creationism. Creationism holds that god created the earth and all of its species, and that the Book of Genesis gives an accurate account of creation. There are many schools of thought concerning creationism. Biblical creationists believe that the scientific explanations of the creation of the universe contradict the words of the bible. However, another school of thought, scientific creationism, believes that scientific explanations of the origin of ...
