Creation vs. Evolution Report

Doing a Report on Creation vs. Evolution

on August 30, 2019

Every school year, students wanting to do a paper on “Creation vs. Evolution” contact Answers in Genesis for our advice and insights. We think it’s great that so many young people are interested in writing on this topic, and we want to provide some helpful guidelines on how to approach the writing on this topic.

Follow the Guidelines

When writing a paper, try always to follow the instructions given by your school or teacher, including sticking to the topic you were assigned. For example, if your set topic is antibiotics, then it would be worth explaining antibiotic resistance. Then, you can explain why this is not an example of particles-to-people evolution since no new information is ever generated. It would not be appropriate, however, to discuss religion vs. science or the age of the earth in such an essay. If you have a report about rock formations, it is perfectly suited to discuss evidence of catastrophic formation of the rocks, but not for talking about the evolutionary basis of Nazism. It is essential to stay focused on the subject and on what you want to convey.

Choosing a Topic

The “Creation vs. Evolution” issue covers a wide range of areas, and it is too broad to be dealt with adequately in just one paper.

If you were not assigned a specific topic, it is wisest to select one particular area of a subject to write about. The “Creation vs. Evolution” issue covers a wide range of areas, and it is too broad to be dealt with adequately in just one paper. We suggest choosing one aspect of this debate to focus on—particularly, an area you may find interesting so your research and writing will be enjoyable. We provide some topic suggestions at the end of this article.

What Not to Say

When writing your paper, do not state that “evolution is just a theory.” This is because the meaning of the word “theory” to you is not the same as its meaning to the evolutionist. To the layman, a “theory” is a guess or a postulation. To a scientist, a “theory” means a well-substantiated explanation of data. Calling evolution a “theory” gives it far too much scientific credit. The evolution conjecture should not be called a “theory.” This gives it unwarranted respectability by association with real theories like that of Relativity, Newton’s Theory of Gravity, the Debye-Hückel theory of electrolytes, etc. All these theories have strong experimental support (although Newton’s theory has been augmented by Einstein’s). In contrast, evolution of life from non-living matter and from one basic type of organism to a different type has not the slightest experimental/observational support.

At Answers in Genesis, we have published several articles about evolution that will help you know what to say when referring to this term.

Answering the “Right” Questions

You are being tested on your knowledge of the course.

Depending on your class and teacher, you may be expected to write about what you’ve been taught in class. The same thing can be said for examinations. You are being tested on your knowledge of the course. Please be aware that these are not appropriate times to “preach.” For example, if you are asked “how old is the Earth?” then the (correct!) answer of ~6000 years will almost certainly be marked wrong because the course most likely would have stated ~4.5 billion years. To avoid lying, we recommend prefixing your answer by saying, “Most scientists believe that. . . ” or “The general consensus among geochronologists is. . . ” Remember, an exam is not a test of your personal beliefs. Instead, it is a test of how well you have learned and understood the material of the course as taught.

When you write a paper to argue a point, try to anticipate possible responses. For example, if you say, “There are no transitional forms,” then your teacher may downgrade you and say, “Haven’t you heard of Archaeopteryx and Lucy?” While these examples are not convincing when looked at in-depth, it would still be better to say, “While Darwin predicted that the fossil record would show numerous transitional fossils, even 140 years later, all we have are a handful of questionable examples.” Or if you say, “There are no beneficial mutations,” your teacher may suggest, however inappropriately, sickle-cell anemia or wingless beetles as examples of mutations that can be beneficial to the organism. It would be better if you say, “Mutations have been observed to destroy, delete or corrupt genetic information or to be neutral, but have not been observed to add information. This is true even of so-called-beneficial mutations like shriveled-eyed cave fish or flightless beetles on windswept islands, where the changes still involve loss of sight or flight. However, particles-to-people evolution requires so many information-increasing mutations that it should be easy to find such mutations happening today, but we have yet to observe even one.” Be tactful and careful in your responses.

Do Your Homework

When writing a paper on creation science, do your homework thoroughly and ensure you use the most up-to-date research.

When writing a paper on creation science, do your homework thoroughly and ensure you use the most up-to-date research. Familiarize yourself with the best creation science has to offer, and do not use these doubtful arguments. Because you are discussing creation science, you will be held to a higher standard, and you want to be sure to represent Christ in excellence.

Here are some helpful general resources:

We also have some suggested topics that might help you as you decide what to write about. We have organized them generally by topic below, and we recommend some resources in each section to help you with those topics.

What should we know when comparing creation vs. evolution?

Is this really an issue of religion vs. science, or is it the historical science of one religion vs the historical science of another religion? What are the philosophical presuppositions of each side?

Recommended resources:

What is “Information theory”?

What are its implications for the creation/evolution issue?

Recommended resources:

Do things look created or mindlessly evolved?

Is there evidence of design in the world?

Recommended resources:

What are the logical implications of adopting an evolutionary worldview?

Recommended resources:

Is there evidence for a young earth and universe?

Recommended resources:

Can life really come from non-life as (chemical) evolution suggests?

Recommended resources:

What about neo-Darwinism (mutations plus natural selection)?

Can it explain the increased genetic information required for microbe-to-man evolution?

Recommended resources:

What about the so-called “evidence” for evolution?

Recommended resources:

Are popular depictions of the Scopes Trial accurate?

What is the lesson to be learned?

(Read this testimony of a student who used this material on the Scopes Trial.)

Recommended resources:

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