Source+Four

www.faithandevolution.org/

1 **Darwin was not the first scientist of his time to study the question of how life began and developed in its many forms. He was, however, the first to develop and publish a thorough explanation of the subject. His book On the Origin of Species(1859) presented evidence that evolution occurs and discussed how it works.**

2** Darwin was well aware that differences occur randomly among members of the same species.**

3 **He suggested that differences that improved an organism’s ability to survive would give that organism a greater chance of reproducing and passing its characteristics on to its offspring.**

4 **Among animals that lived by eating the leaves of trees, individuals with unusually long necks would be likely to live longer and produce more offspring.**

5 **As individuals with this favorable trait thrived and bred, a new species—in this case, the giraffe—would eventually emerge.**

6 T**he** **species from which the giraffe (and perhaps other grazing species) originated might become extinct, or it might continue to exist alongside the giraffe. Darwin called this process "natural selection." Scientists today continue to view natural selection as the primary mechanism of evolution.**

7 **An enormous step forward occurred in the 1940s with the discovery of DNA, the substance that carries the genes that transmit characteristics from parents to offspring. **

8 **Another area of science that provides insights into evolution is paleontology, which yields the fossil evidence that helps scientists understand the rate of evolution and the relationships among past and present organisms.**

9 **New discoveries in these and other fields are continuing to expand scientists’ understanding of evolution. Although the scientific community continues to debate specific details, it generally accepts the concept of evolution as a basic principle of life science.**

10** The publication of On the Origin of Speciesbegan a debate that has not yet ended. Many people, including many religious believers, welcomed Darwin’s insights as an advance in knowledge of the natural world. Others were deeply disturbed by two issues Darwin’s theory raised.**

11** First, evolution offers a history of life that is far different from the creation story set forth in the Old Testament of the Bible, which has influenced Jewish, Christian, and Muslim beliefs.**

12 **Some religious thinkers were untroubled by the conflict because they regarded the Bible’s creation story as a metaphor, not a literal account.**

13 **To them, God’s will could be expressed as well through the unfolding of natural laws as through the individual creation of every species.**

14 **But evolution threatens the beliefs of fundamentalists, who think that the Bible must be interpreted as literally true.**

15 **Evolutionism implies that human beings arrived at their present form through the natural process of evolution rather than by a divine plan. **