Summary

The origin of life is an issue that attracted controversial debates for decades and been the subject of arguments in different fields. Evolutionism and creationism have attempted to answer this question by providing divergent perspectives about it. While creationism is largely influenced by religious beliefs and views, evolution is largely influenced by historical scientific evidence. Jerry Coyne seeks to demonstrate that evolution is true in its explanation of the origin of life in his book, Why Evolution is True. To demonstrate that evolution is true, Coyne (2010) dispels common fears and misunderstandings regarding this theory. He provides clear scientific evidence and confirmation that supports evolution as the correct explanation of where life originated. Evolution is proven by natural selection and evidence from other disciplines/fields such as comparative anatomy, genetics, geology, molecular biology, paleontology, physiology, comparative embryology, and biogeography.

At the heart of Coynes argument that evolution is true is the idea of natural selection and gradualism. With regards to natural selection, Coyne suggests that life origins from nature acts since things develop randomly. Therefore, nature acts influence the formation of life and the development of the universe. With respect to gradualism, Coyne argues that things change over time. In essence, organisms undergo changes over time such as how birds become reptiles. However, some of Coynes ideas are refuted by existing evidence including the disregard for fossils that are inconsistent with evolution. The idea that things do not make sense biologically unless in light of evolution is refuted by the numerous biological achievements before the theory. However, despite these shortcomings, Coyne adequately proves that evolution is true.

Why Evolution is True

Evolution and creation are two topics that have generated numerous controversies among scholars in different fields and the general public. The controversies surrounding these topics emerge from their contradictory or differing views on the origin of life. Debates on the origin of life have been exacerbated by the existence of theories providing plausible explanations and evidence to demonstrate their points. In essence, similar to the story of creation, the evolution theory has plausible evidence to support its claims regarding the origin of life. While these two divergent views have reasonable evidence to support their claims, there have been concerns about whether they provide sufficient scientific evidence. Scientific evidence is essentially at the core of controversies surrounding the debate regarding evolutionism and creationism. This paper is a personal reflection on why I believe that evolution theory is true and provides sufficient scientific evidence on the origin of life.

The Process of Evolution

As a student-athlete golfer, I have always taken time to reflect on what is the origin of life. I must admit that reading theories of evolution as well as creationism, I have ended up being confused on what is the actual origin of life. I believe that each of these theories provides reasonable evidence to support their claims regarding the issue of the origin of life. My reflections on what is the origin of life have largely been fueled by the desire to live a life with a purpose and make an impact in my community. I am a person with a big heart and grounded. I have also grown a lot by being away from home in college. My college experience has enabled me to reflect on critical things about life including what is the origin of life. I believe that identifying the origin of life is essential to living a purposeful life. My quest to identify the origin of life has involved reading many books and articles on evolution and creationism.

Based on the insights obtained from...

…evolution. Throughout the history of mankind, scientists have been documenting fossil records in their quest to identify and explain the origin of life. Fossil records have provided significant insights into where life originated from. However, Coyne fails to note that evolutionists or scientists tend to catalog only fossils that they find supportive of their claims. This raises questions on what happens with fossils that do not support claims on the evolutionary theory. I think that a proper assessment of fossil records to prove the veracity of evolution requires consideration of fossils that do not support the theory. The inclusion of such fossils in the assessment process helps to provide a balanced perspective on the role of fossil records in proving the evolutionary theory. The inclusion of such fossils is important because it is evident that there are much-publicized missing links regarding human evolution. In some cases, contradictory fossils have been discarded entirely or ignored in the debate on the theory of evolution.

In conclusion, creationism and evolutionism have attracted numerous debates as the origin of life remains a controversial issue. In his book, Why Evolution is True, Jerry Coyne attempts to demonstrate the veracity of evolution based on scientific evidence. He does not seek to argue that creationism is wrong but focuses on scientific evidence to prove that evolution is true. Coynes book supports the claim that evolution is true using two major concepts i.e. natural selection and gradualism. He asserts that things including organisms develop as a result of nature acts. With respect to gradualism, Cyne emphasizes that organisms undergo changes over time such as how birds become reptiles. While some of Coynes arguments can be refuted by scientific evidence and creationism, his claims are sufficient enough to demonstrate that evolution is true. Even though it is important to consider all…