creationism vs. Evolution | Introduction
“Creationism is the doctrine that matter and all things were created, substantially as they now exist, by an omnipotent Creator, and not gradually evolved or developed.”
“Evolution is the continuous genetic adaptation of organisms or species to the environment by the integrating agencies of selection, hybridization, inbreeding, and mutation.”
Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, First Edition, 1989
In August 1925, John T. Scopes, a teacher from Dayton, Tennessee, was brought to trial for teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to his high school biology students. The teaching of evolution violated a Tennessee state law which mandated that in Tennessee public schools only divine creation could be presented by teachers as an explanation for the origin and development of life on earth.
The John T. Scopes trial
When Scopes announced that the gifted and nationally famous criminal defense lawyer Clarence Darrow would be defending him, the prosecution secured the services of an equally prominent attorney, William Jennings Bryan. The prospect of two of America’s greatest legal minds facing off in court on so controversial an issue instantly turned the trial into a national media event. Journalists from throughout the United States and several foreign countries descended upon the little town of Dayton to witness this battle between Darrow and Bryan. Although Scopes was ultimately found guilty, throughout the trial a much larger issue overshadowed the defendant’s innocence or guilt, the question of Christian fundamentalism versus scientific modernism. Bryan, as the champion of fundamentalism, showed up in court each day with a King James bible in hand. For every argument by Claren ...