CREATION AND EVOLUTION
Undoubtedly, the issue of Creation and Evolution is one which is almost guaranteed to set in motion various debates and arguments intended to support one position, dis-credit the other, or, on a few occasions, establish a common point of agreement for both. But it is worth mentioning that, in the majority of instances, the issue of Creation and Evolution, or Creation vs Evolution, which gives rise to such debates and arguments, deals almost exclusively with the subject of how life on Earth originated, with the opposing viewpoints seemingly based solely either from the standpoint of purely physical science, on the one hand, and religion (or at least a particular perspective thereof), on the other. Notwithstanding those debates and arguments, the purpose of this discussion is to put forward for consideration, the proposition that Creation and Evolution both each a valid place to occupy in what might be called the grand scheme of things, based for the most part (if not fully) on what can be gained from the study of philosophy and metaphysics. Before going into any particulars, it may be useful to establish a few definitions, which will be reflected in the course of this discussion:
"Creation" may be generally described and defined as: the action of something coming into existence, which had no prior or previous existence, as suggested from its Latin root, creare: meaning to make or to grow. Similarly, "Evolution" may be generally defined and described as: a process of unfolding and development of previously un-expressed characteristics or properties; once again, one can refer to its Latin root, evolvere: meaning to unroll, open, or unfold.
The findings of physical science which suggests that Life on Earth underwent some form of progression over thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years, from what might be considered crude and gross forms, up to the advent of Man, as is known at the present time, may be considered so self-evident, that it simply cannot be denied, even if there are those who choose to do so. Some of those who would deny those findings even go so far as to label them as fabrications or elaborate hoaxes. Here it may be speculated is one of the areas where the conflict tends to arise between those who adhere exclusively to opposing views on the issue of Creation and Evolution arises. History has shown that there are some who would take the conclusions determined by physical science as ground for the viewpoint that the origin and progression of Life on the planet, as well as that of the physical universe, took place without any action or intention on the part of any so-called Creative Intelligent Entity (by whatever name or title such a being may be addressed). Such a viewpoint, from all indications, tends to lead to another viewpoint which suggests that everything that exists is merely an act of chance or coincidence. But it should be kept in mind that this is by no means the only viewpoint to be derived from the findings of science. There also exists what might be considered the opposite viewpoint, that science gives ample substantiation for the action and intent of some Original Creative Entity, in the various occurrences which gave rise to (to once again borrow the words of Douglas Adams) "Life, the Universe and Everything", as was mentioned previously in the discussion on Science and Religion.
In similar manner, and speaking generally, many (if not all) of the so-called religionists advocate that the creation of the world and all that exists therein took place without evolution, and, with due respect, virtually all forms of religion carry within their tenets and doctrine a particular creation theory, to which the religionists adhere to, fervently. Perhaps the most noticeable example of this stance is the proposition based on the Biblical account of the creation of the universe, which states that said creation took place in, literally, six days (or, as we now reckon time, three hundred & eighty-four hours). More often than not, those who adhere to this proposition offer no evidence or explanation of any kind to substantiate this position, but insist that it is the truth "... because it is written in the Bible", and that it should be accepted unquestionably. If a person chooses to stand by such a position, it is not the place of this Author to change their mind - any more than he would seek to change the mind of those who would adhere solely to evolution. As stated before, the purpose of this discussion is simply to put forward the postulation that there indeed is a place for both Creation and Evolution in the grand scheme of how things work.
It should be noted that some (if not all) of what follows may have been stated in previous discussions, but the aim is to furnish a more complete understanding of the particular issue of Creation and Evolution.
Now, it had been previously mentioned in the discussion on Universal Mind that virtually all schools of religion and philosophy, who have ever sought to arrive at a reasonable and sensible explanation regarding the answer to the question of how Life originated, in their respective ways, postulated the existence of some Original Creative and Intelligent Entity, which, for the purpose of these discussions, is referred to by this Author as Spirit, Universal Mind or GOD; as stated before, the reader is perfectly free to use any other term or title which is comfortable to them. Now, arising out of the efforts of those seekers after truth, came the further postulation that Spirit's primary motive or tendency is towards the increase, expansion and fuller expression of what it essentially is ... for the immediate purpose of this discussion, Life. But another sensible conclusion which had been established is that Form of some sort, is a necessity for manifestation, or expression. Form was also determined to imply extension in space, as well as, as its compliment, sequence or passage of time; hence, it can be stated that expression takes place - and for that matter, can only take place - in the physical universe, which is ultimately governed by Space and Time; that which might be referred to as the two original Conditions.
From the philosophical and metaphysical standpoint, the progression from so-called inanimate material, then to plant or vegetable life, then to animal life, and thence, to the arrival of Man in the world, is one continuous and gradual sequence of evolution. A little consideration would reveal that, as indicated by the Latin root from which the term originates, evolution - the unfoldment and revelation of previously un-expressed possibilities and potentialities contained within the Principle (Source) of Life - can only occur in and with something that already exists; hence, it may be clearly understood that Creation and Evolution are not one and the same process. Rather, Creation and Evolution are complimentary or polar opposite processes - each may be said to compliment the other, so as to make a complete whole. And the complete whole referred to here, is the perpetual motive of Spirit towards increase, expansion and expression of Life. Moreover, and as previously mentioned, Spirit is an Infinite and Eternal Entity; hence it must contain within it infinite possibilities and potentialities. If the preceding is accepted, then the only conclusion that can be reached is that Evolution itself is an eternal progression - it literally cannot have an ending or final point, beyond which it can go no further; for that to be the actual case would automatically deny the eternal nature of Spirit. In fact, it can be concluded that, by virtue of their being complimentary to each other, both processes - Creation and Evolution - are actually eternal. We can even take things a step further, by recalling that, by virtue of the Original Creative Entity (Universal Mind) being infinite, the Creative Power of Thought is, in itself, infinite in potentiality. Hence, Creation and Evolution are not only eternal progressions, but they are also infinite ones, where the only limits that can apply to their working have their ultimate origin in the conceptions or beliefs held by a particular individual. This itself might serve to answer a question that has likely been put forth by many: Why is it that, speaking generally, there seems to be no evidence of any further progression of Creation and Evolution beyond what is observed now?
Granted that many propositions have been put forward even up to the present day to explain this, but the one that, so-to-say, make sense - especially by virtue of its being founded upon much of what has been stated in previous discussions - is that, so far as observations go, the overall belief is that the above picture defines the termination of the evolutionary progression, with the arrival of the human species. And, speaking generally, this supposition has a measure of truth in it, but it does not take into account at least two points which have been previously stated; (1) by virtue of the nature of Spirit, Evolution must be an infinite and perpetual progression, and (2) the evolutionary progression has reached where it is now, under the influence of conditions which spontaneously occur in nature, and therefore, by itself, it can go no further, unless or until new conditions are brought into being which do not spontaneously occur in nature. Hence, by accepting the supposition - or, to use another term previously mentioned, but which conveys the same meaning, the suggestion - conveyed by the above picture, or via similar means, that once Man has arrived, there is no next stage towards which Evolution may progress, the fact becomes the reality, for anyone and everyone who accepts it - another example of the scientific fact recorded in the New Testament: "It shall be unto you, according to your belief."
And, if one would give the matter a little consideration, this issue is not merely restricted to the evolutionary progression of so-called physical life. As stated previously, just as it has been put forth that Evolution is a perpetual progression, the same can be stated for Creation - to say that Creation has reached some limit beyond which it can or will go no further is also to deny the infinite and perpetual nature of the creative power of thought. And, just as the mass of mankind at the present time believe that Evolution has reached its limit, they hold a similar belief towards Creation; namely, that there is nothing further to be created. And so long as the belief exists, it is so for the believer(s). On the contrary, and as mentioned before, it can be put forth that one of the purposes of the evolutionary progression (if not its primary purpose) is to bring about the creation of an intelligence capable of advancing the Creative Process (the creation of new conditions and new forms via the exercise of Thought) beyond what might be considered the merely generic level (or that level which occurs spontaneously in Nature), which has ultimately brought the universe and all that is therein up to our present position. Put another way, any and all instances of Creation and Evolution, which may be considered as going above and beyond the generic level (or that which has transpired up to the present day), can only take place, via the introduction of certain conditions, which, so-to-say, do not spontaneously occur in Nature.
If one were to ask the question: "So how are these new conditions which are not spontaneously provided by nature to come into being?", it can be traced out via much of what has been presented in previous discussions, that this can only be done through the only Creative Agency that exists - namely, Thought or Mental Action. Simply stated, it has been concluded that Thought - or perhaps to be more specific, Belief - properly established and maintained, is capable of bringing about - perhaps indirectly, yet surely - the creation of Conditions which correspond or exactly match the quality or tone of the Belief, and this is true of all Beliefs, whether on an individual basis, or the collective Belief of the entire human race. It has also been put forth that Man, from all observations and deductions, is the only life-form on this planet capable of reproducing the action of the Creative Power of Thought, via the exercise of his personal Mental Action. Thus, and as has been previously stated, it can be concluded that the purpose of the evolutionary process is to develop and bring into existence a being which is capable of setting in motion new sequences of causation, which in turn will lead to the creation of new conditions, and in turn, determine courses of action for the Original Creative Power to follow, which will carry on both Creation and Evolution beyond the generic or spontaneously natural level, which, for all practical purposes, has already been attained, and thereby unfold and reveal potentialities and possibilities previously unrevealed - in other words, to advance the two-fold processes of Creation and Evolution. And, so far as the progression of Life on Earth is concerned, the being who is inherently designed to make that proposition a working reality is Man.
The preceding also points to another significant item - one which, again from observation, is rarely raised, if it is discussed at all, by the conventional arguments and debates on the issue of Creation and Evolution. Except in perhaps a handful of instances, these opposing sides appear to be primarily concerned with the progression of physical Life. But, as has been mentioned elsewhere, in actuality, Life is not primarily physical. And a course of careful reasoning can provide grounds for accepting the proposition that Life is primarily mental, i.e., the physical or outer world merely reflects that which transpires in the non-physical or inner world, or, expressed another way, the realm of Mind. And, just as physical Life underwent some progression from inanimate material (the First Kingdom) to so-called intellectual Man (the Fourth Kingdom), mental Life has also undergone an evolution or progression from its early beginnings to the point which is more often than not referred to as the Fifth Kingdom, or what might be called the advent of the fully-developed mental Man, i.e., an individual who has, so-to-say, awakened to recognize and realize his innermost nature, which is primarily mental - or, expressed another way via paraphrasing a certain excerpt from the book of Genesis, that he is "... made in the image and likeness of GOD".
On occasions, it has been asked to this effect: "If indeed there is some Supreme Being who ultimately created the universe and all that is therein, why did not this Being create Man so that he would, so-to-say, come into the world with his mental nature fully developed and thereby immediately proceed to advance Creation and Evolution to those postulated higher levels?" The only answer this Author considers as sensible, and therefore will be offered in response, is to this effect: if it could have been done in that manner, it would have been; but it could not be, so it wasn't. Again, what follows has been stated before, but it is worth repeating here - virtually all that is currently accepted as "making sense" regarding the inner (i.e., mental) nature of Man suggests that it contains therein tremendous powers, properties and qualities, but Man's mental nature also represents a source of danger - both to the individual as well as to anything and anyone around him - unless or until he has awakened to both the requisite intellectual and moral development which will render him equipped to make safe and beneficial use of his inner nature. And, like it or not, Evolution seems to be the one and only way in which this awakening can properly take place.
It is the express wish of this Author that the preceding has provided sufficient ground - in part, if not in full - for the visitor to consider the proposition that Creation and Evolution are both equally important in ultimately determining how things work out to carry on the forward and upward progression of Life - both physically and mentally - and that, for the complete progression to occur, they both compliment each other. But as also stated elsewhere, this Author cannot convince another person of this, or seek to do so - he can only put the idea before the other person, and, like any other proposition, the recipient will treat with it, as he or she chooses to do.
The following website contains a rather extensive discussion, according to the writer's perspective on the subject of Creation and Evolution, and is provided for the purpose of further research and reference. It is not implied that everything stated there either supports or opposes the contents of this page, but it is hoped that the visitor will be stimulated to think further and deeper on the issue of Creation and Evolution. As always, clicking the link will open a new browser window.
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