DARWIN, CHARLES — The 19th Century British naturalist who first popularized the theory of evolution, by suggesting a biological mechanism called “natural selection.” His landmark book “The Origin of Species” (1859) marked a turning point in the debate of origins. His pursuit of naturalistic explanations for life led him to deny the activity of God in nature.

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS — Island group off the coast of Ecuador, site of Charles Darwin’s observations in 1835 that helped him formulate his evolution-by-natural selection theory. While there he noted the differences in tortoises from various islands; finches that he collected and later studied in England confirmed for him his theory that differences were the result of a process that could explain the origins of all life forms.

SPECIES, FIXITY of — The belief that species are “fixed;” that is, they never change in any significant way. Creationists once believed that all animals and plants that exist today were created exactly as they appear. A number of problems forced abandonment of this position, including the impractically high number of animals needed to occupy Noah’s ark. Creationists today believe in limited change in species.

NATURAL SELECTION — The biological mechanism, popularized by Charles Darwin in his “Origin of Species” (1859), for explaining how evolution works. Sometimes called the “survival of the fittest,” the process by which certain heritable traits of life forms are passed on to future generations because they aided in helping that life form to survive; traits that didn’t help would be lost. The net result would be modification of life forms over time…evolution. That natural selection helps a population remain healthy is widely held; that it produces sufficient change over time to make radically new life forms is at issue.

ARK — The boat that Noah and his family built at God’s command to escape the judgment of the Flood. The Hebrew word means “container.” According to Genesis it was 450 feet long,22 1⁄2 feet wide, 45 feet tall, if you use the standard 18 inches for a “cubit.” It had three decks and was similarly proportioned for heavy seas as today’s oil supertankers. It’s estimated that some 8,000 pairs of animals plus provisions for one year could easily be accommodated. If we are talking somewhere around the level of biological classification of “families,” sufficient genetic material for the diversity of life we see today would be easier to accommodate, since there are fewer than 400 families of terrestrial vertebrates.

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