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What does the word "evolution" mean? It is important to define it because "evolution"
is an accordion word: it can be expanded or contracted to fit whatever definition you
have in mind. Uninformed creationists have said evolution tries to explain how everything
got here without God. Evolution would include the big ***, formation of the elements, the
formation of life from non-life, and the descent of all life from a common ancestor. This is
a typical example of the accordion at work. The definition has been greatly expanded from
its original meaning. "Evolution" does not include the big ***, the formation of the
elements, and perhaps the formation of life from non-life. At this point, those uninformed
creationists will say: "well how do you explain all these things without God? Evolution must
try to explain them!" But they forget that evolution doesn't specifically rule out God.
Creationists aren't the only ones that are misinformed about evolution. Many evolutionists
will try to prove that evolution is true (and that creationists are wrong) by showing that
animals change. They say that evolution means "change over time". But no-one denies "change
over time"! In fact, it's a valuable part of the creation model. This is a typical example
of the accordion being contracted from its original meaning. Evolution means much more
than just "change over time". So, evolutionists are just as misinformed about evolution as
the creationists they ridicule. So what is the actual definition of evolution to be used
in the creation vs evolution debate? Charles Darwin tried to explain in his book titled,
"On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured
Races in the Struggle for Life", that all life evolved, or descended, from one simple
life form long ago. This is what we mean by "evolution". All life forms descending from
one or a few simple life forms over millions or billions of years. Evolution is not just
"change over time". Evolution is not just "change in the gene frequencies of a population
over time", whatever that is! Creationists don't deny those things. In fact, we embrace
them. Evolution is the theory that all life descended from a single cell, or a few simple
life forms, over millions or billions of years. That is what creationists deny. That's the
issue, and to change the definition to something else in the creation vs evolution debate is
dishonest.