{"id":27198,"date":"2011-04-11T17:42:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-11T22:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=27198"},"modified":"2025-06-22T15:59:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T20:59:53","slug":"is-there-microevolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-there-microevolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Is there microevolution?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

I want to make clear that I believe that God created everything according to Romans 1:20.\u00a0I was with friends and the topic of a movie called\u00a0Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed<\/em><\/a> came up. I mentioned that someone I knew said “You Creationists don’t believe in evolution, but we evolutionists believe in God.”\u00a0Our evangelist said there is a difference between microevolution and macroevolution. One is that we came from some primordial goo.\u00a0 The other is God created us, but we are constantly changing.\u00a0I find this idea hard to swallow.\u00a0As I said before in the beginning, God created everything and that’s where I see it stopping.\u00a0Am I wrong?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

Evolution has become so popular and so dogmatically preached that people have been searching for ways to blend the concepts of Christianity and evolution. The idea of microevolution and macroevolution is one of those shifts that attempt to find some common ground.<\/p>\n

One definition that I found said:<\/p>\n

Macroevolution\u00a0<\/strong>major evolutionary transition from one type of organism to another occurring at the level of the species and higher taxa. [Dictionary.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Microevolution<\/strong>\u00a01. evolutionary change involving the gradual accumulation of mutations leading to new varieties within a species. 2. minor evolutionary change observed over a short period of time. [Dictionary.com<\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, the two terms still refer to change, but macroevolution involves large-scale changes, such as the emergence of a new species. Microevolution is small changes that don’t change the species, but according to evolution, they accumulate over time to cause macroevolutionary changes.<\/p>\n

Essentially, “microevolution” has largely replaced the older view of variation. Variation is the idea that every living creature can adapt to its environment within a certain range<\/em>. Certain features become predominant in one environment, while others predominate in another. For example, in hot, sunny climates, humans tend to have darker skin colors, while in colder, cloudier climates, humans tend to have lighter skin colors. Humans come in a variety of skin tones, but certain skin tones are better suited for specific climates. Yet, the Eskimos in northern Alaska are just as much human as the Africans in the middle of the Congo.<\/p>\n

But with microevolution, the limits of change are declared to be non-existent. What is claimed is that because variation in a species exists, it, therefore, proves that changes do occur and can accumulate into large changes. It is the latter point that is the leap of faith. There is no evidence of the accumulation of small changes to large changes. What we see is variation within a range and kinds remaining the same, but that variation doesn’t lead to the conclusion that transitions occur to new species. Change the environment and you’ll see the adaptation swing back in the other direction.<\/p>\n

I prefer not to use the terms “macroevolution” and “microevolution” because they are shallow attempts to get people to accept the general concept of evolution by using the word frequently. You can see this because evolution tends to be “sold” by getting a person to agree that microevolution exists and then saying that macroevolution is just an extension of microevolution. Textbooks supporting evolution typically state that there is no difference between microevolution and macroevolution except for the scale of changes. I continue to use the terms “variation” and “adaptation” instead.<\/p>\n

“Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good<\/em>” (Genesis 1:24-25).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I want to make clear that I believe that God created everything according to Romans 1:20.\u00a0I was with friends and the topic of a movie called\u00a0Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed came up. I mentioned that someone I knew said “You Creationists don’t believe in evolution, but we evolutionists believe in God.”\u00a0Our evangelist said there is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[302,80],"class_list":["post-27198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-creation","tag-evolution"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":60167,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/theistic-evolution-denial-of-the-record\/","url_meta":{"origin":27198,"position":0},"title":"Theistic Evolution — Denial of the Record","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jim R. Everett via bulletin from the Cedar Park church of Christ Atheistic evolution is an unscientific hypothesis because it affirms that life came from nothing. Theistic evolution is an unwarranted compromise and a denial of the record of creation (Genesis 1-2). No man can believe the Bible to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42721,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arguing-with-atheists\/","url_meta":{"origin":27198,"position":1},"title":"Arguing with Atheists","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Casey Head Via\u00a0The King's Way at Queen Way I work at a university. That's something I thought I'd never say. I guess I'd better clarify. I'm not a professor, a graduate student getting paid to do research, a university official...or even a janitor or landscaper. I'm actually just an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59510,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/science-as-shifting-sand\/","url_meta":{"origin":27198,"position":2},"title":"Science as Shifting Sand","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ethan R. Longhenry The modern world stands torn between competing understandings of the origins of the universe and of life on Earth: the spiritual understanding of the creation by God as described in Genesis 1-2, and the naturalistic explanations of modern scientific theory. The conflict between these understandings represents\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56135,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-evolutionists-creation-story-inspired-by-naturalism\/","url_meta":{"origin":27198,"position":3},"title":"The Evolutionist’s Creation Story, Inspired by Naturalism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Abraham Smith Naturalism:\u00a0A theory denying that an event or object has a supernatural significance. Once upon a time billions of years ago, everything that has ever been came from a little ball called the cosmic egg. At that time it was heated to trillions of degrees. It was so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36168,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-biblical-account-of-creation-not-meant-to-be-taken-literally\/","url_meta":{"origin":27198,"position":4},"title":"Is the biblical account of Creation not meant to be taken literally?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I actually once wrote an article my junior year of high school titled \"Creationism vs. Evolution\", and my entire paper was about how Creationism was right and Evolution was wrong. However, over the years I've come across so much evidence arguing for the sake of evolution in the world.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16272,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-it-matter\/","url_meta":{"origin":27198,"position":5},"title":"Does It Matter?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Genesis 1 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The teaching of evolution has made significant inroads in the beliefs of common man \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In 1999 Gallup found \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a047% believed in a recent, special creation \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a040% believed in a God-directed form of evolution \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a09% believe a strictly natural-caused evolution \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27198\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}