Biology Timeline
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| Years ago | Date | Observation |
|---|---|---|
| 2955 | 931 BC | End of reign of King Solomon (see 1 Kings 4:29-34) |
| 2939 | 915 BC | Isaiah's ministry – see Isaiah 5:12 |
| 2610 | 586 BC | Fall of Jerusalem |
| 867 | 1157 | Death of Abraham Ibn Ezra, who understood Genesis 2:2-3 to mean that God had made his creation 'in such a way that it would continue to create itself' |
| 516 | 1508 | Death of Isaac Abarbanel a.k.a. Abrabanel, who shared Ibn Ezra's view of Genesis 2:2-3 |
| 424 | 1600 | Roman Catholic philosopher and early speculative exobiologist Giordano Bruno burned at the stake for heresy by his church |
| 175 | 1849 | John Thomas publishes his non-literal understanding of Genesis 1:14-19 in Elpis Israel. (Cited here.) |
| 165 | 1859 | Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life |
| 164 | 1860 | Second edition of On the Origin of Species. . . describes life as "having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one". See Abiogenesis. |
| 160 | 1864 | Herbert Spencer coins the phrase "Survival of the fittest". |
| 148 | 1876 | Bro Robert Roberts writes in The Christadelphian Magazine that “Revelation does not touch on geology; but it leaves room for the fullest development of the successive strata of the earth’s crust, even though it could be proven that millions of years had been occupied in the formation. . . . Revelation does not enter into the mysteries of molecular physics, or the development of the life-germ, or the way in which it operates on material organisms. All these it relegates to science. . . ” (Cited here.) |
| 140 | 1884 | Death of Gregor Mendel |
| 131 | 1893 | Death of Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, who explained "According to their kind" in Genesis 1:21 in evolutionary terms. (See under Baraminology). |
| 124 | 1900 | Rediscovery of Gregor Mendel's work on Genetics |
| 114 | 1910 | Bro C. C. Walker writes in The Christadelphian Magazine that modern birds might have descended from gigantic ancient ones now fossilised, in which case it would be necessary to "revise somewhat" his interpretation of Genesis ch 1. |
| 106 | 1918 | Ronald Fisher publishes "The Correlation between Relatives on the Supposition of Mendelian Inheritance" applying statistical methods to combine natural selection with Mendelian genetics |
| 102 | 1922 | Bro Islip Collyer publishes The Vegetable in the Witness Box — "perhaps no quarrel" with "believers in Evolution who would . . . affirm their conviction, both in Creation and overruling Providence. . . " |
| 87 | 1937 | Theodosius Dobzhansky publishes Genetics and the Origin of Species — another milestone in the "Modern Synthesis" of evolutionary and genetic theories |
| 75 | 1949 | "Dare We Believe" lectures in Birmingham by John Carter, L G Sargent, Alfred Norris, Islip Collyer and others, later published as a book by CMPA, include Ralph Lovelock speaking on "Christianity and Evolution" |
| 71 | 1953 | Watson and Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA |
| 63 | 1961 | Publication of The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and its Scientific Implications by American Young Earth Creationists John C. Whitcomb and Henry M. Morris |
| 62 | 1962 | Linus Pauling and Emile Zuckerkandl learn how to hear the molecular clock ticking, thus allowing the history preserved in DNA to be understood |
| 60 | 1964 | Theodosius Dobzhansky first says "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution" |
| 59 | 1965 | The Christadelphian Magazine publishes "The Origin of Man", a letter from bro W F Barling commending brotherly behaviour when disagreeing and arguing against "draconian" measures against those who believe that creation and evolution are complementary. |
| 58 | 1966 | The Christadelphian Magazine publishes Watford Ecclesia's arranging brethren's report recommending that their ecclesia withdraw fellowship from brother Ralph Lovelock (See K. Drage, A Plain Man looks at Evolution.) |
| 53 | 1971 | The Testimony Magazine stages a "Bible-Science Seminar" at Birmingham, with papers delivered by Professor Peter T. Geach, a Roman Catholic who argued that the doctrine of Original Sin is essential to Christianity; Professor Harold Slusher, a member of the Institute for Creation Research who argued for a young age of the universe; and Christadelphians Bro Philip J. C. Hawkins arguing that there is some evidence that evolution does not explain and Bro Alfred Norris arguing that there is positive evidence for creation. |
| 51 | 1973 | Dobzhansky, a Russian Orthodox Christian, publishes his essay "Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution" saying that he is ". . . a creationist and an evolutionist" and that "Evolution is God's, or Nature's method of creation." |
| 41 | 1983 | The Christadelphian Magazine publishes a protest by brother Alan Hayward, saying that Christadelphian believers "in ‘Flood Geology’ and a young universe . . . should not delude themselves that such views are a part of historical Christadelphianism" and that they "should take care not to give the false impression that this is orthodox Christadelphian teaching." . . . These beliefs "only sprang up in the 'sixties and 'seventies as part and parcel of the evangelical revival . . . " (Cited here.) |
| 39 | 1985 | Bro Alan Hayward's Creation and Evolution–The Facts and Fallacies (SPCK) offers scientific evidence that the world is "many millions of years old." Bro Brian Hurn argues for Young Earth Creation in The Genesis Creation (CSSS). |
| 38 | 1986 | Bro H A Whittaker publishes Genesis 1-2-3-4 — “It is surely obvious that if . . . [God] had described to the last detail just how this amazingly complex world . . . came into being, then no-one . . . would have made much sense of it. So God has said in His Word: ‘This is how I want you to think of Creation. This is the concept of origins that is best for you. Be content to think of things as happening like this.’” (Cited here.) |
| 35 | 1989 | The Christadelphian Magazine publishes a letter from more than 100 brethren Fellowship: is Christ Divided? protesting against abuse of the BASF; also an 11-part series "Science and the Disciple" by Bro John Morris attacking evolution. |
| 31 | 1993 | The Testimony publishes Creation Evolution & Science by John V. Collyer. |
| 26 | 1998 | Creation, a Christadelphian Study — Understanding Genesis chapters 1–3 by Bro Wilfred Lambert published. |
| 21 | 2003 | The human genome sequenced. |
| 15 | 2009 | Letter accepting of evolution, from bro Bob Burr, published in The Christadelphian Magazine |
| 13 | 2011 | Bro Alan Fowler publishes Twenty Essays in a Search for Truth, which includes an essay against "the fallacy of the widespread belief that we have to choose between evolution and the Bible". Bro Ken Gilmore begins blogging at Evolutionary Creationism: A Christadelphian Perspective |
| 9 | 2015 | The Christadelphian Magazine publishes twelve articles in a series "Genesis Foundations".
"The Great Creation Vs Evolution Debate" series of talks by bro Stephen Palmer (not a debate) held in Coventry, UK — accepts microevolution but not macroevolution. |
| 8 | 2016 | Bro Ken Chalmers' Early Genesis survey of historical Christadelphian teachings at Australian Biennial Christadelphian Conference in Sydney |
| 7 | 2017 | Anonymous Christadelphians Origins Discussion blog started. Bro Mike Pearson publishes The Fourth Conversation, which explores how "a meaningful and positive discussion" might lead to acceptance of Evolutionary Creationism. |
| 6 | 2018 | Sutherland Christadelphians undertake a particular task and this wiki is begun as a result. Bro Colin Byrnes' By One Man: response to Early Genesis (2016, above). Bro Peter Heavyside publishes Genesis 1-2: a harmonised and historical reading |
| 5 | 2019 | Christadelphian Scripture Study Service publishes Theistic Evolution Refuted by bro Phil Perry |
