Topic Suggestions for Student Essay Contest
Have no fear - there are zillions of possible topics! Literally the whole universe
is full of God's fingerprints! Here are a few suggestions, but don't be afraid
to be creative!
Bible/Theology:
- Couldn't God Have Used Evolution?
- Could "Day" Mean "long ages" in Genesis 1-3?
- Does it Matter How Genesis is Interpreted? Shouldn't we just tell people about
Jesus?
- Why does God allow catastrophes, crimes, and tragic mistakes?
Astronomy/Cosmology/Physics:
- Implications of the Laws of Thermodynamics Regarding Origins
- Problems with Theories on the Origin of : stars, galaxies,
the universe, the earth, the earth/moon system, the solar system
- The Uniqueness of the Earth: to be habitable by life as we know it, a planet
must have many particular properties: size, magnetic field, etc. How common
might those be?
Earth Science (earth, fossils, weather):
- Fossils vs. Uniformitarianism: Uniformitarianism is the geological doctrine
that the same processes we see in the world today are the only processes
that have ever occurred, and the Genesis Flood never happened
- Evidence for a World-Wide Flood from the Grand Canyon (or, pick a different location): fossils and sediments
both point to a catastrophic origin
- Was there an Ice Age? Ages? How long did it last? How does it fit
into the Bible?
- "Transitional Forms": what fossils are supposed
to be transitional between what life forms? What parts
of the bodies bave been found? You could include "feathered" dinosaurs, "Ida," "Lucy," etc.
History/Sociology/Government:
- Deadly Religion: opponents of Christianity,
and even of theism, have claimed that religions cause wars.
Know which religion has killed by far the most people? Atheism!
- The History of Geology - the Origin of Uniformitarianism
- The History of Science: where does the modern scientific method come from?
How far back did it originate? What does the Bible say about it? Notice that
Daniel and his friends conducted a scientific experiment on the effects of
eating a vegetarian diet!
- The History of the Church's Teachings on Creation: How far back does the Six-Day
view go? How about the long ages view - was it held by all/most/some/a few/no
early church fathers?
- The Scopes Trial: facts and fictions
- The Faiths of Our Fathers: what did the Founding Fathers believe about the
Bible and creation, and how did it affect the government they set up? What
about in other countries?
Anthropology-Physical:
- Ape-Men: are there any real "ape men" in the fossil record? What else might
those fossils represent?
Anthropology-Ethnology (study of cultures):
- Legends of the Flood are found in perhaps half the indigenous cultures on
earth. Some are amazingly similar to the Genesis Flood, yet they were told
to missionaries and explorers by people groups who likely had never seen a
Bible nor heard the Gospel. How did the Chinese, Hawaiians, North American
Indians, South American Indians, and so many others get such similar legends?
- Material culture: for example, the boomerang is now thought of as unique to the Australian aborigines, but it has been found in many parts of the world. The Aboriginal word for it is the same as the word for it in a part of India! How'd the people of Australia have the same word for an object as people they supposedly had to contact with for so many thousands of years?
Archaeology:
- Did the nation of Israel inhabit the area that the Bible says it did, when the Bible says it did? Many modern archaeologists are claiming it didn't!
Biology:
Antibiotic Resistance: in all cases in which the reason for antibiotic resistance is k nown, it is due to DNA damage, not improved DNA. The bacterium is less able to feed, process food, or something else has gone wrong - but that problem makes the individual less susceptible to feeding on or otherwise processing the toxin in the antibiotic.
Insect Metamorphosis - Could It Have Evolved? Butterflies, beetles, go from one body type to something totally different, some by a gradual process, some - turn to jelly and come out a new life-form!
Evolution of consciousness? Of instincts? Of conscience? Even if we could find a statistical possibility of the spontaneous generation of a one-celled organism, and even if we could statistically justify it becoming a complex organism, why would it not be an unconscious robot?
Could DNA arise by chance, carrying information that would actually form a self-reproducing organism? Could an organism mutate to form a different kind of organism?
Reproduction: could sexual reproduction evolve?
Mitochondrial Eve: scientists can trace the mothers of everyone back to THREE women in the "recent" past; and can trace them back to one original mother of the modern human race. How stong is this as evidence for Eve, and for the Genesis Flood?
"Y-Chromosome Adam" is the Adam of Genesis: every male has one y-chromosome in his cells, which came from his father, who received it from his father, etc . Human Y-chromosomes trace male lineages back to one human father. Any reason to believe this is NOT the Adam of Genesis?
Statistical Impossibility of Spontaneous Generation of Life: The origin of life by chance processes is preached as fact by many science teachers and writers. What are the odds of this having happened?
Flight - in birds, mammals, insects, and reptiles.
There's an endless supply of possible topics. DO remember that you have to find enough published material to research, and you can't just copy some of one paper, and some of another paper, and so on. This needs to be your original work in putting together ideas from different sources. Some topics may have too little already written to be used yet. |
