4. A Brief History of Evolution in the Twelver-Shi’i Tradition

This episode includes a brief introduction to evolution itself and the difference between “fact and theory” and the distinction between empirical data and its explanations. We will also demonstrate how various Twelver-Shii scholars have grappled and discussed the issue since approximately one hundred years ago with surprising openness. We will introduce the four main questions that make up the bulk of this podcast series 1. What is the timeline of Adam? 2. Was Adam the first human being or Homo sapiens? 3. Is it possible Adam had biological parents? And perhaps most importantly 4. Are we all descendants of Adam? References: Ali Reza Fayz Mishkini, Ta’amuli Piramun Masale Takamol az Didgahe Qur’an Jibrail Muhammad Safar, Takamol dar Afarinesh Ensan az Negahe Andishmandan Mu’asir ba Mahvariyyat Naqd Ketab ‘Khelqate Ensan’ http://noo.rs/IT4wy Richard E. Lenski “Evolution: Fact and Theory” Actionbioscience, modified September 2000, http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/lenski.html.  “Theory, Fact and the Origin of Life ,” Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 12, no. 2 (February 2005):101. Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, “Human Evolution Evidence,” The Smithsonian Institution’s Human Origins Program, March 1, 2010, http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence.