Renaai:
shame to lose your faith in Jehovah over imperfect publications and the creation book is an old one and could only reflect the evolution knowledge at the time, selective quoting happens if someone says something, they have to accept it will be quoted even if they have said it against their own ultimate beliefs on a subject.
Thank you for sharing your concern. First of all, let me say, I really enjoy the undaunted feistiness that you express in your posts. You're right, it would be a shame to lose faith in God over imperfect publications. That's not what happened with me. It wasn't the imperfect publications, it was everything they sprung from. The Creation book isn't considered outdated by the organisation, not like the old one it replaced. The last special Awake that dealt exclusively with evolution was September 2006 and it referred readers to the Creation book for more information. Furthermore, the quoting isn't just selective, it's symptomatic of the fundamental misunderstanding of evolution that permeates just about everything the Society prints on the matter.
Admittedly, evolution is a tough subject. You mention that scientists don't agree and change their minds, that Darwin's own words wouldn't be recogizeable today. What I've found is that while scientists might disagree on certain aspects or details, they sure as heck don't on the overall picture. For example, anthropologists differ as to whether certain stone tools were used by late australopithecines or by early H. erectus. But they all agree that the australopithecids were bipedal and contributory to the Homo lineage. They all agree that they lived 2 to 4 millions years ago. They all agree that they predated--though overlapped--with early Homo species. They all agree that one or more of them were ancestral to us.
I've come to think of truth as a Vinn diagram. Experts may disagree on certain things but its where all the circles overlap--where they all agree--that you're likely to find what's what. And its true, science does change--that's the great thing about it. It's self correcting. Ideas may come and go, but ideas supported by a preponderance of the evidence come and stay.
And, Ren, you should read Origin of Species. It's not particularly dry or tough to get through. The core of Darwin's idea--that species are shaped by natural forces--has remained true. Much of what he said is still right on. His genius is that he was working without the benefit of a knowledge of Mendelian genetics--and without a high tech lab, like scientists today. He made the connection between environment, heredity and the nature of organisms all through observation and pure thought. Wow.