Well, as I write this, let me first preface it by saying that is, also, is not a put-down or an insult, as I am looking to be enlightened from many different sources. But I'd like to pose two questions to you:

First of all, I will be the first to admit the theory of evolution has holes it, but let me ask you this...Just because the theory has holes in it, does that mean the only acceptable answer is, for all intents and purposes, "magic"?

Secondly, and this is not directed solely at you, the author, but I've also read somewhere that there are people who believe dinosaur fossils were created to test our faith. Does the idea of god screwing with our heads not send red flags to anyone?

Like I said, I intend this not to be an insult, nor a rant or a put-down. These are two genuine questions that have been burning in my mind for a long time. If we can have a civil discussion about the subject without either of us forcing our beliefs on the other, I would like to know what you think.

It is ignorant to take a literal interpretation of the Bible, but that's a whole other conversation. FYI it is possible to beleive in God and evolution. I do. Evoulution explains how God created us, but religion explains why God created us. As for the Big Bang physics thing that's not somthing I've studied to comment one (I hate math other than algebra and didn't even take physics). I'll leave that to someone who is informed in that area. However, if you are interested, I've heard from a friend that there's this book by Hawkings called A Brief History of Time. Hope that helps.

So you have some questions. Let me see if I can help you answer them. Did humans descend from apes? No scientist says that. Evolutionary biology is commonly misunderstood. It states that all living things shared a common ancestor at one point. Apes and humans are very close together on the family tree because the genetic sequecne of amino acids is lik 99.9% the same. Now, that "base of the tree ape species" was neither human nor ape but a common ancestor. Yes, scientitsts admit there are gaps in the fossil record, but that is not enough to disprove the wealth of scientific evidnce for evolution.(and in science you don't really "disprove" stuff; that term isn't used. It's all about who/what theory has the most evideence.) If you'd like I can get into the details of evolutionary biology. Having scored a 4 on the AP Bio exam last year, I can say that I'm very familier with them.