Can you be a Christian and believe evolution?

Jase said:

Mainly because if evolution is true, they say that means death existed prior to the fall, and Adam and Eve weren't special creations, and therefore had no fall, therefore no need for a Savior. If Genesis isn't 100% literal and true, how can you believe anything else in the Bible, etc.

That's the main objection to evolution and Christianity aligning.

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Perhaps it is one of the main objections...but it is a straw man argument at best. If Adam and Eve were mataphorical then they represent humanity as a whole and "the fall" is representative of our fallen/sin natures. Seems to me that there is no difference in the need for a Savior.

Jase said:

Mainly because if evolution is true, they say that means death existed prior to the fall, and Adam and Eve weren't special creations, and therefore had no fall, therefore no need for a Savior. If Genesis isn't 100% literal and true, how can you believe anything else in the Bible, etc.

That's the main objection to evolution and Christianity aligning.

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couple of problems with this. evolution never said there had to be death before adam and eve. maybe they were a starting point of sorts and then after the fall mankind evolved into what it is now. and how do you know that genesis is 100% true were you there? do you honestly think youd comprehend everything that went at creation? i know for sure i wouldnt. or do you think its more probable that God framed what he told moses in such a way that moses and the people to follow could grasp and relate to it. i mean it is VERY structured. i dont believe its false just watered down so that our feeble and limited minds can comprehend it. and jesus even spoke in parables about things that didnt happen. does that mean we should dismiss them. not at all. just because genesis may or may not be watered down does not mean it should be dismissed. i dont see how you make that connection. and evolution is pretty well supported to just blindly dismiss. granted its hard to prove such and long and drawn out process. but it has WAY too much support to just ignore.

Oh I agree. I'm merely pointing out the main reason I see people reject evolution on religious grounds.

walkingxshadow said:

couple of problems with this. evolution never said there had to be death before adam and eve. maybe they were a starting point of sorts and then after the fall mankind evolved into what it is now. and how do you know that genesis is 100% true were you there? do you honestly think youd comprehend everything that went at creation? i know for sure i wouldnt. or do you think its more probable that God framed what he told moses in such a way that moses and the people to follow could grasp and relate to it. i mean it is VERY structured. i dont believe its false just watered down so that our feeble and limited minds can comprehend it. and jesus even spoke in parables about things that didnt happen. does that mean we should dismiss them. not at all. just because genesis may or may not be watered down does not mean it should be dismissed. i dont see how you make that connection. and evolution is pretty well supported to just blindly dismiss. granted its hard to prove such and long and drawn out process. but it has WAY too much support to just ignore.

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I'm, I'm not sure why you're attacking me. I was citing what conservatives claim about evolution and Genesis. I'm a Theistic evolutionist. I don't dismiss it.

i did not mean to sound attacking. i surely didnt try to! i was more or less agreeing with you in respects to ppl who like to follow those lines of illogic. sry for the confusion!

Good discussion. I'd be curious as to what an anti-evolutionist would say to these two counterpoints, which to me appear obvious.
1.) I've yet to meet anyone who can honestly say that they read all of the Bible as a strictly literal newspaper account. None, that I've met would call the parables strictly literal. There are a few who would say that women should not go out in public without a head-covering. Most would read this as based in the culture of the new testament time in a city in which women without head coverings would be mistaken for sex workers and treat it as a warning to be aware of the culture that you are in and to be careful not to be mistaken for something other than what you are. Few would find it sinful for a man to shave. Instead, they would see that as a strictly old covenant thought for a particular time and place. It's dishonest to claim that one should read all of the Bible as strictly literal and then apply that only to genesis.
2.) It's arrogant, especially given the above and given that there is no solid science to contradict descent with modification from common ancestors to claim that God cannot choose any way to create that God chooese or that one's particular misunderstanding of a given biblical passage should trump God's will or invalidate the Bible.
Has anyone heard any reasonable replies to thes two questions?

they read all of the Bible as a strictly literal newspaper account.

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That'd actually be kind of cool.

"Breaking: 'King Of Jews' Crucified at Golgotha"
Jerusalem News Service. The controversial Jesus, a man from Nazareth, was crucified today outside the city of Jerusalem amid a crowd of thousands.

Pontius Pilate declined all requests for an interview, simply stating, "I have washed my hands of this entire affair".

"Moses Pleads For Release Of Jews"
'Let my people go' says the Jewish spokesperson
Ringo

If being a christian depended on thinking rightly about absolutely everything, we would all be stuffed. Thank God for Jesus!

Abiel said:

If being a christian depended on thinking rightly about absolutely everything, we would all be stuffed. Thank God for Jesus!

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Well said!

Hmm evolution .. i can see that in the bible .

there's this one passage in daniel 7 where a lion with wings loses all of its hair and its wings and stands up with the heart of a man . now if this lion were a chimpanzee, this model would be identical . btw . this "animal" was created in the sea .

the model of evolution has been in the bible for millennia . doesn't intimidate me at all . it is written lol .