Do you have to be a creationist to be a true Christian?

Angel Wings 1288 said:

That is, you must believe the universe, Earth, and humanity were created in six 24-hour periods,

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That is not true.
My Church does not preach this -
The so-called Young Earth Creation seems to be another U.S. American peculiarity.
Fortunately, millions of other sensible Christians know better than to ascribe to the six 24 hour days story of creation.
1. Because the Hebrew does not specifically declare this to be so: H3117 yôm yome
From an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literally (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next),
or figuratively (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverbially):

2. The Bible does not describe a young creation narrative and expresses many earthly features as being time worn and ancient:
And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,
Deuteronomy 33:15

In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones,
or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Colossians 1:14-17

The real problem for unbelieving christians who put their faith in evolution is that they deny the above verses of scripture.

I think that one should be more focused on things like believing in Christ, which compels feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, looking after the stranger, going the extra mile, turning the other cheek, doing alms, looking after one's family, sharing the Gospel, etc..

Accepting the Genesis narrative as literal or not is trivial in the face of that – but unfortunately the amount of wasted time large swaths of Christendom has devoted to it is not.

Angel Wings 1288 said:

Do believers have to accept the creation narrative in Genesis to be a true Christian?

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No.

Angel Wings 1288 said:

Some Christians think that you must believe every part of the Bible, including the creation narrative in the Book of Genesis, is infallible to be a true Christian. That is, you must believe the universe, Earth, and humanity were created in six 24-hour periods, otherwise they think you’re not a true Christian.

Other Christians have accepted evolution science. Unlike atheists, though, most of these Christians believe God guided the evolutionary process, that it was his tool for creating humans. Many creationists think this type of Christian who accepts evolution cannot be considered a true Christian.

What do you think? Do believers have to accept the creation narrative in Genesis to be a true Christian? Or do you think otherwise?

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They don't have to accept the creation narrative necessarily, but if they don't then it does raise questions.

Scientists are trying to come up with a natural explanation of the origins of the world. It doesn't necessarily mean that's how the world got here it's just their explanation using only natural reasoning. People think if the word "science" is thrown into something then it automatically means it's tested and 100% proven.

The Bible clearly says God spoke to create the world. It did not happen over natural processes. So do they not believe what God says?

Do they put the word of man ahead of God? Is their faith not strong? If they don't believe Genesis how can they believe other parts of the Bible such as John 3:16? How do they know what parts are literally true and what parts aren't?

***inkaboutit4u.com Reply *************

Evolution is 100% a lie.

Evolution is anti-God religion to to say there is NO God, at least no creator God.

The only reason you believe in anything about evolution is because you have not studied it enough.

The more you research it the more you discover it is 100% a lie.

Scientist who study the cells in the Body are 100% positive Evolution is 100% a lie.

The single cell require 255 amino acid to be in perfect correct order to reproduce a single cell. This is impossible to happen by chance. Their are trillions of cells in your body.

God's creation is so extremely complex in every detail that is impossible to happen by chance. 100% impossible. Evolution is a 100% lie, is a joke, is a con game for the ignorance and atheist, why be any part of it.

Jesus was on earth for 33 years and Jesus created everything . Jesus never said there was any thing incorrect about the Bible Genesis creation story. So if its ok with Jesus, it is ok with me.

Remember this earth and creation is a closed loop system . Everything depend of everything to be there to keep working properly.

You need all the pieces to function. It had to be created in 6 days. God used the 7th day to rest. So is that 24 hours or what?

He tells us to rest on the 7th day. So how long is that?

There is nothing which says that a person who is not a creationist in the strict sense of the word and believes in evolution as commonly taught cannot be saved.

But without the base beliefs taught in the creationist schema it is hard for me to fathom just how deep ones fatih could possibly be.

If a person wants to come back against my opinion and claim a personal and heartfult faith in Christ as Savior while holding to evolutionist dogma - I'll have to just take their word on that for now.

But it seems to me at least that the Christian world view just won't work with that mindset.

AvgJoe said:

What did Jesus say?

16) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
​

Jesus says, to have everlasting life you have to believe in Him...and be a creationist, believe in Him...and be a theistic evolutionist, believe in Him...and (insert any name or action here). No, Jesus says if you believe in Him you will not perish and will have everlasting life...period. Then, you've got to trust Jesus to do what He said He will do...save you.

9) If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10) For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)
​

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Amen to that

I believe that the bottom line is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and to surrender to his lordship.

Even though voted yes you have to believe everything in the Bible, I am questioning that vote. I think what it takes a person to be saved is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and let him transform you to his image.

JingshenBianxi said:

To think that a day is a 24 hour period in the eyes of God...is silly to a True Christian who believes in the creation narrative in Genesis.

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Yeah I actually used to think this. But I read that a day could be like a million years to a human.

Angel Wings 1288 said:

Some Christians think that you must believe every part of the Bible, including the creation narrative in the Book of Genesis, is infallible to be a true Christian. That is, you must believe the universe, Earth, and humanity were created in six 24-hour periods, otherwise they think you’re not a true Christian.

Other Christians have accepted evolution science. Unlike atheists, though, most of these Christians believe God guided the evolutionary process, that it was his tool for creating humans. Many creationists think this type of Christian who accepts evolution cannot be considered a true Christian.

What do you think? Do believers have to accept the creation narrative in Genesis to be a true Christian? Or do you think otherwise?

Click to expand...

I have came to believe in the idea that G-d evolved......
but Adam and Eve were created by G-d......
I believe in a G-d who learns and conducts experiments......
and has given us humans genuine freedom of choice that can alter the future......

inkaboutit said:

He tells us to rest on the 7th day. So how long is that?

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That is the indwelling Holy Spirit - the refreshing by which we rest from our own work.
It is 24/7. No longer under Law. No longer needing one day of the week to recuperate from toil, and have a sleep in.
The Holy Spirit is the power of God within us to overcome all things, so that no longer do we need to strive in our own efforts.

1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them,
not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest:
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
6 Seeing therefore it remains that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered
not in because of unbelief:
Hebrews 4:
9 There remains therefore a rest to the people of God.
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Hebrews 4:

I believe a new believer can be ignorant in their faith on many things and still be saved. But if a believer keeps refusing to hear the teaching of the Spirit, or if they do not have the Spirit, then they are walking on dangerous ground. First, it is a pretty basic teaching to believe the literal account of Genesis 1. It is the most normal reading of the text. Second, if a new believer is temporarily deceived by Theistic Evolution, they will come to believe in the literal account of Genesis in time. For if they are truly being taught by the Spirit they will eventually learn the truth.

Anyways, the real problem is trying to cram outside ideas into the Bible that are not there. Evening and morning is pretty clear that Genesis 1 is dealing with 24 hour days. Saying so otherwise is a gross distortion of the text as a means of thinking like the world thinks in regards to our origins.

We are told not to love the world or the love of the Father is not in us (1 John 2:15). I believe in certain cases, this can apply to believers who refuse to let go of certain things of this world (despite God calling upon their heart to do so). A person who believes in any kind of Evolution is still loving the scientific world because they are still holding on to it's ideas (over what God's Word actually says).

Let's face it. Some people do not like the idea of not being accepted. To think differently than the world and then stand up for the truth of God's Word takes guts or courage in your love for God. It is not easy. But standing up for our Lord is always worth it.


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Angel Wings 1288 said:

Some Christians think that you must believe every part of the Bible, including the creation narrative in the Book of Genesis, is infallible to be a true Christian. That is, you must believe the universe, Earth, and humanity were created in six 24-hour periods, otherwise they think you’re not a true Christian.

Other Christians have accepted evolution science. Unlike atheists, though, most of these Christians believe God guided the evolutionary process, that it was his tool for creating humans. Many creationists think this type of Christian who accepts evolution cannot be considered a true Christian.

What do you think? Do believers have to accept the creation narrative in Genesis to be a true Christian? Or do you think otherwise?

Click to expand...

The problem with not "believing the Bible in every part" is that the reader then becomes the final arbiter of what parts of it - if any - are true. And when that happens, the Bible becomes no more authoritative, no more valuable, than any other man-produced work of literature.

Not believing the Creation story in Genesis speaks of literal 24-hour days does not require adopting the Theory of Evolution as true. God could have taken His time making the universe without resorting to evolutionary processes to create the human race.

I don't have a problem with Christians interpreting the term "day" in the Creation account as more than 24 hours. I do have a problem with them accepting the ToE as a viable explanation of how humanity came into being. Elongating the process of God's creative acts in Genesis does no violence to the biblical account or to fundamental doctrine, but embracing the ToE certainly does. Besides the fact that the ToE is riddled with irreparable holes, evolution simply does not square with the Bible (see: Access Research Network ). Does this make those who try to synthesize the ToE with Scripture not true Christians? Not necessarily. I think, though, that such people are on a very slippery slope that profoundly diminishes the authority and value of God's word and produces a corresponding diminishment of their experience of God.

Selah.

DennisTate said:

I have came to believe in the idea that G-d evolved......
but Adam and Eve were created by G-d......
I believe in a G-d who learns and conducts experiments......
and has given us humans genuine freedom of choice that can alter the future......

Click to expand...

I, on the other hand, believe in a God who cannot evolve because He cannot and does not change. He is immutable.

I believe the scriptures when they say that He is the same "forever". He does not "learn" because that would be a change within His nature.

If He learns anything - He was not perfect to begin with. If He forgets anything He is no longer perfect.

The old (and scripturally proper) question is "Has it ever occured to you that nothing has ever occured to God?"

As they teach in any good seminary or Bible school - God knows, always has known, and always will know everything past, everything present and everything future - both possible and actual.

And the last thing that a God who is said to work all things together according to His wise and perfect will does is conduct "experiments".

aiki said:

The problem with not "believing the Bible in every part" is that the reader then becomes the final arbiter of what parts of it - if any - are true. And when that happens, the Bible becomes no more authoritative, no more valuable, than any other man-produced work of literature.

Not believing the Creation story in Genesis speaks of literal 24-hour days does not require adopting the Theory of Evolution as true. God could have taken His time making the universe without resorting to evolutionary processes to create the human race.

I don't have a problem with Christians interpreting the term "day" in the Creation account as more than 24 hours. I do have a problem with them accepting the ToE as a viable explanation of how humanity came into being. Elongating the process of God's creative acts in Genesis does no violence to the biblical account or to fundamental doctrine, but embracing the ToE certainly does. Besides the fact that the ToE is riddled with irreparable holes, evolution simply does not square with the Bible (see: Access Research Network ). Does this make those who try to synthesize the ToE with Scripture not true Christians? Not necessarily. I think, though, that such people are on a very slippery slope that profoundly diminishes the authority and value of God's word and produces a corresponding diminishment of their experience of God.

Selah.

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Actually that makes a lot of sense.

Here is a better question: Can you be a true Christian if you believe that creation in 7 24-hour days is a necessary qualification for being a true Christian? I say this for 2 reasons:

(1) We are saved by grace through faith in Christ's atoning death. Beyond, this, if you believe a particular creation theory is essential for salvation, then you are undermining the Gospel of grace by insisting that your brand of correct theological thinking is a necessary condition for qualifying as "a true Christian."

(2) Consider the case of Charles Templeton, co-founder of Youth for Christ. He was an evangelist and a close friend of a young Billy Graham. Ln his day, he was widely considered to be an even more promising evangelist than Graham. But he was brain-washed by the domino-theory of biblical authority, the theory that if you reject one aspect of biblical teaching, you might as well reject all Scripture. Many very bright, honest seekers have thrown out the Gospel because just one of their doctrinal dominos has collapsed. To make a particular view of biblical creationism a necessary condition for salvation may well place one under the condemnation of Luke 17:1:

"It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble."

AvgJoe said:

What did Jesus say?

16) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
​

Jesus says, to have everlasting life you have to believe in Him...and be a creationist, believe in Him...and be a theistic evolutionist, believe in Him...and (insert any name or action here). No, Jesus says if you believe in Him you will not perish and will have everlasting life...period. Then, you've got to trust Jesus to do what He said He will do...save you.

9) If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10) For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)
​

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We only understand what belief in Him means in and through the texts of holy scripture. We don't simply believe He exists, so when someone says he believes in Jesus but not the Bible, I have to wonder what it is exactly that he believes and what that belief is based on.

In other words, you can't be a Christian unless you know who Christ is, who man is, what Christ'd work is, and why He had to do it. You can't know any of that unless you take the Bible as true and reliable, as He did. Christ mentioned Adam and Eve as real people and as distinct from other animals.

Also, He was there in the creation of the world. Dismiss that and you dismiss Him.

"All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:3)

OP Q: "Do you have to be a "creationist" to be a true Christian?"

A: Belief in any DOCTRINE does NOT save. Evolution is an unproven theory: no missing links between the "animal kingdoms" nor with homo sapiens.

God is infinite and eternal. He no time constraints nor models nor "clocks" like Man. As the Great Spiritual Designer, He created all from the heavenly realms by His will and mind. Time? Who cares!

2 Peter 3:8
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is "like" a thousand years, and a thousand years "like" one day.

Isaiah 42:5
Thus says God the Lord,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring,
Who gives breath to the people on it (Body/Soul)
And spirit to those who walk in it,

Zechariah 12:1
...Thus declares the Lord
who stretches out the heavens,
lays the foundation of the earth, and
forms the spirit of man within him,

PLUS the Genesis accounts!

worthlessness1979 said:

I believe that the bottom line is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and to surrender to his lordship.

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So if you do not believe what Jesus states throughout the Bible that he being God created all the plants, created all the fishes and whales,
that he created all the animals, and that he created human beings, from nothing,
then where does your unbelief leave you in respect to acknowledging Jesus as your Lord and God.

To believe in Jesus requires also believing all things about God.

Post #39 "To believe in Jesus requires also believing all things about God."

Not quite.

There is a TRI-UNE GOD! The three Persons of the Godhead have DIFFERENT: Names, Missions, Functions, Rank, Attributes, character, ETC
BUT: They are a united ONE God in spiritual essence.

God the Father wants Man to spiritually know and accept one thing for salvation:" What do you BELIEVE (spirit-led FAITH) about/in My Son/" John 3; Ephesians 2.

God the Son sacrificed Himself FOR all men FOR all sins FOR all time. 1 Peter 3:18

God the Holy Spirit permanently indwells believers to guide and comfort them.

A snapshot of the TRI-UNE GOD:

John 14:16[ Role of the Spirit ]
I (God the Son) will ask (God) the Father, and He will give you another Helper (God the Holy Spirit), that He may be with you forever;