Apparently I'm not a Christian because I believe in a old earth and evolution

[Matariki]

All because I chose to ask what happened before Adam and Eve, how we came to be and how that connects with the fall. I did a silly thing in asking my family and then I was proclaimed to not be a born again Christian simply because I do not believe in the literal English translation of the Genesis account.

Are there any other theistic evolutionists or old earth creationists here that can relate with this?

 

[Keachian]

All because I chose to ask what happened before Adam and Eve, how we came to be and how that connects with the fall. I did a silly thing in asking my family and then I was proclaimed to not be a born again Christian simply because I do not believe in the literal English translation of the Genesis account.

Are there any other theistic evolutionists or old earth creationists here that can relate with this?

I've never had your experience but many times I have been told over the internet that I'm not Christian.

God doesn't call us to believe in how he created but in Christ Jesus, sometimes in my mind literalism and inerrancy errs towards Bible idolatry, the Bible wasn't crucified for our sins but the Word was,

 

[cupid dave]

All because I chose to ask what happened before Adam and Eve, how we came to be and how that connects with the fall. I did a silly thing in asking my family and then I was proclaimed to not be a born again Christian simply because I do not believe in the literal English translation of the Genesis account.

Are there any other theistic evolutionists or old earth creationists here that can relate with this?

Hmmm...

You aren't a Christian member of any of the present congregations but one of us, the Theistic Evolution Christian denomination.

These people believe in evolution and that the seven "days" were actually the seven Eras of time which science enumerates:

 

[Keachian]

Hmmm...

You aren't a Christian member of any of the present congregations but one of us, the Theistic Evolution Christian denomination.

These people believe in evolution and that the seven "days" were actually the seven Eras of time which science enumerates:

We are not a separate denomination, we come out of all denominations and not all of us accept the same things, for instance I do not accept day-age interpretation as you do.

 

[cupid dave]

We are not a separate denomination, we come out of all denominations and not all of us accept the same things, for instance I do not accept day-age interpretation as you do.

How do you explain that the 24 hour day was not "created" until "day" 4?

In fact, if the 24 hour day was already the seven days of creation, why was there even a 4th day of creation?

(ie; the 24 hour day had already been in existence from "day" one)

 

[Keachian]

How do you explain that the 24 hour day was not "created" until "day" 4?

In fact, if the 24 hour day was already the seven days of creation, why was there even a 4th day of creation?

(ie; the 24 hour day had already been in existence from "day" one)

Why do we need to reinterpret the Bible in light of science? It says what it says. It is this sort of thinking that says the Bible talks about a spherical earth.

If we use a day to mean some arbitrary length of time in years then we have a problem, was Christ in the grave for 3billion years?

 

[MoonLancer]

Why do we need to reinterpret the Bible in light of science? It says what it says. It is this sort of thinking that says the Bible talks about a spherical earth.

If we use a day to mean some arbitrary length of time in years then we have a problem, was Christ in the grave for 3billion years?

Nope just 2012

 

[Keachian]

Nope just 2012

Then why wasn't his body paraded about by the pharisees and the whole thing nipped in the bud?

 

[AV1611VET]

All because I chose to ask what happened before Adam and Eve, how we came to be and how that connects with the fall. I did a silly thing in asking my family and then I was proclaimed to not be a born again Christian simply because I do not believe in the literal English translation of the Genesis account.

Are there any other theistic evolutionists or old earth creationists here that can relate with this?

I'm not a TE or OEC, but just out of curiosity, I'm intrigued by your first two sentences, which seem to contradict each other.

Did your family alienate you because you asked what happened to Adam & Eve before the Fall; or did they alienate you because you do not believe in the literal English translation of the Genesis account?

If I'm reading your OP correctly, I get the feeling you asked what happened before Adam & Eve, as a lead-in to try and 'educate' your family on evolution.

I wouldn't put up with that either; but then, I wouldn't go so far as to alienate you from the family of God, either.

It sounds like your family may have overreacted -- unless there's more to your story than what you're telling us in the OP.

 

[Matariki]

I'm not a TE or OEC, but just out of curiosity, I'm intrigued by your first two sentences, which seem to contradict each other.

Did your family alienate you because you asked what happened to Adam & Eve before the Fall; or did they alienate you because you do not believe in the literal English translation of the Genesis account?

Both, though please don't get me wrong, as I explained to my father one on one I do not deny the doctrine of Christ nor do I disbelieve that Adam and Eve were real individuals, my question is in regard to science 'what happened before Adam and Eve, what was God's processes and what does the evidence point to?'. My older brother (who is a YEC) stated that evolution is just a theory and was a propaganda invented by scientists who are lost (I thought he meant lost at first as in educationally lost, but I don't believe that evolution is a propaganda but a plausible theory worth investigating). He then said you either believe in the bible or not and proclaimed that I wasn't a born again Christian based on the basis of wanted to test the bible's validity and not accepting the literal (or concrete to be more precise) English translation of the Genesis account.

I said to him that the center of the Christian doctrine is not Genesis nor biblical inerrancy, though I believe the bible to be true (however theological interpretations must be brought into question if they contradict), the center of the doctrine of Christianity is Christ. I believe that the Hebrew texts point to various different possible scenarios that all need to be investigated. I also said to him you cannot simply say 'you either believe or not' because such a statement is pointing towards blind faith if you don't have the evidence to support your position; scientifically, historically, philosophically and theologically.

I believe more technically in a middle aged earth and micro evolution, that doesn't mean however that I believe in macro evolution, I hold an agnostic position there and I need more evidence from both sides before I come to a conclusion. The bible is true, but its not a science textbook. The bible instructs us to look not only at the book of scripture but also the book of nature.

The insight I received from consulting my father and brother especially is that they are not ready yet to consider or explore the possibilities and analyze the text.

 

[tedwardpowell]

Why do we need to reinterpret the Bible in light of science? It says what it says. It is this sort of thinking that says the Bible talks about a spherical earth.

If we use a day to mean some arbitrary length of time in years then we have a problem, was Christ in the grave for 3billion years?

Why do we need to reinterpretate the bible in the light of science?

Well, for a start anyone with an active faith in God would be deeply threatened with the proposition of Evolution. We can either reject God, reject Science, or study our belief and see if there is a way for them to work together.

Using Evolution we can see the earth wasn't made in six 24 hour days, Adam and Eve weren't the first forms of life and the earth isn't 6,000 years old. With this knowledge we can now reinterpretate Genesis to be a more poetic account of God making the Earth, this isn't a new idea, St. Aquinas noted issue with Genesis being litteral in the 5th century.

To conclude what this whole process does in deepen and strength our faith, it allows us to accept fact and evidence and still believe in an almighty God-something that we cannot do without reinterpretating our text.

 

[Elgibbor]

I'm a Christian who believes in Evolution. Genesis is just allegory.

 

[Matariki]

I'm a Christian who believes in Evolution. Genesis is just allegory.

I would be interested in hearing what your belief in the fall is and what type of homo Adam and Eve were, if you're happy to do so.

 

[Celtic D]

Hmmm...

You aren't a Christian member of any of the present congregations but one of us, the Theistic Evolution Christian denomination.

These people believe in evolution and that the seven "days" were actually the seven Eras of time which science enumerates:

That is NOT what TEs believe

 

[Elgibbor]

I would be interested in hearing what your belief in the fall is and what type of homo Adam and Eve were, if you're happy to do so.

It's an allegory. Adam = atom; Eve = eve of humanity; firey sword = we discovered how to control fire and we could never return to the animal kingdom again.

 

[AV1611VET]

It's an allegory. Adam = atom; Eve = eve of humanity; firey sword = we discovered how to control fire and we could never return to the animal kingdom again.

So Jesus died on the Cross for those who discovered fire and refuse to return to the animal kingdom?

For the record, evolutionists consider us 'animals' -- specifically 'great apes.'

This is one of the reasons I refuse the cognomen: "Homo sapiens."

I'm not a Homo sapiens -- I'm a man.

 

[Miami Marlins 2012]

I'm sorry your family is alienating you for daring to think critically instead of simply swallowing the stuff you've been fed at church all of your life.

As science uncovers more and more answers to the origins of the universe and life on this planet, fundamental evangelicals have resorted to becoming more militant and extreme in their beliefs in order to keep their members from being exposed to science. You are just one of the unfortunate victims that dared to ask yourself "what if Genesis got things wrong."

Don't bow down to pressure from those around you. Pick up a good science book, ask questions, debate others, become informed, and you will find that Genesis did indeed get the "creation" 100% wrong. Does that mean you have to abandon religion? Not really!!! There are plenty of Christians that accept science. Their faith is strengthened by the beauty of astronomy, biology, and other sciences, from which they see the truth about how God created our world....which is far more beautifully complex than the primitive iron age authors of the Bible could have ever conceived.

 

[AV1611VET]

There are plenty of Christians that accept science. Their faith is strengthened by the beauty of astronomy, biology, and other sciences, from which they see the truth about how God created our world....which is far more beautifully complex than the primitive iron age authors of the Bible could have ever conceived.

Nice speech, agnostic.

 

[tedwardpowell]

Nice speech, agnostic.

I'm sorry, but your arrogance is rather sickening.

This "agnostic" has made a perfectly rational point, back up with a ton of EVIDENCE, something Creationists seem to be lacking.

Yes he may not believe in God, and if this makes you unwilling to take his point then your faith is rather pathetic, blind and unthought if you don't listen to any other religious take.

On the point the agnostic made (whos name I forget) he speaks good honest truth. Evolution is fact. The original theory its self is back with evidence, to list a few: The Eohippus bone in horses, the beaks of galapagos birds and many more. If this is not enough, the Human Genome project (lead by a Christain if it'll make you respect it) discovered the history of human Dna which fits the evolution tree. That's just a snippet of evidence, there are hundreds of books, websites and people all contain much more scienctificly proven factual evidence to support evolution.

What evidence is there for your Creation story? None. It's time to drop this, condridicting passage as litterall truth and read it as a, for example poetic discription of God forming us all.

For the record, yes I believe in God, and yes I believe in Evolution, as do many respected theist scientists. It is possible to accept them both.

 

[RickG]

I believe more technically in a middle aged earth and micro evolution, that doesn't mean however that I believe in macro evolution, I hold an agnostic position there and I need more evidence from both sides before I come to a conclusion. The bible is true, but its not a science textbook. The bible instructs us to look not only at the book of scripture but also the book of nature.
.

Can you clarify what you mean by "middle aged earth"? As for micro and macro evolution, I think you have a basic misunderstanding there. Those are terms really fostered by creationists, not people who scientifically study evolution. All macro evolution is, is a bunch of micro evolutions. There never is one generation to the next change in species as creationists often imply evolution does. It is the sum total of changes over time from where there is no real distinction between micro and macro, but somewhere along the line, one begins to realize there are clear distinctions.

If evolution were not a fact, we would expect fauna and flora of today to be found throughout the entire geologic column. Indeed, they are not.