Christian having to learn Evolution in school- need advice

TimeIsNotMuch

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Been a while :)
Hope everyone is well!

I am a Christian 19 year old girl with dreams and goals laying in the road ahead of me. Im strong in my faith and I wouldn't doubt the word of God for a moment!


A recent concern has crept upon me in my last year of High School. I have decided my future career I wish to pursue is Applied Science Human Nutrition. You need a certain amount of credits in certain subjects and some are compulsury. I have to study Biology Level 3 which includes a section about evolution. As a christian, this has worried me as to pursue my career I have to full on study the theory of evolution.. Anything I would learn I know is lies and that is the part I dread.. All I need is the credits and thats what I keep thinking. Could any Bible believing Christians please give me some advice about this , a part of me is hesitant but I kinda have to if I want to achieve a better life with a job I will be passionate about. For additional information I have studied Genesis recently with my Bible Correspondence and I believe firmly in the way the earth was created and how we were created. Evolution couldn't change my mind about that but am still needing constructed, straight forward advice.



Thank you in advance for any given advice,
God bless!


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Aces High

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Evolution is not a lie, it has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt as being true. How do you know that it is a lie without even studying it?

You are sure that you know exactly how the Earth and we were created? Really? It has confounded the greatest minds both believers and unbelievers alike since it was first written. I wouldn't claim to be very sure just like that. The material in the Old Testament is not exactly easy reading.

Genesis is not literal, it is written figuratively using various literary devices to convey a message to the audience at the time. It is written in a way that seems pretty foreign to modern readers, still the way in it is written should appear to anyone as being metaphorical in nature. People of the time would not have understood the way the world was created the way we do now, God works with people's understanding with the level they are at.

If I were you, I'd be seeing this as an opportunity from God to learn more in depth about the way he has set life on Earth into motion.

There is no contradiction between Evolution and God.
 
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Evolution is not a lie, it has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt as being true. How do you know that it is a lie without even studying it?

You are so sure that you have read Genesis and are sure about how the Earth was created and how we are created? Really? It has confounded the greatest minds both believers and unbelievers alike since it was first written.

Genesis is not literal, it is written figuratively using various literary devices to convey a message to the audience at the time. It is written in a way that seems pretty foreign to modern readers, still the way in it is written should appear to anyone as being metaphorical in nature. People of the time would not have understood the way the world was created the way we do now, God works with people's understanding with the level they are at.

If I were you, I'd be seeing this as an opportunity from God to learn more in depth about the way he has set life on Earth into motion.

There is no contradiction between Evolution and God.

evolution hasn't confounded anything..
it is God that confounds the wise and leaned, and reveals the truth to little children..
evolution has not been proven. It has been argued. But, there is still very much doubt about every aspect t of it.. such as the big bang theory. . How is it possible for nothing to go bang.. science says that it was gas that ignited.. fine. . Then where did the gas come from if there was nothing, as we all know that gas is a state of matter.. not to mention j that there is no source for the ignition that caused the big bang..
then there is the space debris that fell to earth and as science would put it.. After remaining under water for millions of years, life came from these space rocks.. really?
my question is where did the dna program come from that is required for life to happen..
oh ya, why are we even asking this.. Because we already know that nothing can come from nothing, let alone any life..
I don't have enough faith to believe in evolution.. I think it is best that I stick with something that does not require science to prove. And that is the 6 day account that the Lord has documented in His word.. I mean let's face it. There are so many proofs that back the creation story..
only arrogance could blind humanity to the truth..
 
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Aces High

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evolution hasn't confounded anything..
it is God that confounds the wise and leaned, and reveals the truth to little children..
evolution has not been proven. It has been argued. But, there is still very much doubt about every aspect t of it.. such as the big bang theory. . How is it possible for nothing to go bang.. science says that it was gas that ignited.. fine. . Then where did the gas come from if there was nothing, as we all know that gas is a state of matter.. not to mention j that there is no source for the ignition that caused the big bang..
then there is the space debris that fell to earth and as science would put it.. After remaining under water for millions of years, life came from these space rocks.. really?
my question is where did the dna program come from that is required for life to happen..
oh ya, why are we even asking this.. Because we already know that nothing can come from nothing, let alone any life..
I don't have enough faith to believe in evolution.. I think it is best that I stick with something that does not require science to prove. And that is the 6 day account that the Lord has documented in His word.. I mean let's face it. There are so many proofs that back the creation story..
only arrogance could blind humanity to the truth..

If you mean it has not been "proven" in terms of the scientific method whereby one can repeatedly experiment and prove via empirical evidence attempt after attempt an unchanging principle, then yes it's not proven.

In that case, Jesus is not proven either, because no one can demonstrate the validity of Him or anything in Christianity via experimentation.

One cannot have double standards.

You are joking about The Big Bang Theory right? Do you know who proposed it? It was a Catholic monk by the name of Georges Lemaitre, he fully believed in God and remained a priest all his life whilst contributing majorly to the theory he proposed.

I do not mean to be rude mate, but you are unaware of the history or the actual concepts of what you're attempting to bring in here. I suggest reading up a bit about it. The Big Bang Theory as proposed by Georges Lemaitre has little to do with what you actually think it is. In fact, the way he proposed it and the way I see it, it cannot have come about in anyway except with God having a hand in it.

These theories or concepts of evolution, the big bang, etc. are not anti-Christian ideas that are seeking to wreak havoc, they are part of the sciences which people have spent a great deal of time studying and learning, both believers and unbelievers, and the sooner people start to open their minds a bit there'll be some progress.

Seek and ye shall find:

Georges Lemaître - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

P.S. I never said Evolution confounded anything, I said Genesis has confounded the greatest of minds.
 
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St_Worm2

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Been a while :)
Hope everyone is well!

I am a Christian 19 year old girl with dreams and goals laying in the road ahead of me. Im strong in my faith and I wouldn't doubt the word of God for a moment!

A recent concern has crept upon me in my last year of High School. I have decided my future career I wish to pursue is Applied Science Human Nutrition. You need a certain amount of credits in certain subjects and some are compulsury. I have to study Biology Level 3 which includes a section about evolution. As a christian, this has worried me as to pursue my career I have to full on study the theory of evolution.. Anything I would learn I know is lies and that is the part I dread.. All I need is the credits and thats what I keep thinking. Could any Bible believing Christians please give me some advice about this , a part of me is hesitant but I kinda have to if I want to achieve a better life with a job I will be passionate about. For additional information I have studied Genesis recently with my Bible Correspondence and I believe firmly in the way the earth was created and how we were created. Evolution couldn't change my mind about that but am still needing constructed, straight forward advice.

Thank you in advance for any given advice,
God bless!

Hi TINM, as you can already see, even among Christians there is great dissension when it comes to this subject. I am surprised about one thing though, how have you made it to 19 years old and not yet been spoon-fed heavy doses of evolutionary science? I'll be 58 this year and I first learned about evolution (or at least the basis for it) as early as we began to study science in elementary school (probably in the second grade, which for me means all the way back to 1963). Were you perhaps home schooled?

Although I disagree with much of what Aces High has said as I am now a YEC, I certainly agree that you should look at this as an "opportunity" to learn. In fact, learn all you can. You need to understand the theory of evolution and the science behind it (that doesn't mean you have to believe it .. ;)). Just don't panic if you learn something new that appears to bring what the Bible teaches into question. Instead, use these situations (as uncomfortable as they often will be) to learn why the Bible teaches what it does and strengthen your faith.

The fact is, you will most likely be surrounded by students/professors and, eventually, colleagues, who believe that evolution is the undoubted truth. Believing what they do will never be a requirement to do your job*, but understanding what they do and why may be.

*I would be careful what you let your future professors and colleagues know concerning what you believe about YEC, at first, at least. There are a number of scientists who firmly believe in Creation science, but who choose to keep their beliefs in this area hidden as best they can because they fear losing their jobs. This is not to say that you should ever keep your faith in Christ hidden however.

Yours and His,
David
p.s. - you should take some time between now and when school begins to learn as much as you can about how Creation science answers the questions posed by the other side. I'll get back to you a little later today with some suggestions on where and how to do that if you'd like (?)
 
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St_Worm2

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People of the time would not have understood the way the world was created the way we do now, God works with people's understanding with the level they are at.

Hi Aces High, I can certainly understand why you choose to believe what you do, but the basic understanding of evolutionary theory predates the Incarnation by thousands of years in several cultures (including the Chinese, the Greek and the Roman). God choosing to write Genesis as He did, and the Lord choosing to agree with it while He walked among us as a man, has nothing to do with the people's lack of ability to understand basic evolutionary science.

Yours and His,
David
 
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Radagast

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As a christian, this has worried me as to pursue my career I have to full on study the theory of evolution

I don't think there's any harm at all in knowing what the theory of evolution actually is all about. It may be false, but it's helpful to know what it is.

And, as you can see, many Christians actually believe that at least parts of the theory are true.
 
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Radagast

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the basic understanding of evolutionary theory predates the Incarnation by thousands of years in several cultures (including the Chinese, the Greek and the Roman)

Well, no, actually.

Evolutionary theory did not exist before about 1800 AD (Darwin, Lamarck, Lyell, etc.).
 
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St_Worm2

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Well, no, actually.

Evolutionary theory did not exist before about 1800 AD (Darwin, Lamarck, Lyell, etc.).

The basis for it existed. I'll have to get back to you tonight, but I'll show you what I'm talking about.

--David
 
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blankCrossfire

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Genesis is not literal, it is written figuratively using various literary devices to convey a message to the audience at the time.

Oh boy...

1 Corinthians 15:45

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

There is no contradiction between Evolution and God.

Genesis 2:7
then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Is this statement true or false?
Literal or metaphor?
 
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blankCrossfire

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OP, if you are sound in what the bible says about creation and how we were created, I'd say go for it. Obviously, you need to stay grounded in the word because you're entering hostile territory and need to be equipped but being exposed to this stuff can also strengthen your beliefs.

Learning other people's positions and views allows us to communicate based on knowledge instead of ignorance and people on the other side of the fence do appreciate that as well.
 
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Aces High

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Hi Aces High, I can certainly understand why you choose to believe what you do, but the basic understanding of evolutionary theory predates the Incarnation by thousands of years in several cultures (including the Chinese, the Greek and the Roman). God choosing to write Genesis as He did, and the Lord choosing to agree with it while He walked among us as a man, has nothing to do with the people's lack of ability to understand basic evolutionary science.

Yours and His,
David

Valid point to an extent, except you need to remember the audience that Genesis was aimed at and the part of the world at the time. The people in ancient Mesopotamia and the surrounding didn't really have access to the understandings of the ancient Chinese and Hindus or even the ancient Greeks or Romans for that matter.

So I do stand by the earlier point I made. How would they have come to any understanding of different philosophies from these cultures you mentioned? The Indians and Chinese definitely had little to no mix with them. The Greeks and Romans came later.

In any case, just because evolutionary theory existed at their time, doesn't automatically mean people would understand it, be interested in or embrace it any more than people in the modern day would care for or follow new research in 21st century mathematics or physics. Of course, there are people who do follow it, but it's not exactly that entire cities stop to investigate and discuss.

There are all kinds of philosophies, theories and scientific advancements that happened in other cultures, it says nothing however of how the 'chosen people' accepted it or whether it even reached them.
 
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Aces High

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Oh boy...

1 Corinthians 15:45

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.



Genesis 2:7
then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Is this statement true or false?
Literal or metaphor?

I was hoping that my statements would not lead a debate over this nor was I trying to make a generalisation on Genesis, but it seems like it will.

I must congratulate you on your ability to cherry-pick select statements, and as a counter for your method of argumentation, I will now prove Jesus Christ himself wrong.

"Matthew 13:32 - though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches." - in reference to the mustard seed.

Except...that the mustard seed is NOT the smallest of all seeds.

What am I proving here? That Jesus is wrong? No. This is what happens when you ignore on purpose the culture the texts we read are written, the time it was written, who the audience was, and also not pay attention to slang or exaggerations of the time.

What if Jesus told his audience that:

"The world’s smallest seeds, which have no endosperm and contain underdeveloped embryos, are produced by certain epiphytic orchids (family Orchidaceae) in the tropical rainforest."

What is the smallest seed in the world? | Professor Olsen @ Large

Oh yes, I'm sure his audience would have been enlightened by that one.


In response to your Biblical quotes, I was quite amazed at your boldness in quoting across two completely different Testaments. Not that there is something particularly wrong with it in principle, but given that the words of St. Paul are in a very different tone to Genesis it's not exactly reading in context is it?

St. Paul says first man Adam, what is your point? Presuming he believed that Adam was a literal man doesn't make all his statements correct. St. Paul also says it is a disgrace for men to have long hair in 1 Corinthians 11. Is it? So it is a disgrace for men to have long hair, but God made it so that both men and women have hair that grows. Surely an oversight? Whether Adam was a literal man or figurative has no bearing on St. Paul's teaching in the actual passage. Did you bother reading the passage to see what he is actually talking about? Hint, he's not giving the audience a biology lesson.

St. Paul was a man, he sinned, he had misunderstandings, he had his own perceptions of things should be. He and Peter had a misunderstanding between themselves didn't they? That's already known.

St. Paul speaks in a way specific to his audience, much like the author of Genesis speaks in a way specific to his audience. In the modern day, we have the liberty of more knowledge and understanding to be able to go deeper, but clearly some of us aren't interested.

Oh wait, here's another one:

"1 Chronicles 16:30 - tremble before him, all earth; yea, the world stands firm, never to be moved"

That's correct buddy. Lets read it literally. The Earth doesn't move. Never mind the fact that we have plenty of evidence that the Earth along with the other planets revolve around the sun and hence it moves, but let's stick to completely literal explanations right?

Does the Sun move or the Earth?

"Psalm 19:6 - It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth."

Remember to read it quite literally, clearly the Sun is the one moving and not the Earth, no exceptions.

This method of reading things exactly at face value renders the Bible as a complete lie.

One must and has to keep in mind not to get lost in small detail and miss the bigger picture. God did not directly write the Bible, people did. People have misconceptions, they have misunderstandings. If you read the Bible as if it's a scientific account, then you will be proved wrong every single time.
 
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Aces High

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I will add now that I will leave this. Neither of us is going to convince the other. You are free to believe in your understanding of the Biblical accounts as I.

I also think it is besides the point of the thread, and also a huge waste of time.

We can research in our spare time on the various issues and draw our own conclusions,
 
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LoricaLady

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I can't tell how extensively you have actually studied the creation side. Just in case, so the enemy doesn't deceive you, here are some vids that might help.

This scientifically shows how the fossil record actually supports creation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qp3oNIRb90

This shows examples of thousands of art works around the world depicting dinos and people together. Don Patton & others give more info on that, but this is a one page quickie:
Ancient Dinosaur Depictions | Genesis Park

Here you have thermodynamic evidence for creation which makes the big bang and billions of years ago on the earth impossible. The first part of it has quotes from evolutionists which are staggering, where they actually admit evolution has no evidence but choose to have...faith...in it anyway:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?annot...&feature=iv&src_vid=Ki0QB5i_gkg&v=I1yto0-z2bQ

Here we see some blood cells and soft, stretchy material from T Rex bones found by an evolution believing paleontologist. Such things have been found since early last century, but why have you probably not heard about them? Well, the politically correct mainstream press (run by about 7 people only) isn't real fond of anything that pokes on their neoDarwinian sacred cow....belief....system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N22jYppVjZI

Such things have gotten a little bit of press, and are in some science journals, obscured. The evolutionary scientists try to explain these things away with saying things like, "Well, golly gee, looks like forensic science - which says such things can't possibly exist for 60 million years - must be wrong! We know that because under no circumstances can evolution ever be wrong."

Or they will say, "Well, must be biofilms!" Uh, biofilms form on dentures, glasses etc. Ever seen those things getting blood cells & stretchy materials?

Or they will say, "Well, we can't understand it, but we have....faith....that we will get the answers in the future..." Or, as with the discoverer of the T Rex bones they may do some little experiment and say "Well, it may be that...." (May be, might have, could have, must have, likely....are words evolutionary literature absolutely must have to survive. These speculative words are very, very often then presented as if they are actually some kind of scientific evidence, not...faith.)

What they really show is that, as is always, always true, they never, ever agree on anything except that evolution - their source of income - has just gotta be right!

Unless led to do so by the Holy Spirit, I would not challenge your science teacher. The "Old" Testament and Messiah warned us to not give what is holy to the dogs or to cast our pearls before the swine lest they turn on us and destroy us.

If you have an essay test you can always say that "According to the theory of evolution....blah blah blah." You are not saying you believe it, you are just saying what the theory says.

If it is a multiple choice test that is tricky. I would personally maybe write a comment at the top of the page, or privately and highly respectfully tell the teacher something not confrontational at all, like, "Well, I've been studying the theory of evolution and I have some questions about it. It seems so often they change their theories and disagree with one another. I will give the answers that I have been taught. But you know how it is, new info is always coming in all the time.." That way you can pick the "right" answer but will not really be committing to it.

If the teacher tries to get you to go farther in your explanations, just hedge (again, unless led by the Holy Spirit to do otherwise, and of course pray in advance for protection and wisdom and guidance before you ever take the course) and say, "Gosh, that surely is an interesting point that you made, and I wish I had time to check it out more thoroughly right now, but gosh there is just so much else I have to do with all my studies. I'll certainly give that some thought [maybe even take a note or two to show respect] but for now I'm kinda in limbo on the topic. I'm so sorry, best I can do for now. " You can think about it alright, and then do what you want with the notes.

If he asks for an example of disagreement you could say, "Well, like they have discovered that Neanderthal interbred with humans. That means they had to be the same species. That isn't what was taught in the past."

If the teacher tries to turn it into a religious issue, say something like, "Oh, it's not about religion. I'm sure you would agree that all scientific theories stand or fall based on the scientific data alone. I don't even want to talk about religion." Be firm on that. It is true that evoltuion stands, or falls - and it falls big time - based on the data alone regardless of anyone's belief system

Be ultra respectful and as long as you don't make waves in class he or she probably will be too busy, too, to bother with you. There is always the very real possibility that your teacher also knows there are some serious problems with evolution. Still, he or she will most likely not want his or her authority to be challenged.

Here is an example of how people in academia are persecuted for even hinting that just maybe creation played a part in anything:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5EPymcWp-g

And here is one more for fun, but the whole series is great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKM9yoQ3Wug

You will see evolutionary rebuttal to that and to everything. But I have been reading and analyzing their literature for years and know that if you use critical thinking you will see that they are always basing their "evidence" on logical fallacies, sophistry/smoke and mirrors, and speculation presented as gawd's truth fact, while they ignore, twist or spin anything and everything that disagrees with their quasi religion of neoDarwinism.

Praying for your wisdom and protection in every way.
 
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If learning about evolution is going to be a problem for you, then you should not pursue any science related degree or any degree which requires at least some sort of biology or related course...so basically every degree is then off the table.

You can't be fearful of what you don't honestly seem to even know anything about. You can study & learn about evolution, & then decide how to interpret what you learn - in light of actual science & in light of your faith.

One thing needs to be made clear: Christians do not agree about evolution. Christians likewise do not agree about how to interpret the Genesis creation account in the Bible. Believing in a specific interpretation of the creation is not a litmus test for Christian orthodoxy. Even the Early Church Fathers were not in agreement about the details of creation, & their writings predate Darwin's theory.

As for me personally, I do accept that some forms of evolution do exist & take place, though I am not "sold" on the concept of macro evolution of humans. I believe the "days" in Genesis are unspecified periods of time, not literal 24 hour days. It is interesting to note a "7" day creation, as the # 7 used throughout the Bible often denotes "completion." So, when God rested on the "7th day," creation was "complete," not necessarily that there was a literal 24 hr day 7 on our calendar He rested. And finally, I do not believe in "young earth creationism" (YEC).

Again, Christians disagree about these things, so don't let yourself fret over it or be fearful. :)
 
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