Poll: Is God capable of using biological evolution to create a diversity of species?

[pitabread]

I decided to put this question to a proper poll.

For clarification, this isn't about what you believe God did or did not do. Rather this is about what you believe God is capable of doing or not doing.

IOW, if you think that God didn't use evolution to create a diversity of species on Earth, yet is otherwise capable of doing so if they chose to, then you would answer YES in the poll. On the other hand, if you think that God is not capable of using evolution, then you would vote NO.

Also, for the purpose of the poll a creationist is one that rejects biological evolution and the shared ancestry of species (e.g. believes that God created independent organisms). Whereas an evolutionist is one who accepts biological evolution and the shared ancestry of species.

 

[NerdGirl]

I don't know if God created the world in a literal six days or not. I'll find out when I get to Heaven, I suppose! But it's obvious that life forms "evolve" over time. Do I think humans evolved from microorganisms? No. Do I think that humans and animals and such have changed over millenia? Sure. I think it's fairly logical to conclude that creatures adapt and change over time, which fits the definition of "evolving". But I do not think all creatures came from the same prehistoric goop, nor that creatures can change from A to B.

God is "capable" of doing anything.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I decided to put this question to a proper poll.

For clarification, this isn't about what you believe God did or did not do. Rather this is about what you believe God is capable of doing or not doing.

IOW, if you think that God didn't use evolution to create a diversity of species on Earth, yet is otherwise capable of doing so if they chose to, then you would answer YES in the poll. On the other hand, if you think that God is not capable of using evolution, then you would vote NO.

Also, for the purpose of the poll a creationist is one that rejects biological evolution and the shared ancestry of species (e.g. believes that God created independent organisms). Whereas an evolutionist is one who accepts biological evolution and the shared ancestry of species.

I'm just going to give a simple answer and assert that my thinking approximates the BioLogos route in all of this (....... more or less).

 

[d taylor]

I voted no, just like God can not lie. I believe that (evolution to create a diversity of species on Earth) is not creating and God is a creator.

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

Trick question. Yes, he is capable. No, he did not.

 

[pitabread]

Trick question. Yes, he is capable. No, he did not.

There is no trick question. The question is quite clearly explained in the OP.

 

[Tolworth John]

I decided to put this question to a proper poll.

For clarification, this isn't about what you believe God did or did not do. Rather this is about what you believe God is capable of doing or not doing.

IOW, if you think that God didn't use evolution to create a diversity of species on Earth, yet is otherwise capable of doing so if they chose to, then you would answer YES in the poll. On the other hand, if you think that God is not capable of using evolution, then you would vote NO.

Also, for the purpose of the poll a creationist is one that rejects biological evolution and the shared ancestry of species (e.g. believes that God created independent organisms). Whereas an evolutionist is one who accepts biological evolution and the shared ancestry of species.

God operates according to his character he is reasonable he does not do that which is unreasonable, like making a square circle.
He created all life according to there kinds, these ' evolve' according to the genetic information they have, they do not make ' new ' genetic information.

 

[d taylor]

Evolution is not perfect or it uses randomness to bring about it results. That is completely goes against the character of God.

Below is from some article from scientific america
Of course chance is important in evolution. Evolution occurs because nothing is perfect, not even the enzymes which replicate our DNA. All cells proliferate and divide, and to do so, they have to duplicate their genetic information each time. The enzymes which do this do their best to proof-read and ensure that they're faithful to the original code, but they make mistakes. They put in a guanine instead of an adenine or a thymine, and suddenly, the gene is changed. Most of these changes are silent, and don't affect the final protein that each gene encodes. But every once in awhile these changes have a bigger impact, subbing in different amino acids whose chemical properties alter the protein (usually for the worse, but not always).Or our cells make bigger mistakes - extra copies of entire genes or chromosomes, etc.

 

[pitabread]

Evolution is not perfect or it uses randomness to bring about it results. That is completely goes against the character of God.

Why?

 

[BobRyan]

God is capable of doing it - but God is not capable of lying according to Titus 1

God is "capable" of doing anything.

True. But not capable of lying
.

Trick question. Yes, he is capable. No, he did not.

If this OP question had been posted before the Bible was written then a lot more "yes well I suppose that is possible" from Christians -- but once God says He did it in 7 evenings-and-mornings and a real "day" as in the 7 days at Sinai in Ex 20:9,11 then it is no longer "possible" that God used evolution "instead" and simply lied about it... because as Titus 1 says - "God cannot lie".

That question gets asked a lot recently - and the same irrefutable answer keeps coming back.

(How many ways to say this??)

 

[Speedwell]

A lie is an intentional falsehood.

 

[Strathos]

There is no trick question. The question is quite clearly explained in the OP.

Honestly it's kind of a silly question. Of course God would be capable of using evolution, just like He would be capable of creating everything in 6 literal days and then editing the whole universe to look like it was billions of years old and had countless prehistoric events, disasters, mass extinctions, and other things that left physical evidence but never actually happened.

I agree with the posters who say that God isn't a liar. However, I think that using allegory and metaphor in scripture is not lying, but creating a universe with a detailed history that mostly never happened is.

 

[d taylor]

Why?

As a all knowing being/creator leaving something to chance can not be. Meaning that God would not have known the outcome and just had hope it would have produce what He had wanted to create.

 

[pitabread]

Honestly it's kind of a silly question. Of course God would be capable of using evolution, just like He would be capable of creating everything in 6 literal days and then editing the whole universe to look like it was billions of years old and had countless prehistoric events, disasters, mass extinctions, and other things that left physical evidence but never actually happened.

I ask because my discussions with creationists on the subject seemed to suggest otherwise. And already we have a couple people voting "no" that God is not capable of using evolution.

 

[pitabread]

As a all knowing being/creator leaving something to chance can not be. Meaning that God would not have known the outcome and just had hope it would have produce what He had wanted to create.

But why couldn't God use evolution if they knew what the outcome of what the process would be? In fact, it seems perfectly logical to use evolution in such a scenario.

 

[grasping the after wind]

As a all knowing being/creator leaving something to chance can not be. Meaning that God would not have known the outcome and just had hope it would have produce what He had wanted to create.

God is omniscient so He would know exactly the outcome of any process He put in place. Therefore if He decided that He would populate the world by using an evolutionary process to do so, there would be no chance involved in it despite the fact that some humans might not understand that it was actually not a matter of randomness or chance.

 

[Strathos]

God is omniscient so He would know exactly the outcome of any process He put in place. Therefore if He decided that He would populate the world by using an evolutionary process to do so, there would be no chance involved in it despite the fact that some humans might not understand that it was actually not a matter of randomness or chance.

That's true. In the Bible, God also uses human beings many times to accomplish His goals. Human beings are more unpredictable than evolution, but things still always work out how God intends them.

 

[d taylor]

But why couldn't God use evolution if they knew what the outcome of what the process would be? In fact, it seems perfectly logical to use evolution in such a scenario.

There is not any indication from the Bible that working by chance or randomness is a way God creates.

It is just simply not how a perfect God works. As God stated even before the foundation of His creation He knew what was going to happen.

 

[pitabread]

There is not any indication from the Bible that working by chance or randomness is a way God creates.

If God already knows the outcome then it's not by chance or randomness is it?

I feel like there isn't really a way out here that won't end up in a contradiction.

 

[Speedwell]

There is not any indication from the Bible that working by chance or randomness is a way God creates.

Why not? It works so well that engineers are now using random variation and selection algorithms which mimic evolution to create novel designs and components.