Why did God do this...

[Jet Black]

keep in mind guys that although every christian is a creationist, not every christian believes in a young earth.

what about theistic evolutionists?

 

[Michali]

what about theistic evolutionists?

Well, even they believed that God created. It was just through an evolution process. Or, if not that, then the creation of existence.

 

[Jet Black]

Well, even they believed that God created. It was just through an evolution process. Or, if not that, then the creation of existence.

I don't think theistic evolutionists would really like you calling them "creationists" though. I see your point, but it is best to be careful here in case one gets drawn into the nasty semantic quagmire of creationism/evolutionism etc.

 

[Mike Flynn]

The Gap theroy is also what i believe. In Genesis 1:28 "God blessed them and told them, "Multiply and REPLENISH the earth"..." Replenish as in to Plenish again. I also think that there were Half "Evolved" apes at one point, but they died out because of Cain and Abel. Genesis 4:13-14 "Cain replied to the Lord, "My punishment is too great for me to bear! You have banished me from my land and from your presence; you have made me a wandering fugitive. All who see me will try to kill me." I believe that then men who would kill him, are not human because at this time its only Cain, Adam, and Eve. I think that the to-be-murderers are the half "evolved" men.

And who exactly was Cain's wife in Gen 4:17? A half-evolved woman? Maybe God had also created other people and it was just never mentioned in Genesis. Of course...there are just so many ways to go with this, aren't there?

I have heard about an alternative version of this that I read in a book "The Story We Find Ourselves In":

What if the characters in Genesis actually represent different stages in social and cultural development?

Adam and Eve: Hunter-Gatherer society...a harmonious relationship with nature..well aware of their dependance on God. The 'fall' represents what happens when we fail to respect God's boundaries. If we don't respect boundaries we can't trust (even each other) so we cover up.

Abel: Pastoralist, wandering the fields with his flocks...one step removed (more modern) from his ancestors...less dependant on the availability of edible fruit, game, etc. More disconnected from God.

Cain: Agriculturalist, grows crops on the land...more advanced than Cain but Cain has a problem: he takes the God-given land for his own (probably crossing another boundary that he shouldn't). What happens when Abel comes by with his flocks? Conflict. Cain kills Abel (in the fields...where conflict is centered).

Agriculture forms the basis of primitive economies. Cities and towns are built...people are more and more disconnected from God...more self centered and greedy...collecting and gathering more than they need...sound familiar? (A nice set up for Noah I think)

So its a story about the process of disconnecting from God. When taken metaphorically its suprisingly compatible with the known history of human society.

Isn't that what's amazing about the Bible? A story like Genesis has so many layers. We can take what we learn about God's creation through science and peel back some of these layers and find even more meaning...that's the real evidence that its God's word. That is, unless you assume that every word in the Bible should be taken literally.

 

[Phred]

Adam and eve were created full mature, as was the earth.

No they weren't.

Statements deserve statements.

 

[InGodweTrust]

It takes faith to believe in evolution, it takes faith to believe in God and his word. And I cannot believe in the foolishness of evolution.

 

[WithHisBloodWentOurSin]

I have a question for you all. They took the Christian faith out of school systems because its "not fact" and not everyone believes it... then why do they teach evolution and give the empressions its true. They both Faith systems, i think it should be both or none.

 

[ifriit]

I have a question for you all. They took the Christian faith out of school systems because its "not fact" and not everyone believes it... then why do they teach evolution and give the empressions its true. They both Faith systems, i think it should be both or none.

Because, contrary to what certain religious sources insist, evolution is not a faith system; it is science. "Evolution"--by which I assume you mean the theory of biological evolution--is taught because it is the best explanation we have for many, many biological facts.

 

[DrLao]

I have a question for you all. They took the Christian faith out of school systems because its "not fact" and not everyone believes it... then why do they teach evolution and give the empressions its true. They both Faith systems, i think it should be both or none.

Evolution is science, Christian faith is religion.

Christian faith wasn't taken out of schools because it is "not fact" nor was it taken out of schools because not everyone believed in it. Christian faith is not instructed to students because government institutions are not allowed to favor any religion over another according to the Consitution of the United States.

Evolution is taught in school because scientific instruction is important for children to grow up as informed citizens with the knowledge necessary to make important decisions about who will govern them. Also, science education is necessary for the next generation to remain competative in the increasingly technological global economy.

 

[armed2010]

It takes faith to believe in evolution, it takes faith to believe in God and his word. And I cannot believe in the foolishness of evolution.

It doesnt take faith to believe in evolution, there is scientific proof for it. Thats like saying it takes faith to believe the moon orbits the earth. Before you pull false statements out of the air, I suggest you research them first.

 

[armed2010]

I have a question for you all. They took the Christian faith out of school systems because its "not fact" and not everyone believes it... then why do they teach evolution and give the empressions its true. They both Faith systems, i think it should be both or none.

Evolution is not a faith based system, it is scientific theory with a lot of evidence backing it up.

 

[Mike Flynn]

It takes faith to believe in evolution, it takes faith to believe in God and his word. And I cannot believe in the foolishness of evolution.

No, it does not take 'faith' to believe in evolution. Its just a theory that agrees with a large body of evidence from the fossil record, the dissemination of species, DNA and mutation, natural selection, etc. As many of you know, there are many big pieces to the puzzle that are missing, and the book is far from closed on this issue. But right now, it remains the most plausible science behind the data that we have to date.

Thats it! Thats all it is really. I can't say I have 'faith' in evolution...that doesn't make any sense. If evidence comes along that requires a complete re-working of the theory then so be it! That is the way of science. There are some scientists out there that may not be as objective as others, and there are also those who 'worship' evolution as a kind of idol...nullifying God...but this is not a scientific argument (although some falsley say that it is).

Too bad you had to use the word 'foolishness'. I am a scientist and I accept evolution as a plausible theory for now. I am also a Christian. Does that make me a fool?

 

[InGodweTrust]

Too bad you had to use the word 'foolishness'. I am a scientist and I accept evolution as a plausible theory for now. I am also a Christian. Does that make me a fool?

Its foolishness to me. God is my plausible theory, and what process he used to create the world isn t important to me, only the spreading of his gospel. For every true christian this world is not their home, its with the creator. Evolution is a stumbling stone to many people.

 

[Michali]

Its foolishness to me. God is my plausible theory, and what process he used to create the world isn t important to me, only the spreading of his gospel. For every true christian this world is not their home, its with the creator. Evolution is a stumbling stone to many people.

Evolution is a stumbling stone to people, but it is not foolishness. It is a very plausible theory that does not deny God in any way. We know God made everything. We are not completely sure if he wrote Genesis through divine inspiration. Which should we look to for meaningless truths about creation? His own creation, or a book that could be man's idea?

 

[InGodweTrust]

If we say that Genesis is not true, then what stops us from saying that all of God's word is a lie?

 

[WithHisBloodWentOurSin]

It was Moses who wrote Genesis, God Told him what happened when he was atop the mountain

 

[armed2010]

Strange that genesis doesnt conform with how the earth was actually created. If earth was created in 6000 years, giant noah flood, etc, there would be tons of evidence for it, and we wouldnt even be having this discussion. And ingodwetrust, if evolution is foolishness to you, I suggest you turn your computer off, because science is obviously just a foolish thing, therefore you shouldnt be using its rewards

 

[InGodweTrust]

And ingodwetrust, if evolution is foolishness to you, I suggest you turn your computer off, because science is obviously just a foolish thing, therefore you shouldnt be using its rewards

Science is not foolishness to me, but the idea that you take a dog, add 1 billion years and mysteriously it evolves into a horse is, not saying that scientist have said this, but this is the general idea behind evolution. Thus evolution is foolishness to me.

 

[David Gould]

Science is not foolishness to me, but the idea that you take a dog, add 1 billion years and mysteriously it evolves into a horse is, not saying that scientist have said this, but this is the general idea behind evolution. Thus evolution is foolishness to me.

You realise that the process isn't mysterious at all?

Animals change over time. We observe this between two different generations. Many small changes added together give ... big changes.

Then you include natural selection, another thing that is observed and obvious (animals that are better at surviving tend to do so more than animals that aren't - obviously!).

The final ingredient is that the Earth is old - very old.


So:

fact 1 is that many small changes equal big changes (obvious!) and that small changes have been observed
fact 2 is that animals that are better at surviving tend to so more than animals that are less good at it (obvious!)
fact 3 is that the evidence shows the earth to be old

Thus many small changes will have occurred and thus dogs can evolve into horses. (using your example - I understand that it is just an example)

Of course, I should add that discovering and working out the obvious is one of the most difficult things that scientists have to do. Most people - me included - have difficulty seeing the obvious. You usually need special training.

A denial of the age of the earth is thus the only way that evolution can be denied, as the other two facts are obvious/tautological.

 

[armed2010]

Science is not foolishness to me, but the idea that you take a dog, add 1 billion years and mysteriously it evolves into a horse is, not saying that scientist have said this, but this is the general idea behind evolution. Thus evolution is foolishness to me.

Your using the cartoon version of evolution, and therefore you have no idea what evolution actually is. I suggest you go read up on it, because you obviously dont really know what your talking about.