Results 1 - 7 of 7
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Bible and evolution both? | Gen 1:1 | stjones | 19402 | ||
Yes - sort of. First let me say that arguments about HOW God created the universe distract us from the wonder of the fact THAT God created the universe. "in the beginning, God" may be the four most important words in the Bible because everything else hangs on their truth. The Bible is not a scientific textbook, it is a spriritual textbook ("... from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" - 2 Tim 3:15-17). I have no trouble with thinking of the first few chapters of Geneseis as a parable. Such thinking does not impair the Bible's chief purpose of pointing the reader toward Jesus. Knowing him - and our need for him - has nothing to do with how or when God created the universe. For us old-Earth Christians, evolution is nothing more than one way God could have created the diverse life on this planet. Note that the agent is God, not the mechanism that Darwin erroneously proposed (random mutation plus natural selection). It makes perfectly good sense to me that God could have directed evolution, with his ultimate creature, man, in mind all the time. IMHO, God-directed evolution explains the evidence for both evolution and intelligent design and is consistent with the spiritual truth of Genesis. So, yes, I do think that a form of evolution provides a better explanation of the physical evidence than a literal reading of Genesis 1-2. And yes, I am a Christian who accepts without reservation my sinful condition, my inability to save myself, the person and work of Jesus, the grace of God extended through Jesus, and the promise of salvation through faith in Jesus. |
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2 | Bible and evolution both? | Gen 1:1 | Reformer Joe | 19416 | ||
Just a quick note: not being a young-earther does not necessarily mean that one embraces the idea of common descent. They are two separate debates. That having been said, Genesis does tell us specifically how God formed human beings. A parable is not a flight-of-fancy story which serves to romanticize or symbolize reality. Look at the parables of Jesus. They are indeed fictional stories, but they are realistic stories which illustrate spiritual truths. In Genesis 2, on the other hand, the inspired text tells us that Adam was formed directly from the dust of the ground, and God breathed life into Him. If this were not the case, and he formed him over time from other species, the text would not directly contradict this truth. There is no room for theistic evolution if we believe that the Bible is God's message of truth to mankind. Either the Bible or the theory of common descent has to be in error. --Joe! |
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3 | Bible and evolution both? | Gen 1:1 | stjones | 19419 | ||
Thanks for your comments. I agree entirely with your understanding of what a parable is and is not. I respectfully disagree that Genesis tells us how God formed human beings. For example, Genesis 2:7 doesn't mention water, just dust. Yet our bodies are more than half water, so I assume he must have added some. As I said, I wouldn't dream of trying to convert you to my view. I hope you will agree with me that there is room for differences of opinion such as this. Insistence on one view or the other creates an artificial division in the body of Christ that must delight the Enemy. All Christians share a common belief in God the Creator of Heaven and Earth and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord. We can reasonably and lovingly disagree on how God did the creating. Peace and grace, Steve |
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4 | Bible and evolution both? | Gen 1:1 | Reformer Joe | 19438 | ||
I am not worried that you are trying to convert me. I am concerned that you claim that Scripture is reliable, except for this case. Why should I believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ, then? The Jehovah's Witnesses don't. Maybe the gospel accounts of a risen Christ were parables, speaking spiritually about his "spiritual renewal" or something? Do you see how "spiritualizing" passages which are presented as historical realities is a slippery slope? It regards the supernatural explanation as invalid. This is precisely what happened in Europe during the modernist controversy, and now Europe's churches are largely empty. --Joe! |
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5 | Bible and evolution both? | Gen 1:1 | stjones | 19447 | ||
Scripture is reliable; it testifies to its own usefulness in pointing to Christ and training in righteousness. It never claims to be a source of scientific information. My view of theistic evolution is a supernatural explanation; it gives God all the credit. European churches are empty because theologians "de-mythologized" the Bible and denied all supernatual content. I hope you don't think I've done that by questioning only the historicity (not the spiritual significance) of events that took place before human history. Peace and grace, Steve |
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6 | Bible and evolution both? | Gen 1:1 | kalos | 19450 | ||
Do the Bible and Science Disagree? "Where other cosmologies found in religions have the world on the back of turtles, or the earth being the result of a fight between gods, biblical revelation is quite consistent with science. This is not to say that the Bible is vindicated by science; rather, it is science that is vindicated by the Bible. Consider the following: (note: all quotes are from the NIV) "The Spherical Shape of the Earth - "He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in" (Isaiah 40:22). The Hebrew language did not have a word for "sphere." Circle is quite sufficient. "The Earth is suspended in nothing - "He spreads out the northern [skies] over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing" (Job 26:7). "The Stars are Innumerable - "He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars -- if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be" (Genesis 15:5). "The Existence of Valleys in the Seas - "The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of breath from his nostrils" (2 Samuel 22:16). "The Existence of Springs and Fountains in the Seas - "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month -- on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened" (Genesis 7:11). See also Gen. 8:2; Prov. 8:28. "The Existence of Water Paths (Ocean Currents) in the Seas - "O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!...When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,...You made him [man] ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet...the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas" (Psalm 8:1,3,6,8). "The Hydrologic Cycle - "He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight" (Job 26:8). - "He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind" (Job 36:27-28) - "The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again (Ecclesiastes 1:6-7). "The Concept of Entropy - "In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded" (Psalm 102:25-26). "The Nature of Health, Sanitation, and Sickness - The listing for this section is too large for this page. But the scriptural references are Leviticus chapters 12 through 14" (www.carm.org/issues/science.htm). |
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7 | Bible and evolution both? | Gen 1:1 | stjones | 19463 | ||
Good points. I would just repeat something I said earlier - if everyone believed that the Bible was the last word on leprosy, we'd still have leper colonies. Science found a different explanation and a cure. Nonetheless, all true paths lead to God where all truth originates. Peace and grace, Steve |
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