Evolution, a Discussion
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1
I spent a couple of days at my grandparent’s house this week. Tuesday morning me and my grandpa went to a little breakfast that this one church hosts. It’s a great time to get together and fellowship with friends, but also to do a little Bible study during the week. This morning we watched a video though. Christian apologetic Ken Ham discussed about how Genesis is the foundation of all Christian doctrine and theology. It was kind of interesting, but I disagreed with his opinions on evolution and homosexuality (I’d rather discuss evolution right now, but we can most assuredly discuss homosexuality at a later date).
Ken Ham said that he believed in a very strict word-for-word interpretation of the book of Genesis. He believes that Adam was the first man, Eve the first woman. He believes that there really was a snake that tempted Eve and Adam into eating the fruit from The Tree of Knowledge. He believes that God created every living creature. He believes that God really did flood the entire earth.
And I completely agree with that.
But he stated that since those are correct, that God really did create the world in seven days and that evolution did not and does not occur.
I disagree.
Firstly, symbolism is used throughout the entire Bible. The number ‘seven’ is seen as the number of perfection, of completion. The use of ‘seven days’ might just be a symbol of how when God created the world it was perfect. Also, God’s time is not measured the same as our time. God promised his chosen people that he would send them a savior soon, Jesus didn’t show up on the scene for another 2,000+ years. So the use of ‘days’ may just be a symbol for a period of time; the first period of time being when God created the day and night, the second period of time being when God created the earth and the seas, etc.
Secondly, I do believe that evolution has and continues to occur. Example: watch any nature show about birds 15 years ago. The birds hop to get around when they aren’t in flight. Now go outside and watch the birds move around on the ground. They walk. That’s an evolutionary effect that has taken place in the just last 10 to 20 years. Birds have adapted so that they now have the control over their legs to walk instead of having to hop around. Another example, look at bacterium. When penicillin was first discovered it was over prescribed because it effectively wiped nearly every known harmful bacterium. Now we’re seeing a rise in ‘super-bacterium’ that are immune to penicillin and other antibiotics. These are just two everyday examples that evolution does occur.
Now let me make this clear for you. I am a Christian and I am a Creationist. You will never hear me say that we as humans have evolved from monkeys into the creatures we are today. But in my opinion it is absolutely silly to say that evolution is a myth. By acknowledging that evolution happens is not the same as saying that Creationism is bunk.
I’m not saying, and will never say, that my views are the end-all-be-all final answers to the theory and problems of evolution. I would love to hear your views so that my understanding of this issue can grow and mature. Remember, you don’t have to have a Blogger ID to leave a comment. Thank you for your input.
Scriptures referenced are Genesis 1:1, 1:3-6, 1:26, 2:22, 6:9-9:17.
I spent a couple of days at my grandparent’s house this week. Tuesday morning me and my grandpa went to a little breakfast that this one church hosts. It’s a great time to get together and fellowship with friends, but also to do a little Bible study during the week. This morning we watched a video though. Christian apologetic Ken Ham discussed about how Genesis is the foundation of all Christian doctrine and theology. It was kind of interesting, but I disagreed with his opinions on evolution and homosexuality (I’d rather discuss evolution right now, but we can most assuredly discuss homosexuality at a later date).
Ken Ham said that he believed in a very strict word-for-word interpretation of the book of Genesis. He believes that Adam was the first man, Eve the first woman. He believes that there really was a snake that tempted Eve and Adam into eating the fruit from The Tree of Knowledge. He believes that God created every living creature. He believes that God really did flood the entire earth.
And I completely agree with that.
But he stated that since those are correct, that God really did create the world in seven days and that evolution did not and does not occur.
I disagree.
Firstly, symbolism is used throughout the entire Bible. The number ‘seven’ is seen as the number of perfection, of completion. The use of ‘seven days’ might just be a symbol of how when God created the world it was perfect. Also, God’s time is not measured the same as our time. God promised his chosen people that he would send them a savior soon, Jesus didn’t show up on the scene for another 2,000+ years. So the use of ‘days’ may just be a symbol for a period of time; the first period of time being when God created the day and night, the second period of time being when God created the earth and the seas, etc.
Secondly, I do believe that evolution has and continues to occur. Example: watch any nature show about birds 15 years ago. The birds hop to get around when they aren’t in flight. Now go outside and watch the birds move around on the ground. They walk. That’s an evolutionary effect that has taken place in the just last 10 to 20 years. Birds have adapted so that they now have the control over their legs to walk instead of having to hop around. Another example, look at bacterium. When penicillin was first discovered it was over prescribed because it effectively wiped nearly every known harmful bacterium. Now we’re seeing a rise in ‘super-bacterium’ that are immune to penicillin and other antibiotics. These are just two everyday examples that evolution does occur.
Now let me make this clear for you. I am a Christian and I am a Creationist. You will never hear me say that we as humans have evolved from monkeys into the creatures we are today. But in my opinion it is absolutely silly to say that evolution is a myth. By acknowledging that evolution happens is not the same as saying that Creationism is bunk.
I’m not saying, and will never say, that my views are the end-all-be-all final answers to the theory and problems of evolution. I would love to hear your views so that my understanding of this issue can grow and mature. Remember, you don’t have to have a Blogger ID to leave a comment. Thank you for your input.
Scriptures referenced are Genesis 1:1, 1:3-6, 1:26, 2:22, 6:9-9:17.
posted by theboythatis at 6:56 PM
4 Comments:
Nice I agree 94% I loved the god to time comparison.
Btw my blog = http://t-water.blogspot.com/
I've got something cool for you to read. (I say that a lot, don't I?)
I hate it when people base their entire faith on the whole creationist thing. It's more like they're trying to rebel from science more than trying to find God's truth. Our faith shouldn't be based on wether or not we believe the world was created in 7 literal days, as you seem to suggest that guy was saying. The bottom line is that we don't know. None of us were there. Our faith should rest in Christ. That is all.
More than that Marc, I think its stupid and silly to just blindly say evolution is false and that those who believe in it are trying to destroy christianity. There's no rhyme or reason to that. and plus I just don't like apologetics in general. I mean they spend their time deffending our faith from attacks that are pointless and meaningless, like the Da Vinci Code... I mean if you want to deffend my faith, at least do it correctly.
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