Evolution/Creation?

Question

I am a Christian-and I asked a question re:evolution/creation this morning and received very sincere and thoughtful responses from those on the Evolution side. I appreciate it.I hope we continue to communicate this way and I learned a great deal about your beliefs and theory.
Even though one responder expressed wonder at the compexity of our world I have to ask you about the void that is left - on two levels. There is still the unanswered question of somethng from nothing - which evolutionists candidly admit they do not know - but may some day. And doesn't believing that their is nothing greater, that this is all only the result of amino acids and heat-leave a place in your heart and spirit unfilled? I know God and in knowing him have peace in answers but also in the nature of the Creator - who I believe is loving, sovereign and gracious, with a plan and purpose for my life. We are beings with body, mind and spirit-and believing in evolution does not address the whole man, as God does.

Well.. that is the matter of faith - what do you have faith in - something inanimate from nothing that came from what you can't explain or a being greater than us?
Please answer the second part of my question as well.

I do know God - personally through faith. No argument changes that.

Answer 1

And take it from one on the side of evolution & science: Any scientist that tells you evolution addresses the whole man is a silly goose. In fact, there are aspects of human existence where science is fairly irrelevant (at best).

Even though I don't share your beliefs in a creator, I have no interest in the quantification or scientific "analysis" of what I feel when I say "I love my children," or when I am awed by the immensity of the universe or the creative powers of the members of my species.

Answer 2

"There is still the unanswered question of somethng from nothing - which evolutionists candidly admit they do not know - but may some day. And doesn't believing that their is nothing greater, that this is all only the result of amino acids and heat-leave a place in your heart and spirit unfilled?"

Just because you accept evolution doesn't mean you can't have a relationship with God or believe that theres a possibility of a God.

Answer 3

A belief in God does not require a belief in creationism.

An inability to explain an event does not mean no explanation will ever be found.

Evolution does not nullify the concept of spirit, nor the concept of purpose in life.

What it does is nullify the creationist myth.

I fail to see how anyone's sense of purpose or spiritual growth depends upon a story of how the universe and everything in it was made in six days. Would that purpose and spirituality disappear if Genesis had described a universe billions of years old and the result of physical and biological processes established by God in the beginning? Would the glory of God be lessened if he used natural laws rather than 'abra cadabra'?

Why would God create galaxies so far away that we can't see them with our own eyes? Why create so many galaxies of stars and planets if we're the only one he cares about? Why create atoms we can't see? Why create diseases we can't cure (yet), or permit cures to some diseases?

Why give us a brain to ask such questions and seek their answers if learning the Bible chapter and verse is all we need?

Whether one subscribes to evolution or creationism, we all agree that we're all related to one another. How then does one leave the "spirit unfulfilled" and not the other? Did creationism prevent slavery, the crusades, war, pollution, bigotry and hatred for our fellow humans?

Answer 4

The something from nothing question is not a difficult thing with regards to life originating. Evolution does not say that life was created from nothing, it was a gradual change from inanimate materials and compounds to the building blocks of life.
Take a look at the Miller-Urey experiment, it shows how amino acids etc can gradually form over time from basic elements and compounds. Given how old the world is, its not that hard to see that evolution is a valid answer to how life began.
But if you don't believe in the age of the universe or earth as being older than given by the Bible, then there isn't really any chance of you trying to understand scientific concepts such as evolution or continental drift.
Cheers

Answer 5

Evolution (and science in general) answers how we living things came about...simple as that. As for the idea of the soul and the problem of something from nothing...that is something that only God really can answer.

When one thinks of it...Evolution and Creation are two words for the same thing. God creates everything in the universe...no doubt about that. How he does it...thats for Science to explain. Why he does it and how do we relate with God...thats what we have Faith and Religion for.

Believing in either is what leads to bigotry...hate and ignorance. Always keep an open mind. Only evil people deal in absolutes.

Answer 6

"There is still the unanswered question of somethng from nothing - which evolutionists candidly admit they do not know - but may some day."

THANK YOU!! They get after us all the time for saying that God has always been, and yet they cannot answer what caused something to come out of nothing....Thank you!

Answer 7

You're missing that we do not believe in spirit (most of us.) We see the "spiritual" side of the argument to be little more than delusion and the need to find meaning in randomness.

We are not unfulfilled. We can equate the "atheists are unfulfilled" argument to the same statement made by a heroin user: "Man, you don't know what you're missing." That may be true, but frankly, I think I'm better off having never experimented with dope. It's the same thing with faith. So much energy is put into this obsession that it's easy for the person to disappear. We refuse to lose ourselves, especially for something as destructive and pointless as heroin or something as divisive and clearly untrue as religion.

Answer 8

If evolution is how the universe came into existence, then humans are nothing more than complex piles of elements. We are masses of biochemicals and all our thoughts, choices and everything that we are becomes nothing more than atoms in different arrangements following the laws of the universe. We do what we do because of chemical reactions that we have no control over. We live in a cause and effect world, and without a God who is above and beyond we can have no freedom of choice and we are nothing but pointless and ultimately doomed animals with the ridiculous misconception that we are not.

Answer 9

You got me on that last sentence."evolution does not address the whole man,as God does",
There are millions of evidences of evolution. No the other hand all that we have for creation is some ancient scribblings made by people who's every step in life was governed by omens and signs
For me, it's hard to understand how intelligent people can believe that some sort of 'God" took his magic wand, waved it and :Voila" there it is- - - the whole universe.
If there were an almighty ( meaning able to do anything ) God, wouldn't he spread the word throughout the world, and everybody would worship the same God ?
If he was unable to do that, we must refer to him as God of limited might.

Answer 10

Faith Is Needed
Since it is not possible to scientifically demonstrate either evolution or special creation, faith is required to accept either teaching. But faith in the right thing is not wrong. The Bible says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). A British wit once described "evil lution" as "the substance of links hoped for, the evidence of fossils not seen." How right he was!
Broadly speaking, people fall into one of three categories:
Creationists: Those who believe that a supernatural Being (God) made the universe as recorded in Genesis chapter one. The Church of God International, along with millions of Bible-believing Christians and Jews, falls into this category.
Evolutionists: Those who believe that the universe came into existence billions of years ago and that life on earth evolved of its own accord by some inexplicable power. One does not have far to look to find many who hold this view.
Theistic Evolutionists: The theistic evolutionists attempt to integrate the two doctrines. However, the doctrines of creation and evolution are so strongly divergent that reconciliation is totally impossible. Theistic evolutionists believe that God was involved in the creation, but that He took thousands-perhaps millions or billions (do we hear "trillions"?)-of years to do so. Although many hold this view today, such syncretism reduces the message of the Bible to insignificance. The conclusion is inevitable: There is no biblical support for theistic evolution.
Does It Really Matter What One Believes Concerning the Origin of the Universe?
It matters a great deal what we believe concerning the origins of the universe and of life itself because if the universe and life on earth evolved over billions of years, then:
The Genesis account of creation and the hundreds of Bible verses that refer to the creation are pure fiction. In other words the so-called Holy Bible is, itself, riddled with the very thing it strictly forbids: lies, suppositions, and superstitions.
Virtually all the Old and New Testament writers were deluded-because they all believed in the creation. This would include all the prophets of old, all the apostles, and even Jesus Christ Himself.
If life on earth evolved of its own accord, it would mean that man is not accountable for his actions to a supernatural Being, and that we could make or break so-called "moral laws" with impunity. After all, "if there is no God, there cannot be a Judgment Day. So why bother about moral behavior: let us eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die."
In the final analysis, if evolution is true and the Bible is false, there would be no sin, since there would be no God, no Lawmaker, and no laws to break. It follows that, if there were no laws to break-and the Bible defines sin as "the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4)-there would be no sin. If there is no sin, we would not need a Savior to redeem us from the penalty of breaking those laws (Romans 6:23) and Christ would have died in vain. In short, evolution is a complete denial of everything the Bible stands for.
These are the inevitable conclusions that will flow in the wake of a society that rejects the basic teaching that God created the universe. The matter of origins is very important because society's behavior and destination depend upon it. In his book, Evolution or Creation? (page 2), Henry M. Morris, Ph.D., confirms this point. He writes:
"Each person needs, more than anything, a sense of his own identity and personal goals, and this is impossible without some sense of his origin. What a person comes to believe about his origin will inevitably condition what he believes about his destiny."
Lenin is quoted as saying that religion is the opiate of the people, but the truth is that evolution is the opiate of the atheist!