Is it okay be a Christian and to believe in evolution?

Question

I was watching TV the Discovery Channel with my oldest boy and it just seemed to make sense. I’m a Christian and that is really important to me.

Answer 1

Many people have issues with the apparent conflict between faith and science. In my opinion, those don't have to mutually exclusive, as long as you're not a rabid fundementalist.

The belief that every word in the bible must be the complete truth is a bit of a stretch when any thinking person remembers that the bible was written by men, and that the current version we have was created by commitee (see the link below on the Council of Nicaea).

Take that away and real debate is this.
1) Mutation of the genetic code can create different traits to appear in offspring.
2) Indivuals with traits that improve their ability to procreate will tend to survive as a population.

These two pieces are easy to demonstrate. Now, the problem appears when someone takes that small bit of provable information and then decides that completely random changes created all diversity of life. It's a hypothesis that unfortunately can't ever be proven. If I flip a coin a thousand times, I'll be able to show a probability pattern of approximately 50:50 . Yet, when you roll the dice at the craps table, your success or failure is also a concept of probability, but the good or bad results can either be thought of as random and meaningless chance, or you can feel that something out there may help out a little to help things go a little better.

In genetics classes you get to provide the concept of mutations with fruit flies. Random chance has a better chance of leaving you with a bowl of dead flies than any specific result. However if the experiment is little less random (ie you help a little), it's easy to get a healthy population with the traits you like.

So you have the choice of deciding that everything is completely random and meaningless, or you can take a slightly different view and think that maybe that something helped guide along at beautiful rose you see. Either may be true and sometimes it's nice to think that maybe things will work out ok if you have a little faith...

Answer 2

Have you ever heard of theistic evolution?

It is a theory that ties in both the theory of evolution, and the theory of creationism. It purposes that God CREATED everything there is here today, but by using and incorporating the "laws" of science, evolution and physics to do so. In this sense, God did indeed create everything, but evolution was (one of) the tool(s) He used to it.

I have read the Bible, and there's nothing in there that says this isn't possible, so long as you don't take the whole "7 days" thing too literally. Granted, it still leaves out the dinosaurs, but that has nothing to do with the theory, just the text.

While I am not a Christian, I still believe that this theory makes the most sense. However, I personalize it to include the gods I believe in.

Answer 3

In my book yes. I assume that you aren't referring to us coming from monkeys ? I can't see that line of thinking and being a christian comparable. Yes, I do believe that creatures have evolved. We also may have evolved, if my definition of the word is correct. I believe that creatures adapt, or change to their environment. People take the Bible too literally, I don't mean it's not all true, I just mean that '' it's not all there ''. Take for instant the begining. " In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth " . I am not sure that that's it. I feel that there could be life elswhere. The bible only deals with the earth part. There could be volumes about the heavens, just not in this book. ? The same with the earth. Let there be tree's, and there were tree's . Let there be animal's, and there were animals, etc. It didn't say that it happened in a flash, only that it happened. It says that he took 6 days and he rested on the 7th ? What was a day ? Was it actually our day ? Our day is based on the sun. If he created the sun at the same time, is it not possible that HIS DAY was different ? I too have seen to much evidence to believe that things presented to me and taught are exact. After all , we are talking about GOD. Wouldn't it be a bit bold to assume that we knew it all ? Wouldn't we be putting ourselves up there with GOD to assume any of that ? We are the children of GOD. Do you tell your kid's everything, or do you wait until they are ready and can handle it ? Could the situation be similiar ? I wonder.

Answer 4

Of course it's okay. The Bible teaches us about who we really are and our relationship with God and with one another. It wasn't intended to be a science book, or a history book. It is so much more than that.

Take the creation story. The Bible says we were created in the image of God. This concept gives us a human dignity that no mortal can take away. We were endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. This is the foundation of the modern concept of human rights.

This is just one example of the beautiful wisdom of the Bible. Please don't treat it as a science book. It's so much more than that.

Look at it this way: remember the story of the woman who anointed Jesus with the expensive oil shortly before his death? One gospel says she anointed his head. Another gospel says she anointed his feet. Well, which was it? Who cares? That's not the point. The point was, Jesus saw the love in her heart, and when the disciples rebuked her for "wasting" it when it could have been sold for 300 days' wages and the money given to the poor, Jesus honored her. Yes, the disciples might have been right about the economics, but Jesus cared more about what was in her heart. That's what God cares about, too.

The four gospels each have different versions of the Resurrection story as well. Read them, and you'll see the differences. Then explain to me who first discovered that Jesus had risen from the dead. Mary Magdalene? Three women? John & Peter? Does it matter so much? The point is, Jesus rose from the dead!

When the early church had to decide which writings were truly inspired by God and which ones weren't, they could have just picked one gospel. But they didn't. They recognized that there were differences, and they decided to keep four different gospels. If they thought we needed to be dogmatic and exacting about every little thing, they would have just kept one to save themselves a lot of bickering over unimportant details. Instead, they kept four. This tells me that the early Christians were okay with differences on unimportant details -- the important thing is to get the point.

Okay, so Genesis says God created light on the first day, and the sun and the moon on the fourth day. Is this a science book? Clearly not. The point is, God created everything -- not with his hands but just with a word. He just spoke the word and it was. This is God's power. And he saw that it was good. This is God's goodness. Don't get hung up on the details.

Pope John Paul II said he didn't have a problem with the "Big Bang" theory -- maybe that's how God did it -- the point is, it was all done by God.

Answer 5

In 1st Timothy Paul says not to pay heed to the fables and endless genealogies of the old testament.

Much of the Israelites writings about the natural world have been demonstrated to be untrue. Flat earth, unmoving earth, earth as the center of the universe. A lot of ridiculous writings about animals that can only be explained as the products of people who never set foot outside a city.

The old testament is irrelevant to the core of Christianity. People have historically used it (the OT) to rationalize frankly subhuman behavior and attitudes.

The events that shape evolution, mutations, are from the human perspective unpredictable. They happen because of events down on the quantum scale. If you can imagine a god using that as an unobtrusive means of manipulation it could be acceptable.

Answer 6

Dancer
You can believe that God made the world anyway you want to. What is important is Who is Jesus Christ", "What did He do", and "Have you excepted the gift of Life through faith in Him by the blood He shed on Calvary's cross"? Nothing else matters. The creation story in Genesis is an outline a very brief outline of the creative process God used to create this world and the host of worlds and stars only partly visible to us in the night sky. So trust Him that He is not a liar and will do for you just as He promised.. You'll be fine.... Jim

Answer 7

I'm a Christian with a love of science.

Here's my stance:
Personally, evolution does NOT make logical sense.

But if it does to you, that's fine.

I have a similar conundrum with timelines. Carbon dating vs. biblical timelines don't match up.

I just hold these unknowns as an "open question".

I believe in the bible - I know it to be true by the undeniable experiences I've had in my life. I've seen miracles and I've seen the spiritual principles actually work.

So since we have this open question, that leaves a number of possibilities:

1 - The Bible is wrong - I KNOW that's not true based on personal experience.

... so that leaves:

2. - Science is interpreting the data incorrectly - maybe, let's wait and see. Science has a habbit of reversing theories quite often!

3. - Science is correct, so is the Bible, I'm just interpreting the Bible incorrectly - Again let's wait and see, read and learn. We're constantly learning more and more about ancient languages, customs and expressions.

Ultimately, I will learn the truth when I see God face to face.

Now, on the question of evolution:

The problem with evolution as a theory is that it is in two parts one part has been beaten to death while the other has been conveniently ignored.
The two parts are

1- Natural selection - common sense proven through eons of animal husbandry and beaten to death.
2 - Novel *beneficial* characteristics appearing through genetic mutation - statistically impossible, never proven and conveniently avoided by all those who promote evolution as a sound theory.

In order to prove # 2, you would have to do complete gene sequencing on an entire population (say a container of fruit flies) and promote or wait for a novel beneficial characteristic to appear in one or more members of the population. Then you would have to gene sequence that member to prove that it is in fact, a new characteristic and not just the appearance of an old recessive one.
This has never been done.

Ironically, many who argue the cause of evolution, use examples of #1 to prove #2 indicating that they are a): avoiding the issue, or b): don't fully understand the issue, or c): are so brainwashed that they assume #2 is a given.

On another front, scientists use creationist principles every day in other aspects of science.
An archeologist goes to to the north pole and notices 3 stone columns in a row and says to himself. "Why this is order and indicates intelligent design, therefore people have colonized this region before"
Or
A scientist searches the sky with a billion dollar radio telescope for the faintest hint of an electromagnetic pattern hoping to be able to say one day "This series of amplitude or frequency changes is not random, and indicates intelligent design, therefore, there MUST be intelligent life out there."

Answer 8

Not really.

You'd have to be pretty high on drugs to believe that the bible is in any way an abstract interpretation of events that actually happened.
Its good to see though that you're realising that it makes sense. It shows you're capable of reason. The next step is to apply that reason to all aspects of your life.... to stop and question everything, and decide by that reason what makes sense and what doesn't. Nothing good can come of merely accepting what people tell you at face value... especially if it doesn't stand up to close scrutiny...


Do the smart thing: Question everything. Even question the words I'm telling you now and judge for yourself whether they make sense or not.

Answer 9

I assume you ar ereally asking whether or not evolution can fit within a Christian world view. Certainly it can. Even the ancients knew Genesis was symbolic. Modern fundamentalists have fallen into a trap of literalism invented by a more critical western mindset that has forgotten how to mix mysticism with symbolism like the ancients did. Literalism is a modern heresy that leads to all kinds of nonsense like creationism, and the cartoonish end times silliness that's popular these days.

Answer 10

Of course it's fine to be religious yet acknowledge science--in fact, I think it would be a disservice to religion and science both NOT to accept both on their own merits. The fact that we evolved doesn't mean that God doesn't exist, or that He doesn't "matter" somehow. However we got to be the way we are (and science is pretty clear that evolution is the answer to that question) we are still beings with a spiritual as well as physical nature, and we still sense the hand of a greater Being around our world.