evolution vs. creation?

Question

couldn't it be both? as in- there is a Divine process that directs the evolutionary process. Couldn't God be the energy behind Life itself?

Answer 1

YES! God is life itself but that is not the whole of God.

It's what I believe anyway.

Answer 2

I'm really not the best person to answer since i don't believe in god and half the time I'm not exactly sure i believe in science either. however, i have always been of the opinion that the two versions of how we all came to be do not need to be mutually exclusive. what makes them so is the attitudes of the people who hold each belief. here's what i mean:

if religious people believe that the world was created a few thousand years ago in 7 days, and man and other creatures around us were created by some miracle in essentially the same form they have today, at essentially the same time, then this will never be acceptable to science. too much has happened. too much has been discovered. we know now for a fact that the world has been around for billions of years, and man was not in it until very recently.

on the other hand, we have scientists. by its very nature, science is too sterile. it cannot or will not account for anything that cannot be measured, weighed, controled, labeled. and the fact of the matter is there is too much in life that fits that description. until science realizes that many unsubstantial things make a difference in the world, cause change, science will always be an enemy of any kind of spiritual belief.
in this instance, science is getting into a matter that has as much philosophy to it as it has science. even if absolute proof of evolution is discovered, even if they prove beyond a doubt that there was a big bang, there is still the question of where did the original matter that exploded in the big bang come from? there will always be another question, even if they solve that one too.

then again, one might also say "yes, god created the world just as you say" but then what about god himself? who created god? whether you're talking about a gigantic star or a mystical power, there must still be a before, because nothing can come from nothing. not even god.

yes, it is possible for both theories to co-exist, but not in the extreme positions they now take. it is possible that god is the big bang, the explosion that started it all. i don't believe it, but as a rational being i admit the possibility. however, once the process was started, life was left to its own devices and the world as we know it, the animals in it and mankind evolved by those processes science has discovered and many that its still working on discovering. i don't believe it is possible to integrate science with a directional influence from god, but it is possible to see god as the initial source of energy.

Answer 3

Thats what I always thought.

Concerning the debate going on about intelligent design and evolution: is it possible that the final answer about which of these two seemingly opposite ideas is correct could simply be yes?

With one position firmly held by the believers and the other just as fearlessly defended by the non-believers, if you happen to be in a position somewhere near the middle, it does not look all that complex. From this position, you wonder why either-or has to be the answer.

If you believe that some higher being created the universe by intelligent design, what more elegant and intelligent design could there have been than a self-regulating system that continually checks its own errors and makes its own corrections in mid-stream as an integral part of the process.

This all seems quite logical to me although it probably won’t satisfy the believers because they are afraid to see any truth other than the one they have been told to believe in. Inversely it certainly won’t satisfy the non-believers because it leaves them stuck with a god that they are so obviously terrified of.

To sum up this view from the center, it might be most easily be explained by saying perhaps the designer was intelligent. Problem is, the designer was likely so intelligent that those seeking to prove that it is intelligently designed may be incapable of ever understand it well enough to see it for the elegant self regulating design that it has always been.

The nonbelievers will be similarly handicapped due to the internal terror the have about the idea that there may be a God. Neither side being able to leave their entrenched position for fear they may have to admit they were wrong. While the rest of us stand by trying to figure out what all the fuss is about. Personally I don’t think anyone is wrong, I just feel both sides are about half right.

Love and blessings
don

Answer 4

Darwin stated in his theory that if it where true there would be an innumerable amount of transitional fossils. To date not a single one has been found. Every time they thought they found one (and they can be counted on your fingers) it was found to be false. In fact Darwin stated just before his death that his theory was a completely false. With that in mind is it easier to say the universe farted and all the atoms joined together to make me or that if there is a design there is a designer. If there is a creature there is a creator. If I told you the universe imploded and as a result atoms came together and formed a cylinder which held a liquid that was tasty and good to drink and at the same time colors appeared on the can in such an order that you could see a distinct design and very clearly read the word PEPSI would you call me a lunatic or a scientist. Now to be Theological If God created the world in seven days as the Bible states. Understanding the Bible says that God created each part in one twenty four hour period "And the evening and the morning were the first day." (Gen 1:5) We can surmise that the time frame factor would not work. Besides isn't it logical that God would create objects with the appearance of age.

Answer 5

"Evolution" is a scientifically proveable process. "Creation" and "god" depend upon maintaining a specific belief system. If you choose to "believe in" creation or any other belief system, you can tailor anything to make it "believeable"...I mean, people "believe" in a host of fairly preposterous ideas, some of which negate others in their belief systems and they most often do not see the contradictions. (Myself included!) For example, to literally "believe in" the Christian Bible, which has gone through so many translations that it doesn't even say the say the same things as it did in the original language is really a stretch in my opinion. It is basically a collection of folktales, myths and historical stories that are re-written to appear as if there is a consistency that is sorely lacking in the original documents, which were written down after surviving in oral tradition for centuries.
So, yes, you can "believe" that evolution was directed by a god or gods, or nothing at all, but what remains proveable is that evolution occurred. There is absolutely no demonstrable proof of creation though.

Answer 6

Evolution is an idea that originates through man's observations of the way things happen. Evolution is only the result of reasoning. Creationism comes from the Bible. If you believe that the Bible is wholly factual, then sure. Otherwise, there is a lack of concrete evidence that supports creationism, thus creationism is not really a scientifically valid theory.

Answer 7

No, because we know that life started from natural processes. See the Miller-Urey experiment ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_experiment ) and the RNA-world hypothesis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA_world_hypothesis ).

Evolution doesn't need a divine guide - it runs on its own steam. We have replicating genes, that sometimes mutate, those that have successful mutations produce more offspring and die later in life, which advances the gene progression. Genetic Drift + Natural Selection = Evolution. Notice the element "god" is left out of the equation.

Answer 8

Definelty if God chose to use evolution to create the world, then he could. Although the theory of evolution as they want us to believe is that radomness formed the fine tuning of the universe or Natural processes which is the same thing.
Science have proven the Earth to be non-static. Which means the universe had a beginning that makes chance impossible. Because there is not infinite possibilites for it to shape the fine tuning of the universe.
Here is some science
http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com/audio/...
Also DNA is coding, which science know that comes about through intelligent design.

Just think about Mt. Rushmore there is a carving of 4 presidents. Could that ever be formed by chance. Of course not. The fact is evolution is a theory based on blind faith. With no scientific evidence.
There is no doubt God is behind this.

Answer 9

Scientists don't dispute the possible existence of god, they dispute the idea that the world was created in 6 days. There is a difference between rational possibilities and abject stupidity. God, some where some place started things rolling and we have been on our own for 10 billion years. To think otherwise is sheer stupidity.

Answer 10

Did you know that the Vatican supports the study of cosmology? they have even put Jesuit priests through school to have priests with both a religious and scientific education. They have at least two modern observatories. How strange that some of the most learned scientists are also Jesuit priests.

Why are the new-fangled Christians trying to put us back to before the age of Copernicus?

Answer 11

Of course God is behind evolution. He is directing it and guiding it.

Remember that evolution does not discount God, nor does God discount evolution. Evolution does not attempt to answer the question of origin.

Of course God set evolution into motion and continually acts on it today. God is COOL!!!

God created science.... science screams Gods name. Only a fool places all of his trust in the created thing. Look to the Creator to understand His creation.