Is there compatibility between the bible with the evolutionist theory?

Question

I'm believer and besides I think that evolutionist theory explain many things about the life

Answer 1

First off Darwin did NOT Believe in God...as much as people wanna say he did...he DID NOT...secondly...Either God Created the Heavens and the Earth in 7 days or he didn't...there can be no middle ground....If Evolution and the Bible go together then it would say...God Created simple organisms and then as he let millions of years pass they formed into more complex organisms.

Answer 2

It's "evolutionary" theory, not "evolutionist." "Evolutionist" is a word used by non-scientific religious critics of evolution to try and imply that it's "just a belief." There is no belief involved in evolution, just a rational evaluation of the facts and evidence at hand.

If you take every single word in the bible as "literal truth," then there is no compatibility between the bible and the fact of evolution. If, however, you accept what the vast majority of religious *scholars* (those who truly study bible history, church history, and science) do, then you accept that many of the stories in the bible are not literal truth, but parables or morals meant to make a point, not to define absolute history. In that case there is no contradiction at all, and it's the vast majority of such religious scholars accept the facts of evolution while still believing in god.

Evolution does not say "there is no god" -- in fact, it doesn't deal with the idea of god in any way, shape, or form. It simply presents a vast array of natural evidence that shows how life on this planet arose in the first place, and came to be what it is today. While that overwhelming evidence does contradict stories in the bible, it doesn't rule out god. As long as you accept bible stories as just that -- stories -- then a belief in god and an acceptance of the fact of evolution have no conflict.

Answer 3

Not with any regard to the actual creation of life. While it's obvious animals and humans do evolve in many ways over time, evolutionists believe life started due to random chance from a single cell organism, and do not believe it was created by an omnipotent being. The Bible teaches that God created all life. Because of this basic issue, there is no compatibility between the two in any way. With regards to Darwin, he dealt more with environmental evolution based on his observations on the Galapagos Islands rather than the origin of life. Other people have expanded on his theories by claming his findings proved life evolved by chance rather than creation, and coined the term Darwinism to help use his findings to support their theories.

Answer 4

i believe so. the story of Genesis, could be metaphor to explain the science of things...you have to remember it was written back when we didn't know as much about the universe and there weren't technical terms. plus the bible is written in poetry and prose, to make the story magnificent.

it states that the worlds were created in 6 days...i think the mistake is to take this literally- from the human perspective of what we call a day. a day to us is the time it takes the earth to make a complete rotation on it's axis, that is from the perspective of being here on earth. but , what is "a day" to God? from God's perspective- omnicient, omnipresent, eternal, timeless- surely a day must be defined differently. it could be poetic license.

also it says that God created man in his image, both man and woman, and then gave them dominion over the fish in the sea, the fowl in the air and every living thing that moved upon the earth. to me this sounds like we were created AFTER these things, which is what evolution states. at this point we are up to the 6th day. couldn't this mean the 6th time period? like in Hindu scripture there are 4 great ages or time periods
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_Yuga

also could be how things are translated down through time. sometimes words mean different things at different points in time. to take every little thing literally is not seeing the entirety of the message. the parables in the bible are stories meant to convey a message, like a fable. some of the stories are probably somewhat factual, and some are probably not at all factual but rather metaphor.

Answer 5

Only if you're making some sort of fundamental compromise somewhere.

I mean, you can always get out of any difficulty with the "literal interpretation" of scripture by taking the mystical tack, e.g. interpreting the Eden legend as a hieratic presentation of the facts of life rather than a historical account, as orthodox idiots insist. Or, conversely, when you reach the limits of scientific knowledge, you can argue that your ignorance proves the existence of "God," as "Intelligent Design" proponents do.

Either way, it's a compromise. Science and religion really are enemies. Religion argues for "received" wisdom as articulated in scripture, from which there can be no deviation; whereas science is a living discipline, constantly evolving and correcting itself, moving towards a more complete and accurate conception of things.

Answer 6

Yes, but you cannot take the bible completely literally.

Much of religious matters were written about using metaphors, because of the power they possess to describe and their power to force you to think.

For instance, taking the Genesis description of creation as a metaphor for God creating the universe and man, but not tacking his methods down to a simple magic trick, would allow God to have created the universe USING the Big Bang and creating man USING evolution as his tools. Once you accept it that way, it becomes surprisingly close to the truth described by science, yet something the Bronze age peoples of the Bible could accept and understand.

Most that take the Bible to be completely literal are, IMO, weak minded individuals who are desperately in need of certainty in their lives. True spiritual seeking can't be done in an environment of certainty.

If you feel you have cornered the truth, you quit searching. If you are wrong, you are screwed. All the great religious people throughout history were spiritual seekers, not stuck in the certainty of dogma.

Answer 7

In Genesis, the Bible refers to the world and all that's in it being made in 6 days. But, what is a day? 2 Peter 3: 8 says, "that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years....." There is no real contradiction between the Bible and science. The Bible is not trying to explain thing scientifically....but, spiritually.

Answer 8

Only if (A) you are willing to see the Bible primarily as metaphoric and personally relevant as a way of imagining your place in the universe. (This would require being willing to say that there also exist other ways of imagining yourself in the universe.)

And (B) you are willing to see all meaning as internally arrived at, not externally handed to you, because evolutionary theory states that there is no goal for evolution. Evolution happens as an interaction between environmental stresses and genetic anomalies. These are not goal directed, and human beings hold no more special place in the universe than do cactus plants. (Both species have exquisitely survived environmental pressures to exist in our current ecosystem.) We can find our lives meaningful based on whom we love and what brings out our passions. But if you insist on life's meaning arising because God directed evolution in a particular way that ultimately led to you and your family, you lose the gist of the theory.

Answer 9

Not at all. Now some people will rationalize god using evolution as a tool to make the perfect human, but it doesn't say that anywhere in the bible. Evolutionary discovery came a few years after the bible was writen.

Answer 10

First, let's make it clear that NONE of the major Christian denominations, or their theologians, have any problem with evolution. And on that basis I'm not sure we should give that much free air time to what seems to be an exclusively American anti-science, literalist tradition. (Of course they're "literalists" until they run across a verse that seems too weird; then it gets "interpreted,." or becomes the "old covenant," or becomes part of various soft-show routines.)

The answer: Yes, unless you hold to "scientific principles" such as a 6,000 year-old earth, the sun orbiting the flat earth, etc.

UPDATE: No, Mr. "wildenarcissist", Darwin died an atheist.