Is it possible to hold a passionate conviction in evolution and also to be religious?

Question

Please explain your answer. I do not want a simple "yes", "no" or "maybe". That won't help me understand the subject at all. Do not direct me to a website too. Tell me what YOU think. Thanks for responding.

26 Dec 2006, 2:00pm, Philippines

WOW. So many good answers...and the question is just TWO hours old! You're going to make it very hard for me to choose the Best Answer a few days from now. So please, to the folks who will read the answers below, help me decide by rating what you think is the the one that nailed the question best. Maraming salamat!

Answer 1

Absolutely - just ask Darwin, who was religious.

My own values won't help you much since I am not religious, but there is no conflict between religion and evolution except for those who hold a literal view of the bible. Science speaks of the mechanics of things, it does not go into causes or reasons. If you like to think of evolution as the particular tool God chose to build species there is no more contradiction in that than in believing that gravity is the tool God uses to keep objects from floating into space.

Answer 2

i daresay some people do have a passionate conviction in evolution, but if they do they are totally missing out on the whole point of the scientific method which is to get rid of all the passion and convictions and preconceived notions which so cloud human judgement in the first place. the theory of evolution is no more and no less than what it says on the box, a theory. itself subject to change and evolution as new facts are discovered each day. what will the theory of evolution look like in 100 years time? probably a lot like what it is now, but quite likely signficantly different too. a 100 years ago noone had an inkling of quantum theory and even the existence of atoms was still in doubt and just look at what has happened since!
so about the only thing we can be reasonably sure is that in a 100 years time the creationists will still be saying exactly the same thing as they say today but the evolutionists will be saying something new and more interesting than what we know now.

Answer 3

I have never thought that evolution and religion were mutually exclusive.

I have also thought that religion was a very personal thing and I don't hold much respect for most "organized" religions.

Science has always suffered at the hands of religious fanatics who presumably thought they had all of the answers and certainly had too much power for their own good. Each time a new scientific theory contrary to the church's teaching was proved correct, it only served to seriously weaken the church's control - and that just made the church's even more belligerent toward any new ideas that contradicted their teachings. The separation of science and religion has never been a benefit to either institution.
The great physicist, Stephen Hawking, has often said that when we find the formula that unites all of the forces into one equation, we will have a small peek into God's mind.
And remember, of all of the various theories concerning the origin of life and its various stages - all of them start with the building blocks already in place, and none of them explain where they originated.

Answer 4

I believe in evolution and a God...it's obvious to me that the world is a lot older than 5,000 years...billions really...The actual wording of the Bible, to me is symbolic....God created the Earth, the water, the creatures in it...and later man...then woman....but is a day 24 hours or could it symbolize millions of years...it was just a story of Creation, there are many around the world. I, for one, can't imagine a curious person not having God and evolution in their mind...God is faith, evolution is our physical world...one doesn't cancel out the other unless dogma blinds your curiosity. Many people interpret the Bible in many ways, I think it is wise to read it with an open mind and use the brain God gave you to make your own determination and not let others tell you what to think...

I thought of something else...I've read some theoretic things in quantum physics or string theory (I'm no expert, I barely understand the stuff) but I came acroos the concept that is probably based in extra-deimensional string relationships...whereby things are connected in ways we cannot fathom across time, for one...these connections are real...it's not exactly like the future controls the past, but it's close...it's said that God gave man free will...if he did, then man is exercising it and by exercising it changing things and how they relate to him...it's like this little dog is my pet, because thousands of years ago a wolf was raised by humans...but, the wolf was raised by humans because one day a dog would be my pet. But it isn't just the connection of past and future...the dimensions are unfathomable and I have to keep it simple to keep it straight. In other words, Man is evolving because he he wants to evolve and he wants to evolve because he is evolving. God may have come into existance billions of years ago because one day a creature stood up, felt alone and wondered why

Answer 5

YES

Many many people are extremely religious (in christian and other theologies) while maintaining a passionate conviction that evolution has shaped the species of the earth.

Science strives to tell us "what", and sometimes "how", but it has no incite into "why".

Some versions of "intelligent design" propose a God who developed the natural laws (including what we normally call "evolution" and then set it in motion to create His design). There are many other theologies that don't put God and "evolution" necessarily in conflict. There are also many people who believe in God, are convinced of the process of evolution, and don't feel a need to resolve it. They feel that there are many things they don't understand completely and they will proceed from where they are and not worry about it.

Answer 6

o.k.
i believe that the point of religion is to provide a successful set moral truths that allow us as humans to support each other in a constantly changing and often chaotic world. no one wants to be alone.
key word being TRUTHS. he who seeks truth will find it.
a good book on the subject in question is the dalai lama's "the universe in a single atom".
as a biology major in my third year of college i have found the evidence for evolution to be overwhelming, especially the newest findings in the areas of genetics. for instance.
did you know that cabbage, kale, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and kohlrabi all "evolved" (with the help of human breeders) from the same species of mustard plant? within the past 1500 years?!?
it makes sense when you look at the difference between a chihuahuah and a wolf.
why could these results not happen naturally over a period of millions of years??
the bible is a book of STORIES written by HUMAN HANDS to help us make sense of and bear the weight of life.
this does not take away from the fact that (as far as i have found) the principles outlined in the bible are one hundred percent true.
moral philosphy is not the same as physical science.

as the son of a former minister i have seen firsthand the stubborn ignorance in modern church culture.
it rips my heart. something once so respected and pure,
it's credibility stripped away and ridiculed.
a virgin derobed and raped.

i believe this about god.
according to einstein's theory of relativity there are at least 12 dimensions. 1. a singlularity, or a tiny point. 2. a flat plane. (a drawing exists on the 2nd dimension.) 3. space. (a car. your house. a sculpture.) 4. change. (time. your life is bound by the 4th dimension.) 5. probability factors. (what are the odds of your life ending right now due to a meteorite crashing into your bedroom.) hard to grasp this one is for me
and that is only five. i have absolutely no understanding of 6 through 12 but i would say that there is a good possibility of a conscious being or beings existing on these planes.
god created the universe by means of the big bang. all at once, already set up, to unfold and evolve according to a preset body of rules. (physics) essentially he(it) planted a seed and it (the universe) grew. a deistic worldview perhaps it may seem, i have yet to decide whether or not god has an active role in the universe today.
why did he do it???
why does the painter paint?
why does the pianist compose??
because our universe is fcking beatiful and you have to be blind not to see it.
wild. free.
mountains and oceans.
billions of solar systems and galaxies, all different. all unique.
my girlfriend's eyes.
a child.
life.
love.

as you can see i am a very spiritual being. however i firmly believe in the pure and exposed truth.
not every facet of evolution has been uncovered. there are of course some parts that do not make sense. the theory of gravity is in the same boat. we are limited by our forefather's knowledge. look at our scientific understanding of the earth 2000 years ago. a lot of change huh?
what about our moral understanding?? i guess we came up with rastafarianism. and latter day saints. different perspectives on the same truths. loving god and others is a good way to be happy and successful.
dogma gets in the way.
"every day things change. but basically they stay the same."
(to quote a popular modern songwriter)

so i encourage you to always seek pure unbiased truth.
because you will find it.
love and luck,
spoonman

Answer 7

Many scientist do just that. If one " pushes " his creator god back to a reasonable position, say on the other side of the big bang, then perhaps. An initiator type deity. Of course, to a scientist, this leaves a rather large explanatory gap. What is the history, evolutionary, and other wise of this posited god?

Answer 8

Yes, if you believe that evolution was God's method of creation. However, that would mean evolution occured in steps, rather than a continuous analog motion- which would explain why there are over 25,000 "missing links".

Answer 9

unless you're a hardcore fundamentalist, I don't see why not.

Most "moderate" christians that i know do acknowledge the theory of evolution and reconcile that with their faith. I think the belief is that some of the writings in the bible are symbolic, particularly genesis and revelations.

Answer 10

It depends.

I believe in evolution insofar as that it IS a valid mechanism of life. However, to apply that to where we originated, then no, it is flatly not acceptable.

Obviously I believe in the Lord Jesus...the King of all kings.He is the Christ and creator of everything. He is the creator of us.

This is what I meant when I said 'it depends'. Evolution is necessarily common sense. Most of evolution requires changes in life over time because of some kind of need. The need to survive, to adapt.

A living creature cannot continue to survive unless it adapts. It *must* adapt to an environment that perpetually changes around it, and around all life forms. If a creature, including us, does not adapt, we place our survival.....or immediate survival and our future survival in jeopardy.

Developed civilizations could have only gotten that way by adapting....by *learning*. Learning is evolving. I tend to think one could replace the word 'evolve' with learn and not lose too terribly much in meaning, altho I cannot say in truthfulness that I have pontificated this thought at length, however, a brief consideration lends me to think it is a valid approximation. That notwithstanding however, any creature that hopes to continue living must learn to get food, shelter (or protection) and thrive to proliferate.

That which does *not* do this will die; as individuals and as a species.

Creatures must lean, adapt ------ evolve.

Did we originate by evolution? No.......that is a one-dimensional assumption. There are more holes in evolutionists theories than in our (USA) current president's speeches.

There has never been any immediate links from humans to what we supposedly have originated from. They gladly show us primates, but what about all the 'missing' pieces? There are no satisfactory, or even compelling evidence that such a mechanism for origin or humans to have ever taken place. Darwin himself did not intend to set out to show that we humans originated from primates. He was pursuing his theories on how life changes and adapts as it strives to survive. It was others after him that decided to make the fantastically monumental *leap* backwards and connect apes to humans.

The likelihood that evolutionists have, even by strictly statistical considerations, hit upon ANY of the correct links in the evolutionary chains of any life form is laughable. The permutations of cell division, not even considering mutations is staggering. Granted, human thoughts can make great and amazing leaps, however they have and do chase herringbone ideas and concepts. One can relate almost anything to almost anything else. Distributions of small particles to stars, flow of finely ground solids to fluids, play a vinyl record backwards and you hear satanic messages....lol.

I have never heard of any sound reasoning by evolutionists for their claims. It is always smoke and mirrors. For one thing their whole concept violates entropy, but why cloud things with real science. That would just be silly.

I would much rather place my existence on the fact that I can sit here and share thoughts and notions with others on a computer because one of my forefathers lived in trees and caves and ate worms and bugs.

What will you do when you die? Who will you see? It doesn't cross your minds now while you are healthy and strong. But who will you have when you are dying, and you know it is the end, and you know that no one here on earth can help you. That it *will* happen. There is no chance that it will not happen.

To believe that Jesus was our salvation and our guiding light must be a light from within. A belief......one to be lived and used, not just thought about or talked about while we look thru microscopes and write books.

What if the evolutionists are wrong? lol.....if you THINK about what their lines of logic are it's not hard to see what's right and wrong.....and when you die....what could you possibly say when you see Jesus standing there asking you what you have done with your life, knowing full well what you did and did not do. There are no more chances at that point.