If you believe in evolution, does that make you an atheist?

Question

It says that God put the first man and woman on earth. . .then what's up with the whole evolution theory?

I'm just a little confused here.

Answer 1

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 2

No. It makes you an evolutionist.
There are many ways to see the world. It doesn't have to be black or white.
-Judeo-Christian religions have one idea of God. One can believe in God and have many more different ways of imagining such an entity.
-The Book of Genesis doesn't have to be taken literaly. In fact, most major Christian churches accept the Bible carries a good amount of metaphor and symbolism in it. In fact, the Pope accepts evolution.
-Just because evolution exists, it doesn't mean God is not the ultimate creator. We still don't fundamentally understand the nature of the Universe. There's plenty of room for metaphysics.

In conclusion, the only part of the world where this "debate" is a problem at all is the United States. Most Europeans will give you a blank stare of disbelief if you tell them the theory of evolution is still a hard idea to get across to religious people in the United States.

Answer 3

Not necessarily. If you're an independent thinker, you could believe in God, and that God created enough "In the beginning" to get things started and all which has happened since, and will happen, has evolved. The bible isn't necessarily accurate--in fact it's quite contradictory. Evolution makes the most sense. It involves science and discovery, facts and figures, etc. Religion is all unproven theory--it's a belief system requiring blind faith. You could be an Agnostic, an Athiest, whatever, but most of all follow common sense and be a realist.

M

Answer 4

Being a Christian doesn't mean that you take the Bible 100% literally. There are sections that are meant to be taken as symbolic and there are sections that simply show the lack of knowledge of the world (flat Earth, solid sky, the moon having it's own light, etc).

As a Christian, you have a choice, you can believe that God created the Universe in 6 days or you can believe that God started everything off and let it all happen by itself.

Remember, faith doesn't always require you to think what you're told to.

Answer 5

Believing in evolution or believing in God is the same thing. The keyword is "Believe". Maybe you should consider to believe nothing anymore. At least for a while. Be critical with everything that requires your "believe", maybe that will help to go through your confusion. And you can occupy your mind with science and evolution and believe in a higher power at the same moment if you want. No problem.

Answer 6

No.
Would you consider Pope John Paul II an atheist? He believed in evolution, and told the rest ofthe Catholic world that it is not in conflict with the bible.

The only people who think you have to be an atheist to believe are the uneducated small minds who cannot imagine the two together. This is a very small part of the population, but a very vocal dishonest, and attention mongering group.

Answer 7

I believe a greater being put everything here
Planets, stars, sun, trees, animals, water.

What happened after that no one really knows, in what order things started.
Findings of evolution but we really don't know when this took place,if it took place. We are only going by what another man has told us what happen just as the Big Bang theory, just as Adam and Eve

But who am I to say

Answer 8

Evolution is the best idea that people have been able to come up with for the origin of life, without God's involvement. That is the only reason that people believe it. It doesn't make any sense. It is not scientific. It is a dogmatic belief, requiring faith.

I would think that you either believe that we were created by God, or life spontaneously occurred, and "evolved" into human beings. Make your choice.

Answer 9

Yes one who does not accept Gods words are on some level atheist. Darwins theory has been proven wrong by the Scientists. Read The Hidden History of the Human Race by Michael A. Cremo. Gives all evidence and archaeological findings that humans where more advanced even millions of years ago and they didn't look like monkeys or cavemen.

Answer 10

If you believe in evolution it just means that you have faith in evolution. For most people it means that human beings evolved from lesser organisms. There is only theory to back that position up, because new species do not evolve from other species. Changes in species come about, so that's a kind of evolution, but it doesn't mean we ascended (or descended) from monkeys.