How can you be a creationist and an evolutionist?

Question

The Bible clearly teaches in Genesis that God created the animals to reproduce after their kind (Gen. 1:24,25), that God formed Man out of the dust of the ground (Gen. 1:26). He formed the plants that yield seed according to their kind (Gen. 1:11,12). I know some believe it is possible that the days in which God created the world were actually 1000 years because of 2 Peter 3:8 which states, "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." When you look at Genesis however, we see that the evening and the morning dictated the length of the day (Gen. 1:5,8,13,19,23,31). According to this the day was a normal 12 hour period of time. If all this is true and evolution focuses on the earth forming of itself, then evolution catradicts the existance of God. The conclusion I come to is you can be a creationist or you can be a evolutionist but you cannot be a creationist and an evolutionist

Answer 1

it seems to be a clear case of mixing mans logic with spiritual truths.

Answer 2

2 Peter 3:8 ...that with the lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. This is saying that God has no time realm. There is no time limit with God.

And also "IF" each day was a thousand years, on the third day, "let the earth bring forth grass the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself".(Genesis 1:11), all the plants would of had died because the sun was not created until the fourth day. Plants can't survive without sunlight for 1000 years.

One last thing, if you combine being an evolutionist with being a creationist, is called Theistic Evolution-which is believing God created evolution.

Answer 3

Yes, you are correct in that a literal, fundamentalist reading of the books of Genesis is not compatible with the scientific evidence that backs the theory of evolution.

That same literal interpretation of the books also is not compatible with scientific evidence from the fields of palaeontology, geology, anatomy, genetics, linguistics, biogeography, physics, chemistry, astronomy, or archaeology.

So, in addition to not being able to be a creationist and an 'evolutionist', you also cannot be a palaeontologist, geologist, anatomist, geneticist, linguist, biogeographer, physicist, chemist, astronomer or archaeologist.

However, if you are willing to take the creation stories in Genesis as metaphor - a symbolic telling of the origins of the human soul, rather than a concrete, totally factual word by word true account of actual events, then the two are no longer so incompatible.

If you have faith in God and His universe, and that God set the physical laws of the universe in motion during the creation event of the Big Bang, and set up those same rules to govern the evolution of animal species through natural selection and eventually produce the conditions that would lead his creation to awakening, sentience and a soul (the 'created in his image' part), then there is no contradiction at all.

Some believe that by understanding how our universe works, and the scientific basis behind the processes that shape our world, that they gain a greater understanding of God. Evolution, in this worldview, is just one of the many tools and processes that God uses to form the world around us.

That's how you can be both a 'creationist' in the sense of believing that God is the driving force and power behind Creation, and an 'evolutionist' in the sense of using scientific evidence to explain and study the diversity of life as shown in the fossil record and modern phylogeny.

Answer 4

I believe in creation because there are no evolutionary pressures that can produce a human brain that is expected to live at least 10,000 years in order to fill the available space it has for memories.

I believe in evolution, because even though everything was created, animals have evolved since than and humans have de-evolved from beings of very long lives and high IQs, to ones of short lives and low mental capabilities. Even the smartest person today is less than 1/10th that of Adam.

Answer 5

If you accept the Bible as a literal account of how things happened, I can understand your confusion. Bear in mind that the people who wrote the Bible had very little knowledge of how the world worked and were forced to invent a great deal to account for the world they lived in.

The authors of Genesis would not have understood DNA, for example.

If you consider Job, in which God says "Were you there when I laid the foundations of the earth," or words to that effect and look again at Peter and "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years..." it's possible to come to the following ideas:

1. We don't know how God began the earth.

2. He had plenty of time.

It could be that the method used by God to create was the evolutionary process. We don't know, do we?

If God gave us minds by which to comprehend his wonders, wouldn't it be rather insulting to refuse to use them?

Answer 6

I would like to say that I belive in creation, but evolution is a fact as well. I belive that the universe was created by something or someone who put effort into us. I also belive that animals and plants do evolve over time to thier specific inviorment. (ie asian having slated eyes, and Africans having darker skin) I do not belive that one speicies has evolved to another, or that one has branched off to create more than one type of decendant. I do have to say that when the bible says the earth was created in six days that they were six of Gods days, not ours. Who knows how long those are. He is also the person who said the end was near about 2000 years ago.

Answer 7

You can believe that God put things into motion which includes evolution. That God created man from the dust of the ground assumes that man instantly appeared - but that may be a false assumption on our part. God would not need to form man from dust. He could have willed him into existence.
So perhaps being formed from dust means man came forth from lower organisms.
Bottom line, You can believe both.

Answer 8

Look, I believe the Bible and I understand what you are saying.
And even though you proceeded to answer your own question, (which comes across as a rant when you do that, by the way)
I'm going to answer you again.
Some people (not me, just some people) believe that God created the earth to evolve in to what it is today.
end of story. That's what they believe. You don't agree, I don't agree, but that is the answer to your question.

Answer 9

David...you cannot be. You have to understand some of the higher concepts of belief. You have to be willing to realize that earth and its population was not created in six 24 hour days. You have to open your mind when you read the Bible and allow GOD to talk to you.

Answer 10

How to be a creationist: Drop out of high school. Refuse to take biology class. Have a lobotomy.

How to accept evolution: Attend a biology class. Observe the evidence. Get an education.

According to your rules, God doesn't exist if God's existence is contradicted by evolution.

Answer 11

God is the answer to why, evolution is the answer to how.

A day, as we know it, is a measurement derived form the amount of time it takes for this planet to spin upon its axis.

God is an all powerful, omnipresent and omnipotent being who precedes time and the universe. to restrict such a being to the confines of our limited knowledge demonstrates a lack of understanding.