Is it possible for Christians to believe in evolution or the Big Bang Theory?

Question

How can they believe both? Do they not take the Bible literally?

Answer 1

Christian creation

For Christianity, the stories of the Creation are found in the first two chapters of the book of Genesis in the Bible. They show how God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh.

This account says that God created the world ex nihilo (from nothing):

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1

After creating the earth, the sky, the seas and plants, God made birds and fish on the fifth day and animals and humans on the sixth day.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27

Some Christians take this account very literally and believe that this is exactly how the world was created. In the 17th century, Bishop James Ussher calculated from the Bible that God began creating the world at 9am on October 26, 4004BCE.

As early as the fourth century St Augustine was writing that God probably only created very simple life forms in the beginning and that these developed over time.

There are two different scientific theories about this:

* Cosmology This science deals with the way in which the universe came into being. Unlike the creation story from Genesis, cosmology seeks an evidence-based explanation for the way the universe came into existence. Most cosmologists agree that the universe began in a 'Big Bang' about 14 billion years ago, and that all the stars and planets, including the earth, were formed during the subsequent expansion of the universe, which is continuing today.
* Evolution This science argues, rather like Augustine, that the higher and more advanced forms of life, like human beings, have slowly developed or evolved from the original simpler life forms which originally appeared on the earth. Evolutionary science first really came to public attention in 1859 when Charles Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species. He argued that life began with very simple cells and later developed into what we see today. Darwin's findings upset many religious people, and one Christian scientist, Philip Gosse, even argued that the fossils discovered in the ground had been placed there by God to test the faith of Christians by making evolution appear to have happened.

Today many Christians accept the theories of cosmology and evolution and do not take the Biblical account of the Creation literally. They believe that the Bible is there to explain why God created the world, and the relationship between God and nature, rather than a scientific account of how the world was created.

Answer 2

It is very possible to believe in both, after all, the Bible does not really state the Earth was made in 7 days. It does in the English Bible, but if you went to do some research on the original Hebrew writings you will find that the word use does not really mean a 24 hour day. The word used has 3 meanings:

1) A period of light in between two periods of darkness,
2) A period of light that directly follows a period of darkness and
3) An extended period of time.

Al three meanings are used throughout the Bible, usually it is clear which of the meanings is meant. There is no definitive proof in Genesis that points to a 7 24-day creation.
The strongest proof that the word used is not necessarily a 24 hour day, is the fact that the sun was only created on day 4. This means that 24 hour days was not really possible before that time. This does not prove that is wasn't a 24 hour day, but it does point out that it probably wasn't.

The problem is that (usually) fanatical churches and Christians tend to look at the English Bible as a perfect copy of the original books, but the interpretation is up to the interpreter...

The Bible itself is full of contradictions, most of which are due to translation errors, so it is very possible that a translator misread the original wording and interpreted the section the way he understood it.

Answer 3

I think it is normal for Christians to question the Bible once in awhile. I know I do.

I believe the Bible because I choose to believe no matter how "far fetched" it may be in some chapters. I watch discovery, History & TLC channels. They talk a lot about evolvution and big bang. I listen and have my thoughts/ my doubts about both camps. I always choose to come back to my belief in Jesus Christ and the Bible. I can't proove that either are right or wrong. All I can tell you is that I have this feeling deep down inside of me that feels "content" and "right" knowing that I am a Christian, that I am God's child and that when I die I wll go to heaven.

I can't fathom taking ANY chance of going to hell. If that means I will submit my life and will to God - if just for that one reason - if that is what it takes to stay out of hell - I will.

But do I still doubt and compare sometimes? You bet!

Answer 4

Ofcourse it is possible. can i combine it in thebig bang theory story?

R: everything around the universe, the dust and all particles that float in the universe were created by God but still, at that certain time, He haven't thought of combining the dusts yet to create a planet due to other concerns He had in His world (just like the lucifer case) and when the time comes that He's not busy anymore, He decided to do another project and that was to create the Earth..


so God created the particular thing that collects all the particle together (Big Bang Process--that's science)

and because we didn't see physically the creative hands of God as the one who have Done that thing...it is not acceptable to deny His Existence because the first part will be missing. I'm a Christian yet I believe i big bang theory

Answer 5

Evolution requires the belief in a steady state universe to accomadate the time neccessary for naturalism to function correctly and even with the big bang theories 15 to 30 billion yeras of age that is not sufficient to enable the mathematical probabilty for time plus chance plus randomness to support naturalistic explanations for origins.
Some believe that the Big bang theory is not antithetical to the Genesis story but its still hard to get around the literal six days of creation in the bible when it specifically includes the phrase ".....evening and morning were the first day." This is included to create a specificity to the language so that it cannot be altered to mean that the word "yom" (day) is to mean an era or age of subsequent days, the way that the old-earth proponents do. Some say to say that God created the universe with the "appearance" of age in order to get around the problem but in doing so makes God a deciever. So we just add problem upon problem to things that are not essential for our salvation and quibble about them. I think personnally that God could indeed create a world that could have the appearance of age but do not impose an evil intent upon God for doing so. That is mans job, isn't it? To impose evil intentions upion God for the things we cannot understand? And we seem to be so good at it too.

Answer 6

Oh yes, it is possible. I am a Catholic Christian, and since we *don't* interpret the Bible as a factual, unbiased historical account of our faith, many accept the theory of evolution as well as the Big Bang Theory. I am one of them.

I should add, however, that as a Christian, I do of course believe that God is still Creator. From my understanding, He began the universe the way science has proved the beginning came about -- additionally, I believe that the earth is as it is today because of His intelligent design. God still created Man -- just not as directly described in the Bible.

Answer 7

As a Christian, I am aware there is a slight difference of opinions on this. OK maybe not slight but there if a difference. I believe science is the world's way to explain what God and the Bible are telling us. Remember, the Bible is Man's interpretation of what God told us. Not eveyone will see this the same. I find it a shame so many people take the Bible out of context or apply the rules in a manner that suits their argument. I believe in Adam and Eve but I also think evolution brought them about. The Big Bang probably happened but could that have taken seven days? We will never truly know so take that on "Faith". The basis of religion. You absolutely must find God in your own way or you have not found him.

Answer 8

Where in the Bible does it say that the entire Bible is to be taken literally? Where in the Bible does it say which books are to be taken as actual scripture by Christians?

Christ told parables. These are not to be taken literally, but rather to illuminate spiritual principles. Why do so many people find that they need to take the entire Bible as literal, when nowhere in any of the books therein does it say that it is intended to be as such?

Science describes what can bee seen and measured. Would some god create something that didn't conform to the rules which were laid down for its making?

Answer 9

I am a Christian and I believe in the "Big Bang," but not the Big Bang theory. To me the "Big Bang" happened when GOD SPOKE!!!
God said,"Let there be..." - and it was. (Genesis chapter 1)

John chapter 1:
1 In the beginning was the WORD, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Answer 10

yes it's possible.

and of the ones i know, some do take the bible literally and some don't. some see "6 days" as a metaphor and others point out the NUMEROUS references to time in the bible that show that time is relative (ex: a "day" in a nation is actually one year, a day to god is a hell of a long time on the earth) and those assert that 6 days to god could have easily been billions of years on earth. they simply believe that god created the world but that he did so through evolution.

it's not really all that hard to reconcile the two.