If childbirth is God's way of making new humans, why can't evolution be God's way of making new species?

Question

There is nothing atheistic about the idea that science sees the process of reproduction and childbirth as the mechanism by which new humans are born. This is a process scientists can study in great deal without any need to invoke God. (We can believe, as I do, that childbirth is a miracle ... but on the day my daughter was born, I wanted a scientist there (a doctor), not a priest.) However, this does not disallow the idea that childbirth is just God's way of making new humans.

Similarly, there is nothing atheistic about the idea that science sees the process of evolution and natural selection as the mechanism by which new species are born. This is a process scientists can study in great deal without any need to invoke God. However, this does not disallow the idea that evolution is just God's way of making new species.

True?

The *only* reason you could find some difference, is if you cling to a *literal* interpretation of Genesis as going from nothing to humans in 6 days.

But forgetting Genesis for the moment, there is nothing *inherrently* different between the scientific understanding of reproduction and childbirth, and the scientific understanding of evolution and natural selection.

catso, Earl D, etc. you miss the point! If I wanted to debate the *scientific* evidence for evolution, I would go to Biology section and I could provide links and fill up *pages* with evidence (which I have done).

My reason for asking here on R&S is that I'm asking a *THEOLOGICAL* question! (Why is it that the most "religious" people can't fathom theological questions beyond Biblical literalism.)

Answer 1

First, let me say first and foremost that I am a Christian, and I believe that God created the world just as Genesis explains.

I believe that when God created man, He created man in His own image. Since we know that there are many different races (i.e. Caucasian, Asian, *****, etc,--and among these, appearances vary even more), something must have caused the basic changes in human appearances. It is a proven fact that our geographical location affects our physical make up. Take the Sherpas, for example. Their bodies are better equipped to withstand the higher altitudes than the average American. The same can be said about the many races that live near the equator; their bodies are more equipped to deal with the hotter climates.

While I don't believe that man came from a monkey, I do believe that God allows the human body to evolve according to their location on this world.

This same principal applies to animals as well. Stick an animal in a cave, make sure that it has enough food to eat without venturing outside of the cave, and within a few generations, the animal will be born without sight, but will be able to survive better in the darkness of the cave than in the light of the world where it first walked.

Is this closer to the point you were trying to make? I hope I didn't confuse you with the way I explained my opinion.

Answer 2

I think that is a very good way at looking at it, if you're religious. I think every time people mention this, however, some people (some, certainly not all) just like to shove their fingers in their ears and pretend they never heard anything. I don't know why people are worried that science will make them doubt their faith or something--I have a chemistry teacher that said the more he studied science, the more his faith in God was strengthened--because without a god, how could life be so beautiful and complex? Though I don't agree with him personally, being an atheist, I don't see why other people can't accept that viewpoint.

Answer 3

It is a fundamental flaw with the typical literalist understanding of nature.

They see the world as it is and conclude that it has never been any different. They do not understand that the world has, and continues to undergo extreme changes. Rain forests become deserts, seas form and dry up, continents move, ice ages come and go, etc.

ALL of these natural events FORCE life to change to survive. A species of monkey can not survive as-is if their jungle turns to grasslands. They must evolve to survive, or die.

In essence, only ignorance is the reason evolution is not accepted.

Answer 4

A theological proposition: Would a creator half way create?

If you are saying theology has a part in procreation of human--then you jump to all species, how is that connected theologically?
or are you delineating the possibility of species evolution by birth? Birth would have to be a process of microbiological change. How is that related to theology?

Answer 5

I have no problem thinking that God uses evolution as a tool of creation. Can YOU accept the idea that without God's direct intervention, the odds of useful mutations actually occurring is too small to occur in the real world? For the universe to exist as it does actually requires an intelligence in the very substrate of existence. Read my blog if you are interested in this.

Answer 6

Fair enough. And that's Dr. Ken Miller's way of seeing it.

However, the question is, if it can all be done through natural processes, why do you need a god? What does his existence add to the process?

If you take Occam's Razor and apply it, then god is superfluous.

Answer 7

well, you state things about god as if they were fact.

they aren't.

that is the flaw in your comparison.

THE OTHER FLAW is:

"However, this does not disallow the idea that childbirth is just God's way of making new humans."

YOU CAN ALSO SAY:

However, this does not disallow the idea that childbirth is just a Leprachaun's way of making new humans.

OR

However, this does not disallow the idea that childbirth is just the Tooth Fairy's way of making new humans.

OR

ANY OTHER FICTIONAL, UNPROVABLE, MYTHICAL CHARACTER.

It pains me to see people, who think of themselves as scientifically intelligent -- always falling into the cult trap.

Answer 8

If you are talking about the Judeo-Christian God, Yahweh, then nothing could be further from the truth.

Genesis tells us exactly what happened. And Genesis and Evolution both can't be right.

If you are talking about some other god, then I suppose you can make up whatever you'd like.

Answer 9

Can you NAME some new spieces and SHOW US exactly how they came about with video tape and microscope pictures of chomosomes fusing

We'd like to see how the process works

I know how a lunar and solar ecipse works, I've seen it

I know how pencillin works, I've observed it under a microscope

Now your DEFINITIVE, CONCLUSIVE, DOCUMENTARY PROOF, please!

I'm NOT talking about BIRD FLU mutating to HUMANS

I'm talking some new animal that come from a ______ with a compelte description of how the comosomes fused, combined sperated and why it doesn't always happen with the original spieces

Answer 10

secret: If you REALLY desire to know the answer for evolution's contribution to the life cycle, please see the Center for Science and Culture (CSC) web-site at: www.dissentfromdarwin.org for a real shocker. After this; ask the question. Why do the text books in our educational faculties still teach this? - Now; does that answer your question? Good luck to you !