I am a Christian who...?

Question

believes in much of evolution. You can't deny facts. However, I believe that it was initiated by God. I also believe god filled in the holes of evolution (cambrian explosion). So.... what do athiests have to say about me? Do they still think i am ludicrous? How can athiests justify the orgin of life coming from a random mixture of chemicals that evolved into a single celled organism? Can someone explain it to me.

Yes it does conflict with genesis, but genesis was not written in journal form. It was written by man, 1st of all, and i dont take it to be literal.

Answer 1

I agree that there seems to be rather good evidence for both. So why can't it be true? I have though that the creation of the earth by God follows some basic evolutionary timelines. I don't know what the truth is there and won't until it's time. I am okay with that. I don't think you are psycho or that your Christian belief is destroyed by the idea that evolution could be a decent idea as well. God does things according to a natural order. I am not sure I cling to all the teachings of evolution, in that it is Man based, but evidence is evidence. They both can coexist if we stop trying to look at how they contradict.



I have never read anywhere in the bible where it said and in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth... out of nothing! I do believe that God is all powerful, but I also believe that he follows some natural laws.

Answer 2

I like what you have said. I was raised catholic, but as I say, I overcame it at an early age. I do think that some kind of god did get the ball rolling, but if you accept anything about evolution then most if not all of it makes sense. Yes there was a promordial soup. In labratories they have duplicated a methane and lightning atmosphere and created the building blocks of proteans. If you do that on a global scale then you could get mutations and recombinant DNA. A few billion years later you get animals. Did some one or something kick start something along the way? Quite possibly. Was it god? It could have been aliens passing by. If I exist I do not see why some one some where else could also exist. It could be the way god chooses to work.

Answer 3

Actually, it was NOT "a random mixture of chemicals". Certain atoms have certain properties, such as electronic valences that cause them to be more attracted to combine with other atoms in certain ways. The same is true of the molecules they form. It's a long way from H2, O2 and C to DNA, but given enough time and intermediate levels of molecular complexity, anything is possible as long as it has some natural stability.

The essential concept of evolution is suitability to the environment. Any change in a species that increases the likelihood of its survival in the current environment, without obstructing its ability to reproduce, will prevail. If an adaptation is not suitable, it will not continue. If the environment changes, some traits will die out, others will thrive. The changes are not conscious, nor even changes in the individual, but a roll of the genetic dice, a mix of gene recombination and mutation. The babies that survive to reproduce are the ones that will express the development of the species.

Exactly how these things happen is debatable, on several levels. On a simple chemical level, everything must obey the laws of molecular interaction. On an abstract, "spiritual" level, divine agency can't be ruled out. On a biological level, we acknowledge that sexual partners are chosen based on physical characteristics with unconscious components that are part of our inhereted genetic programming.

Many believers are edified by demonstrations of direct divine intervention that "prove" the existence and power of God. Others appreciate the concept of a subtle divine interaction that uses the inherent laws of the universe to nevertheless accomplish its ends. Such an approach does little to verify God's influence among non-believers, but it is the most elegant for believers, suggesting that God's plans are so deep and ingrained into the fablic of reality as to be undetectable by its creatures. And who is to say which attitude is correct?

Even some of the most hard-nosed empiricists marvel at how the universe developed with just the right properties, temperatures, atomic forces, gravity, etc. to produce stars, planets and life. Proof of God's benevolence? Roll of the cosmic dice? (Are there boring dimensions with nothing going on because they have unlucky physical laws?) Or are these just different ways of understanding? Does the sheer size and duration of the universe make it possible for chance mutations to add up to something significant or is God doing the immeasurably subtle tweaking? The answer seems to depend on what implications the asker is comfortable with.

Answer 4

The Urey Miller experiment was able to produce plentiful amino acids after about a week of the test.

Some doubt was cast over the atmospheric assumptions, but these are being refuted. Other experiments with other likely atmospheric mixes also produce plentiful amino acids.


In reality these amino acids would be much more diluted, and so less likely to form monger molecules, however in reality there is about 200 million years for this to happen rather than a week.

As soon as you have a RNA-like molecule that can reproduce itself faster than it decays then the forces of evolution will make it more complex and evolve into forms that will survive better.

With 200 million years to play with why do you discount this as a purely random event?

Answer 5

I respect you for acknowledging scientific facts. The only problem is that you can’t believe Genesis is true and believe that evolution is true. I think that if you continue to follow truth, which is found in science in nature, it will lead you closer to the Creator, but away from Christianity. The Bible God is a myth. The Creator can only be found in nature. Peace.

Answer 6

The fact that you believe, as do I, that God iniated evolution is a leap of faith; even though you are acknowledging evolution rather than believing in creation only. They can't justify evolution coming from a random mixture of chemicals for the same reason that they don't believe in God: they weren't there to see it happen. Lucky are those who believe without seeing.

Answer 7

Dear Dio,

How big is your "god?" My God, the God of the Bible, can create matter out of nothing, just as the Bible states. He can also create life out of nothing--just as the Bible states. The Bible tells us that we ought to please God rather than men. Why are you trying to "fit in" with evolutionists or atheists. God states, "For many are called, but few are chosen."

When you read Genesis chapter 1 + 2, God says "And the evening and the morning were the ....... day." The Lord wrote it this way so that there would be no question that the days were literal 24 hours days.

Last of all God says, "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." (John 12:48). Either everything in the Bible is true and trustworthy or nothing is. Google my sources for more info.

Answer 8

It kind of conflicts with Genesis doesn't it?

It's not that there's something wrong with idea of a Creator, it's that it conflicts with what the Bible says to be true. Either you believe creation, or evolution. If you believe evolution, you pretty much disagree with the first bit of the Bible, so then how far do you go after that?

So you disagree with Genesis, and you seem like a relatively smart girl, if I do say so myself. So you probably know that Jonah didn't live inside a whale, or that Noah carried all species of animals on earth on a big boat right? So just how far does the rabbit of falsified information in the Bible (that is proclaimed as truth and fact) go? and if you please pardon the pun that my avatar is a rabbit :P

Answer 9

Lady, God dosnt need to to create the the world through dumb evolution. He is a mighty God.

It would be stupid.

There are absolutely no facts for evolution.

If the universe began with a "big bang" all the planets would spin in the same direction.
Venus and Uranus are rotating "backwards" 6 of the Solar System's 63 moons rotate backwards. Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune have moons orbiting in both directions.

Jupiter Saturn and Neptune are still hot planets. Evidence they have not existed long enough to cool off.

The rings on Saturn are rapidly being destroyed by meteoroids and should have been pulverized in just a few thousand years.

Earth's moon has a hot interior. This is evidence of a young origin.

Last of all, the rate of Earth's spin is slowing. If billions of years old, Earth would spin much slower today. The distance between the Earth and its moon is gradually widening. Over billions of years the moon would be much farther away from the Earth.

Answer 10

The fact that you are a Christian who believes in evolution (even a little bit) and has tried to reconcile the two extreme viewpoints of literal scriptural interpretation and atheism makes me want to find you and give you a big hug and a kiss. Although I am not a Christian, I believe much of the same thing, that the two are not mutually exclusive.

Who ever you are... rock on!