I've been reading Michael Shermer's "Why Darwin Matters" and in it he devotes a section on why Christians should accept evolution and that it really doesn't mess with the religion.
I guess what he's getting at is that most people don't consider the story of Genesis to be litteral especially Adam and Eve.
What I wanna know is this. Isn't Adam and Eve's original fall from grace the WHOLE reason Jesus sacrificed himself? I mean if you consider Adam and Eve to be symbolic and not literal then what did Jesus die for exactly?
I Mean I can see how evolution could be compatible with Judaism, but not Christianity.
2007-09-18 11:34:52 · 21 answers · asked by Tony AM 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Okay, side question and please, Christians only. If Adam and Eve is symbolic, Does Jesus' death still matter?
2007-09-18 11:47:20 · update #1
You are correct. If there was no Adam, there is no need for Jesus. (Imagine someone trying to get you to take chemo-therapy without convincing you that cancer exists?) That's precisely why Satan introduced the lie of evolution.
Death came into the world by sin - if evolution was true, there would have been LOTS of death prior to the fall. And there would also be LOTS of skeletal remains of intermediary species..... but there aren't.
2007-09-18 11:53:35 · answer #1 · answered by teran_realtor 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
My view has changed on this over the last few years. But I can accept that the creation account in Genesis is literary and not a historical book without giving up my beliefs that God did create the world and man did fall.
You have to remember that the stories in the beginning were most likely oral traditions and not written texts. Whether a man actually named Adam existed, the purpose behind the story is to show that there is one God who created the world and that man (interestingly "Adam" means "man") sinned against God and was separated from him.
So to answer your question, I think Jesus died for the things that I've done and not solely for eating the fruit.
The question of whether evolution conflicts with Christianity is along the same argument of whether you believe the Earth was created in 7 literal days or whether you believe "days" can also mean "periods of time". I've heard arguments for both sides, but I tend to believe in an old earth because sits better with me and my views on science. -- Again, if you believe that Genesis was a literary account of the creation story God may have caused species to change over the years.
But the Bible is pretty clear that it is God who holds the world together "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." Hebrews 1:3
Evolution (that we came from a lesser being) seems to conflict a little with the idea that the world is in a state of decay (due to sin) -- unless you believe that there is a god who is constantly renewing his creation.
Just some thoughts.
2007-09-18 18:59:39 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jesus' life is what matters. He lived to show us by example the path to the Creator is through unconditional love. He told us to love our enemies, and he showed that to us even unto death.
Jesus' mission was to live a human life in total - including birth through death. Dying by torture was a man-made design not God's will.
As for evolution - of course it's a fact and undeniable. This is merely our word for the process God has used to produce animals intelligent enough to be infused with the divine spirit. This process operates throughout the infinite universe. Only the crazies that insist on interpreting a symbolic work written thousands of years ago as literal scientific truth have a problem with this.
2007-09-18 18:50:32 · answer #3 · answered by Elmer R 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
you may want to research the first woman that was called Lilith not Eve then maybe you will find out why most people do not take a lot of the Bible literal. It also tell you how to get to heaven and that Jesus didnt really have to die for our sins in the Bible but that is not how it is preached christiany is fill with misconceptions and downright stories that are impossible. so it has to mean that a lot of the bible is not to be taken literally.
2007-09-18 19:58:43 · answer #4 · answered by wreaser2000 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As an ex Christian atheist I can see no good reason to suppose that evolution is not the way that God worked.
It does not detract from the essence of the bible wether you are a believer or not.
Of course it is silly to take the whole bible literally and only fundamentalists generally do that.
Some common sense is required alongside faith. If that happened there might be more believers.
2007-09-18 18:51:01 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Why cant evolution be the tool that god uses to create things. Time means nothing to god so in Genesis when it says god did this the first day and this the second it is breaking it down so we will understand. To us it takes millions of years but to god it is instant.
GENESIS
20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
sounds like to me god is right on with science saying that all living things came from the oceans.
2007-09-18 18:51:03 · answer #6 · answered by TIMOTHY R 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
OK, I'm not convinced either way, and I don't think I need to find the exact truth to the details.
BUT even if Adam and Eve are symbolic, the fall itself happened. Now maybe it's not really a fruit they ate.. I dont know, but obviously some type of fall had happened where human tried to be our own God, so that to me would be what Jesus died for.
2007-09-18 18:45:35 · answer #7 · answered by Elfchic 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋
The idea that god used evolution to get to us would also mean he would have had to have used cosmology to make the heavy element needed to make life.
If god used evolution he could not possibly be an omnipotent god as claimed. Evolution is a messy and very imperfect system. God would have had to have created billions of other life forms in order to get to us, and killed off almost all of them in the process with Ice ages, meteor impacts, mass starvation. What would be the point of this?
There is absolutely no way to merge christianity with evolution, the to are not in any way compatible. Those who claim to be christians and believe in evolution in my opion aren't really christians. I guess they would be considered
"those other christians". The genesis account if sort of a large part of your faith.
2007-09-18 19:01:28 · answer #8 · answered by Gawdless Heathen 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
To me, Christianity explains all of the why e.g. "what is the purpose of life?" and "what did Jesus die for?", and a little bit of the how. Science like evolution explains most of the how, e.g. how God creates each animal and human, survival of the fittest namely humans ruling over animals and the most powerful animals being dominant.
Only thing I'd disagree with evolution on is the direct linkage between monkeys and humans - the little bit of the how explained in the Bible.
2007-09-18 21:54:47 · answer #9 · answered by alomi_revolution 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Simple... the Bible isn't meant to be taken as historical fact. You'll notice that most non-Christian religions focus on the symbolism, rather than accuracy, of their mythology.
And by the way, Cee T, scientists actually have synthesized organic molecules from inorganic molecules found in volcanoes.
2007-09-18 18:58:13 · answer #10 · answered by xx. 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋