Christians: For those of you who do not believe in evolution, can you please explain why you don't?

Question

And for Christians who do believe in evolution, can you please explain why you do?

I am a Christian, but I believe evolution and God can coexist. The truth is that we don't know entirely why God put us here. We also don't know how the origin of life occurred from a biological perspective. As a Christian, it is not in my heart to be so ignorant to evolution. We cannot ignore it because there is a tremendous amount of evidence in favor of it. I also have a BS in molecular biology, which is why I think so critically on issues such as the origin of life from a biological point of view.

Answer 1

A fundamental dilemma for the founders of the theory of Evolution:

Geneticist G. L. Stebbins noted... "No biologist has actually seen the origin by evolution of a major group of organisms." -Processes of Organic Evolution, by G Ledyard Stebbins, 1971, p.1.

So, living things on earth today are not seen to be evolving into something else. Instead, they are all complete in form and distinct from other types.

As geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky observed: "The living world is NOT a single array . . . connected by unbroken series of intergrades." -Genetics and the Origin of Species, by Theodosius Dobzhansky, 1951, p. 4.

And Charles Darwin conceded that "the distinctness of specific [living] forms and their not being blended together by innumerable transitional links, is a very obvious difficulty."-The origin of Species, by Charles Darwin 1902 edition, Part Two, p. 54.

The Genesis account DID state that each different type of living thing would reproduce only "according to its kind." (Genesis 1:11, 12, 21, 24, 25)

Answer 2

Get up to date! The latest findings from all scientific research from the Mount Saint Helens' eruptions have definitely changed the playing field!
There are rocks that were formed from that eruption the 2nd time and all the honest scientists have reported that the "dating" of these NEW rocks dates millions of years old. Now we know that cannot be the truth.., they were lately formed and formed in immediate circumstances.
Also, IF the geologic records are accurate regarding living species of plants and animals, then there should be untold thousands of species found in their 'evolutionary state'..., transforming from one species into another. It doesn't exist, partner!!
The only reason a person would hold to this premise called evolution is in trying to find some OTHER way to explain creation and the existence of life OTHER than the Holy Bible's scriptural record; to renounce the power and existence of Creator God.
It came about just as God said, "Let there be..." and it WAS! Now what's wrong with that? This is no different than the "big bang" theory is it? I assume you know that many non-Christian people accept the 'big bang' as true.
Evolution just doesn't have an answer for "the BEGINNING".., it takes more than faith to expect someone to accept that something began from 'nothing', with no cause or purpose or force or energy. It takes pure fantasy and defies all logical thinking or laws of life which do exist..., otherwise there would be no premise to study anything.., and no "science".
Faith is defined as "believing what God says above and beyond what our senses or beliefs tell us". What our senses tell us is temporary and subject to change..., what God says NEVER changes because it is the TRUTH and it lasts forever!! I stand on what God says and it cannot fail for He cannot lie or be wrong. After all, He is the author and finisher of all Creation!

Answer 3

I would agree that micro-evolution happens and even that speciation does. But there are some serious flaws in the idea of common descent. I can't really give an in depth answer here but I'll summarize a couple of the problems that I have.

1. The fossil record is profoundly discontinuous. There are a handful of doubtful transitional forms while they should be everywhere. Assuming a gradualistic view of darwinism, try to imagine the number of transitional forms it would take to get from a reptile to a bird. There are so many extremely complex systems that would have to evolve, that the # of transitional forms between the two would be millions. If reptiles did evolve into birds there should be examples of transitional species all thought the rock strata. Instead we a have a few disputed, isolated species that do not explain anything.

2. The evolution of complex stuctures. Natural selection and random mutation are insufficient to produce irreducibly complex systems. There just is no mechanism to get from something like the reptilain lung to something as completely different as the avian lung. Evolutionists have failed to even conceptualize a series of steps between them that could work. Any possible intermediates would not survive.

3. The cambrian explosion. Darwinism is at a loss for how to explain the sudden appearance of many complex organisms. Once again there is just no mechanims in darwinism to do this. RM&NS is insufficient.

Answer 4

Of the dating of the earth according to the Young Earth Creationists account. The dating of creation was carried out by Bishop James Ussher in 1654, when he concluded that the world was created at nightfall preceding 23 October 4004 BC. Notably, even this involves considerable fudging. First, Ussher had to rely on Biblical accounts for about a period of 1000 years, and he reportedly settled on the year 4004 B.C. because by 1654, it was acknowledged that Christ was actually born in 4 B.C., at the latest, and Ussher demanded the neatness of having exactly 4,000 years between the creation and the birth of Christ. Ussher was a very learned man for his time, but he was not a mathematician of any particular standing. Of course, 1654 was before the development of atomic chemistry. Since that time, our ability to measure the fossil record and gauge the age of the universe has expanded to a degree Ussher would have found unbelievable. We have now been able to date the creation of the Universe, which essentially amounts to the beginning of time through the application of Einstein's theories of the plasticity and interrelatedness of time and space. The Universe is approximately 15 billion years old (15,000,000,000). Scientists have established that date to a certainty of within a billion years or so. Further, using carbon-dating techniques, scientists have determined that the earliest humanoid specimens existed some six million year ago (6,000,000). With this in mind, I would like to take exception to something that seems to underlie your position: a view that evolution is incompatible with a belief in God. Virtually all micro-biologists believe in evolution. But most microbiologists also believe in God. Cells can rightly be described as unbelievably complex, with a mass of interworkings that is truly stunning in their complexity and beauty. Does this prove that there is a God? Literally, no. But to study the cell, to realize the infinite skill with which its parts must work together to work right -- how can a man look on this for long and not be moved?

Answer 5

Since you asked.

big bang. Cornell university has confirmed not long ago, what science has always proved, big bang did not happen, never did, the universe is one complex.

the physics of thermodynamics is against big bang, conservation of energy is against big bang. objects in motion or rest stay that way, energy/matter change states but are neither created or destroyed. Something did not just explode and create everything. even those who know these laws write that the laws of physics must not have been in existance.....

abiogenesis: or spontanious generation for everyone else: we are to believe that a world, awash with ultraviolet light somehow had one celled animals start to grow in it. that would be immediate death. We are to believe that these one celled animals moved up to multi-cellular creatures. That is evolution and goes against basic genetics.....not to mention advanced genetics.

molecular biology looks at single areas of a gene for change, but that is not a rattle snake becoming an eagle. Somehow transitional events are suppose to take place to create higher life forms.

I can go on for a long time on this developing out each theme into a book.

point blank, my faith in the easter bunny is not great enough for me to believe in big bang, evolution or a truly honest government. my faith is weaker than that, I believe only God could make what I see around me. And science keep proving my assessment correct.

also contrary to one answer, I can defend what I don't believe in, as I have studied all the sides trying to learn what is true and what is not rejecting the lies and fairy tales of men of learning who don't speak the truth.

Answer 6

I do not believe in macroevolution. The world is immensely complex. For example, in the cell one thing depends on another thing for everything to function correctly. If one part goes wrong, nothing will work. The odds of all of everything evolving or mutating at exactly the same time is way to small.

There is microevolution though, or evolution in the individual species. I do not believe it crosses over species though. The Bible also states that animals will reproduce after their own kind, which says to me one thing will not turn into another.

Answer 7

Well, for starters, if you believe in macro-evolution then where did species start getting souls? Is the soul present in amoeba or did it enter us when we evolved into modern man? Why did God wait till we became modern man to give us a soul? The Bible says the soul is what gives us life. Without it we are a lifeless body. Secondly, I don't see proof for macro-evolution. I see proof for micro-evolution, but for a brand new species to arise from another one is just not possible. Even when you cross breed a mare with a donkey you get a mule. All male mules are sterile and cannot procreate. That's the end of the line. Macro-evolution goes against the Genesis account of creation.

Answer 8

If you call your self a christian, than you have faith, faith is beliving. If you belive in God, you can belive in the things that he has done. Why can you not belive that the evidence we have is here because that He has done both. Who is to say that when He created life that He did not do it in more than one way. We can see many things around us that function in many different ways. Do you think God has limits? We are a people that seeks for proff of our own greatness, and not His. Why not look at it differently, you know the proff of what is there. What proff is not there? How many things can you not explain? How offten do you see things that just do not realy seem possible but yet people spend years trying to answer as to how and why? Quit your mind, listen to your heart.

Answer 9

Ok, you need to be just a bit more exact in your question.

Do I believe evolution occurs. Yes, to a limited extent. I don't believe evolution occurs across species lines. However, I do believe it does occur within species. For example, when a virus mutates, it still is the same virus, just stronger (or weaker). It does not become a new virus. Similarly, when a dog is selectively bred, he does not become a cat. He remains a dog.

Since I don't believe that evolution causes new species, I don't believe that it can be used to explain the origin of man. That is where I separate from the main body.

Since I don't have a degree in microbiology, my examples may be off, but I do the best with what I have. And believe me, my high school biology classes did not do a very good job of teaching evolution. Things like "evolution is true because all fetuses look the same" was common in my classes.

Perhaps, what we should be focusing on is not whether mutation in response to external stimuli is true or not, but how we are teaching these concepts in schools.

Answer 10

Evolution is the worlds simplistic way of accepting creation. Faith is where you hit all the road blocks and a BS in molecular biology will only confuse you even more. You can not see the wind but you can see the affects of it, much like Faith we know of creation because we have faith and faith is far to simple a solution for the more intelligent minds.