Why can't a Christian believe in evolution?

Question

What bible verses do Christians use to side on Creation?
And how do Christians describe creation? Poof, we are here?

I pretty much believe that God created us throught the process of evolution. Why couldn't that be?

To me, evolution IS creation. Its brilliant.

Answer 1

You can. Don't listen to those telling you that a "literal" Bible interpretation is necessary to be a Christian.

Answer 2

Well, how long do you have? This is not a topic for the light hearted. As has been pointed out by several respondents, there are Christians who believe in theistic evolution. Hugh Ross has written several excellent books on the subject. Though I disagree with Theistic Evolution, I certainly can appreciate the scientific aspects presented, and the struggle that such Christian scientists have done to bring Scripture and Science in line. Such writers, brilliant individuals, would agree with you - evolution IS creation.

However, I come from another vantage point. First, having been an atheist, I have become a Creationist over time. It was my atheism that drove me to Christianity, in the first place. The impossibility of the projected hypotheses left me shaking my head.

For instance, how could the reproductive system of the human body have evolved over time? Unfortunately, extinction within one generation would have occurred, since the development of the many organs and biological apparatus would all have had to have evolved at precisely the same time on both a man and a woman in order for reproduction to take place. Absolutely impossible. Not just improbable - it is impossible. And that is just one of literally millions of impossibilities propounded by theorists to explain evolution.

Instead of looking at evolution from the Big Bang and movving forward in history, try working evolution backwards. You cannot do it. And when you do get back to the beginning, the very principles of the Big Bang and the eternal nature of matter necessary for evolution without God unglues the rest of the scientific principles upon which our whole understanding of the universe functions. In the end, one must conclude that science contradicts its own principles, or we must put forward a different interpretation of how this universe came into being.

Second, theologically either Christianity is flawed (which many on this site believe) or there is a biblical problem with theistic evolution. A) The problem of a day being described as "evening and morning." It is hard to get away from that being a 24 hour day. B) The idea that the Sabbath command in Deuteronomy 5 bases the command on the seven day creation. C) The Bible says there was no death prior to the Fall into Sin in Genesis 3. D) The argument of the Apostle Paul in Romans 1:18-20 is that the created order CLEARLY reveals God's invisible attributes, something that makes no sense if evolution is how the world came to be. How can theistic evolution clearly reveal God's eternal power and divine nature? Evolution in any form simply shows nature, not God's power and divine nature. E) If God used evolution to creat this present world, then what is He going to do to create the New Heaven and Earth? Will we have to wait billions of years before that new heaven and earth are formed? And the list can go on. Theistic evolution does not make sense scientifically nor scripturally from my perspective, even though I deeply appreciate the work of thinkers like Hugh Ross.

Answer 3

The most obvious portion of the Bible that may be used to indicate creation is Genesis 1.

On one hand, you can see it as yes, just "poof" in 7 days and everything was created. Well, thats possible with an almighty God.

On the other hand, the side which I'm more inclined towards,
is how long these 7 days actually were. Well, 7 days on earth may not be 7 days in heaven for all you know. And since the Bible is God's word, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of these 7 days being expressed in heaven terms. 7 days to God in heaven could literally mean millions of years on earth. Within this time frame then, certaintly evolution could have occurred, but it all must have first started with creation of course i.e. God created something, which evolved later on. This is along the lines of what is called Day-Age Creationism.

Don't take my stand for the truth. I realise this is a very touchy issue and have never taken a firm stance, just a viewpoint. Check with a pastor for more reliable info. There are also some really good websites that you can check out for other versions of interpretation.

http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/creation.shtml
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/wic.html

Answer 4

They can. I've met a few who do. My father became convinced after I explained evolution to him a number of times, and then while reading the bible he found 2 Peter 3:8: "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day."

He considered that in light of the creation account in Genesis, and thought that perhaps each "day" described was not a literal 24 hour period, but a really long period of time during which God guided those natural events. He thought that they might both be reconciled this way.

There are some difficulties with taking that position when you start looking at the science in more depth. But with respect to my father and I, it helped to end a period of fighting we had been going through about these issues, and that's fine with me.

Answer 5

you can. many christians (the intelligent ones) look at the old testament as full of myths. not myths as total bogus but myths as stories told to teach a lesson or explain some phenomena. there was no literal adam and eve and a man cannot exist days inside the belly of a whale. those were stories with the purpose to explain the greatness of god and (with genesis) an attempt to explain how the world came to be. they do not have any problem combining the two because genesis states things werent done immediately. the creation myth says things were done in steps that kinda follow how life formed. life first formed in the oceans then moved to land and the air. they believe god created everything but allowed it to happen in a natural way. but thats just what ive learned from some christians that i have talked to about the subject.

Answer 6

Christians shouldn't believe in evolution because it is based on a secular humanist anti-God outlook, for starters.

The theory of evolution was proposed by those who were secular humanists, and who wanted to get rid of a belief in God. The two ideas, creation and evolution, are mutually exclusive. They cannot coexist. If you believe in the biblical account of creation, then you cannot believe that the Earth has been around for millions of years. The account in Genesis clearly states that God breathed life into the man who became a living soul. (Not primordial ooze, or a fish with legs, but man.)

There are those who postulate that you can mix the two, and have attempted to do so by employing "theistic evolution," where God put the parts in place and let them spin together over millions/billions of years. Others propose a "gap" theory, where in Genesis 1:1, the earth was created, but in Genesis 1:2, God judged that earth, and recreated it in Genesis 1:3, hoping that the time frame matches the scientific theory. Others will ask, "How long was a day during creation?" hoping that the answer is millions of years long each.

The problem boils down to this: Either God's Word is truthful in the details, or it isn't. And if it isn't why bother at all? Who gets to decide what is or is not true in it? Man? Then man becomes God, instead of the other way around.

Because there are no witnesses to what occurred during creation, anything that man comes up with is a theory, and unable to be proven through a scientific process, which requires the scientific method.

The scientific method requires:

# 1. Observe some aspect of the universe.

# 2. Invent a tentative description, called a hypothesis, that is consistent with what you have observed.

# 3. Use the hypothesis to make predictions.

# 4. Test those predictions by experiments or further observations and modify the hypothesis in the light of your results.

# 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until there are no discrepancies between theory and experiment and/or observation.

But this is supposed to be based on observable facts. Evolution cannot achieve this using the traditional scientific method. What does that leave?

Faith. Just like those he criticizes for following myths, the evolutionist is practicing his faith. The evolutionist believes in the theory. They have their own scriptures, and apologea. And woe unto those who knowingly or unknowing tread on "holy" ground. They'll eat you alive. You'd think for all their vitriol, that you were in a church full of hypocrites.

Answer 7

Incompatibility. The Bible gives the Earth's age around 5000 years. No noticeable evolution could've taken place during this time period. Also, the Bible says we were created in his image. Does this mean God is the group of amino acids that started life on Earth? So many inconsistencies and contradictions cloud it. It's better to just go all the way with science and ignore the creation process. If you 'believe' in the secular scientific way that things change over time, why do you believe in the supernatural superstitious way it all began?

Answer 8

hmmm, that is a good question, BUT i do not agree. Genesis 1:20-27 or even the whole first chapter of Genesis tells you that God created the animals & then created humans. after He created the animals, God said to them to reproduce after their OWN kind. He also spoke them into existence, they didn't take thousands of years to come about and then a few thousand more years for us humans to come about. God created animals and then He separately created humans, we didn't evolve from a lesser state. God also gave man dominion over the animals in Genesis 1:28. in this verse, human beings are set apart & are put above all the animals!! i guess, for me, it all comes down to how great & powerful our God is--He only has to speak to create the whole entire earth...in 6 days too :) His ways are mysterious.....

Answer 9

Bible verses? Try Genesis 1. Evolution is not creation, not even close. The Bible says God created man and all beings as they were, not from another kind of being. Evolution teaches we came from "magic" mud. The Bible teaches that God is totally sovereign over all things and in control, evolution teaches we are the result of random chance in the universe over time. The Bible teaches Adam and Eve existed in the garden, sinned, and that sin nature was passed to all humans born of a man and woman. Evolution knows nothing of sin, salvation or the need for a savior.
I am sorry, but I do not believe a Bible believing Christian can accept the evolution hoax. It runs counter to all that the Bible teaches.

Answer 10

You don't "believe" in evolution any more than you "believe" in gravity or relativity. It is a scientific theory (i.e. a proven hypothesis) and it is based on evidence. If we find compelling evidence that shows it happened differently then we will change the theory, no belief or faith involved.

It is possible that a higher power used evolution to create life, however there certainly is no indication that this happened or that it is anything other than a completely natural process. The Biblical story of creation, however, does not match the facts in many ways and therefor is not a reasonable hypothesis.

Answer 11

Most Christians do believe in evolution.1 in 3 Christians are Catholic--& Catholicism has accepted the facts of evolution--they learned their lesson from rejecting scientific facts after they tortured Galileo & his round earth theory---contradicting the Bibles flat earth assertions.