Can you believe in both evolution and christianity?

Question

"Christ died for our sin." That is one of the basic teachings of Christianity. The Bible contrasts Adam with Jesus and says,1 Corinthians 15:22...For just as in Adam all are dying, so also in the Christ all will be made alive. By laying down his life, Jesus paid the price for the sin that we inherited from Adam. So if we doubt that " in Adam all are dying," how can we hope that " in Christ all will be made alive"?

Where did sin come from if we evolved?
Why do we need a redeemer if we evolved?

Answer 1

you're right. if you doubt one part of scripture you can doubt any part of it. Try believing ALL of it. if you believe that we die because of our isn (through Adam) then you can believe that you can live (through Jesus's forgiveness). It reallyis that simple.

Answer 2

I used to believe in both evolution (macro-evolution - the theory that all life evolved from some speck of primal ooze that began to live) and Christianity (creation). It made sence to me that God could have created the world and left it alone to evolve.

Then, about 5 years ago I noticed something. The Bible teaches that there was no death before sin. Sin did not occur until man was on the scene. If it took millions of years for life to evolve into man, then the Bible cannot be correct. These theological theories that God made the world and then allowed it to evolve do not agree with scripture.

If you truly think through the situation, you must choose between creation or evolution. I will not say that a Christian cannot believe in evolution. But, I must ask the question, "If you don't believe the Bible when is speaks of creation, how can you believe the Bible when it speaks of sin, death, salvation, Jesus, Heaven, Hell, etc.?

There are 3 options, here.
1. God, using human authors, wrote the Bible and it is all true. The world was formed by an act of God and man was created by that God 6 days from the time He began his creative acts.
2. God, using human authors, wrote the Bible, but portions of it are not true and, therefore, God is not the God he claims to be and is, in fact, a liar.
3. The Bible is nothing more than a collection of stories, written by human authors with no authority or divine inspiration.

I realize I might have stepped on quite a few toes with these comments, but that dosen't change facts. The Bible leaves no room for macro-evolution.

You didn't ask for evidence suggesting either evolution or creation to be true, but I'll offer some. Statistics tells us that life cannot come from non-life. There has never been a recorded or observed account of "spontaneous generation". Yet, evolution is based on this occuring.

A similar argument can be made against creation. Other than the Bible, there is no record of creation, and it has not been observed. Statistically, creation is no more likely than evolution. However, I believe in creation because (among other reasons), "when you eliminate the impossible, whatever is left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." Spontaneous generation has been proven to be impossible - that leaves creation.

I hope you find this helpful.

Terry

Answer 3

Belief in evolution does not preclude belief in a real Adam. The author of Genesis, where Adam appears, did not have the scientific knowledge we have today. If he were a witness to creation through divine revelation (perhaps a vision or sudden enlightening), he would not be able to explain everything he saw in the same terms we could now. The passage of days is a very easy analogy to understand and allows the information to be presented truthfully but also understandably.

(Similarly, consider Jesus referring to the mustard seed as the smallest seed. It isn't, but the disciples didn't know that. The lesson would have broken down if Jesus had started with an explanation about seed-size.)

Adam could well have been the first ensouled humanoid - the first instance where God saw His planned creation of man reach the point where one was ready for a soul.

(Its worth noting that this also leads to - and answers - other interesting (and somewhat funny) questions, such as why there are no caveman ghosts ever reported or does Adam have a belly button?)

Answer 4

Adam is an allegory for the "fallen man" talked about in the bible, as he sinned against God by eating the apple of knowledge of good and evil.
You have to understand why the fruit is called the apple of good and evil.

Man was created good. When he sinned (ate the apple that God told him not to), he learned about evil. There was nothing special about the apple itself, just the idea behind it.

This is called original sin, the first sin. We inherit this from Adam. That is why we are baptized. In baptism, we are forgiven from the sin of Adam, and are reborn in the Christian community, the Church, what is called the "living Christ." We renounce this sin consciously in confession. We die in Adam because unbaptized, there is no eternal life. Baptized, we go to heaven.

If we evolved, nothing really changes. The fact is that Genesis is allegorical-it can't be taken literally, because it conflicts with itself. What we take from Genesis is this:

-God created everything
-God is all powerful
-God is an intimate creator, and a distant creator, all at once.
In one account he says "let there be man." In another, he molds man. (both are the same Genesis the Catholic Church accepts)
-Though God is intimate, man was once more intimate with him, but because he sinned, he attained a fallen nature. This essentially means he tried to hide from God and created a barrier between their connection.
-Man and woman are equal
-Man is meant to be with woman

The fact is that God created man, and when He thought man was ready for a soul, gave it to him. And we know God does not make mistakes. You don't think God could have thought up evolution? Come on! He's God for crying out loud!

Answer 5

i'm Roman Catholic. The Catholic Church considers information of a few varieties of evolution to be scientifically sound, yet we reject the thought that existence developed from non-existence without God's involvement. The Catholic Church has a prosperous historic previous of appreciate and help for genuine technology. The mathematician and astronomer, Copernicus, grow to be a Roman Catholic priest. The Church is against coaching scientific concerns as shown and settled whilst there are important voids in a thought. Even Charles Darwin admitted that his theories mean that there could desire to be plenty greater fossil information of transitional species. Darwin grow to be bothered by applying the shortcoming of information to completely help his thought on the muse of species. The Catholic Church's business enterprise coaching touching directly to advent is that God is the only unique writer of all it quite is. The Catholic Church does not declare to be attentive to precisely how God did all of it. Neither do I. while you're severe approximately this question, you may probable get fairly some delight from interpreting the Catechism of The Catholic Church. It addresses practically each concern it quite is proper to the middle ideals of Christianity. Peace be with you.

Answer 6

If you don't believe in the literal creation account, you have to throw out countless examples of it being mentioned other places in the Bible. Also God would have created humans using death and natural selection, and the fall of man makes no sense. It sounds nice until you examine it a little closer, and you realize that the Biblical account is exactly opposite to God creating using natural selection. No allegory works unless you throw the rest of the Bible out.

Answer 7

Don't know how you can DOUBT that in "Adam all are dying"
The odds of dying are sort of a given!

But Jesus himself promised that we would be like HIM one day, alive forever....if we have accepted Him as Savior. There is no other way.

Answer 8

Yes you can, if you see Adam as an allegory, as many Christians do. That's how I thought, when I was Christian. Only Fundamentalists and Biblical Literalists see a problem believing in both.

Answer 9

Albert Einstein was an atheist but it was through his own theories that lead him to realize the universe had a beginning and a purpose. these two things demanded that an intelligence was behind it all, not random chance. considering he's about the smartest Guy I've heard, of I'll lean in the direction of the genius.

Answer 10

God had employed the method of evolution to carry out the creation of this great beautiful world.'Esoteric Christianity' 'teaches the creation brought out through the process of evolution and rebirth.

Answer 11

I fail to see where your additional comments have any thing to do with the question.

But , with the verse you gave it seems to me that we all are going to be made alive and will inherit heavenly life.