I do not believe in evolution in the sense of Darwin's evolution, I believe God created the world and everything in it, the animals, the plants etc etc. I then come across a problem. Did God stop creating then? Did he make enough of everything and then stop? This poses a problem for me because since God created the world there has been many more new species that have entered into our world but did they evolve from another animal or animals or did God in fact create them like he did at the beginning of the world? If they evolved, and there is much evidence of this did God make them evolve did he play a part or was it just 'nature'? If God did create them does that mean he is still creating things today? Or is it in fact a mixture of the two?
8 Feb 2007
Evolution
As some of you may know I love the series Friends, I find it absolutely hilarious and will watch it most of the time when at uni. I was watching an episode last night just before I went to bed and it has prompted me to write this blog and ask the question that I am going to ask. In the episode Phoebe told Ross that she didn't believe in evolution and Ross being the character he is just couldn't comprehend that. Anyway they talked and argued about it and he brought fossils and all that stuff but it prompted me to think about the topic of evolution.
One other question regarding the questions I have just asked, what is the model Christian view on this (I hope I haven't just offended someone on this I jus wanted to know the textbook answer as well please)? Are Christians allowed to believe in both evolution and creation or is that too contradictory?
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3 comments:
Is everyone scared to comment, unless we've got it wrong?
It shouldn't be tough to answer really, but it is - almost like the answer, if there is one, is just out of reach.
I would say that there is evidence that species do evolve - see the Galapogos Islands, but they all had to start somewhere, which is where I believe God's hand is. I don't believe for one minute that we are evolved from monkeys though, otherwise monkeys would still be evolving into humans now. ...or would they. I mean the whole thing about evolution is that it is dynamic and responsive to the environment, so maybe there are just enought humans.
You see once you start to think about it,it gets complex!
I don't know if it makes any difference to what I know about God anyway - I may be seen as being ignorant here?
I have a couple of things to say. Firstly, for anyone intersted enough in this to actually want to delve into science to looks for answers, I have a great starting place. I made a very good friend at Uni whose dad is an extremely clever doctor, and knows a lot about this sort of stuff. He wrote a book which discusses why he sees evolution as a myth from a scientific perspective, see the quote below from his home page:
'Few people fully realise that to accept that we are modified apes requires us to accept an even more fantastic series of propositions. Look at a particle of dust on the table in front of you. Is it possible for such a particle, being composed of simple molecules and after existing for a few billion years, to join with other simple particles and to acquire consciousness - to ultimately peer down on another dust particle and to contemplate its origins? Yet inherent in the theory of evolution by natural selection is the assumption that not only is evolution possible, but that it actually happened. In other words, spontaneously, without the action of any outside influence whatsoever, simple molecules dissolved in water became living cells, some of which became fishes, some of which became amphibians, some of which became reptiles. Some reptiles became birds and mammals. Some mammals became monkeys, some of which became apes, some of which became you and me.
However, to question is the foundation stone of all science, and, only by being willing to look at the evidence objectively, and by being willing to challenge established dogma can we hope to get to the truth of the matter.
So, was our great, great...great grand father an ape? This is the question that this book sets out to answer.
This truly outstanding work is the only book of its kind, and provides a unique insight into the living world. And it will make you think.
Question everything.'
To see more about this, visit www.onesmallspeck.com
To be honest, reading some of his theories prove to me that I know too little about the subject to even begin to think I could offer a viewpoint on whether evolution is feasible as a theory or not. I honestly don't know where the new species came from, to be honest, I know so little about our world, I don't even know how we know that there are definitely more and more species all the time. But, as Liz says, I don't think it changes my viewpoint of God. Even if evolution is true and is a reality, it is still a process, (allbeit one resting on a lot of chance), and I see no problem with understanding God as the creator of the whole evolution process. If evolution is true, then without the process itself being created and ordered and controlled by a higher power, it is all resting on chance - even process has to have a source.
In terms of the model Christian viewpoint, I don't know that there is one. I know many Christians who believe in evolution, and many, (like Vij Sodera who wrote that book) who don't. And, as I have already suggested, I don't think believeing in creation and evolution has to be contradictory if you see God as the cource of everything.
Sorry, I know this is an incredibly long comment, but I also wonder if it may be worth trying out the book, The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel. I haven't read it myself, but I think it will offer a different Christian viewpoint to that of Vij Sodera.
Thank you for your comments, I was not intending to make people scared to comment although I think in some ways it seems to be a bit of a tabo subject, one that everyone seems to be afraid to talk about.
I do agree with you both though in that I do not think it changes how I view God, I do believe God creates everything but was just wondering if perhaps creation now is God doing the process of evolution?
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