Sunday, August 13, 2006

Discussing Creationism Part XXIII

Can the Bible and evolution be reconciled?

The Bible states that God created the world in 6 days and that Adam, Eve and Noah were historical figures. Science can not accept this and instead teaches that the Creation of the world and the flood are myths.

Evolution teaches that man and ape decended from a common ape-like creature. The Bible teaches that Adam was created from dust.

After the flood, drastic changes occurred in all life. Evolution and Natural Selection teach that biological changes occur over millions and millions of years. According to the Biblical timeline, the flood happened about 1650 years after Creation, leaving not much time for the slow changes of evolution.

How could this have been?













Sources:
About.com Evolution and Religion Most interesting. Be sure to read the last paragraph.

American Atheists



Previous Discussions:
Discussing Creationism: The Initial Argument
Part II: Two Questions about the Ark
Part III:The Volume of the Ark
Part IV: The Weight and Sturdiness of the Ark
Part V:What is a Myth
Part VI: Gilgamesh
Part VII: The Biblical View of Noah
Part VIII: Gathering of the Animals
Part IX Evolution
Part X The First Evolutionist
Part XI The Notebook
Part XII Erasmus Darwin
Part XIII Aristotle
Part XIV Middle Ages
Part XV Kant's Quotation
Part XVI Kant in Context
Part XVII: The Beliefs that influenced Darwin
Part XVIII: John Henslow
Part XIX: Darwin's Infallibility
Part XX: Darwin's Thoughts on Apes and Human
Part XXI:Lyell's Principles of Geology
Part XXII: Natural Selection

11 comments:

Emily said...

Interesting...One can definitely see fundamentalist thinking on both sides.

I also liked that last paragraph of the about.com link you shared. It reminded me of the Museum of Tolerance I visited when I lived in California. When we face or try to comprehend something we learn a bit from this (hopefully) and become more tolerant.

Considering the times we are in, tolerance should be strived for and not pushed to the side or ignored. Too many wars and loss of life have happened.

I know I have learned a lot from just hearing people's POV's on why they do or don't agree w/ evolution.

Paste said...

Interesting article as you say. It is so important to stress that believing in evolution in no way precludes you from being a religious person. Evolution has nothing to say about the creation of the earth, the solar system and galaxies, it is merely putting forward a view on how things developed here on earth.
It is worth remembering that the majority of christians do not believe that the bible is the literal truth, after all it was written by people that would have happily written that the world was flat and that the 'whole' world was the mediteranean sea and its surrounds. They were found out later to be wrong.

David Edward said...

dave, are you sure you can speak to what "the majority of christians" believe? First we may want to define Christian as a follower of Christ. then the devotion to the Bible being the inspired word of God can be addressed.
Isaiah ( i think) recorded that the earth was a circ or an arc, way before the flatties got it wrong. but all those are side issues: Do you want to live life in harmony with God, or in dissonance?

Carol said...

Emily,
Thanks for your comment.
The Bible tells Christians to teach the truth even though others will not want to listen or might not be tolerant. Christianity is not about forcing other people but about speaking the truth so that others might hear and believe it. It is all about free will.

I understand what you are saying Dave, that Evolution doesn’t address the creation of the world but how its inhabitants adapted to a changing world. The problem with evolution, according to those who believe in the accuracy of the Bible, is the time frame that is required to change.
In order to reconcile the difference of time, Noah and the flood have to be taken as mythological.

This is not possible for those who believe that the Bible is truth. Noah is in the Jewish genealogical records. Noah is spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24:37-39 “And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man. “
The Bible teaches figuratively too, but it is clear from an overall understanding of Noah that the flood occurred.

Thanks David for pointing out that the Bible spoke of the earth as being round. During a time before this knowledge, Isaiah wrote in 40:21-22 “Have ye not known? have yet not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
Isa 40:22 It is he that sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;”

thesurealist said...

How refreshing to be back, Carol. Thanks for yet another testimony post. Revelation talks about people (at the time of the end) who are ready to worship God - the God who created everything. It's going to be very clear who actually follows God faithfully, because the whole point of creation is that it is amazing, and miraculous. Truly! God put everything in place. And even we find life difficult when we do not have everything in place. We are meant to live ordered, balanced lives.

Love to share with you, blessings and thanks, Su

FRIDAY'S CHILD said...

Does this mean the FFMB will still continue? I've asked you this before but you didn't answer me. Sure why not as long as blogger will good tomorrow.
Thanks for stopping by.

Carol said...

Friday's Child,
Shhhh, I don't know! So let's just enjoy giving the biggest and best blog party ever..
I changed it to Friday, August 18th for sentimental reasons.

cranky old fart said...

Isaiah said "circle", not "sphere" or even "ball". There's a huge difference.

Carol said...

Where have you been, Cranky Old Fart?

A sphere or ball are both circles.

cranky old fart said...

A circle is 2 dimensional, a sphere is 3. A circular earth is flat. A sphere is not.

Anonymous said...

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