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theistic evolution essay
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I do not wish to change anyone’s beliefs about Creation or Evolution, but wrote this in defense for people who tell me I am wrong unless I believe exactly what they do. This paper is short, incomplete, and is not in-depth. I am willing to provide more information, and hear arguments from your side of the story if you find this paper unacceptable. It is my opinion that the theories of Biblical Creationism and Evolution do not contradict each other. I believe that God gave this world a complete set of laws which are constant, unchanging, not limited to the moral laws given to us, and were as present in the beginning as they are today. I do not think that the idea of evolution takes away from the glory of God, but rather emphasizes it. I do not think it is an attempt to "explain" away the miracle God has done, for he has given us this observation in plain sight. Before giving the reasons for my belief, an assumption must be made that the Bible is meant to be interpreted instead of taken literally. Aside from the fact that there are already two different stories of creation found in the Bible (Gen 1 and Gen 2); I will support the idea of interpretation with two short examples which should be sufficient: Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches" to His disciples (John 15:5). This is not to be taken literally. PSA 145:9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. JER 13:14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them. My faith accepts no contradictions; so again, this is an example of how the Bible was meant to be interpreted. According to the Bible, the Earth is flat. How can Young Earth Creationists accept this? They don’t. Why they selectively choose to believe certain parts of the Bible and not others is beyond me. Bishop Ussher calculated 6,000 years old, and the Flood at 2348 BC by using references from the Bible. Because there are so many written historical references of civilization before 6,000 years, Creationists conveniently extend the age of the Earth to 10,000 years. Which is it? By calculating dates from the Bible, is the Earth 6,000 years old or not?
Evolution and creationism: two warring beliefs that are constantly looking for an upper hand. With similarities and comparisons that Christianity does not deny, yet evolution quickly repudiates. Where do you stand? In a belief that has so many loose threads, like a puppet that has too many strings, you try to apply it, but the strings become tangled and unusable? Or in a belief that does have proof and undeniable evidence, one that has a promise of everlasting life as apposed to a dark nothingness? A decision must be reached. Whether through further evidence outside this paper, or just through your day to day life, your must know where your beliefs lie. Just know, that if what Christians say is true, and the evidence is overlooked and criticized, you will face something much, much worse than being castigated by those around you.
Young Earth creationists believe that Earth and everything on it was created by God between 5700 and 10000 years ago (Numbers, 2006). They believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible in terms of the age of the earth. They differ from old earth creationists who interpret Genesis metaphorically and believe that the Earth is 13.798 +- 0.037 old (Scott, 2000). Young earth creationists also interpret the passages in the bible of the flat Earth literally. They reject modern astronomy, physics, the big bang theory, the age of Earth and chemistry. They also reject biological modifications that happened throughout history. Young Earth creationists believe that God created every genetic variation in all living creatures on earth. Henry Morris was one of the biggest influences of young Earth creationism in the second half of the 20th century (Scott, 2000).
Chapters of Genesis have been interpreted in non-literal ways since around 1820; discoveries in geology before the arrival of Darwin’s theory have shown that the Earth is much older than Archbishop Ussher’s proposal that the world began in 4004 BCE (Ferguson 2012: 84). St Augustine himself suggested that the early books of the Bible were metaphorical and were written so the Bible would be accessible to those who were uneducated (Stewart-Williams 2010: 58). Many Christians today do not take the literal view of Genesis but still view God as the Creator despite Darwin’s theory surfacing over a century ago. Numerous believers maintain that discoveries in science that explain the process of creation just register the power of a Creator to ordain those laws (Ferguson 2012: 85). An explanation for this may be that many people who hold the belief that God is the Creator held this belief before encountering the theory of evolution (Stewart-Williams 2010: 51). They simply do not stop believing just because of this. A creator God may be an internalization that they have more than likely grown up with. Still, this could be a cultural factor as Christianity is embedded in so many societies
This statement is the foundational tenet for the evangelical and fundamentalist Christian dogma that purports a literal understanding of the Bible to be the unquestionable and undeniable truth. Creationism, a proposed alternative to evolutionary theory, requires a Christian dogma that holds the literal understanding of the Bible to be the sole source of truth. As an alternative to the natural explanation of the origins of life that science and evolutionary theory provides, creationism ministers a supernatural explanation as provided in the biblical Genesis. Given the source of information, the exclusive nature to its validity, and the unwavering conviction of its soundness, creationism is a religiously dogmatic understanding for the origin of life. As such, creationism does not promote scientific or religious freedom; rather, creationism is the promotion of a specific evangelical or fundamentalist Christian dogma that asserts a literal translation of the Bible as the sole guidance toward truth.
While the theory of evolution is very commonly accepted amongst most scholars and intellectuals, when the scientific facts used to 'support' it are closely examined, it becomes apparent that it is merely that: a theory. Inaccurate information, misguided philosophers, and in some cases, just plain ignorance, have all contributed to this 'scientific religion' that does nothing but lead people away from the true nature of our existence, the Genesis creation. The creation 'story' is much more than just a story, it is a scientifically provable fact, and one that should be treated as more than just a parable or story, as the Word of God is pure and the absolute truth.
Creation versus evolution is a battle of different faiths. Modern evolutionist desire for ever person to think of science as a subject that is void of God. Evolutionist have discovered was to get the general public to ignore that propaganda being produced by humanist and just follow their thoughts and not search for truth. Creationists have the same facts as evolutionist but have a different origin of where everything started.
...an also be accepting of the scientific findings proving evolution. Unfortunately, whether or not the theory of evolution by natural selection conflicts with the Judeo-Christian worldview of God as creator will continue to be an ongoing debate. There will always be a contradiction between the evidence scientists have towards human evolution and what the church states about the creation of mankind.
This once again my belief in creationism and creation in perspective. I currently believe that God did create the earth , but science use it for humans to understand . He has access to the man free will , and we are currently using it to try to understand the creation for us , and how / where / when it happened . I also believe that once the necessary events on earth took place , we not only know how the earth was created it, be it creationism , evolution, or even something else that we do not know , but also how it will end .
The Bible has been at the center of many highly controversially issues over the last 2000 years. Believers and non-believers alike have been debating whether it is the true word of God, or just a collection of stories and myths. At the forefront of this debate is the issue of creation. Many Christians believe that God created the world in 7 literal, 24-hour days. Using this theory, they would say the earth is roughly 6000 years old, but there is also a minority who believe in an old earth and that the creation story in Genesis 1 should be taken figuratively. Those who believe that the creation story is written in figurative language hold a variety of different beliefs on the issue, but at the center of their argument is the statement that: “Genesis 1 should not be taken literally, and that there is no way the earth is only 6000 years old”. In order to understand both sides, the true meaning of the Biblical text must be understood.
Berra, Tim M. Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: A Basic Guide to the Facts in the
This position does not immediately make assumptions that Genesis is a material account of creation, but instead looks at it with the text’s intention and date of writing in mind. Upon deeper reading and careful analysis, it is obvious that Genesis was never intended to act as a scientific account. The ancient people for whom this text is intended for would have never understood the lofty measures of science society understands today, and God recognized this; he choose to speak to them in their language, on a level they understood. This is why Genesis is should be interpreted in a nonliteral way; as John Walton says, while the text was meant for people, it was written for and in the language of the ancient people to which it was given to. In addition to this textual and historical support, Evolutionary Creationism also has the support of science. In this view, science has no conflicts, and in fact shows a lot of evidence in favor of intelligent design and creation. Consider the Earth and its suitability for life. It is the perfect distance away from the Sun so that it is neither too hot or too cold for life; the atmosphere contains the right amount of oxygen and other gases; these are just a few examples of how perfectly shaped the world is for life. No other planet discovered thus far has been found to have life or the
Gould, Stephen Jay. "Evolution as Fact and Theory." The Norton Mix. Editor Katie Hannah. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 110-119.
Creationism is taking the literal meaning of the Bible. The theory of creationism is accepted all throughout the world by many different religions. Creationism is based off of Genesis, which is the first book of the Bible. Genesis 1 describes the physical event of creation. Genesis 2 describes the creation of human beings and other little details. It states that the universe was created in six days. Those days can be even more broken down into steps from there. The first four days of creation was physical. God created all the universe and the physical characteristics. This included light, darkness, dry ground, water, the sun, the moon, the stars and all of space. On the fifth and sixth day, God created animals. This included, sea creatures, birds, all animals on earth, and human beings. On the seventh day, God rested. This is the reason many Christians still keep Sundays, “a day of
The rule of Biblical interpretation that has been broke here is that no doctrine is to entirely be based off one passage of Scripture from the Bible. Along with that no verse or phrase can or should be allowed to have a meaning when isolated that it would not have if it was kept in its original context.
Evolution is a theory that argues that all organisms alive on earth today share a common ancestor. It is thought that through generations, specific changes or adaptations were established in species in order to help them survive, reproduce, and raise offspring. But how are we certain that these changes occurred? Today, there is an abundant amount of research evidence that suggests that anatomical and physiological alterations occurred to species that caused them to turn from aquatic animals to terrestrial animals, allowing them to survive different environmental conditions. The following are several gradual changes an aquatic organism must go through in order to move to land and adjust to its new terrestrial habitat: circulatory and most importantly respiratory systems must be improved, structural adaptations should be modified, development of a skeletal system to protect the body and organs, and an adjustment of the senses must also occur.