Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 27

Thread: Would Jesus accept evolution?

  1. #1
    Inactive Member R13's Avatar
    Join Date
    September 25th, 2007
    Posts
    10,269
    Follows
    0
    Following
    0
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Would Jesus accept evolution?

    Jesus once famously said, ?I am the Truth.?

    Christianity at its best embodies this provocative idea and has long been committed to preserving, expanding and sharing truth. Most of the great universities of the world were founded by Christians committed to the truth?in all its forms?and to training new generations to carry it forward.

    When science began in the 17th century, Christians eagerly applied the new knowledge to alleviate suffering and improve living conditions.

    But when it comes to the truth of evolution, many Christians feel compelled to look the other way. They hold on to a particular interpretation of an ancient story in Genesis that they have fashioned into a modern account of origins - a story that began as an oral tradition for a wandering tribe of Jews thousands of years ago.

    This is the view on display in a $27 million dollar Creation Museum in Kentucky. It inspired the Institute for Creation Research, which purports to offer scientific support for creationism.

    And it?s hardly a fringe view. A 2010 Gallup poll indicated that 4 in 10 Americans think that ?God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.? (http://www.gallup.com/poll/145286/fo...eationism.aspx)

    While Genesis contains wonderful insights into the relationship between God and the creation, it simply does not contain scientific ideas about the origin of the universe, the age of the earth or the development of life.

    For more than two centuries, careful scientific research, much of it done by Christians, has demonstrated clearly that the earth is billions years old, not mere thousands, as many creationists argue. We now know that the human race began millions of years ago in Africa - not thousands of years ago in the Middle East, as the story in Genesis suggests.

    And all life forms are related to each other though evolution. These are important truths that science has discovered through careful research. They are not ?opinions? that can be set aside if you don?t like them.

    Anyone who values truth must take these ideas seriously, for they have been established as true beyond any reasonable doubt.

    There is much evidence for evolution. The most compelling comes from the study of genes, especially now that the Human Genome Project has been completed and the genomes of many other species being constantly mapped.

    In particular, humans share an unfortunate ?broken gene? with many other primates, including chimpanzees, orangutans, and macaques. This gene, which works fine in most mammals, enables the production of Vitamin C. Species with broken versions of the gene can?t make Vitamin C and must get it from foods like oranges and lemons.

    Thousands of hapless sailors died painful deaths scurvy during the age of exploration because their ?Vitamin C? gene was broken.

    How can different species have identical broken genes? The only reasonable explanation is that they inherited it from a common ancestor.

    Not surprisingly, evolution since the time of Darwin has claimed that humans, orangutans, chimpanzees, and macaques evolved recently from a common ancestor. The new evidence from genetics corroborates this.

    Such evidence proves common ancestry with a level of certainty comparable to the evidence that the earth goes around the sun.

    This is but one of many, many evidences that support the truth of evolution - that make it a ?sacred fact? that Christians must embrace in the name of truth. And they should embrace this truth with enthusiasm, for this is the world that God created.

    Christians must come to welcome - rather than fear - the ideas of evolution. Truths about Nature are sacred, for they speak of our Creator. Such truths constitute ?God?s second book? for Christians to read alongside the Bible.

    In the 17th century, Galileo used the metaphor of the ?two books? to help Christians of his generation understand the sacred truth that the earth moves about the sun. ?The Bible,? he liked to say, ?tells us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens ago.?

    To understand how the heavens go we must read the book of Nature, not the Bible.

    The Book of nature reveals the truth that God created the world through gradual processes over billions of years, rather than over the course of six days, as many creationists believe.

    Evolution does not contradict the Bible unless you force an unreasonable interpretation on that ancient book.

    To suppose, as the so-called young earth creationists do, that God dictated modern scientific ideas to ancient and uncomprehending scribes is to distort the biblical message beyond recognition. Modern science was not in the worldview of the biblical authors and it is not in the Bible.

    Science is not a sinister enterprise aimed at destroying faith. It?s an honest exploration of the wonderful world that God created.

    We are often asked to think about what Jesus would do, if he lived among us today. Who would Jesus vote for? What car would he drive?

    To these questions we should add ?What would Jesus believe about origins??

    And the answer? Jesus would believe evolution, of course. He cares for the Truth.

    http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/0...ld-you/?hpt=C2

  2. #2
    Inactive Member Shooter's Avatar
    Join Date
    August 13th, 2005
    Posts
    1,087
    Follows
    0
    Following
    0
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Re: Would Jesus accept evolution?

    Quote Originally Posted by R13 View Post
    Evolution does not contradict the Bible unless you force an unreasonable interpretation on that ancient book.
    I've told you this before. Both can exist at the same time.

    The Bible gives us a history from the time of the Garden of Eden, NOT a complete detailed history of the earth. The old testament is basically the story of one man's family.

    Im not trying to agree or disagree with you here, simply stating that as a Christian, I've never believed that Adam and Eve were the first people on earth or that the earth began then. The Bible, never once says this.

    Im not sure if you believe all Christians are young earth believers, but this is not the case.
    "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." -Thomas Jefferson

  3. #3
    Inactive Member centennialdawg's Avatar
    Join Date
    June 10th, 2003
    Posts
    3,263
    Follows
    0
    Following
    0
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Re: Would Jesus accept evolution?

    Lots of people believe that something catastrophic happened between the 1st and 2nd verses of the Book of Genesis and choose to believe that is when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. Afterall, The Bible states in those two versese, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Verse 2, "And the earth was void and without form". Now something there happened.

    The Bible also says that a day is but a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is but a day.

    Those verses, to me anyway, lends creedence to the theory of evolution. But the BIG thing is in finding that last link in connecting modern man to the pre-historic beings that have been found. In the story of the creation it says plainly that God made man in his own image, but, who are we to say what that image was, or is for that matter. Nobody has ever seen God and lived to tell about it, except for one man, and he only saw Him for an instant and it was His back. That was Moses and he never saw his face.

    Lots of Christians do believe in the theories of evolution, but they also know what God teaches in the Bible, and that is to live by faith. This faith is what separates the believers from the non-believers. We all are guilty of doubting the wonders and surprises of The Lord, we all fail daily in that respect. But it is our faith that keeps us in harmony with our God. He may not be your God, or what you believe, but he is mine.

    I quit trying to convince people of the existence of God when they refuse to accept that they must have faith in God's existence. The apostle Paul even says that is you fail to convince the non-believer of God's existence, the kick the dust off your heels and move on.

    I know that there are many non-believers on here as they have made that point abundantly clear. But faith, I believe, is the catylist which we must have to believe.

    Again, I urge people to read the book of Genesis, especially the part about creation, with an open mind, and you may be able to see that there is room in The Bible for evolution.

  4. #4
    Inactive Member collegetrumpet2010's Avatar
    Join Date
    January 24th, 2009
    Posts
    852
    Follows
    0
    Following
    0
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Re: Would Jesus accept evolution?

    The Bible does not say that we evolved nor that we did not evolve. It does not say that the world is only 4,000 years old. It doesn't say when or how God created the world and all its creatures.

    I believe God created us. If you're a Christian then you ought to believe that. However, how exactly and when exactly he created us is another question. He may have created the inhabitants of the earth through the process of evolution. A lot of the evidence points toward that. God also might have spontaneously created us as many Christians believe. I don't know beyond a shadow of a doubt. I do know from my faith in God that both methods of how we were created are possible.

    At Berea College, from where I just graduated a few months ago, the students have to take "Understandings of Christianity." Berea was founded upon Chrstian principles. This is not a class where people preach to you, though there is a professor that preaches and shoves liberation theology down your throat. This course looks at Christianity from an academic perspective.

    Anyhow, the professor I had for that class was a moderate to liberal ordained Baptist minister. His explanation was that as a Christian, he is to follow the commandment "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. He accepts evolution and calls that loving God with his mind.

    I might point out that science is knowledge of the natural world and all the phenomena. Science cannot disprove religion. It certainly cannot prove religion to be true. The only evidence is faith or lack there of. I cannot tell a non-Christian what to believe or what not to believe and he or she cannot tell me what to believe or what not to believe. Religion and phenomena dealing with the supernatural cannot be touched by science as they truly are unknown and left up to faith.

    I know what I believe to be true. I believe God is our father and that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose on the Third Day. I don't have to prove to any of you that it's true. That is between myself and God.

  5. #5
    Inactive Member R13's Avatar
    Join Date
    September 25th, 2007
    Posts
    10,269
    Follows
    0
    Following
    0
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Re: Would Jesus accept evolution?

    Quote Originally Posted by centennialdawg View Post
    Those verses, to me anyway, lends creedence to the theory of evolution.
    Lol and the mountains of facts that support evolution don't?

    Quote Originally Posted by centennialdawg View Post
    But the BIG thing is in finding that last link in connecting modern man to the pre-historic beings that have been found.
    There is no such thing, not a shot at you, but that's always the last line used in the denial of evolution from the religious - there is no missing link scientist are looking for, of course they're always looking for more evidence to make things clearer and improve on their understanding....but it's fact as it stands now and is not doubted the least bit. There would never be a find

    Quote Originally Posted by centennialdawg View Post
    Again, I urge people to read the book of Genesis, especially the part about creation, with an open mind, and you may be able to see that there is room in The Bible for evolution.
    I don't get what you're saying here? Why does there have to be room for anything? Science is not on any mission or sets out to disprove religion, just because the Evolution does doesn't jive with those neat fables in a book..doesn't mean it's purposely trying to debunk religion. I'm sure I could find verses and stretch them beyond belief to say this is really what god meant(or the guys that wrote it meant), but that's not necessary. Huge problem with this dumbed down country, they have attempted to expand/create gray area's so they're right too or at least not wrong. Some need to realize that there is a right and wrong answer surrounded by cold hard facts that aren't debatable to a lot of questions, sure that's not the case with some and it is a matter of opinion...but not on any level people claim just so they don't look bad and can continue to reject the truth because of this non-existent gray area they have come up with in their mind.

  6. #6
    Inactive Member basketballguy's Avatar
    Join Date
    October 15th, 2003
    Posts
    302
    Follows
    0
    Following
    0
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Re: Would Jesus accept evolution?

    R13... you are wasting your time. You will never change a Christians mind about their beliefs. If you do then they are not true Christians. As we will never change your mind about religion. You believe in the complete opposite than what Christians believe. I think you get on here just to stir the pot.

    Regardless I pray for your R13.

  7. #7
    Inactive Member R13's Avatar
    Join Date
    September 25th, 2007
    Posts
    10,269
    Follows
    0
    Following
    0
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Re: Would Jesus accept evolution?

    This isn't a religious issue, evolution isn't, but that's where the problem comes in with the "you're not a true christian if you believe this" no matter how common sense and logical it is. One of my biggest problems with religion, it doesn't let you think for yourselves and hinders intellect.

  8. #8
    Inactive Member collegetrumpet2010's Avatar
    Join Date
    January 24th, 2009
    Posts
    852
    Follows
    0
    Following
    0
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Re: Would Jesus accept evolution?

    Quote Originally Posted by R13 View Post
    it doesn't let you think for yourselves
    No disrespect intended but a lot of people on here feel the exact same about you.

  9. #9
    Inactive Member R13's Avatar
    Join Date
    September 25th, 2007
    Posts
    10,269
    Follows
    0
    Following
    0
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Re: Would Jesus accept evolution?

    Lmao, I don't doubt it, but I guess that's why I accept blatantly obvious things like this and don't reject it because it doesn't go hand in hand with some incredibly old book full of contradictions and fallacies.

  10. #10
    Inactive Member centennialdawg's Avatar
    Join Date
    June 10th, 2003
    Posts
    3,263
    Follows
    0
    Following
    0
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quoted
    0 Post(s)

    Re: Would Jesus accept evolution?

    If you read my post, then you must know that I gave a perfectly good, and reasonable explanation as to how evolution can be explained in The Bible. Most commentators on The Bible have stated that ecolution could very well have occured during the "creation" of the heavens, earth, and finally man and that if it did, then it probably occured between the first and second verse in Genesis.

    I never said not one time in my post that it did NOT occur; however, you just jumped to the conclusion that I did say that. show me in my post where I said it did not occur and that it could not occur. I would love for you to show me. I even explained my reasoning behind my belief on evolution in that I said and quoted from The Bible that, "A thousand
    years is but a day to The Lord. Time, as we know it, means nothing to The Lord. This is a perfect example that it could very well have occured. I have given, at least in my mind and in the minds of others(not you of course) 2 reasons that Jesus could accept evolution. I believe that those 2 parts of The Bible give very strong credence to evolution.

    I also said that God tells us(christians) that if we can not convince a person of the existence and the Salvation of The Lord, then we are to kick the dust off our shoes and move on. You, my young man, are lost forever in that you refuse to believe(although you do say you are agnostice of which I have my doubts). I hold nothing personal against you, but I certainly do have pity on you for your non belief.

    As a matter of fact, I, along with others have done exactly what The Bible teaches us. We are dusting the dirt off our shoes and moving on.

    Enough said. I will no longer listen to your ramblings.

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •