Gods Power – NOT survival of the fittest
These two chapters are quoted more times in the rest of the bible then any other piece of scripture. The example of 6 days of creation is used to demonstrate God’s complete power over the Universe. The one week creation cycle was also used to establish the concept of a sabbath. Jesus himself referenced the Genesis account as an historical event at least three times in the Gospels. Why is it then that this opening to scirpture is so disregarded, laughed at, scorned at, ridiculed and explained away by believers with soapy compromising statements such as that it is just a symbolism of Gods power, and not a true historical account. Evolution is the actual truth and this is easily compatible with Gods Word and his Good News. If this is just a lovely made up story about how God is very strong and very clever and evolution is true then how do we know which parts of the Bible are in fact the truth? If Genesis creation did not really happen, then how do we know that Jesus’ miracles weren’t just made up to symbolise that he liked people and cared for them very much? More consequential how do we know that the resurrection of Christ isn’t just a made up story to symbolise that Jesus is still alive in our hearts or some other throw away comment of emotional dribble? Who decides what parts of the bible are factual and which parts are metaphorical? How do you become a decider? Do you need a degree in Theology? a PhD? More so then this the Good News of Jesus follows some decidedly bad news. We are all sinners and the wages of sin is death. Death is the penalty and consequance of our rebellion – except by the blood of Christ we can be saved. To accept this and to repent makes us true believers. How can we do this then if we believe that death came about before sin (This is something that we are required to believe if evolution is compatible with the Bible)? I thought death was the consequence of sin, not part of Gods process of creation. Or can we just accept the Genesis account and know that God created the universe perfect and faultless, and its because of us that the world is now going to custard.
Richard Venable
Hannah Venable
johncatmur
Anna S
thereceptionist
owenjohn
ginateal
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craigh
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Alan Collins
Andrew Fitch
han80
Philip Harvey
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joanna
on October 27th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Alan,
Wow that was quite a powerful and exhortative post! I think you are asking really good questions. When we think about evolution, not only do we have to think about the scientific/biological aspect of it, but we also have to think of the philosophical consequences as well. You mentioned one of the consequences of holding evolution is the idea that death is a consequence of sin and therefore, it would not make sense to have death before the fall. That is certainly something that we need to consider.
I have a couple of questions for you:
1. What do you think about micro-evolution?
2. Is it possible that there is a difference between animal death and human death? In other words, perhaps animal death could have happened before the fall but human death was a consequence of the fall.
Thanks for your thought-provoking post!
Hannah
on October 29th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Hi Hannah,
1) micro evolution was a term coined by the media team at the British museum of Natural history in London back in the 70′s. It describes how some Animals have a distinct advantage to survive in their environment then others of their species. A classic example is the pepper moth in the UK which comes in an array of colours ranging from white to dark bron. In summer the brown moths are the most dominant as they are camoflauged from preying birds. Likewise in winter when theres snow fall the white moths prevail. Today this process is most often called Natural Selection, not microevolution, as it is a very different concept to evolution. Evolution refers to when mutations in a species that give it no advantage in their environments, such as the random sudden development of a cornea with the random sudden development of a retina, live on any way. Finally with enough mutations, enough probability, and enough time the species will have all the parts of an eye, perfectly arranged so it has sight, and a definite advantage over others of its species. Natural Selection leads to an internal adaptation to a species surroundings. Evolution is about random meaningless mutations leading to new organs, new skills, and new species.
2) This is an intersting question. After all animals don’t have souls, so do there deaths even count or warrant a mention in Genesis? perhaps the predecessors of Humans, Homo Erectus, do not fully count as being made in the image of God and were therefore just animals. This is a good thought although I don’t understand how many people say this takes less faith to believe then just the plain Genesis account without reading between the lines. Genesis does not mention the death or the eternal life of the animals before the fall, so our arguments lacka direct source of evidence from the one who was there. However one thing to note is that where the fall took place was the Garden of Eden. Eden means Paradise. It is the same word Jesus used to describe heaven to the thief on the cross. The description of Heaven in revelation 22 and Ezekial fit astonishingly well with the description of Eden in Genesis 2. Could it be that the Garden, before our relationship with God was broken, was a typology of heaven, where we will be once our relationship with God is fully restored? Therefore lets ask if when we are in Heaven, will we live eternally while the animals around us continue to struggle and die, struggle and die. Isaiah chapters 11 and 65 suggest not. The Lion will lay down with the Lamb, The wolf with the goat, There will be no harm done between them. So if there will be no death whatsoever in Heaven, is it really that hard to believe there was none in the Garden of Eden? When our relationship with God was as it will be in Heaven.
on October 31st, 2008 at 11:24 am
Good discussion here Alan, I’d love to see the issues debated or even talked about in churches. The fact that there is even a controversy within the church usually means that the issue doesn’t surface or only the one side is dealt with.