Sunday, May 11, 2008

Questions for Christians who accept the Theory of Evolution



Questions for Christians who accept the Theory of Evolution

Do you believe in a literal fall of man? According to the Biblical narrative as a whole, as I was taught, Christ came to reverse the curse that was brought on the world by the sin of Adam. (See Romans 5:12-21) The whole idea that god himself needed to offer himself as a sacrifice for our sins was based on this idea. So, if there was no literal Adam and no literal fall from grace and no curse, how do you make sense of the idea that Christ needed to die for our sins?
Even if there were a literal Adam at some point in the history of the world, the whole history of the world before he evolved would have included death and pain and decay. So what of the idea that it was due to the sin of man that death and suffering came into the world? (See Genesis Chapter 3).
Do you believe that an all powerful, and all knowing God would use a process as cruel and arbitrary as natural selection to shape life on earth? Would god have purposely created some species only to go extinct? I personally have no moral objection to natural selection itself, but only because I see it as having no sort of conscience foresight or intent guiding it—it is a totally natural process. The Blind Watchmaker, as Dawkins puts it. But is this the route you really think an all-powerful and all-knowing, not to mention loving God would use?

I think these are all good reasons to think that if evolution is real—and we have an abundance of evidence that says it is—then the God described in the Bible could not exist and the whole narrative of Christianity makes no sense at all. But I don’t want to just assume that I’ve come to the correct conclusion about this without hearing what the other side has to say. So, any Christians out there who accept the theory of evolution, how do you reconcile the implications of evolution and natural selection with your faith? Please feel free to respond by comment or video.

Thanks.

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