That tacky subject, that seems to divide Christians, Americans, scientists, and basically the whole world in two camps. Woe to you if you are a member of the other camp, then either you’re ridiculed by people who think science has the answer to everything, or you’re labelled as an unbeliever, a heretic and your lack of faith will have you being sent straight to hell. Well I happen to believe science does not hold the answer to everything (and in all honesty I think it never fully will), but it allows us ‘zoom in’ and ‘zoom out’ on our environment. We discover molecules, then atoms, and then quarks, anti-quarks, leptons, anti-leptons and bosons, and even then start to hypothesize about little vibrating strings in 11 dimensions. On the other hand we peer into the skies and discover redshift, black holes and what not and hypothesize about dark matter, the universe being infinite through loop in space/time etc etc. Fascinating stuff, and most of it is probably very likely to be ‘true’ (notice the quotes). That is, probably very likely to be a valid description of our observations, given our God-given human senses.
I also believe that a lot of what science discovers with regards to the development of organic life on this beautiful plant is probably ‘true’. Although I believe that there still a lot of holes in our knowledge with regards to this development, and nowadays too many scientists (both Christian and atheist) are pushing an agenda in their theories, It seems, at this moment in time, that the evolution theory is a very likely theory, i.e. there are not many scientific alternatives. Why would this be sacrilege? Especially if it were true and therefore how God chose to do things? On the other hand, science is continuously in motion. What is regarded is an established theory can be abolished tomorrow. Perhaps the truth is far more complex than we can ever know and perhaps the evolution theory is completely missing the point. Who knows.
If I read the book of Genesis, should I expect a detailed description of matter and anti-matter? An in-depth explanation of in how many dimensions snares are vibrating? With Hebrew words that didn’t even exist back then? Or does the Bible only concern itself with the continuing story of the relationship between God and his creation? And is there enough symbolism in there to hint at certain ‘scientific’ facts, whilst not taking away the attention from the real message? When I read Genesis, I read of a certain order of creation. Which (I might be wrong here) is the first time a creation story does mention an order that comes close to what science now starts to discover almost 3000 years later.
Interesting…
myviewonchristianity 
Posted by Scrib on May 5, 2011 at 12:04
Interesting, indeed. So we might indeed have evolved from single-celled sea critters, and this is not at odds with the book of Genesis because the book of Genesis is merely drawing the larger picture? In other words: God created us, in his image, by starting with nothing and spawning an evolutionary process? And Genesis focuses on the important parts: there was God and then there was man.
This also raises the question, how literally can we take this ‘in his image’ thing?
Posted by myviewonchristianity on May 6, 2011 at 14:15
Hi Scrib, I found your comment 🙂 Need to get more used to the WordPress software, but I’m getting there.
What I believe ‘created in His image’ means, is that we have the highest form of free will. We have the highest evolved spirit (if you take the Biblical division of body, soul and spirit), compared to any other species. We have been given authority and power (and responsibility) to run things on this planet, and possibly even beyond that. The capability to reason etc etc.
At least, that’s why I think.
Posted by Scrib on May 6, 2011 at 15:26
But ‘we’ might have involved into something else entirely. Or did God foresee that we would evolve into what we are at this moment? In that case, why not create us as is, plug and play intelligent human beings? The beauty, IMHO, of the process of evolution is that it does not require someone or something to control or steer it. The consequence of this is that it does not have a goal or even a set direction. It just flows. That, to me, seems at odds with your idea that God used the process of evolution to create something in his image.
Posted by myviewonchristianity on May 6, 2011 at 17:36
I think you miss out on the true connotations and implications of ‘almighty’ and ability to foresee the future 😉 Also I think that there is steering and controling of the process of evolution, on a manner that science cannot yet fathom. Why would there be gravity in the first place? Why? Why would energy and vibrations condens to particles that eventually will shape matter? Why? Did you ever read on ‘convergent evolution’? It is a pretty accepted theory that basically states that no matter whether evolution would turn left or right, the outcome is already known at the beginning. Say bye-bye to your ‘no goal’ 😉 It is basically known from the beginning (and proven with quite a few examples) that such a thing as ‘the eye’ must develop, because, within the current parameters (set), it is the most optimum way of perceiving light.
Posted by Scrib on May 6, 2011 at 21:17
You say that, in cases of convergent evolution, whether evolution would turn left or right, the outcome is already known at the beginning. I’d bet though that in most if not all cases, the outcome is not known at the beginning, we can merely look at the conclusion and, in hindsight, say: yeah, that looks like a good solution. Just because, given a certain set of circumstances (that may or may not be under the control of a deity), different convergent paths of evolution end up with the same solution to a problem, that doesn’t necessarily mean they set out with this solution in mind. They could, but it is not necessary for the process of evolution to function.
On the other hand, say that God did use a process of evolution to create man, setting all the physical properties of this ecosystem and this universe just so that man would evolve to become the image of Him. Given all the dead ends and all the mutations that went horribly wrong, He could have chosen a more efficient way.
Posted by myviewonchristianity on May 7, 2011 at 14:35
Evolution itself of course cannot look ahead. God however can. I don’t think however you should see mutations gone wrong or whatever as a failure or something. He set things in motion and I think was delighted to see how it all worked out. I don’t think He is pushing the buttons all day. He knew we would evolve. Scientists who adhere to the convergent evolution theory state ‘if we could re-wind the tape and have the big bang all over again, we would again evolve and be here’. I believe so too. That however does not mean that God couldn’t have done it another way (choose inorganic life for instance haha)
Posted by Scrib on May 9, 2011 at 12:11
Scientists also say that if a planet doesn’t have conditions somewhat similar to those on earth, it cannot harbor life. I have always found this a little unimaginative.
I’m not saying God couldn’t have used a process of evolution as a part of his process of creation. Obviously, He is omnipotent so if we assume He exists, we have to assume He could have pulled it off. I’m just saying it is not necessary for God to have spawned or directed or manipulated the process of evolution. So if He wasn’t required, why should we assume He was there at all?
See, the beauty of evolution is that it doesn’t need something or someone to guide it, adjust it, control it or whatever. It works on its own. The downside of evolution is that it can take some time for more complex organisms to evolve, and things can go horribly wrong (for instance when a product of evolution threatens to destabilize and destroy the entire ecosystem, like, say, mankind is threatening to do right now… of course, this is also part of a process of evolution so in that sense there is no ‘horribly wrong’ or ‘horribly right’). The beauty of intelligent design is that you can save time, resources and a lot of hit and miss by immediately creating what you want or need. The downside is, of course, that you need something intelligent and powerful to pull this off.
Combining God / creationism with evolution basically takes the worst of both worlds. That’s why, to me, it doesn’t make sense. Of course, that is no proof that it didn’t actually happen.