Creator or Evolution? Confused...

by Newborn 55 Replies latest jw friends

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  Newborn

  I don't feel I have to know the truth about how life started or where we're coming from etc, but can't help thinking abt it anyway now and then. Guess it's only natural.

  Right now I feel really clueless and that I have too little knowledge abt the Darwin, Big Bang theory.... (I was always taught by the dubs that Darwin questioned his own theory...but was it really so?).

  I have a close friend who's sure of the Evolution but can really the complex and wonderful life and nature come abt by chance (even though he says it's not chance...)

  I'm currently reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

  What's your opinion now of the dub Blue book, evolution or creation?

  Are you sure what to believe?? Have you switched from believing in a creator to believe in the Evolution?

  Feels strange I was so sure of a creator before.

  /Newborn
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  Chalam

  Hi Newborn,

  Just because the god of the WT obviously isn't the true God doesn't mean He doesn't exist!

  If you seek Him you will find Him Matthew 7:7-9 He is quite unlike anything you thought you learnt about Him with the JWs :)

  All the best,

  Stephen
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  JimmyPage

  Newborn, I really relate to what you're saying.

  All of our lives we were taught to reject evolution and in doing so we have not been educated enough on the pro-evolution arguments to make a sufficient decision for ourselves as to what to believe.

  I currently favor creation but I plan to examine the other side more thoroughly (thus my recent thread topic requesting books to read about evolution).

  Truth withstands criticism or else it isn't truth at all.

  My grandfather, who never had anything to do with JWs, was a well-read man who believed in evolution. I'm curious as to why he held this world-view. Was it based on evidence? Or was it more due to the intellectual intimidation of the scientific community?

  Ultimately, I don't think it effects how you live your life a great deal. Whatever we believe, we should still aspire to treating each other well while we're here.
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  JimmyPage

  Then there are those who believe in both, that God created life to evolve.
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  JustHuman14

  Newborn, I will tell you how I feel about the subject.. After leaving Jw's I had my Odysee in search of the truth. I even questioned God, Christianity, I looked into other religions non Christian.

  I found my faith at the Christian Orthodox Church, the oldest of the Christian faiths. My Church taught me this: That the Bible it does have mistakes, and if God has choosen an Evolutionary way to create life on Earth and universe then there is nothing wrong about. Science examines scientific matters like how life was evolved on Earth, and what was the process of creating universe.

  So I believe that God create the world and the universe through an evolution process. This is what science prooves and there is nothing wrong to believe that.

  justhuman
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  excito-are

  Hi Newborn

  The evidence for evoultion is overwhelming. I expect in the next 40 years or so there will be no denying it at all. The sooner religion gets to grips with this, they can adapt their theology around it. For a better understanding of evolution and what it really means, I would suggest readings by Gerry Coyne (Professor in Department of Ecology and Evoultion at Chicago Uni) his book Why Evoultion is true is amazing. Also Neil Shubin's book on my inner fish is groundbreaking. The trouble with Dawkins book the God Delusion is that his alternative hypothesis( in disproving God) is very recent in world history, highly contentious and most importantly a minority philosophical world-view.

  Dawkins states that God may exist outside the universe ( where is that? I don't know) For a materialist, everything that exists is somewhere, in a place, space. So if God is not in space, Dawkins pretends that he has no idea of where God could be. But, cosmologists talk about many things outside the universe. They talk about other universes, other space times and quatum laws that exist outside space-time. So there is really no problem in the scientific field about things existing outside physical space. It does exist as pure consciousness. The problem with Dawkins is he takes philosopical aruments that are flawed to make his point. More recently he has tended to sterotype and poke fun of Religion to make his points.

  I would read Keith Ward's book - Why there almost certainly is a God, after reading the God delusion for a balanced veiwpoint.
  Also Sir John Polkingorne and Ken Miller are amazing at explaing Theology in the context of Science. As stated in the comments above, YOU CAN BELEIVE IN EVOULTION WITH A CREATOR BEHIND IT ALL.

  The process of evoultion has actullay increased my faith in God. It makes more sense.

  Hope some info there helps.

  Excito
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  Newborn

  Thanks Jimmy

  All of our lives we were taught to reject evolution and in doing so we have not been educated enough on the pro-evolution arguments to make a sufficient decision for ourselves as to what to believe. Yes unfortunately

  Truth withstands criticism or else it isn't truth at all. True

  Ultimately, I don't think it effects how you live your life a great deal. Whatever we believe, we should still aspire to treating each other well while we're here. Agree
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  Newborn

  Dear excito, thanks for your interesting letter!

  The evidence for evoultion is overwhelming. Can you mention a few??

  Thanks

  N
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  Heaven

  I believe in both, however, I have yet to see anything evolve that wasn't first created, even creations by man. And men are not the only creators here on Earth. Look at the animals, insects, and birds. Even the plants 'create'. I believe that when anything is created, it takes on a life of its own, that change is inevitable and all part of life.

  I do believe that there is enormous intelligence behind all that we have on the Earth. When you start studying how things work and interact, the interdependence of all things, it becomes more and more difficult not to entertain a grand design or plan. The more I read, especially in regards to ecology and the workings of nature, the more I see the 'scientists' and 'atheists' making statements of intelligence behind the design. The experts question their own beliefs when it comes to spirituality, entertaining the possibility of a Creator.

  For me, this works the best. I think evolution comes AFTER creation. As a side note, today is electronic engineer/inventor Nikola Tesla's birthday, born Jul 10, 1856. Google Canada ( www.google.ca ) has a neat graphic in honour of this:

  
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  MisfitMeL