A question for Christians who do not believe in evolution (Not an argument)

by logansrun 42 Replies latest jw friends

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  logansrun

  I have a question for anyone who is both Christian and does not believe in evolution (natural selection, Darwinian paradigm, call it what you will):

  How do you feel about Christians who DO believe in evolutionary theory? Keeping in mind that one of the great modern Christian apologists, C.S. Lewis, did believe in evolution (though he probably would disagree with certain aspects of neo-Darwinism), what do you think of members of the faith who announce Jesus Christ as their savior, but also that humans evolved? Do you feel creationism is somehow a necessary dogma for any type of "true" Christian faith?

  Just curious,

  Bradley
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  MegaDude

  In my tourist travels through different denominations in Christianity I haven't come across a single person who claimed to be Christian and embraced the evolving man theory. That is, if you are saying man evolved from some lower life form like monkeys, et cetera. I have come across many Christians who believe in evolution, but on a micro level, not macro.
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  Euphemism

  FYI MegaDude, the Catholic Church teaches that the human body (but not the soul) may have evolved.
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  AK - Jeff

  Good topic, Lr.

  I would think, as a Christian, that Jesus would have to be the judge in that matter, on an individual basis.

  Personally I can't buy the evolution theorum, but I would leave all judgement to God and Christ on the issue. I had enough of judgmentalism to last a lifetime as a jdub. I would still welcome the believer as brother should I meet him. Most I think do not believe that though. IMHO

  Jeff
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  logansrun

  Mega,

  I'm very surprised you did not find any Christians who believe in macroevolution. Off the top of my head I can name

  CS Lewis

  Ken Miller (Catholic and evolutionary biologist who wrote a very good book entitled "Finding Darwins God")

  M. Scott Peck

  All that is required, as far as I can tell, is an allegorical reading of Genesis.

  B.
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  logansrun

  I almost forgot one other Christian; someone I know personally: my old zoology professor.

  This guy is great, one of the best lecturers I have ever heard. His lectures contained a certain grandeur that I cannot really express in a few words. Anyway...I asked him how he felt about the creationsim/evolution controversy and he said that he totally believed in evolution as we know it, but is a very religious person and an active member of his church. I never got to ask how he walked between the two worlds -- science and theology -- but he did say that most members of his church think that evolution is "from the Devil or something." He said that they were, in his opinion, "simply ignorant on the subject." I wanted him to explain more but just never got around to it.

  B.
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  logansrun

  Interesting link:

  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/voices/collins.html
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  MegaDude

  Hi Brad,

  My readings about C. S. Lewis led me to believe he was mixed about evolution.

  As to Scott Peck I found this interview quote:

  As for creationism vs. evolution, creationism is ridiculous if you're going to say that everything was created in six days and that it happened 7,000 years ago. On the other side of the coin, it is quite astonishing that in Genesis I the sequence of creation is exactly the sequence in which creation evolved; I see no conflict there. The problem scientists have is admitting that God had anything to do with creation. I believe God was deeply involved in the creation, but he was involved -- or she was involved -- over the course of millions of years.
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  MegaDude

  Euph, Thanks for the link. I found this part interesting.

  Concerning human evolution, the Church has a more definite teaching. It allows for the possibility that man?s body developed from previous biological forms, under God?s guidance, but it insists on the special creation of his soul. Pope Pius XII declared that "the teaching authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions . . . take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter?[but] the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God" (Pius XII, Humani Generis 36). So whether the human body was specially created or developed, we are required to hold as a matter of Catholic faith that the human soul is specially created; it did not evolve, and it is not inherited from our parents, as our bodies are.
  
  While the Church permits belief in either special creation or developmental creation on certain questions, it in no circumstances permits belief in atheistic evolution.
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  Euphemism

  MegaDude... right. I think that when talking about Christians who believe in evolution, I would asume that the Christian believes that evolution was set in motion (or perhaps even directed) by God.