The-Captain Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Are there Christians out there that believe that God was the catalyst for this worlds process of evolution; or our evolution as the scientific translation of Genesis? Yes, Theistic Evolutionists and they are perhaps one of the most maligned (by other Xians) group of Xians I've seen. Though like Hans said their position has a credible level of biblical backing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Are there Christians out there that believe that God was the catalyst for this worlds process of evolution; or our evolution as the scientific translation of Genesis? Yes, Theistic Evolutionists and they are perhaps one of the most maligned (by other Xians) group of Xians I've seen. Though like Hans said their position has a credible level of biblical backing. Yup. I think they Genesis supports Theistic Evolution a lot more, not 100%, but a lot more than Creationism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acorn Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 Are there Christians out there that believe that God was the catalyst for this worlds process of evolution; or our evolution as the scientific translation of Genesis? Yes, Theistic Evolutionists and they are perhaps one of the most maligned (by other Xians) group of Xians I've seen. Though like Hans said their position has a credible level of biblical backing. Yup. I think they Genesis supports Theistic Evolution a lot more, not 100%, but a lot more than Creationism. Thanks Hans, Doc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Captain Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Funny, I was taught the biggest rationale against Theistic Evolution is that it places limits on God's power and omnipotence by saying how he did it. Aside from the hypocrisy of that statement, it really makes it seem like their biggest objection is just one of stubborn opinion and bias. Edit: And no problem Acorn, thanks for asking a question I can actually answer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 In my estimation as long as these two things hold true evolution will continue... 1) Organisms reproducing with heritable variation (generation) 2) Many more organisms being born than will survive to reproduce (natural selection) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 http://mattdowling.blogspot.com/2008/01/bl...-see-light.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest writerwriter Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 There are some very excellent, readable books on the subject of evolution, its ongoing nature and on the hows/whys on the beginnings of the universe. Dr. Stephen J. Gould (deceased, sad to say), wrote several books - compilations of essays he wrote and talks he gave at Harvard, where he was dean and curator of the museum (I am greatly simplifying his accomplishments). Dr. Gould had one exceptional characteristic; he realised that science is an evolving field and was always careful to note that what he believed through observation was subject to change based on new observations. I am a very biased fan of his; however, I assure you, you will learn a TON from reading his books. One book in particular, Dinosaur in a Haystack is an excellent read if you're curious about biology and evolution. There is also an excellent discussion of genes, genetics and mitochondrial DNA, which, once you read it, you will laugh out loud next time you hear someone talk about 'race' like it's anything real. Dr. Gould was a very lyrical writer, so in addition to getting excellent lessons in biological science, you will also benefit from reading really wonderfully put together, grammatically beautiful writing. Richard Dawkins, who holds two PHDs, also quite fully discusses evolution and biology in The God Delusion, as does Christopher Hitchens in his book, God is Not Great (the UK version has not been edited to assuage US sensibilities, so is the better version in my opinion). I have read both Dawkins' and Hitchens' books and will say that they have both significantly altered my view on life and religion and biology, much for the better. Many critics are very quick to dismiss both these writers, which I will tell you is your call to immediately read these books. Those who criticise most loudly are those who are the most fearful of the points of view these writers have. Those critics have reason to be terrified; their philosophies are so hole-ly that any reasonable dissection instantly shows the myriad inconsistencies. For fun and another very different, although very believeable perspective, have a look at the film Zeitgeist (www.zeitgeistmovie.com). You can easily skip the first 10 minutes, but the rest of it is riveting. These are only a few places to begin educating yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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