I think more people would be open to religion if evolution is/was incorporated into it. I'm hearing more and more people being open to the idea that evolution did occur but Adam and Eve were the first something or another. Like the first ones to have souls. Meh..it's a start. :grin: However, religious leaders want to stick to their guns. They want to say science, evolution, the big bang theory, etc is all BS. Ignorance is bliss.
Interesting. Personally, I set aside my belief system for several years and explored other options. Actually, in considerable detail. I eventually returned to the Faith after carefully examining the body of evidence. Everyone owns their journey. If I am in the wrong reality I will eventually find out and so will you, if indeed their is an afterlife. If not, c'est la vie.
And what percentage of Christians believe that the Earth is only a few thousand years old? I didn't even know this type of nonsensical (with utmost respect) thinking existed until recently.
I've heard many Christians who also accept Evolution say that Genesis should be considered as allegory rather than literal. In that case there is isn't much conflict between the Biblical account of creation and scientific theory. Franchiseblade has frequently talked about that.
Ahh ok, that's cool. Personally, I want to believe that there is something else after this life. I want to believe that there is some sort of consequence in the so-called after life if I kill someone, steal, etc. More than likely, the consequences are here and now. If you don't get caught or don't have a guilty conscience, there basically is none. It's in our human nature to want to believe in a higher being. I'm a big believer of likelihood. Science shows us how life was created. Sure, there are some things that are hard to explain. Stephen Hawking even points those out in the documentary I mentioned on the last page. We are lucky that things played out perfectly scientifically or we woudn't be here to talk about it.
In the case of that part of Genesis, it's a poem. Most poetry isn't literal. It's a specific type of poem that was common in ancient Hebrew. It follows the same structure pattern etc. It's something that a lot of Christians don't know or focus on. But it's where bible study and add to the understanding. I think bible study greatly adds to the understanding of the bible. Some Christians believe that isn't necessary and you should only look at the words in the bible. I believe that's a prime example where study adds understanding and removes any conflict between the bible and evolution. Sadly, there is still a ton of study I have left to do. Each little bit adds context to things in the bible, and helps develop a greater understanding in my experience. Actually, I guess it's not sad because I enjoy learning and feel rewarded if I happen to gain any new understanding, but I do still wish I had a lot more understanding right now.
If your interpretation of what is literal or not, context, and what have you depends on who's providing Bible study if any then that just kind of confirms that people take whatever they wish from the Bible.
What? The study would hopefully include historical knowledge with evidence. If it doesn't then the bible study isn't really that helpful. But historians know of the format of the poetry, and whether it is the poem in the creation part of Genesis or a poem unrelated it still has the same format, meter, etc. So it's relatively certain that it's a poem. The person or many many people who could talk about that in bible study didn't time travel back to ancient times and create a common form of poetry to match what was already in the bible. They looked at what was in the bible, and looked at what known forms of poetry from the time period and found that they matched. for instance it talks about the form of using different refrains six times each. When writing history or even prose it isn't common to include refrains used a certain number of times each. That is common in poetry. In the first chapter of Genesis there are the refrains "and it was evening and it was morning," "And God said," and "And it was so". Each of those refrains are used six times. Now those refrains weren't used six times each just because a bible study instructor or professor decided to say that and tell people it's poetry. There are plenty of Christians that get very upset about it being poetry and will try very hard to find ways to try and disprove that it's poetry. I think they're shutting themselves off from a greater understanding of the bible. People today aren't familiar with Ancient Hebrew forms of poetry when they read the bible. But when it was written, almost everyone that saw it or heard it, understood it was a common form of poetry, and they used that in their understanding. Why should people today not take advantage of that knowledge when we can get it?
In Genesis 5:4 it reads that "Adam lived to 930 years, then he died." Hmmmm. I guess allegorical figures have great longevity. What about modern myths? Most take them for granted without any careful study. A seamless, perfect, and empirically verified evolutionary process is one of them. Almost everyone dutifully repeats the mantra, but few have really examined all the data. There are many, many problems and inconsistencies. Global warming is another. To be politically correct you must "believe." A recent English study concluded that the Earth is cooling. Hmmm. Picking a dogma may be our only real choice.
There isn't a "seamless, perfect and empirically verified" way to describe gravity at this point. Newton's "laws" do not work at the sub-atomic level. Scientists have yet to figure that part out. That doesn't lesson the strength of the theory of gravity, nor the theory of evolution. The theory of evolution has only been strengthened with scientific advancement. You'd think a myth would have been debunked by now. I guess all the scientists are in the on it?
Historians don't tend to be the ones teaching bible study. It's my sense that 95% of people don't know anything about the history you're describing and splicing between what's an allegory and what's literal or what's a poem or whatever else. And I can appreciate that you have apparently taken the time to study and learn the history. I respect that. I just don't think that's the Christian I run into from day to day or the pastor I see on TV or the message I hear in general.
Actually not, there is considerably disagreement in the scientific community. In my experience the most ardent supporters of "evolution" are social scientists (who know virtually nothing about it.) Most of the physical scientists that I have known ( I used to live near NASA) were Christians. I currently am acquainted with several science professors who teach evolution but don't "believe in it" and tell their students why? The scientist who discovered DNA has abandoned evolution because DNA is too incredibly complex to have spontaneously generated or "evolved." He is not a Christian and believes now in alien intrusion. I guess in his mind we are a genetic garden planted by aliens. Well, that is one theory.
What is the purpose of that? How should i interpret it? Sorry, i'm a strong Christian and i never seen it that way. Just curious.
