How can you accept evolution and still have a spiritual reality, and/or a God faith

[David T]

It did in the 19th century, when it removed two major props to belief:

First, that nature was so complex and occasionally so beautiful that the only explanation was a divine designer; and

Second, the complementary view that the biblical account of creation made more sense than any alternative.

But many branches of religion have digested the science and now regard evolution as a divine tool which God chose to effect the diversity of life.

(Were I a believer, I'd take the view that it was much less complicated, indeed much less silly, to think of evolution as always having done the divine will automatically, than to imagine God stepping in from time to time to tweak a gene here, a protein there &c.)

Is human thought independent from evolution?

 

[roli]

Does evolution totally remove God, and spirit from reality.

If yes, how so?

If no, how so?

Depends on what evolution one is referring to....If it be the evolution that says, everything evolved from a single cell organism in a primordial.soup mix...God is removed because everything is just randomness, natural selection. But it begs a question or 2....how does the single cell , in all its complexity, and intricate design. Just self exist or arrive out of no wherre.How can it exist or evolve from.nothing, without some universal laws in place for that to happen??.

 

[blü 2]

Is human thought independent from evolution?

Human thought, like all other biological phenomena, is a product of evolution.

 

[Milton Platt]

Does evolution totally remove God, and spirit from reality.

If yes, how so?

If no, how so?

I would think that unless your specific version of your specific religion categorically excludes evolution in it's teachings, most can rationalize the problem away. In fact, many do.
Evolution Does not really address the god question.

 

[Quintessence]

Does evolution totally remove God, and spirit from reality.

If yes, how so?

If no, how so?

Only particular interpretations of specific theologies or religious teachings conflict with biological evolution. For everyone else, it's perfectly fine. The conception that accepting biological evolution means being non-theist or a materialist is nonsense.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Does evolution totally remove God, and spirit from reality.

If yes, how so?

If no, how so?

Evolution is a process that God created or put in place to develop the human race progressively. Why wouldn’t an all knowing Being be a master scientist as well?

The science involved in physics and the laws of mathematics if anything point to there being an all Intelligent Being. Common sense.

 

[Etritonakin]

Does evolution totally remove God, and spirit from reality.

If yes, how so?

If no, how so?

No.

God is quoted as stating that he IS essentially evolution -though in its broadest sense -being the beginning and the end -that which was, is and will be.

He is credited with the creation (from that which he is) of the entire universe and "worlds" -including earth, physical life forms "after their kind", the elements which lend themselves to DNA self-replication -not simply creating physical life as an afterthought .

The idea of a young earth is not actually biblical -it is an assumption -and the idea that Adam, Eve and the animals created in Genesis were the first on earth is also not biblical.

The first verses say that God created the heavens and the earth -and -at some unspecified point -the earth HAD BECOME waste and ruin to an unspecified degree -and was the renewed in preparation for Adam's line and the plan of literally making men into gods/the children of God.

Satan staged his coup against God's throne from Earth ("I will ascend above the heights of the clouds", etc.) -it was put down -he was cast back to earth with the sinning angels in a state of restraint -and THEN the events in Eden happened.

The state of the earth which required renewal may have been due to Satan, etc -and may be why he is called destroyer.

If you read it carefully, the things done with the lights in the sky were about juxtaposition and timing rather than initial creation -and when the spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep, the deep was already there.

Anyway -Adam was created about 6,000 years ago -Cain somehow found a wife in Nod -and was worried that people he came across would harm him. That at the very least suggests Adam's line and other "humans" existed together -and is likely the distinction between the sons of God and the daughters of men who produced nephilim (great/large men or tyrants) rather than the assumption that the sons of God were angels breeding with human women.

So..... Nothing in the bible is actually contrary to anything found in the fossil record -not contrary to what is known of evolution, etc.

 

[LuisDantas]

We disagree vehemently. No evidence I see for it whatsoever.

In short - the basic processes of reproduction. Meiosis and the complexities of how sperm and egg cells are made. New genetic information is never added in reproduction- only deleted or rearranged. No matter how many dogs you breed for how long you'll keep getting dogs.


Saying "add lots of time, it can happen" is air filled. We do not see this occur, ever.

Are you even aware that you are directly denying what has been shown to occur, time and again, for over a century?

 

[saffire]

Does evolution totally remove God, and spirit from reality.

If yes, how so?

If no, how so?

I believe evolution can be reconciled with creation in the Genesis account. It says man was made from the dust of the earth. We as humans do have elements of the soil within our bodies as do other living creatures. It is reasonable that after the animal kingdom was created humans evolved from them. The difference between us and lower creatures, we unlike them have a God given conscience and free will to make choices that includes fulfilling our spiritual needs.

 

[BilliardsBall]

Does evolution totally remove God, and spirit from reality.

If yes, how so?

If no, how so?

1. Evolution is real, true.

2. Macro-evolution (God didn't create birds and reptiles uniquely, but morphed one to the other or vice versa) is a stretch, untrue.

3. There are many Christians who believe in macro-evolution, normally such persons are saved, but maybe weak in the Word of God or surrounded by authority figures in church who teach macro-evolution.

 

[Robert Landbeck]

Does evolution totally remove God, and spirit from reality.

If yes, how so?

If no, how so?

Does evolution totally remove God, and spirit from reality.

If yes, how so?

If no, how so?

Evolution does not preclude God and Spirit, but it might be the road block that stops our 'return' to the grace and favor of God. For it is most unlikely that we have been 'created' in the 'image and likeness' while our species remains the most destructive and self destructive species on earth. There is simple no evidence that divine wisdom is active and at work. Sadly just the opposite.

 

[ecco]

Everyone believes in science up to, and only up to, the point that it conflicts with their interpretations of holy scripture.

Some examples...

Anyway -Adam was created about 6,000 years ago -Cain somehow found a wife in Nod -and was worried that people he came across would harm him. That at the very least suggests Adam's line and other "humans" existed together -and is likely the distinction between the sons of God and the daughters of men who produced nephilim (great/large men or tyrants) rather than the assumption that the sons of God were angels breeding with human women.

So..... Nothing in the bible is actually contrary to anything found in the fossil record -not contrary to what is known of evolution, etc.

I believe evolution can be reconciled with creation in the Genesis account. It says man was made from the dust of the earth. We as humans do have elements of the soil within our bodies as do other living creatures.

Macro-evolution (God didn't create birds and reptiles uniquely, but morphed one to the other or vice versa) is a stretch, untrue.

 

[CLee421]

Are you even aware that you are directly denying what has been shown to occur, time and again, for over a century?

I thought we established this wasn't the place for this

 

[LuisDantas]

Indeed, it isn't.

 

[rrobs]

I have always found that the Adam and Eve myth fails on several levels. An incompetent God creates a flawed creation and blames his work. That flaw is somehow passed on down to innocent people that had nothing to do with the event, another fail.

So you are a failure? I wouldn't necessarily say that, but that seems to be your own conclusion.

Whether or not you want to take it as a myth, it is important to at least read it for what it says apart from preconceived ideas. If you look carefully at Genesis you will see that God gave dominion to mankind. It is a huge, though quite common, mistake to think God was in charge. Adam and Eve were the rulers of the earth. They could do whatever they wanted to do. Free will and all that.

They screwed it up, not God. God was forthright in telling them what would happen if they disobeyed His one and only commandment. He told them exactly what would happen but they didn't listen. They got exactly what God told them they'd get. He then proceeded with the most brilliant plan ever devised to correct their mistake. Somehow He had to get another man, i.e. Jesus Christ, to make it all right again. How He did that is the Bible story. Suffice it to say that since death came by man's free will, so must eternal life come by the free will of man, not a god or a god/man. That's why making Jesus to be God is all wrong. Like I said, man was in charge of his own destiny. All God could do was point man in the right direction and let him go out on his own.

Would you say that it would have been better had God forced them do what He wanted instead of giving them free will? Would that have somehow avoided God's failing?

 

[Etritonakin]

Everyone believes in science up to, and only up to, the point that it conflicts with their interpretations of holy scripture.

Some examples...

Not interpretation -what is stated and allowed for given the definitions of the words.

Scripture has not changed (except by irresponsible translation) -but various people will certainly see it from their own perspective.
It is extremely difficult to have a completely open mind -and even then, what is considered is referenced with what is already in the mind -which may be incomplete even if perfectly accurate.

Science -by its nature -has incomplete information, but inasmuch as it is certainly correct, I willingly accept it and even actively try to find conflicts between science and what scripture actually says and allows for by definitions.

Much of what is believed about scripture is not supported by it or the definitions of the words used.

It is written that the things of God are apparent in what was made -so I eagerly await new scientific discoveries.

 

[Terryj]

I think that is comes down to how one views this idea called God. If one sees God as a separate personal deity that is removed from Its creation then the idea of evolution can be confusing. On the other hand, if one views this thing called God as an All Encompassing entity (the essence of all things) the Creator, then there no place one can go to remove themselves from It, then evolution become a necessary part of creation, all cellular life evolves because it is joined with the Creator. To argue the idea of how and why becomes an exercise in futility, because evolution happens, it is what it is.

 

[InChrist]

Do you feel similarly about other non-supernaturalistic subject matters?

Like what for example?

 

[LuisDantas]

Like what for example?

Gravity. Weather studies. Space navigation. Electromagnetism. Technology in general.

 

[Subduction Zone]

So you are a failure? I wouldn't necessarily say that, but that seems to be your own conclusion.

Whether or not you want to take it as a myth, it is important to at least read it for what it says apart from preconceived ideas. If you look carefully at Genesis you will see that God gave dominion to mankind. It is a huge, though quite common, mistake to think God was in charge. Adam and Eve were the rulers of the earth. They could do whatever they wanted to do. Free will and all that.

They screwed it up, not God. God was forthright in telling them what would happen if they disobeyed His one and only commandment. He told them exactly what would happen but they didn't listen. They got exactly what God told them they'd get. He then proceeded with the most brilliant plan ever devised to correct their mistake. Somehow He had to get another man, i.e. Jesus Christ, to make it all right again. How He did that is the Bible story. Suffice it to say that since death came by man's free will, so must eternal life come by the free will of man, not a god or a god/man. That's why making Jesus to be God is all wrong. Like I said, man was in charge of his own destiny. All God could do was point man in the right direction and let him go out on his own.

Would you say that it would have been better had God forced them do what He wanted instead of giving them free will? Would that have somehow avoided God's failing?

I never tried to make a perfect creation. When I do make something and it goes wrong I do not tend to accuse what I made, as God did in the Garden of Eden myth.


I see that logic is not in your toolbox. God made Adam and Eve without the knowledge of right and wrong. When you make a creation with that lack one can't blame the creation for doing wrong.