[CS-FSLUG] [OT] Re: Interesting picture, creation vs. evolution

[Schalk Engelbrecht]

On Mon, 2005-12-05 at 14:45 -0800, Chris Brault wrote:
> Interesting,
> 
> > > Guys - it comes down to what you believe!
> Evolution is very 
> > > simply  put, a religion, packaged as science. 
> There can be no
> > > mixes and matches.
> 
> > I think that is a dangerous statement ("There can
> > be no mixes and matches"). Personally, I know a
> whole boatload 
> > of otherwise perfectly theologically sound
> Christians that are 
> > very much in the Theistic Evolution/Intelligent
> Design camp. To 
> > make Evolution exclusively outside the realm of
> Christianity 
> > creates a needless wall to belief.
> 
> I think what he was trying to say was that Evolution
> is incompatible with the beliefs of Jesus, the
> apsotles and the church fathers. It is also
> incompatible with the origin of man's sinful nature
> and with the plan of redemption. 
Exactly and well put.  English is not my first language...

I certainly did not expect to open a can of worms like this!!

Debates can go on and on because people have such strong belief systems.
What I do know is that we don't know everything and that there is a
myriad of lacking evidence especially on the evolution side.  I take the
bible "AS IS" not because I am a inerrantist or fundamentalist, but
because I have a personal relationship with God and know that He is
truth - so if He tells me He made the world in 6 days - I would rather
believe Him than anybody else!
 

> Does believing in Theistic Evolution exclude one from
> salvation? No, of course not. I once believed it
> myself. We must support the weaker brothers (sisters,
> too) and gently lead them into truth (perhaps Answers
> In Genesis could help with this topic) without
> condemning them.
> 
> ---------------------------------  
> 
> > Evolution itself is simply a scientific hypothesis
> > (or theory, depending on your perspective); when it
> becomes a
> > religion is when you argue a materialistic worldview
> around it 
> > free from God or a theistic world view with an
> Intelligent 
> > first cause to evolution.
> 
> Once again, I should note that evolution is
> incompatible with scripture, the beliefs of Jesus and
> the plan of salvation. I should also note that one
> must assume alot outside of the word of God, and
> indeed, one must assume many things outside of any
> empirical evidence, to embrace evolution as fact. Most
> of the time it's simply ignorance or bowing to the
> interopretations of "science". I can't blame people
> for believing despite what the Word of God cleary
> indicates.
> 
> ----------------------------------
> 
> > Genesis 1:1-2:2 are poetic in nature. Does that
> > mean they aren't literal? No, not at all. But,
> clearly some of 
> > it is not. For instance, until their was an earth
> rotating, 
> > there could be no night and day... literally. And,
> to God, is 
> > there ever night and day? Not unless He only "lives"
> in one 
> > spot on the globe.
> 
> A plain reading of Genesis 1 and 2 in Hebrew clearly
> indicates that the days of Genesis 1 are literal days.
> There was an evening and a morning and thus a day was
> defined. Therefore either the earth was moving or the
> light was moving. Evening and morning are descriptions
> of darkness and light upon the earth rather than any
> particular perspective God had on the events. I could
> be in orbit and tell you where day and night are. I
> suspect God could as well ... that since he created
> them and named them.
> 
> --------------------------------
>  
> > The point isn't so much the rightness or wrongness
> > of Creationism, but whether it ought to be a barrier
> to faith.
> 
> It shouldn't be a barrier to faith. Like other
> teachings, though, it should make it's way into their
> minds via sound doctrine. The virin birth, the
> destruction of Egypt and the miracles of Jesus should
> be discovered in a similar fashion.
> 
> Gabe
> 
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