evolution
A student emailed me and wanted to know how Christianity and evolution can coexist. I assumed that he implied how a person can support both ideologies. Whenever this issue comes up, and it frequently does due to the nature of the course I'm teaching, I state my opinions and leave it up to my students to formulate their own ideas. I'm Roman Catholic and it's very difficult to teach empirical science without considering my own beliefs. Not to say that I have to always inculcate my beliefs in my lessons because that would be proselitizing and even though the institution I work for does not explicitly prohibit that, it would be unethical.....inconsiderate even.
What I'm trying to say is that I want to be a consistent person. I cannot leave a part of who I am at the door once I enter my place of work, in the same way follow my religion blindly without considering reason at all.
This was how I answered my student (obviously, I got somewhat carried away at the last part; atheism was not really an issue for him):
What a question...as Christians, we believe that God created the universe and all that exists in it. The Bible is a book written by men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Even though Genesis describes how God created everything in one week, we shouldn't focus on the ultraliteral meaning of creation. What we should be meditating on as Christians is the reason why the universe was created in the first place, which is God's love.
Now, natural selection and Darwin's theory of evolution has been constantly tested through all the evidences that have come up from scientific research. What with fossil evidence, the human genome project and all the advancements in biology, we cannot deny that speciation may have occurred although we have not really actually observed it. We are not saying outright that evolution did happen. Evolution could have occurred and will continue to be scrutinized and tested. Kind of like saying innocent until proven guilty....or acceptable until proven otherwise.
I find theological fundamentalists hypocritical when they say that evolution is anti-Christian or anti-God. I also think atheist/hard core evolutionists (if there is such a word) are extremely arrogant when they say that religion and God were just created by man to fulfill that insatiable inherent thirst to understand what he cannot explain....and that evolution happened or life existed because of a series of spontaneous occcurrences that commenced with the big bang.
The big bang is still a theory. And I think they're going to try to test it in Europe through this contraption that will attempt to replicate the big bang. How about finding out what caused the big bang? Nothing? And there is still no plausible theory called the pre-big bang.
The point is, if you believe in an Almighty God with Whom nothing is impossible, then why make evolution an exception? Isn't an Omnipotent supernatural Creator incapable of creating man through evolution? Just because Genesis is stated in a certain manner? Or is it because humans are just incredibly arrogant and cannot accept that we are ever related to other animals? I mean, even plants and bacteria talk DNA/RNA. Humans and mice have about the same amount of genes. Humans just have more junk DNA. But we cannot make any conclusions right now because even though the human genome has been sequenced, we don't know what all those nucleotide bases stand for (Francis Collins wrote a nice book called 'The Language of God'...He's a non-Catholic Christian who headed the Human Genome Project).
I am not saying that we should reduce the Bible into a simple text. It is a sacred gift. It is supposed to be an inspiration. A guidebook or map back to God. Let us not forget the context of how it was written. If it was stated in Genesis that creation happened in 7 days, let us remember that by "days" we do not necessarily mean 24-hour units. After all, man created those units for convenience (and God is beyond time...or the universe...God cannot be bound or limited by His own creation). And when only fishes of the sea, birds of the air were created, that doesn't mean that viruses, bacteria, fungi, amphibians and protochordates are unacceptable animals because they were never mentioned in the Bible (well, you have leprosy of course...but not as Mycobacterium leprae infection but as a disease of sinners...which Jesus can easily heal prior to the discovery of penicillin and antibiotics! ^_^Anyway, any skin disease that resembles leprosy could have easily been considered as leprosy...like, I dunno, severe acne?...and then these people who have leprosy-like lesions or weird-looking skin are banished to the land of the lepers...and eventually contract M. leprae). I'm pretty sure God is a bit frustrated that some people have reduced Him to whatever is written only in the Bible (even if our own eyes observe other things).
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It's easier to reason with theists than atheists.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It would've been harder for me to reason with you if you were an atheist.
Atheism is a decision. A comfort zone for people who don't want to be answerable to any higher authority in an attempt to erase or ignore guilt. Atheists do not WANT to believe in God. They ask: Why should there be death? Why should there be suffering? Why are some people born lucky while others aren't?
Humans cause human suffering. Humans tend to focus on the negative. Humans manipulate religion. Religion is a lens that tries to fathom God. Religion is a means for us to fathom, appreciate and thank our Creator. Some of us tend to focus on religion---the superficialities. Instead of wasting our time comparing religions or trying to make one religion less credible than others, why don't we all focus on our attempt to use religion as a means to understand the Truth?
---END---
The contraption I mentioned earlier is known as The Large Hadron Collider.
And because I was having an adrenaline rush while typing, I noticed that I considered bacteria and fungi as animals. Sorry
What I'm trying to say is that I want to be a consistent person. I cannot leave a part of who I am at the door once I enter my place of work, in the same way follow my religion blindly without considering reason at all.
This was how I answered my student (obviously, I got somewhat carried away at the last part; atheism was not really an issue for him):
What a question...as Christians, we believe that God created the universe and all that exists in it. The Bible is a book written by men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Even though Genesis describes how God created everything in one week, we shouldn't focus on the ultraliteral meaning of creation. What we should be meditating on as Christians is the reason why the universe was created in the first place, which is God's love.
Now, natural selection and Darwin's theory of evolution has been constantly tested through all the evidences that have come up from scientific research. What with fossil evidence, the human genome project and all the advancements in biology, we cannot deny that speciation may have occurred although we have not really actually observed it. We are not saying outright that evolution did happen. Evolution could have occurred and will continue to be scrutinized and tested. Kind of like saying innocent until proven guilty....or acceptable until proven otherwise.
I find theological fundamentalists hypocritical when they say that evolution is anti-Christian or anti-God. I also think atheist/hard core evolutionists (if there is such a word) are extremely arrogant when they say that religion and God were just created by man to fulfill that insatiable inherent thirst to understand what he cannot explain....and that evolution happened or life existed because of a series of spontaneous occcurrences that commenced with the big bang.
The big bang is still a theory. And I think they're going to try to test it in Europe through this contraption that will attempt to replicate the big bang. How about finding out what caused the big bang? Nothing? And there is still no plausible theory called the pre-big bang.
The point is, if you believe in an Almighty God with Whom nothing is impossible, then why make evolution an exception? Isn't an Omnipotent supernatural Creator incapable of creating man through evolution? Just because Genesis is stated in a certain manner? Or is it because humans are just incredibly arrogant and cannot accept that we are ever related to other animals? I mean, even plants and bacteria talk DNA/RNA. Humans and mice have about the same amount of genes. Humans just have more junk DNA. But we cannot make any conclusions right now because even though the human genome has been sequenced, we don't know what all those nucleotide bases stand for (Francis Collins wrote a nice book called 'The Language of God'...He's a non-Catholic Christian who headed the Human Genome Project).
I am not saying that we should reduce the Bible into a simple text. It is a sacred gift. It is supposed to be an inspiration. A guidebook or map back to God. Let us not forget the context of how it was written. If it was stated in Genesis that creation happened in 7 days, let us remember that by "days" we do not necessarily mean 24-hour units. After all, man created those units for convenience (and God is beyond time...or the universe...God cannot be bound or limited by His own creation). And when only fishes of the sea, birds of the air were created, that doesn't mean that viruses, bacteria, fungi, amphibians and protochordates are unacceptable animals because they were never mentioned in the Bible (well, you have leprosy of course...but not as Mycobacterium leprae infection but as a disease of sinners...which Jesus can easily heal prior to the discovery of penicillin and antibiotics! ^_^Anyway, any skin disease that resembles leprosy could have easily been considered as leprosy...like, I dunno, severe acne?...and then these people who have leprosy-like lesions or weird-looking skin are banished to the land of the lepers...and eventually contract M. leprae). I'm pretty sure God is a bit frustrated that some people have reduced Him to whatever is written only in the Bible (even if our own eyes observe other things).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's easier to reason with theists than atheists.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It would've been harder for me to reason with you if you were an atheist.
Atheism is a decision. A comfort zone for people who don't want to be answerable to any higher authority in an attempt to erase or ignore guilt. Atheists do not WANT to believe in God. They ask: Why should there be death? Why should there be suffering? Why are some people born lucky while others aren't?
Humans cause human suffering. Humans tend to focus on the negative. Humans manipulate religion. Religion is a lens that tries to fathom God. Religion is a means for us to fathom, appreciate and thank our Creator. Some of us tend to focus on religion---the superficialities. Instead of wasting our time comparing religions or trying to make one religion less credible than others, why don't we all focus on our attempt to use religion as a means to understand the Truth?
---END---
The contraption I mentioned earlier is known as The Large Hadron Collider.
And because I was having an adrenaline rush while typing, I noticed that I considered bacteria and fungi as animals. Sorry
5:04 AM
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