bohman
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
I've lurked about here long enough (yeah, I admit it, I lurked) to know that the religion forum isn't the usual place to introduce yourself and say hi, but some of the posts here are the ones that interested me enough to sign on in the first place. So I figured I'd jump straight into the fire, so to speak, and ask some questions.
There have been a bunch of posts about the evolution/creationism/intelligent design issue, and course it's kind of in the news in general. Seems like people are fairly polarized on the issue - either you believe in evolution, or you believe that God (in whatever form) created the world and life, and the two ideas are mutually exclusive. My main question is: why do those ideas need to be exclusive?
My own belief is simply that evolution is the tool used by God to create life. For the record, I do believe in God, and was raised a Christian. But I've taken enough science and biology courses to have seen the evidence for evolution, and it's VERY difficult for me to think that evolution doesn't exist when scientific observation shows it so clearly. But those classes, and my belief in the function of evolution, never damaged my faith in God or my belief that God created life. In fact, just the opposite happened. I feel like I've been privileged to witness a little piece of how God worked. Does anybody else feel the same, or am I all alone on this one?
And some questions for 2A. Now, don't worry, I'm not here to pick a fight. Having read through this forum, I've seen a few other newbies coming here gunning for you; I have no intention of doing the same. Just a few things you've written brought up some questions for me. In another thread addressing evolution (I forget which one), you said that God created the universe mature in every way. Were you speaking just of the physical universe, planets, stars, etc., or of life in general? It just seems like that implies that people will never mature or improve beyond the way that we are living now. I wonder about our ability to understand our own biology and that of all other living things. Wouldn't all of our other technical achievements over the centuries indicate that we have some potential to understand biology? Is it possible to discover information that is not explicitly provided to us by the Bible?
Anyway, I know this is kind of rambling and unfocused, but thanks for letting me wonder aloud about a few things. Have a good weekend, everybody.
I've lurked about here long enough (yeah, I admit it, I lurked) to know that the religion forum isn't the usual place to introduce yourself and say hi, but some of the posts here are the ones that interested me enough to sign on in the first place. So I figured I'd jump straight into the fire, so to speak, and ask some questions.
There have been a bunch of posts about the evolution/creationism/intelligent design issue, and course it's kind of in the news in general. Seems like people are fairly polarized on the issue - either you believe in evolution, or you believe that God (in whatever form) created the world and life, and the two ideas are mutually exclusive. My main question is: why do those ideas need to be exclusive?
My own belief is simply that evolution is the tool used by God to create life. For the record, I do believe in God, and was raised a Christian. But I've taken enough science and biology courses to have seen the evidence for evolution, and it's VERY difficult for me to think that evolution doesn't exist when scientific observation shows it so clearly. But those classes, and my belief in the function of evolution, never damaged my faith in God or my belief that God created life. In fact, just the opposite happened. I feel like I've been privileged to witness a little piece of how God worked. Does anybody else feel the same, or am I all alone on this one?
And some questions for 2A. Now, don't worry, I'm not here to pick a fight. Having read through this forum, I've seen a few other newbies coming here gunning for you; I have no intention of doing the same. Just a few things you've written brought up some questions for me. In another thread addressing evolution (I forget which one), you said that God created the universe mature in every way. Were you speaking just of the physical universe, planets, stars, etc., or of life in general? It just seems like that implies that people will never mature or improve beyond the way that we are living now. I wonder about our ability to understand our own biology and that of all other living things. Wouldn't all of our other technical achievements over the centuries indicate that we have some potential to understand biology? Is it possible to discover information that is not explicitly provided to us by the Bible?
Anyway, I know this is kind of rambling and unfocused, but thanks for letting me wonder aloud about a few things. Have a good weekend, everybody.
