Christians, where does the Bible contradict Evolution?

What you are talking about is called Theistic Evolution

A variation on the theme of evolution is theistic evolution. It states that God initiated life on earth and allowed evolutionary principles to bring man to where he is--maybe with a little help from God here and there. At least this theory includes God. But this theory was developed in part by Bible believing people who thought that evolution had some merit. In addition, it is an attempt to answer the many problems existing not only in the fossil record but also with how life could somehow randomly form out of nothing. Because of problems like this, some believe they can be explained by simply adding God to the picture: God directed evolution.

For those who hold to the Bible as the word of God, theistic evolution should not be a viable option. The Bible says, "Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us..." (Psalm 100:3). The Scriptures state that God created. God said, "Let there be..." and there was. The Scriptures speak of the creative word of God. When God speaks; it occurs. He said "Let there be" and it was so. It does not say, "Let there be a slow development through an evolutionary process."

God said in Genesis 1:26, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." The Hebrew word for "make" in this verse and in verse 25 where God makes the beasts, is "asah." It means to do, work, make, produce. This is not simply the limited Hebrew understanding of evolutionary principles.

The land animals were made differently than man. The animals were made from the ground but man was made directly by God: "the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being" (Gen. 2:7). Evolution states that man evolved from life forms that developed in the ocean. Here, God made man from the dust of the ground--not the water of the ocean.

If evolution is true and the Bible is true then how is the formation of Eve explained? She was created out of one of Adam's ribs (Gen. 2:22). There is no way to explain this if theistic evolution is true; that is, unless you want to say that Eve wasn't made from Adam's side. Then, if you do that, you are doubting the very word of God.

Also, Jesus said in Mark 10:6 "But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.'" The beginning was not evolutionary slime; in the beginning of creation there was Adam and Eve.

Though this information is brief and far from complete, it should be obvious that theistic evolution and the Scriptures cannot be harmonized.

First of all, I'm not a pastor of any sort, so by no right do I have any right to claim how God created his creation, I just want to clarify some things.

First make sure that this "evolution" fiasco does not interfere with why there is Christianity in the first place; no where does it say in the bible that theistic evolution or new-earth creationists aren't Christians; we are united in the common belief that we trust our Savior and love him. So, no, I don't think it does make you "un-Christian".

Sadly I feel as if a young earth contradicts science WAY to much. One can't possibly believe, with all our scientific evidence, that the earth is only 6000 years old, by literal meaning. But by interpreting the bible metaphorically, you can get better (though not perfect) results. For example, God may have created Adam "from the dust of the ground". But i severly doubt it literally happened, and i personally think that since plants come from the ground/dust, then when God fed Adam, god technically fed Adam through plants, which were FROM the dust of the ground. This proves to be less confusing than trying to explain the literal meaning, and it is 1 less barrier to evangelism; not having to go into a scientific battle.

I also want to address the question on sin and death. When I read the bible, HUMAN death was a result of HUMAN sin; no where does it say that animals died as a result of human sin. Plus, natural selection also only applies to animals, though humans are tempted to do so as well which during history, it has happened countless times (such as the Holocaust). since Jesus explicitly said humans should follow the golden rule, and also since we can't deny the evidence of natural selection, that is what i think fits the science and religion the best.

Not interpreting the bible literally also solves the 6-day creation issue. I must warn you that if the bible was to be taken literally, then god approves of slavery, god made job suffer to "win a bet with Satan", wives are inferior to husbands, the penalty of homosexuality, adultery, etc. is death, and alot of other difficulties. I must admit that miracles must also be taken literally, but most of the other things, such as creation shouldn't,since we have SCIENTIFIC evidence that helps us better understand creation, and one simply cant deny science, or else that would be hypocritical and unhealthy for our future generations.

Again, by no right do I have any right to claim how God created his creation, I just want to clarify some things.

What I need to hear from you is where the Bible supports evolution? Just reading the first chapter of Genesis, it is very obvious that God CREATED the heavens and the earth. He created the heavens and the earth, the dry land and the sea, the light and the dark, the living creatures. AND THEN , he created man and woman. That does not take much to realize why we believe God created us. We did not evolve. Now I would like to know why you think we did, according to scripture.

Well, one big reason that say that Genesis and evolution do not go hand in hand is because evolution believes in millions and millions of years. Obviously, with that many years, death had to have occurred. Right? Evolutionists base their believes on fossils that would be a result of death. Well, Genesis says that death came about as a result of sin. Sin came about when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. Do you see how the two time frames cannot add up? Check out www.answersingenesis.org

I am not aware of the Bible directly contradicting evolution. We are told that the universe and our world were laid out and created within a period of time. God didn't snap his fingers and everything appeared. The Bible only addresses the what, not the why or how.

Given the limited scientific knowledge of those who were contemporary with the Old Testament would have understood evolution, much less the Sun being at the center of the Solar System. The origins as worded in Genesis would have been much more palatable to ancient Hebrews.

There are people still out there who believe the earth is flat. They call themselves the Flat Earth Society. Some will use the Bible to justify their position that the earth is flat. Isn t it absurd that someone would call the earth flat, even though you can clearly see it s round? The words of the Bible can be twisted to fit anyone s agenda, although such justification can clearly be demonstrated as folly.

God speaks to man in ways he can understand. It s like speaking to a Frenchman in English. The Frenchman won t understand English. Therefore, God wouldn t have revealed his knowledge in the language of modern science to an audience who wouldn t have understood it; namely the ancient Hebrews.

Science continues to reveal the true complexity of God s creation. I wholeheartedly agree with another poster that total trust in the sacrifice of Jesus for our sinfulness is the sole requirement for salvation. If there s one strong theme that runs through the Bible, it s that God wants our trust. Literal belief in Genesis or anything else that seems mysterious in the Bible is not required for salvation. That would ruin the absolutely *free* gift of salvation offered the pure *grace* of the Lord, by trying to add the requirement that we reject Darwin s theory of evolution. Nothing else is required for salvation but *faith* in Christ s sacrifice.

There is no room for Evolution within the Bible.

Let's get things straight. True Science can in fact go hand in hand with the Bible. Even now, a number of Scientific discoveries have already been in the Bible long before it was recognised (eg. Clean vs unclean animals). But the very core of Evolutionary Science contradicts the Bible on a number of aspects.

1] Creation Week!

Bible = 6 days! (as on the 7th-day God created relationships).

Evolution = Billions of Years.

In the Bible, 1xGenesis day = 24 Hours. Sunset to Sunset equates to one Biblical day. It doesnt take a million years between Sunset to Sunset. Just because it is hard for us humans to comprehend the creative powers behind creation - to create the World and everything in it in 6 days, we cannot place the same limitations on God. Let's try not to fit in a divine 'God' into our limited view. Because it's worse than an ant, trying to conceptualise a human being ... it's plain ridiculous.

When we compromise the Bible to accomodate the 'how' part of the Creation by allowing the Million of Years concept, then we are adding something that is NOT in the Bible. The Bible clearly says "God spoke" ... and it was so ...

We have 24 hours = Earth's rotation on its axis, 30 days = Moons revolution around Earth, 365 days = Earth's revolution around the Sun. But, interestingly enough, there is NO scientific evidence/reason for having a 7-day week, except the Creation Week in the Bible.

2] Author of Creation!

Bible = God is Author of Creation

Evolution = Chance is the Author of things

3] Concepts of Sin/Suffering/Death/Love/Morals ... etc

Bible = Sin is the result of breaking God's Law, which is the manual to live life happily on Earth.

Evolution = there is no such thing as Sin. But only the concept of relative 'advantage' and 'disadvantages' concerning survival of the fittest.

4] Life after Death

Bible = John 3:16 (pls read it)

Evolution = living bodies decay to its basic elements ... and get's recycled back into the ecosystem/process. There is NO hope - or something to look forward to.

5] Focus

Bible = God is the focus

Evolution = self is the focus

Please, don't get me wrong, but it is a false notion that Evolution and Creation can co-exists. They are mutually exclusive, and there is no compromise or inbetween. I don't want to mention other religions, but some supposed to be Christian Churches support the idea of Evolution - a compromise!

This is a very dangerous ground.

<EDIT>

To Wambajester>>

I respect your conviction regarding Evolution and Creation. I am also refraining from making judgements and accusations on you - irrespective of our differences in our beliefs. We are all entitled to our beliefs. Thank you very much!

For the sake of fairness – below are the Verses for Genesis – during Creation.

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Gen 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

1] Let me respectfully disagree with your statement that ‘Day’ and ‘Night’ was created at the 4th Day. To the contrary, refer to Gen.1:5 – “And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”

> At this point in time, there was already a 'morning' and 'evening'. God did not start creating ‘Day’ and ‘Night’ until Gen.1:5, at which point, God called this the 1st Day!

--- Below is a breakdown on the 4th Day ---

Gen 1:14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,

> "seasons" - (divisions of the year)

> day(s) <-- plural. Note that God did not create "The 24-Hour Day" because it had already been defined at Gen. 1:5.

Gen 1:15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so.

Gen 1:16 And God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars.

> Moon, Sun?

Gen 1:17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,

Gen 1:18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

Gen 1:19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

> At the 4th day, God created 'other' sources of light in the heavens and organised the other measurements of time accordingly, based on the fundamental Biblical unit of time which is "Day".

[I really wonder who’s misrepresenting the Bible!]

2] I suppose you need to do a proper research first about what Evolution really is, and start reading the Bible properly – before making other comments (for your sake). This is a friendly advise … and if you have ANY proof’s from the Bible that Creation took Millions of Years – then share them!

3] I suggest you go through the items I’ve mentioned earlier and see the difference between Evolution and the Scriptures.

4] The 1-day = 1 Million year concept implies that it took the Sun, 1 Million years to rise, and set … I really feel sorry about the plants and animals back then (assuming they’ve survived at all). God does NOT need Evolution to complete his Creation, so why do you limit God’s ability to create this world in 6 days?

<EDIT>

To Put on the Full Armor of God>>

I like your explanation of Theistic Evolution.

And just to add ...

"The animals were made from the ground"

--> There is NO Biblical Source this thinking at all < Gen 1:24-26?> Because the difference is that God spoke the other created things into existence, whereas, Man (Adam) was specially created with God's hands.

"Here, God made man from the dust of the ground--not the water of the ocean."

--> I agree beause doesn’t evolution says that humankind came from Apes … and so on? Did God create an amoeba – then ape … then Adam? Theistic Evolution implies that God’s image is an amoeba (or Ape) … whichever came 1st according to Evolution ... when God said, “let Us make man in our OWN image?”

Try reading the first chapter of Genesis, in which is claims that God made man out of mud, and woman out of a rib from man... Neither of those agree with evolution - unless you bend your mind and attempt to reconcile them via "interpretation."

If you read Genesis 1:26, Yahweh seems to have taking existing creatures and manipulated them. ''It could be'' that Yahweh controlled the stages of Evolution and waited until man was at his peak and then changed its appearance. Did some genetic procedures or so. Giving creation of Homo Sapiens.

I am Christian and I believe that evolution is absolutely possible. Evolution does not disredit Creationism all all.

Gen. 1- 24- 27

And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

This could imply that animals came from the natural elements of the earth and that humans came as a result of the animals? The bible says that God said "lets make man in OUR image"? Is "our" the animals... it seems so. Im not saying Im right, but it's something to consider.

.