Posted by Jaypeeto on March 19, 1999 at 16:56:17 {MW/mrDAKQdkdU}:
In Reply to: *Evolutionism and Creationism posted by joss on March 19, 1999 at 12:16:18:
your comment:
"...the universe is a magnificent example of an ingenious creator."
I agree wholeheartedly with this statement, but I fail to see how an ingenious creator rules out a creation which utilized biological
evolution.
There is tremendous evidence from many angles for evolutionary development.
Christians get stumbled over this because of centuries of assuming the first eleven chapters of Genesis are absolutely literal in all their particulars.
Now, I don't fault this attitude up to a point.
It is quite true that the traditional Christian way of approaching the biblical text is to look first for the LITERAL sense. That's fine.
However, another rule of thumb is, yes, take the scripture literally UNLESS, and this is a big unless, UNLESS there is compelling and overwhelming evidence that the particular text in question should ***not*** be taken absolutely literally.
The six-days of creation described in Genesis are a prime example of this. It was perfectly understandable and okay to assume that those "days" were literal days of a 24-hour morning and evening, prior to the convergence of irrefutable scientific evidence which, frankly, proves otherwise. Most Christians, including MOST evangelicals, do NOT insist that the days were 24-hour creative days, yet that is precisely how the text LITERALLY reads.
Another example is how the text LITERALLY reads when discussing the temptation of mother Eve by the "SERPENT."
The text does ***not*** state that a fallen angel used a form of "ventriliquism" to speak through a reptile. It LITERALLY states that the SERPENT, the serpent itself, the
REPTILE, was the most intelligent and crafty of all the animals which the Lord God had made, and that the serpent itself was the source of the woman's temptation.
That is how the text LITERALLY reads.
Evolution is simply biology, and there is no reason to get upset about it.
Regards,
Jaypeeto