Questions about Creationism

[Yojimbo]

Let me start by saying that as a Buddhist with very little experience with the Christian faith, I am very ignorant about what those of the Christian faith actually think about the concept of Creationism. In this regard, I have a few questions that I would like to ask. I do this only for my own clarification, and not as a means to drum up controversy or begin a flame fest, and I realize that opening up a topic such as this can be quite problematic. So I respectfully ask everyone to be civil in this discussion. Let me also state that I have respect for the belief systems of others, and mean no disrepect by asking the following questions.

The above being said, I have the following questions:

1. Is Creationism a fundemental belief of all Christians, or is belief in evolution allowed by some Christian sects or subscribed to by some Christians. In this regard are Christianity and Evolution mutually exclusive?

2. Do those who believe in Creationism subscibe to a literal interpretation of the bible (such as the world being created in 7 days, the age of the earth being approximately 10 thousand years, dinosaurs exisiting approximately 4 thousand years ago)


I welcome all responses to my query as long as they are civil and written with respect to the beliefs of others.

[Publius]

1. Is Creationism a fundemental belief of all Christians, or is belief in evolution allowed by some Christian sects or subscribed to by some Christians. In this regard are Christianity and Evolution mutually exclusive?

2. Do those who believe in Creationism subscibe to a literal interpretation of the bible (such as the world being created in 7 days, the age of the earth being approximately 10 thousand years, dinosaurs exisiting approximately 4 thousand years ago)

Christian beliefs regarding evolution are very diverse. I think a majority of Christians accept evolution to at least some degree, often in combination with a belief that God initiated and/or guided the process of evolution to some extent. Beliefs along these lines (which aren't exclusively Christian) have names like "intelligent design," "theistic evolution," and "progressive creationism" (listed roughly in order from least to most active divine involvement in the evolutionary process). Those who believe in theistic evolution generally believe that the creation account in the book of Genesis in the Bible is mostly allegorical.

Even of those Christians who reject evolution as an explanation for the origin of the species (we will call such Christians "Creationists"), some believe the Genesis account is more or less allegorical. Creationists can be roughly divided into Young Earth Creationists and Old Earth Creationists. Young Earth Creationists take the Genesis account strictly literally, and believe the Earth was created in seven literal 24-hour days, and thousands (several thousand to a few tens of thousands) of years ago rather than billions. Old Earth Creationists believe the Earth was created much longer ago and typically over a longer period of time. Some Old Earth Creationists believe that the "days" in Genesis are not meant to be taken literally. Others believe that Genesis is meant to be taken literally, but that the Hebrew word translated "day" (yom) can also refer to longer periods of time. Therefore they take Genesis literally but believe that it has been mistranslated, and should be read as describing creation over a period of seven "ages," each potentially lasting millions of years.

Hope this helps!

[Skippy911sc]

The minister at my church (christian) explained it this way...

Evolution explains how and the bible explains why. I do know some people who do not believe in evolution...I think they are small minded, but I have a hard time with the whole Noah story of every animal being on the Ark.

Just my opinion...Believe what you want to, I do.

[Yojimbo]

Thanks Skip and Publius for your information and contribution. These are certainly helpful and I appreciate your help.

Personally, I am glad that in the Christian community there is a variety of opinions on this issue. The mainstream media seems to lead folks to believe that all born-again Christians are cut from one specific mold (with stories about demands to have Creationism taught in science class, etc), and I am pleased to hear that this is not always the case.

Thanks again!

[DeadJonas190]

The last Pope believed in evolution yet there are a lot of creationists who refuse to believe. I believe that the last Pope said something to the effect of "Evolution has moved from scientific theory to scientific fact."

As far as the second question, there are a lot of creationist who belive that the Earth being created in 7 days is undisputable fact and there are those who think it is allegorical. It really depends on which church they attend.

[Mike70]

The last Pope believed in evolution yet there are a lot of creationists who refuse to believe. I believe that the last Pope said something to the effect of "Evolution has moved from scientific theory to scientific fact."


here is a letter from john paul II to the pontifical academy of science in which he talks about the scientific basis for evolution and how it relates to faith.

http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP961022.HTM


the view of modern catholic academics seems to be that if mans body originated from an evolutionary process, the soul of man was created and installed in human form by god.

[Publius]

The last Pope believed in evolution yet there are a lot of creationists who refuse to believe. I believe that the last Pope said something to the effect of "Evolution has moved from scientific theory to scientific fact."


The current Pope (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19956961/) also seems to believe that evolution is compatible with faith.

[Chic Freak]

What Publius said!

In addition to the seven days of creation thing, according to the Jehovah's Witnesses the word that has been interpreted as "day" from the original text actually just means something like "set period of time" in the original language. So a "day" could be a million years according to the original text.

They are therefore happy to agree with modern scientific thought on the age of the earth itself, but believe that the human race is much younger, as they have worked this out by adding the up the ages of all the people in the Bible going back to Adam.