God's Evolution

God's Evolution

Creationist and evolutionist often fight like cats and dogs. When discussing the origin of man, their theories almost accuse each other of idiocy. But what if both viewpoints were based on truth? To a theistic evolutionist, also known as a creation scientist, the two seemingly opposing theories align and interconnect. To many others this seems like a compromise of faith. Yet many notable theologians, such as C.S. Lewis, see it as the completion of their faith. Lewis once said, "I believe that Christianity can still be believed, even if Evolution is true. This is where you and I differ." To a few Christians, evolution seems certain and traditional explanation of Genesis is lacking in reason. Impartial translation of the Old Testament allows for possibilities of divine evolution to arise. Theistic evolutionist look at the raw translation of "day" in Genesis, as well as closer examination of the passages in Genesis, and conclude that evolution aligns itself with many evolutionary theories about mankind.

While a traditional creationist believes that the world was created in six literal solar days, a creation scientist views it as non literal. The Hebrew word "yom," is translated as day in first Genesis. "Yom" has various other meanings written throughout scripture and does not always imply a literal day. According to the NKJV, Genesis 2:4a says, "This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created..." (2004) Here the English word "history" was derived from the same base word, "yom," as "day." Because of this, many theistic evolutionists conclude that Genesis is a lyrical account. Hosea is a common example of the symbolic usage of time in the Old Testament. This book speaks partly on the physical healing, in the aftermath of extreme hostilities, of the entire nation of Israel. Hosea 6:2 in the NKJV reads, "After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight." (2004) God did not restore the entire nation of Israel during two solar days. The theistic evolutionist asks, if books like Hoesa can be figurative, what guarantees that Genesis is literal? They build on top of this argument with the details the lengthy accounts of the last days of creation. According to Geisler and Howe, "On the sixth "day" Adam was created, went to sleep, named all the (thousands of) animals, looked for a helpmeet, went to sleep, and Eve was created from his rib. This looks like more than 24 hours worth of activity."(2000) Creation science then argues that God rested from creating on the Sabbath day, and this period has never ended, so here is more possible evidence that a "day" is not always literal. Theistic evolution then reads into passages of Genesis, to analyze the commands of God, and attempts to study those commands under a new light.

The shedding of light, done by creation scientist, sole purpose is to reexamine the commands God gave during creation. Genesis 1:11, according to the NKJV, reads, "Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth'; and it was so." God really only gave the plants only one restriction: reproduce with your own species. Trees will always make trees; yet, different kinds of fruit can be created through crossbreeding and adaptation. For example, the modern day apple took on modern traits only after being moved to cooler climates. (Jupiter and Mabberley, 2006) Fruits have most likely altered a lot since the Garden of Eden. During humanity's first days, people could live off the fruit of the garden alone and not lack vital protein. Today this would lead to malnutrition. Some creationists will agree with the evolution of plants, but, creation scientists seek to apply this to animals as well. When God latter told the sky and earth to bring forth animals, could He be giving an evolutionary queue? A major diving point among theistic evolutionist is what, if anything, did God create spontaneously? Some theistic evolutionist would argue that God names several mammals by name in creation, so they must have been individually created. Still, others would determine that nothing was unique about the body of man, only the spirit God place inside him. Despite the diverging speculation, all theistic evolutionists all base their verdict from contemporary evolutionary findings.

Many current discoveries in science unnerve creationist and breed debate. One example is the apparent old age of the earth. The Kingfisher Encycolpedia of Science states, "The earth formed from a cloud of dust that surrounded the sun when it was only a few million years old." (2006) This amount of time is problematic