i just picked up the following link from a website i follow
i am where the writer is in his personal history on this issue
as i said from post 1, this is not a must-have for me; i introduced it as a tough issue for consideration and discussion, and apparently Ham and Nye jumped in .. :)
http://redemptionpictures.com/2014/02/04/creation-v-evolution/
I think a hard issue (for me anyway) is that if evolution were the process used, then there is an assumption that animals have much the same right to live as men. While I am not saying that I condone a needless slaughtering of animals, man and animals are not on an equal playing field from a spiritual perspective. I watched some interviews once and the question was asked "if your dog, that you love were drowning and at the same time a man was drowning (whom you don't know) and you could only save one, which would you save?" This was asked of evolution believing atheists so I'm sure it would be different asked of others but for the sake of discussion... The answer in most cases was given "I would save my dog." That disturbed me greatly. The reasoning given was that both have as much right to live. While both have the right to life, the dog's soul is not at stake in the equation. In a Christian sense I would be curious to understand when God breathed his spirit into Adam and where were the other developing neanderthals? Was there only one that was brought up over the years? This is not possible because they must procreate in order to evolve and there would need to be at the very least a male and female for each generation. But let's say for the sake of discussion it did occur evolutionarily. Where are the intermediate apes? Neanderthals? and all in between. I feel that there should be some steps that would still exist because, heck, the apes exist. Where are all the in between steps? Those main question ring true in my mind. Perhaps people have answers that I have not heard. Something to think on and research. (Lot to process, sorry)
ReplyDeletei'll reply in my limited knowledge of evolution .. i think a main point is, as you mentioned, the christian understanding is God was involved in it, moving things along in terms of human; at some point he 'breathed' the imago dei into the creature and human was the result; i have similar questions to you in terms of intermediate stages; perhaps someone will comment in that vein; it is the christian understanding that human is a special creature - as i just noted, in the image and likeness of God; let's keep the conversation going ..
DeleteWhat holds me back from believing evolution the most as a possibility is that there is no true connection between changes in "kinds." It is not even that there are no intermediate stages between human and ape, but there are no intermediate stages between any animal. There is a lot of argument that it is observable to the microscopic level, but I find much of this to be adaptation, not evolution. Every animal adapts to its environment. The finches which are so famous for at one time being acclaimed as evidence of evolution, are a great example. Their beaks adapted to the environment. They did not become fish or snakes, or what some hybrid animal. I see birds, that are birds; I see dogs that are dogs. There are mutts and there are purebreds, but I do not see these animals having become a different animal. While I understand that evolution occurs over ridiculous amounts of time, we should still be able to observe that there are intermediate species. What frustrates me, is that I am called the fool and called out as a non-progressive thinker who will hold back technology. I can see of no reason why my idea of the origin of the world would hold me back from progressing technology and science. It merely means that I have a different viewpoint of where it began. The real issue (from an atheistic perspective) is the moral and ethical perspective of humans and animals being distinctly separate. On a Christian level, I think it needs to be discussed more before I fully comprehend its implication from a scientific and moral viewpoint. I do not think that evolution should be plastered as factual in our lives as it is also based on bias and assumptions not pure scientific experimentation and objective thinking. I also will not shove a seven-day creation in the face of someone who disagrees.
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