Can I Ask That? Science & Religion
Since everyone seemed to be studying super hard, serving in the mission field, and/or in a deep spiritual awakening, I decided to do a little bloggage on what you missed this Sunday.
The Can I Ask That? question this week was about Evolution and Creation. It is a tough Q because there is not a whole lot of middle ground taught at schools, just one or the other. There are great questions that rose up even last week about the topic, "Where do dinosaurs fit in?", "How can the Creation story in Genesis be true if Evolution is, too?", etc. I need to preface this topic, much more so than the previous 2, that I do have my own bias and opinion and I am going to try my absolute best to leave that out of this comparison. However, if you would like to chat about where I stand sometime after reading this, feel free to text/email/call me!
Think for a minute about what you do know about the Theory of Evolution and the creation story in Genesis. What have you heard about modern science and the church? Did you know people believed in a literal creation story? Did you know many Christians believe in evolution?
Let's start with the common yet inaccurate assumption that this is a "nonbeliever vs religious" debate; it is much more than that. If you do not know anything about the Theory of Evolution, check out this short educational video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcpB_986wyk.
The question of "How did we get here?" has been answered many ways, over a whole bunch of years. I am no scientist, but I have done some pretty extensive research on all takes of this topic and trust that I found the most legit sources (I did a Masters Thesis - you can trust me). So, the modern scientists who study the evolution of man, regardless of religious affiliations, believe in Darwinism, as seen in the above video. The opposite end of the spectrum is a movement called "New Earth Creationism", who completely denounce the use of carbon-dating, natural selection, and that the earth is millions of years old (it differs between sources, but they fall between the earth being 6,000 and 10,000 years old). So, who believes what?
Here is an infographic on what that looks like today in the US:
Was this infographic surprising to you at all? Some potential surprises could be that there are four different approaches, not 2, that humans take into account when looking at how we got here. This can be a little confusing upon first glance, so take some time to really read what this is saying and how it has changed from our parents generation to our own.
Since we are believers, I think we can jump into the question of "what does the church believe?" And there are many, many answers here. Let's start by looking at the text. As you read this, ask yourself, "what is this saying to me?".
Some people interpret the bible very literally, and others find more symbolism and metaphors in certain texts. The idea that me and you could read the same thing in the Bible and find a very different meaning is called "hermeneutics". For example, let's take a glimpse at Matthew 5:29-30, "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell." Do you know who said this? Jesus did. I know Jesus to be pretty calm, cool, and collected, not to mention filled with abundant grace and love....but he wants me to take out my eyeball if I were to judge someone based on appearance? What about lust after someone? Watch something I am not supposed to? And then my hand...what if I hit my sister? Give the finger? Among plenty of other sins we can commit with our eyes and hands, not to mention plenty of other body parts. Is Jesus for real here? Most would argue, no. Jesus is using a metaphor, something he did all the time. Remember when we talked about parables? Those stories that Jesus used to make a point? This is one of those. Anyway - all of that to say, some people find that there are beautiful metaphors used in other parts of the Bible, too.
The literal view of the Bible believes that all of the stories in the Bible are true, including the Creation story. A modern pastor and speaker, John MacArthur, explains it in saying, "everything scripture teaches us about sin and redemption assumes the literal truth of the first three chapters of Genesis. If we wobble to any degree on the truth of this passage, we undermine the very foundations of our faith." He is saying that the basis of what we believe cannot be taken seriously without believing that God created the earth exactly as stated in Genesis. I think this is a common view in many churches, especially when we have not heard another alternative: Genesis is the only truth about creation. However, this puts you completely at odds with modern science. For us to say "God created Adam as a human in the Garden of Eden", we have to acknowledge that we are also saying "I believe that the science of today is incredibly inaccurate". For many Christians, this is really tough. We start to question things like "am I also saying dinosaurs were fake?" or "is it possible to believe in science but be a Christian?", but it is scary to feel like you are asking something that could get you in trouble, or make you sound naive. However, these are really good questions. How could you not be wondering them, if you have heard both sides and they have some really good arguments for themselves? Good news: there is even more to boggle your confused mind with! As you saw in the infographic, there is a middle ground. Many Christians believe in something called "Evolutionary Creation". This is the belief that God had a hand in creation, but that does not mean that He did it like Genesis says. Does this side just ignore the first 3 chapters of the Bible? No. C.S. Lewis captures it by explaining the imagery of Genesis as a "symbolical attempt to express the inexpressible". This belief is becoming more and more accepted in the church, that the Big Bang and Evolution happened, but who is to say God didn't make them happen? This is the point of the
whole lesson: we can trust that no matter what, there is something that started it. I don't know how an atheist would answer the question of, "so how did the first cell ever get here?", and if you've ever heard an answer to that, by all means let me know! No matter what you believe, know that you do have a Creator, and He made us some way or another.
I am curious to hear which of these views you were taught at home and in school. My little sister works in Disney World and started as a Wilderness Explorer in the Animal Kingdom. Her job was to dress in an outfit like Russell from "Up" and kids would stop by these adventure scouts to get a "badge" in exchange for some educational information about nature, animals, the environment, or dinosaurs. One day, Lib was working in Dino-Land when a little girl approached her to earn the Fossil Fuels badge. As Disney employees do, she gave a very animated, exciting, and upbeat explanation of the dinosaurs and how cool it is that we can use fossil fuels today. Immediately, her mother rushed to the scene and yelled at this tiny, energetic cast member that she was "poisoning her child's mind with lies! How could Disney tell people that the earth is millions of years old!" and only went on about her own beliefs on the topic. Libby, stunned but very professional (the Disney motto maybe), explained that Disney respects all religious backgrounds but that she was in DinoLand and it is pretty customary that they give the facts about the dinosaurs here. On the other hand, a friend from college one day, a nonbeliever, was completely shocked to hear that some Christians do believe in evolution, so much that he argued with a fellow believer about her own beliefs, "there is no way you believe in evolution. Christians don't!". I also have a close friend who went to public school in Opelika, AL and was taught that carbon-dating was a myth. The point is, we all come from different places, unique families, and have a range of knowledge about these topics in here. Take a break and think about where your beliefs come from, and if you've ever questioned or challenged them.
After all this, you may be a little exhausted of reading about science and big words and how different people have a thousand different view points on everything. There are 5 big points in this whole thing, and that is what I want you to take home.
We know that God is telling us something through Gen 3, whether you believe that is a literal story of how humans got here, a beautiful allegory of our creation and rebellion, or really don't get why it matters. If you are anything like me, you do not care to do your own historical analysis of humans over time. I trust scientists and scholars alike, as they spend so much time trying to figure stuff out, they can't all have some huge manipulative agenda, right? Something important to consider here is that even if you don't think you do, you have a bias. Whether it's what your parents, church, school, or friends have taught you, there is influence everywhere. Try to do some journaling with your questions about creation, what you believed before you learned about other perspectives, and pray that God can open your mind to seek out what you believe about creation.
Let me know if you do have any questions (yet I cannot guarantee answers) or want to chat about where you stand on this - please hit me up! I would love to hear your thoughts, perspectives, and experiences with this topic.
Next week, we are going to be talking about the view of women in the Bible, the church, and the world. You really do not want to miss this one!
See you guys next week :)
