Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Evolution

I watched the View the other day. There was a discussion of evolution that deteriorated into a flat earth discussion. Very strange. I believe in the theory of evolution even though I am a born again Christian. I do not believe the two are mutually exclusive. I realize there are proponents of evolution who believe that it eliminates God. I would argue that God can choose his mechanism of creation even if it is random. I believe that God is not in time and therefore past, present and future are all one for the Creator. Many Christians would argue against evolution because they believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible. I would say you cannot limit God by the language of an ancient text that began as oral history. God chose evolution as his creative mechanism, perhaps so we could better understand the universe around us.

That evolution can be argued about still says two things: (1) the paucity of scientific knowledge in the population of the US and (2) the strength of the evangelical movement in the US. I find it sad that most people do not understand the fundamentals of science or the wonder of scientific discovery. I do not know how to change that, but I think that teaching science to the general populace will be the challenge of the century. I fear the rise of the evangelical movement because of the intolerance I find in the movement. When you believe that you know all the answers when it comes to God, you are in danger of ignoring the uncertainties of reality. Uncertainties that I believe were put in our existence deliberately by God. We must always be humble when we observe this creation whether we are evolutionist, believer, or both.

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